"Ha ha, good kid, you're actually hiding so deeply, even Shao Ying isn't your match!"
Just then, a loud laughter resonated from within the blood array.
"Lord E is joking, I just used some underhanded tactics that can't be spoken of, compared to Lord E, it doesn't amount to anything." Han Li lifted his head to look, laughing as he slowly walked towards the sculpture beneath Chen Yang.
The remaining four people in the array were almost unable to support themselves, all of them slumped and sitting, seemingly without the energy to even lift their heads to take a glance, looking like they would soon lose their lives within the array.
On the other hand, E Mei's aura had reached an unprecedented peak, with over a thousand acupoints on his body already unlocked. If he were to continue absorbing the power of the great array, it wouldn't be a problem for him to break through all the acupoints on his body.
"Brother Li's Machiavellian tactics, to be honest, I, E, really admire. Now, I can choose to forgive your killing of Shao Ying, and give you another opportunity, what do you think?" E Mei gazed at the approaching Han Li, asking with a smile.
"I didn't expect the Lord to be so magnanimous, I, Li, am eager to hear the details." Han Li extended a finger, lightly tapping on the layer of blood-colored light screen, asking indifferently.
"As long as you take action to kill those two eyesores, you can join the Xuan Castle with Shi Kong, and become one of the most powerful elders in the castle. Of course, if you don't want to stay in Xuan Castle, you can choose to be the castle master of one of the four other castles - Qing Yang, Xuan Zhi, Bai Yan, or Tong Yu - as long as you agree to abide by my summons at all times." E Mei said seriously.
"Buddy Li, how can you believe this person's nonsense at this point? Morning City's Lord is a perfect example!" Xuan Yuan's face changed, shouting loudly.
Du Tong heard these words, and instinctively clenched his fists.
Han Li turned around to glance at the two of them, sighed, and slowly said:
"It's a pity that Lord E has made such a comprehensive plan for me, so that I wouldn't have to get rid of Shi Kong as well. Unfortunately, I'm not a person with the Accumulated Scale Realm like the rest of you, if I were, I wouldn't have been able to refuse this offer."
"Oh, is that so? Too bad, then all you can do is patiently wait for this blood array to complete its rotation, and then we can have a good exchange." E Mei's face remained unchanged, saying indifferently.
"Lord E is so busy, I see no need to wait any longer. I'll just come and visit you now." Han Li chuckled and said.
"Ha ha, Brother Li is indeed an impatient one! If you want to come in, I naturally welcome you, but I wonder if you have the capability to do so?" E Mei seemed to have heard the most ridiculous joke, laughing loudly.
"Do I have the capability or not, I'll leave it for Lord E to see." Han Li remained calm and collected, saying casually.
After that, he pinched his hands into a hand seal, and a series of obscure chanting sounds came from his mouth, as he raised his palm and struck the sculpture in front of him with great force.
A layer of snow-white light enveloped his palm, pressing onto the blood-colored light screen, which unexpectedly sank into it.
E Mei was about to say something else, but upon seeing this, his eyebrows furrowed in surprise.
However, when Han Li's palm touched the sculpture beneath Chen Yang, the blood-colored light screen suddenly erupted with a burst of bloody light, and 'Boom' resonated, as it bounced back.
E Mei's eyes narrowed slightly as he saw this, and his smile grew thicker.
Shi Chong Kung and the others had previously attempted to break the light screen, so when they saw Han Li fail, they weren't too surprised.
Han Li seemed to be unfazed, taking a deep breath as he moved to the sculpture beneath Sun Tu, repeating the same actions, chanting the incantation, and striking the blood-colored light screen once again.
The results were naturally the same, and he was only able to touch the sculpture before being bounced back by an invisible force.
His eyes flashed as he moved to the sculpture beneath Qin Yuan, striking the light screen once more.
"A mere cultivator with over two hundred acupoints, thinking of breaking the Blood Tears Barrier through brute force? You're not even a match for a madman's fantasy, no matter how many times you try, it's all useless." E Mei shook his head, saying disdainfully.
After that, he stopped watching Han Li, and instead closed his eyes, accelerating his absorption of the power of the blood and flesh within the great Blood Tears Array, displaying an air of tranquility.
Chen Yang and the others felt their bodies surge with an increased flow of power, and they let out a painful scream, though unfortunately, their voices weren't particularly loud due to their weakness.
Han Li ignored the strange looks from the onlookers, as after striking the sculpture beneath Fu Jian, he moved to the sculpture beneath E Mei's position, and struck again.
Only to see his two hundred and fifty acupoints erupting with light, his palm seeming to grasp a blazing sun, as it heavily chopped down towards the bloody barrier.
The moment his palm made contact with the blood-colored sculpture, a previously unseen, hidden symbol emerged from beneath the five sculptures.
Immediately after, a 'Hum' sound resonated, as the blood-colored light screen trembled violently, its surface rippling like a lake surface blown by the wind.
E Mei sensed that something was amiss, and suddenly opened his eyes, only to see a scene that left him incredulous.
Han Li pinched his hand seal, took a step forward, and unexpectedly, as if he had passed through a layer of water-screen light, directly entered the Blood Tears Great Array.
"How is that possible?" Everyone was shocked by what they saw.
Han Li smiled, his body leaping high into the air, as he stood at the very top of the light screen, higher than the five people on the sculptures by over a dozen feet, suspended in mid-air without falling. "Worthy of being the Cry of Blood Array, indeed a world-class masterpiece. This vast and boundless power, just being in its midst, is enough to make one marvel...” Han Li deeply inhaled the air, sincerely praising.
"Impossible, being in the Blood Array, not using the Cry of Blood Chart as a basis, you would be directly used as a sacrifice... how is this possible?" E Chu's face was full of incredulity as he exclaimed.
"Lord E, are you referring to this?" Han Li asked with a smile.
As he spoke, the hand seals on his hands changed, and he drew a circle with his fingers. Immediately, a blood glow condensed under his feet, forming a five-pointed star pattern, identical to the one on the statues beneath E Chu and the others.
"Boom"
At that moment, a loud thud was heard from the blood-colored light screen below.
When Han Li looked down, he saw that Duan Tong, eager to save his master, had attempted to enter the Cry of Blood Array like Han Li. However, he was met with a massive counterforce and was bounced back, flying away.
Everyone present frowned, and even Zhu Zi Qing couldn't help but cover her mouth to stifle a laugh.
The people trapped in the blood cocoons, including Sun Tu, seemed to have caught a glimmer of hope, struggling to lift their heads and look towards Han Li. A glimmer of excitement flashed in their eyes.
Morning Sun, still struggling, managed to lift his head and gaze at Han Li's figure. Then, he looked up towards the sky outside, his expression complicated and difficult to decipher.
"Lord E, Li has arrived to pay his respects... I wonder if you're prepared," Han Li said, smiling.
His expression suddenly turned serious, and he rapidly changed his hand seals, accompanied by a rushed chanting sound.
A moment later, he let out a loud roar: "Bring it to me!"
A dull, muffled sound erupted from the depths of the array.
The five statues shook violently, with a string of new talismans appearing on their surfaces. The array's operation suddenly stagnated, as if it were about to stop.
However, the thick, sticky blood light from the blood pool below immediately began to surge upwards, madly pouring into the blood cocoon that Qi Jian had transformed into. It then passed through layer after layer of purification before entering E Chu's body.
E Chu's face revealed an unusual expression, and he seemed momentarily bewildered. Just then, the pure blood light that had entered his body astonishingly passed through his body once more, shooting towards Han Li and merging into his body in an instant.
"Gasp..."
Han Li let out a soft cry, and his entire body was enveloped in a blood glow. It was as if numerous fine blood threads had wrapped around him, forming a massive blood cocoon.
His body had once again become the endpoint of the array's blood light circulation.
As the powerful force surged into his body, Han Li's face contorted in agony, with intense, stabbing pains spreading through his meridians, making his teeth feel like they were about to shatter.
He had thought that the blood meat power, which had been filtered and purified by the previous individuals, would not be overly violent. However, the truth was that even his own body, which had opened over two hundred acupoints, was still somewhat too weak to endure.
Fortunately, Han Li was quite adept at enduring pain and could withstand it.
The blood cocoon on his body began to reveal over a thousand white light points, some of which were real and others illusory.
"How is this possible? How can you control the Cry of Blood Array? What kind of person are you?" E Chu's face was filled with incredulous shock as he asked.
Han Li completely ignored him, his eyes widening as he let out a triumphant, long howl.
He immediately closed his eyes and began to circulate the Tian Xia town prisoner skill, crazily integrating the blood meat power surging into his body to attack the acupoints that had yet to be opened.
"Boom" "Boom" "Boom"
In just a short span of ten-odd breaths, he successfully opened three acupoints in his chest, a speed that even surpassed E Chu's by threefold.
"What's going on...?" Liuxiang Fu's expression turned increasingly solemn as she muttered to herself.
Zhu Zi Yuan and the others were even more baffled, filled with shock and doubt.
"Brother... how is this possible? Could this human be related to the Grand Ruins?" Zhu Zi Qing whispered.
Shi Chuan Kong's expression was also complicated, and he couldn't fathom how Han Li had managed to rival E Chu in the blood array.
"No matter who you are, if you want to compete with me, let's see if you have the skills," E Chu said, his face darkening as he calmed down.
He suddenly pinched a hand seal and pointed at his own brow. A strange, crimson symbol appeared on his forehead, and the blood light surrounding his body immediately intensified, beginning to cut off the blood meat power flowing out of his body.
Han Li sensed that the blood meat power flowing into his body had suddenly decreased, and he turned to look at E Chu, smiling: "To find the root cause, that's the correct way. You're just misusing it, and you think you can rival me?"
"Good, good! Er Mou has seen it today, a mere human cultivator with over two hundred acupoints, if you were outside the array, I would have killed you with a single finger, now you dare to be so arrogant in front of me! Er Mou will take a look, how you can live up to your reputation!"
Upon hearing this, Er Weng suddenly burst out laughing.
He then repeated the hand seal, violently pressing down on his brow, and several strange symbol marks appeared on his brow, similar to the ones before. The blood energy around him surged like a wave, and the flesh and blood energy that had flowed out of his body began to return.
Han Li, however, ignored Er Weng and stepped forward in a steady pace, continuously gesturing the hand seals as he danced within the "Blood Cocoon".
Suddenly, a white light emerged from above the "Blood Cocoon", and the cocoon's surface began to crack, splitting open like a blooming flower, transforming into a nine-layered "Blood Lotus".
Han Li clapped his hands in a seal, and sat down cross-legged as the "Blood Lotus" below him bloomed, radiating a deep red light and unleashing an extremely powerful attractive force.
The flesh and blood energy that Er Weng had previously intercepted and was absorbing, suddenly surged out of his body once more, transforming into a dragon-like shape, and violently pounced towards Han Li, plunging into the nine-layered "Blood Lotus".
Han Li's eyes widened as he let out a deafening roar, the veins on his forehead bulging like earthworms as he obtained the doubled power, but the pain he endured also intensified several times.
The top of the "Blood Lotus" beneath him lit up with countless dense bloody lights, resembling numerous sharp blood knives, piercing into his body and injecting the energy of the refined power into his body.
A series of explosions sounded out, as seven or eight more acupoints on Han Li's body lit up.
Er Weng's expression changed, and he finally realized the situation was more severe than he had imagined.
At this moment, not only was the flesh and blood energy within the entire Large Array flowing towards Han Li through his body, but the power that Er Weng had accumulated within himself was also showing signs of being drained.
A flash of furious anger crossed Er Weng's eyes, his hand seal changed, and two gashes appeared on his palms, blood flowing out, dyeing his entire hand red.
Using his blood-stained hands, he pressed down on the five-pointed star below him, quickly reciting an incantation.
The five-pointed star radiated intense light, unleashing a powerful attractive force that intercepted the flesh and blood energy flowing into Han Li's body, as he and Han Li engaged in a tug-of-war.
"You, Er City Master, are quite formidable outside the array, I must say you're the strongest Xian cultivator I've seen, but don't you still not see the situation clearly? This Large Array I am more familiar with, in the array, you are no match for me," Han Li sneered, taking a deep breath, as his hand seal changed once again.
The nine-layered "Blood Lotus" beneath him surfaced with strange symbol marks, the attractive force emanating from it surged several times.
With a loud crash, the blood light on the five-pointed star beneath Er Weng shattered.
He could no longer resist Han Li, and could only watch as the powers he had coveted for years flowed towards Han Li.
Soft crackling sounds accompanied the white virtual light on Er Weng's body extinguishing, one by one.
In just a short span of ten breaths, only over a thousand of his fully materialized acupoints remained.
The flesh and blood energy that Er Weng had thought he had fully absorbed also began to drain away.
Judging from the current situation, it wouldn't take long before he would also become like Sun Tu and the others, a mere filter for the Blood Array's energy to aid Han Li.
Er Weng hesitated for a long time before gritting his teeth, his hand seal changing as he struck the top of the statue below him.
"Don't be in a hurry to leave, Er City Master, I still need you to stay in the array for a bit," Han Li sneered, his hands rapidly moving in a seal as he pointed towards the void.
Suddenly, a massive amount of blood light erupted from the five-pointed star beneath Er Weng, a seven-petaled "Blood Lotus" burst out, resembling an exotic beast about to devour him.
Er Weng's eyes solidified, he stopped gesturing the hand seal, and instead raised his fist, smashing it onto the five-pointed star below him.
The dense acupoints on his arm lit up one after another, a layer of white stellar light enveloped it, exuding a wave of powerful energy fluctuations.
A deafening boom erupted.
Er Weng's fist smashed onto the "Blood Lotus", the statue beneath him violently shaking, surprisingly not collapsing, as the dazzling white light and the piercing bloody light simultaneously exploded.
A frenzied gale rushed out, colliding with the inner wall of the Blood-Colored Luminous Screen, shaking the entire Large Array.
Outside the array, the crowd on the altar couldn't help but gasp in unison as they watched the scene unfold.
Han Li, suspended in mid-air, was also destabilized by the immense force, and quickly gestured the hand seal to stabilize the entire Large Array. Chapter:
Just then, E Shi had already activated his incantation again, striking the beast statue beneath him.
The beast statue behind him burst forth with two wings, from which two white lights shot out, splitting apart and tearing open a hole in the blood-red light screen that was only large enough for one person to pass through.
The opening looked unstable, and it started to close as soon as it appeared. E Shi, however, had already flashed forward, crossing through the opening and escaping outside the blood-red light screen.
Moreover, as he exited the formation, he stretched out his hands with a fierce cry, and two white bone chains shot out from his sleeves, instantly piercing the blood cocoon containing Sun Tu and Chen Yang.
The two, who had long since lost their strength to resist, felt a searing pain in their shoulders. The bones had pierced through, and they were pulled out from the blood cocoon by E Shi's sudden tug, flying towards the entrance that was about to close.
Han Li was about to intervene, but he discovered that the blood dragon-like red glow, which had lost its buffer of the three cultivators, was now rushing towards him after passing Qin Yuan and Fu Jian.
The moment the red glow surged into the Nine-Layered Blood Lotus within Han Li, he felt as if someone had punched him in the chest, causing his heart to throb heavily.
Immediately, a power that far surpassed the previous one began to clash wildly in his limbs, causing pain and pressure that threatened to overwhelm him. While the previous power had been like hacking with a blade, this new power was like being pierced by a thousand swords, and Han Li could feel himself losing control at any moment.
Han Li hurriedly calmed his mind, activated his incantation, and attempted to suppress this power.
On the other side, E Shi, who had managed to pull Chen Yang and Sun Tu out of the Blood-Tears Boundary at the last moment, threw them onto the ground. They lay there like two slumping masses of mud, motionless.
The faces of Shi Chuang Kong and the others turned serious, yet none of them dared to approach.
"A mere cultivator with less than three hundred acupoints, you'll see how long you can last without the three of them to share the power of the Blood Array?" E Shi looked at Han Li with a cold smile, not even sparing a glance at the others. "Once you explode and die, your body will become a part of the blood array, and I'll absorb it back into my body. Don't you find that a bit ironic?"
Han Li's eyes had turned blood-red, and his ears felt as if they were being bombarded with thunder. He couldn't even hear E Shi's voice.
With all his strength, Han Li urged the Starlight force in his body to stabilize the Blood-Tears Boundary, which finally calmed down. However, the crazily violent power within the blood array, now that it was no longer being filtered by the three cultivators, was far beyond what Han Li's current body could handle.
At this moment, Han Li's body was making strange noises, and more than ten acupoints in his chest had been pierced through. However, it was strange that the white light emanating from these newly opened acupoints contained a faint, crimson glow.
His body began to swell, and not only did his limbs and torso double in size, but even his skull was expanding rapidly, as if it was about to burst open.
Han Li's brain felt like it was going to explode from the pain, and if not for his exceptionally strong soul, he would have already lost his grip on his sanity.
Yet, it was precisely because he still maintained a shred of clear awareness that he knew his time was almost up. He wouldn't be able to hold on for more than ten breaths, and after a few more moments, his body would rupture.
Han Li wondered if his Nascent Soul could survive and hide in the small bottle.
Not far away, Shi Chuang Kong's face turned ugly, his eyes still fixed intently on Han Li. Liu Xiu Ning had a complex expression, seemingly lost in thought.
Zhu Zijin, however, seemed unwilling to watch Han Li's body explode, so he slightly turned his head away.
"Hah! Overconfident brat, go to your death!" E Shi burst into loud laughter, his voice ringing out.
Yet, just as everyone was expecting the bloody scene to unfold, Han Li's swollen body began to shrink, slowly returning to its normal state.
Han Li clutched his head, letting out a mournful howl as if he were suffering greatly. However, his eyes had regained some of their clarity. Only he knew that, at this moment, the black, bottle-like artifact in his abdomen was unleashing its power, absorbing the frenzied energy that had entered his body like a bottomless void.
The artifact refused none of this power, no matter how much it was fed.
Han Li's current agonized state was merely an act, a ruse to deceive everyone else. Most of the Blood Array's power had been absorbed into the artifact, and he was only allowing a small portion of it to pass into his body.
"How is this possible...? This is impossible... You can't last that long..." E Shi, his face filled with shock and doubt, bellowed in rage.
Not only was he shocked, but even Shi Chuang Kong, who had been preparing to flee, was caught off guard by this sudden turn of events.
"What's going on? Does that kid have some hidden trick?" Liu Xiu Ning exclaimed in surprise.
"Brother, what's happening?" Zhu Zijin asked in confusion.
Zhu Yuanting's brow furrowed, and he shook his head, his gaze shifting to E Shi.
Just then, E Shi vanished from his original position, only to reappear behind Qin Yuan's statue.
"Let's see how long you can last without those two to stabilize the array," E Shi sneered, his lips curling into a cold smile.
E Shi finished speaking, and his joints emitted a strange, crackling sound. His body suddenly expanded several feet, and a hand emerged from his sleeve, similar to Han Li's earlier action. The palm of his hand pressed against the blood-colored glow, creating a dent that struck the stone beast statue.
The moment his palm touched the statue, his five fingers suddenly arched and stabbed through the blood-colored light screen, pressing against the scaled beast statue.
As he began to chant rapidly, his fingers twisted, causing the statue to vibrate violently. The blood-red glow on its body dimmed significantly.
A faint "puff" sound was heard, and the blood cocoon surrounding Qin Yuan suddenly burst open.
E Shi pinched his hand into a seal, while his other hand manipulated the air within the blood formation, summoning a blood-colored aura that condensed into a massive, blood-colored hand. The hand abruptly extended towards Qin Yuan and seized him.
Han Li, witnessing this, was about to intervene, but he felt a sudden jolt in his heart and rapidly gazed upwards.
E Shi also reacted, looking up towards the sky.
The rooftop, once shrouded in a yellow cloud sea, had opened up to reveal a dazzling, silver light cascading down like a waterfall.
A deafening, electrical buzzing resounded from the high altitude, as if a sea of silver lightning had been poured down upon the great hall.
A thunderous roar shook the air, and the liquid lightning suddenly solidified, transforming into a massive, silver lightning pillar that plunged directly downwards, striking E Shi with unerring accuracy.
The lightning pillar crackled with electricity, releasing thick electrical threads accompanied by a deafening, dragon-like roar, displaying unimaginable power.
Han Li swiftly manipulated his formation and retreated several dozen feet.
E Shi's eyes flashed with surprise, but without hesitation, he flung Qin Yuan upwards, directly into the path of the lightning pillar.
A thunderous explosion boomed through the air, and Qin Yuan's body disintegrated into nothing but gray ash, his Nascent Soul unable to escape.
The silver electrical discharge ignited, expanding into a blinding, white light that illuminated the entire hall, forcing everyone to cover their eyes.
No one noticed Chen Yang, still motionless on the ground, slowly extracting a black, circular mirror the size of a palm and manipulating it with his blood-stained hands. His lips trembled, releasing faint whispers.
Simultaneously, a ring of white light materialized around E Shi's body.
The dissipated electrical energy recondensed, forming another lightning pillar that hurtled towards E Shi, its power seemingly undiminished.
E Shi's expression turned somber, and he retreated several dozen feet, abandoning his pursuit of Han Li.
Just as the lightning pillar was about to miss its target, it changed direction, pursuing E Shi with unrelenting ferocity.
E Shi dodged the attack, but the lightning pillar persistently pursued him, twisting and turning to keep up.
A furious E Shi suddenly spotted Chen Yang's black mirror and inferred its connection to the mysterious lightning. He swiftly retrieved a white, circular mirror from his sleeve, differing only in color and shape from Chen Yang's black mirror.
With a battle cry, E Shi flung his white mirror towards the prostrate Chen Yang.
The mirror crashed to the ground, rolled a few times, and came to rest beside Chen Yang. The surface flashed with white light, and an arc of light rebounded, striking E Shi, no matter how he tried to evade.
Chen Yang smiled coldly, his eyes glinting with amusement, as he weakly lifted his head to observe the scene.
"You have worn the Yin-Yang Mirror for many years, and it has absorbed your aura. There's no escape..."
E Shi's rage intensified, but he could not focus on retaliating, for the relentless lightning pillar pursued him with growing ferocity.
Zhu Zi Yuan and others were baffled by the mysterious lightning, unsure of its origin, yet witnessing its awe-inspiring power.
Others whispered among themselves, urging the lightning on: "Faster, faster..."
After several evasive maneuvers, E Shi realized that the lightning showed no signs of weakening. Resolute determination flashed in his eyes.
Landing in front of the three stone arches, E Shi halted, his body glowing with an intense, protective energy. Over a thousand acupuncture points on his body lit up, unleashing a shield of blazing white energy.
With a thunderous battle cry, E Shi faced the incoming lightning pillar, raising his fist to confront it.
A deafening boom shook the air... A brilliant silver flash suddenly erupted, transforming into a spherical bolt of lightning that enveloped Yueshan's entire body.
The surrounding air was fiercely turbulent with silver electrical currents, causing the space to severely fluctuate and spawn visible cracks that constantly opened and closed.
The blood-colored screen trembled violently, nearly ripped apart, but fortunately, the large array absorbed the blood and flesh energy as nourishment, preventing it from collapsing.
Han Li's heart shook with shock. He looked up at the sky once more, where a sea of yellow clouds reappeared with a black hole still swirling within, making it impossible to determine if more lightning would strike.
His eyes focused, and he immediately accelerated the array's operation, doubling the absorption of the Naihexin Array's blood and flesh energy. Mentally prepared, he was also ready to retreat at any moment.
After several dozen breaths, the massive spherical lightning finally dissipated.
All silver electrical threads gradually disappeared, and Yueshan's silhouette, shrouded within, reappeared.
Still standing upright, his entire body's vital points glimmered unpredictably like starry night skies. However, his right arm, where the lightning had made direct contact, had turned into black charcoal, with black ash continuously falling off.
"Ahhh..."
Yueshan exhaled a long breath, and white smoke burst from his mouth.
His right shoulder violently shook, and the entire arm crumbled into black ashes.
However, a burst of white light soon erupted from the severed arm's stump, covering the wound, and in the blink of an eye, flesh and bone regenerated, fully restoring his arm.
...
Yueshan's cheek was crimson, and the radiant vital points on his body flickered and vanished, revealing his physique.
His body was also a deep red, with bulging veins, resembling numerous green snakes coiled around his body, an extremely frightening sight.
"Linggong Technique!" Han Li's face moved within the Blood Array.
In the next moment, Yueshan's crimson color instantly faded, and his face turned deathly pale. His footsteps also became unsteady.
Not only that, but all his vital points simultaneously sprayed blood, then quickly dulled down. He couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
Although Yueshan had timely employed the Linggong Technique to counter the lightning, the shocking lightning bolt had actually shaken all his vital points.
"City Lord!" Zhu Ziyuan and Zhu Ziqing rushed over, supporting Yueshan, their faces filled with worry.
Yueshan ignored them, gazing upwards.
"E Daoyou, it's been a while. How have you been?"
At this moment, accompanied by a sweet, chuckling voice, seven silhouettes leaped out from the rooftop, the first being Shaxin in a white dress, her slender figure exuding elegance.
The mysterious woman in the black dress and veil also appeared, standing closely behind Shaxin.
The remaining five people were Zhuoge, Wu Yun, the sturdy giant, and two bald, black-armored men.
Yueshan's eyes narrowed, seemingly unsurprised by Shaxin's group's arrival. He pushed Zhu Ziyuan and Zhu Ziqing aside, stabilizing his body.
Sun Tu and others, witnessing the appearance of Shaxin's group, were shocked.
Within the Blood Array, Han Li saw Shaxin's group, and his eyes flashed with alarm. His gaze rested on the mysterious black-dressed woman for a moment, only to quickly move away. Han Li's face continued to show pain as he frantically accelerated the green vial's absorption of the blood and flesh energy from below.
Shaxin's group landed on the ground, their faces changing upon seeing Yueshan and the massive Blood Array within the hall.
The mysterious black-dressed woman gazed at the wretched Han Li within the Blood Array, her delicate body trembling. A peculiar glow emerged in her eyes, and her lips, hidden behind the black veil, slightly parted, as if about to speak.
In that instant, several golden patterns appeared on her forehead, her eyes turning dazed. However, she immediately regained her composure. The unusual color in her eyes had vanished, replaced by tranquility.
The mysterious woman's transformation was momentary, and the surrounding crowd failed to notice. Han Li, however, had been watching her and witnessed the change. He was taken aback.
Just then, two silhouettes flashed by, joining Shaxin's group. They were Chenyang and Xuantun Xing.
Chenyang's face now displayed a radiant blood glow, indicating he had consumed a certain medicinal pill, regaining his mobility. However, his movements still seemed unstable.
"Chen Daoyou, after years of planning, we've finally succeeded! You should take the credit!" Zhuoge laughed, his face exposing excitement.
"It was just luck. I must thank Shaxin City Lord for her clever arrangements. When I first became the City Lord of Qingyang, she presented the dark lightning mirror as a gift, which I naturally treasured. As it contains dark lightning energy that benefits my cultivation, I've kept it close to my body. Everything has unfolded as planned!" Chenyang smiled.
"Xuantun, who's been hiding in Xuan City for years, also deserves congratulations. You'll be rewarded later." Zhuoge continued, addressing Xuantun Xing.
"I'm honored to serve the City Lord. I dare not ask for rewards." Xuantun Xing respectfully replied.
"Excellent! You've been collaborating for so long, setting up a plan from back then. How ingenious!" Yueshan's expression turned ugly as he listened to Chenyang's conversation, his voice cold.
Yueshan's eyes narrowed, seemingly unsurprised by Shaxin's group's appearance. He pushed Zhu Ziyuan and Zhu Ziqing aside, stabilizing his body.
As Yueshan's group fell to the ground, taking in the hall's situation, especially the colossal Blood Array and Han Li within, their faces changed in unison.
Yueshan's eyes were fixed on Shaxin's group. "Now that the truth's out, Shaxin Daoyou has been plotting with you since my ascension to City Lord. Your plan has indeed been ingenious."
"City Lord E, we are just evenly matched. You plotted against us first, and my actions were just self-defense," Chenyang said calmly, meeting E's gaze.
"Xiāo Xīn, even if you were planning to get rid of me, I'll still advise you, given our past relationship. The matter of obtaining the Holy Remains is a win-win situation. Without me, even if you find the Holy Mausoleum, you won't be able to get the Holy Remains," E said, turning his gaze to Xiāo Xīn.
"I know the truth about what happened back then. Actually, the main reason I wanted to cooperate with you and enter this Grand Tomb was to kill you," Xiāo Xīn replied with a cold smile.
E snorted in response but didn't say anything.
"How did E come out? According to what you said earlier, he should still be inside the Weeping Blood Array?" Xiāo Xīn glanced at the blood array beside her and raised an eyebrow, turning to Chenyang.
"An unexpected turn of events occurred, which I didn't anticipate either. The Grand Hall is surrounded by a barrier that prevents me from sending a message," Chenyang replied with a bitter smile, glancing at Han Li inside the blood array.
E overheard the conversation between the two, and his heart skipped a beat.
If he was still inside the array when the lightning struck, he would have been unable to defend himself effectively, and he might have been struck dead on the spot.
Luckily, Li Feiyu appeared, allowing him to exit the array.
As soon as he thought of this, E's hatred towards Han Li decreased significantly, and his mind quickly turned to thinking of a way to retreat.
"E, you have some good fortune today, but you're heavily injured. Prepare to die!" Xiāo Xīn didn't give him any chance to catch his breath, her eyes shining with a fierce killing intent as she raised her hand.
A gold-colored sphere the size of a fist flew out of her sleeve, making a cracking sound as cracks appeared on its surface. A large amount of golden light burst out from within.
The sphere quickly transformed into a golden, giant bird-shaped puppet, over ten zhang tall, resembling two golden eagles. Its broad wings spread out, also over ten zhang wide, with golden feathers on top, each one embroidered with intricate patterns that shone with a starlight glow.
The golden bird puppet looked elegant and noble, but it also gave off an extremely perilous aura.
"Golden Wing Hawk!" E's face changed drastically as he exclaimed.
Before his words had even faded, his figure suddenly sprang forward, his target clearly Xiāo Xīn.
E was severely injured, but his speed was still incredibly fast. He covered a great distance in a single flash, reappearing right in front of Xiāo Xīn.
A white longsword appeared in his hand, shining with a brilliant white sword light, its sharp tip almost instantly reaching a distance of just one foot from Xiāo Xīn.
Just as his sword was about to strike, a blurry golden shadow flashed by, and a golden wing appeared out of thin air, blocking the sword light and Xiāo Xīn.
There was a loud clang as the white sword light struck the golden wing, exploding into a burst of golden light.
The golden wing remained motionless, easily withstanding the attack.
Almost simultaneously, E's head was suddenly enveloped in a golden shadow, and another golden wing appeared out of thin air, striking down towards him like a giant golden knife with incredible speed.
The air around the wing vibrated violently, and the ground nearby cracked open, forming a deep gash.
E's pupils constricted as he swiftly dodged to the side, his other hand flashing with a white light as another longsword appeared, and he crossed his swords to slash down.
The two swords clashed, creating a massive explosion of light as the white and gold energies met and exploded.
A massive wave of gold and white energy surged out in all directions, causing the air to quiver and the ground to be scraped away.
The entire Grand Hall building shook violently, its structure creaking ominously.
E and Xiāo Xīn moved at incredible speeds, their exchanges happening in the blink of an eye, and the others could only react after the fact, hastily retreating to avoid the aftermath.
Han Li, who was inside the blood array, was also affected by the residual energy, and the array began to shake violently. He quickly cast a spell to stabilize it.
The white sword light shattered, but it also momentarily halted the golden wing's descent.
E's face turned red again as he spat out a mouthful of blood, but he had already retreated, his feet stomping the ground.
With a swift motion, he shot upwards like a black owl taking flight, aiming for a large hole in the ceiling.
E's speed was incredibly fast, and with the added momentum from the shockwave, he moved at an astonishing velocity, reaching the ceiling in an instant.
Just as he was about to exit through the hole, a golden afterimage flashed by, creating numerous residual images as it moved at a speed that surpassed even E's, instantly blocking his path.
E's body glowed with starlight as he forcibly halted his movement.
The Golden Wing Hawk's most formidable aspect is its speed. City Lord E, you won't be able to escape today. Surrender!" The Golden Wing Hawk's wings spread wide, and Xiāo Xīn stood atop it, her face twisted into a cold smile as her slender fingers moved, her fingertips radiating a faint, transparent thread.
As the bird's wings fluttered, its golden feathers glowed with an intense light, and the next moment, countless golden feathers exploded from its surface, emitting a blood-curdling shriek as they hurtled towards E like a dense, golden rain.
Each feather transformed into a blinding, golden light, leaving behind a long, glowing tail that resembled a golden meteor. E Fu's face sank, seemingly extremely wary of the golden feathers. He let out a loud battle cry, and the double swords in his hand danced swiftly.
Innumerable white sword silhouettes appeared, densely packed, hacking towards the golden feathers.
However, upon contact, the white sword silhouettes crumbled upon touching the golden feathers, instantly pierced and shattered into fragments.
Meanwhile, the golden feathers merely slowed down slightly but continued to shoot down at incredible speeds, like lightning.
E Fu's face was strained taut; the Star Acupoints around his body shone with starlight, and his body spun like a top, creating a white whirlpool of starlight around him.
Nearby star energy surged towards him wildly, and rays of starlight poured in from the large holes in the roof, merging into the whirlpool.
The whirlpool instantaneously grew several times in size, spinning rapidly and releasing waves of intense tearing forces, which also stirred up the surrounding void, causing ripples to form.
As soon as the golden feathers entered the whirlpool, they were pulled away from their original trajectory, moving involuntarily with the whirlpool and their speed significantly reduced.
E Fu's double swords left arcs of light, hacking at the incoming golden feathers, splitting and sending them flying.
However, the power contained within the golden feathers was truly terrifying, and E Fu's body would involuntarily shudder each time his swords cut through one, and he would be blown backward.
A series of intense, earth-shaking booms erupted!
In an instant, all the golden feathers had been exhausted, and E Fu's body was severely struck, crashing to the ground, and creating a large crater.
The golden feathers that had been deflected or shot into the air mostly landed on the ground, while some struck the nearby walls.
Regardless of whether it was the ground or the walls, they seemed as fragile as tofu in the face of the golden feathers imbued with immense power, easily penetrating them.
The sound was like thunder, the shockwaves like knives, creating a maelstrom of explosive air that shook the entire great hall violently, as if it was about to collapse from the intensity of the two men's battle.
Xuan City's and Gui City's other cultivators retreated even further, their eyes wide with shock.
When the two City Lords clashed, they were like insignificant ants, unable to intervene, and if they failed to dodge in time, they might be affected.
The blood array was also struck by the golden feathers, but it wasn't damaged, and continued to function.
Inside the array, Han Li's expression kept changing.
E Fu was heavily injured yet still possessed such power; looking back, taking food from him was a desperate measure but also an extremely reckless move. If Sha Xin and the others hadn't appeared suddenly, Han Li's own situation would have been quite precarious.
As he pondered, E Fu leaped out of the crater, but the starlight surrounding his body had disappeared.
He spat out another mouthful of blood, his face deathly pale, his steps stumbling, and seemingly at his wit's end.
A golden shadow flashed, and the Golden-Winged Eagle appeared above E Fu.
"I said it before; you won't be able to escape today. I'll avenge my Master's enmity today!" Sha Xin's eyes were icy cold as she moved her fingers.
The Golden-Winged Eagle flapped its wings, releasing more golden feathers in a flash, amidst a piercing shriek.
E Fu's situation seemed extremely dire, yet he showed no signs of giving up. As he prepared to respond, eight silver lights shot out from beside him, each containing a silver ball, rapidly spinning above his head.
A loud "boom" sounded!
The eight silver balls burst with silver light, unleashing a swarm of silver runes, which rapidly condensed into a silver light array.
The array enveloped the surrounding area, covering several dozen zhang, and E Fu's figure was obscured within it. The array was filled with countless silver lights, which seemed to move like the rotation of the celestial spheres, mysterious and unfathomable.
Innumerable golden feathers pierced the silver light array, causing it to shake violently, but it didn't shatter.
Sha Xin's expression changed as she gazed at the scene, her eyes focusing on the direction the silver light had come from, but she saw no one, and coldly snorted.
The Golden-Winged Eagle swooped down, radiating golden light, and flapped its wings, shooting another barrage of golden feathers at the silver array.
Its sharp talons gleamed with golden light, as if they could pierce the heavens, and struck down.
Two enormous golden claws emerged, shining with an intensity that made it hard to look directly at them, and grasped the silver array, tearing at it violently.
The array finally shattered, releasing a blast of silver light.
Two figures shot out from the silver light: one was E Fu, and the other was Liu Hua Furen.
E Fu's face looked slightly better, seemingly having used some recovery technique within the array.
However, the two didn't charge towards the holes in the roof but instead shot towards a distant wall, where over ten golden feathers were lodged, the surface cracked and broken.
They fled, leaving the scene of intense battle behind, disappearing into the distance.
"Think you can escape?"
Shixin sneered coldly, his ten fingers moving swiftly.
The Golden Winged Hawk unfolded its wings, transforming into a golden light as it pursued E Modi and Liu Huafuren, its speed astonishing, almost disappearing in the blink of an eye. It swiftly closed in, its two massive claws snapping downwards towards the two.
At this very moment, Liu Huafuren suddenly swept her sleeve to the side.
A dark light shot out from the sleeve, striking the Golden Winged Hawk head-on with a speed faster than lightning.
The dark light was actually a dense concentration of minute, countless particles, radiating a faint, eerie fluctuation.
"Taiyin yuan magnetic polar light! Where did you obtain such a thing?" Shixin exclaimed in shock, leaping backward, his hands grasping the emptiness as he forcefully yanked to the side.
The Golden Winged Hawk's body suddenly shifted to the side, narrowly avoiding the dark light.
However, with the two sides being too close and the speed too fast, the Golden Winged Hawk failed to dodge in time and was struck by the dark light.
A "Bong" echoed through the air as the dark light burst and shook open, transforming into black, ripple-like lights that clung to the Golden Winged Hawk, spreading rapidly.
The Golden Winged Hawk's lively movements suddenly stiffened, the strange grating sounds echoed from within its body as if the internal mechanisms had suffered immense blockage, unable to move despite Shixin's frantic control.
Meanwhile, Liu Huafuren and E Modi seized the opportunity to make a slight detour, narrowly avoiding the Golden Winged Hawk's strike.
The Golden Winged Hawk continued flying forward with immense speed, as though it were a bowstring bursting with unbridled energy, only to violently crash into the ground.
A massive "Boom" shook the air, causing a giant, deep crater to be excavated into the ground. Sand and dust scattered through the air.
Shixin didn't manage to avoid the impact, being dragged into the crater alongside the Golden Winged Hawk.
Liu Huafuren and E Modi, unfazed, continued flying swiftly onward.
When passing by a hidden area, E Modi's figure flickered momentarily before he plunged into the shadows.
A piercing cry ensued, swiftly cut short by an eerie silence.
E Modi emerged from the hidden area once more, but his hand grasped something - a person.
Han Li, within the blood array, directed his gaze toward the man E Modi was holding captive. The man turned out to be Shi Chongkong.
Shi's body had faint traces of blood, his eyes sealed tightly shut. His breath remained steady, suggesting that he was merely rendered unconscious.
Han Li's expression wavered at the sight of his friend.
"What's going on?" Han Li wondered, feeling perplexed. Why did E Modi bother capturing Shi Chongkong when the team was being pursued by their enemies and was desperately in need of escaping?
Without hesitation, E Modi's figure continued speeding onward like lightning until he arrived at the fractured wall.
His fist was adorned with strong white starlight, and a wave of raw energy quivered from his hand. "Sss," he growled before punching the wall, where a blast of white light solidified and smote it.
A deafening "Boom" thundered through the air.
The entire building shook violently, the wall cracked to produce a massive opening over a man's height.
Sha Xin suddenly emerged from the crater.
"You won't escape!" she exclaimed upon witnessing E Modi's escape, her expression anxious.
As she dashed forward at breathtaking speed, a burst of glowing energy radiated from her hands.
"Tck-tck!" A sharp sound echoed.
Sha Xin hurtled two silver orbs from her sleeves; these orbs separated in a split second to transform into two silver, giant birds whose momentum escalated after spreading their wings, accelerating faster than a silver streak toward E Modi and Liu Huafuren.
During their high-speed pursuit, their massive bodies erupted to unleash innumerable sharp silver needles at E Modi and Liu Huafuren.
Just before these needles would have reached their targets, E Modi hastily grasped Liu Huafuren's arm and dashed out of the opening. Their shadows quickly vanished into thin air.
Innumerable needles rained down upon the wall, leaving minute pockmarks across its surface.
While the two silver giant birds resembled the Golden Winged Hawk in shape, their imposing auras felt much weaker.
The pockmarks left on the walls were shallow and couldn't compare to the Golden Winged Hawk's intimidating, razor-sharp feathers.
However, the silver birds' speed matched their agility. Like flashes of lightning, they swiftly reduced their velocity to an abrupt halt.
A series of powerful booms shook the walls.
Although the building trembled, the giant birds repeatedly smashed into the opening without creating an escape path.
Finally, Sha Xin arrived before the heavily battered walls.
A faint, stony mask obscured her expression. She speedily danced her hands to and fro and clapped together, causing the two giant birds to shrink into glowing orbs once again.
Sha Xin caught these orbs in her hands, their clinking sounds muffled as they retreated back into her control. The chapter begins with Sha Xin turning to look at Zhuo Ge and issuing a cold order, "Xiao Zi and Kun Yu will go with me to chase after E Xi. Zhuo Ge, I'll leave this place to you, and temporarily, the control of the Golden Winged Goshawk is in your hands. Kill all of the remaining masters here."
Around the same time, Fu Jian was still trapped in the blood-colored cocoon, quietly and motionlessly hiding his presence as his energy weakened. Qin Yuan had been killed by a lightning strike, and Chen Yang had already defected to Gui City.
In the city, the remaining four masters were Han Li, Sun Tu, Duan Tong, Zhu Ziyuan, and Zhu Ziqing.
When they heard Sha Xin's words, the faces of Duan Tong, Zhu Ziyuan, and Zhu Ziqing instantly changed colors as they considered escaping. However, they dared not to move recklessly due to Sha Xin's intimidating aura.
Sun Tu on the other hand, was activating a mysterious technique that caused black lights to flash around his body, allowing him to swiftly get up.
Han Li whispered to himself, "Xiao Zi..."
Zhuo Ge indifferently cupped his hands and replied, "Yes, sir."
The black-clothed woman and the large brute of a man responded before immediately taking their positions on either side of Sha Xin's back, flanking him.
As Han Li observed Xiao Zi, Sha Xin turned around and cast a glance at Han Li, his brow furrowed slightly in suspicion. Though he was unclear about what was happening, Sha Xin chose not to investigate further and turned his attention to departing.
In Sha Xin's wake, Xiao Zi and the large man followed him out of the giant cave and disappeared into the distance.
Without any hesitation, Zhuo Ge made a hand gesture and sent six men, including Wu Yun, two bald men, Chen Yang, and Xuan Yuan, charging forward. The men promptly surrounded Sun Tu, Zhu Ziyuan, and Zhu Ziqing.
Han Li, trapped in the blood array, remained calm as his eyes followed Xiao Zi's disappearing figure. His face darkened into a scowl as his teeth clenched in anguish, he soon returned to normal and began to stimulate the blood array once more.
He chose to seal about half of the massive spiritual energy within the array and integrate it into his own body, speeding up the growth process of his "Heavenly Extinction Imprisonment Technique."
The array was now filled with a brilliant, blood-red glow. As a result of the colossal spiritual energy from the array, Han Li's body was now illuminating with a faint, blood-like radiance. Moreover, this led to a forceful breakthrough, and several of his acupuncture points were opened consecutively, accompanied by successive muffled booms.
As the blood array experienced this acute change in energy, the surrounding area, initially tranquil, was now engulfed in surging spiritual energy. Consequently, Zhuo Ge and the other members of his party couldn't help but feel an intense, impending sense of foreboding.
During the brief moment of everyone's distraction, two figures emerged from Gui City's encirclement and sprinted towards the cave entrance. These were none other than Sun Tu and Duan Tong.
Zhu Ziyuan and Zhu Ziqing saw their chance as well, swiftly transforming into silhouettes and dodging their pursuers as they escaped towards a different direction.
Zhuo Ge let out a quiet curse, feeling his momentary lapse in vigilance. He quickly dispatched Wu Yun and another bald-headed man to pursue Zhu Ziyuan and Zhu Ziqing.
"Morning Sun, Xuan Yuan, Han Li and the remaining person in the blood array are left to you."
Just as Chen Yang and Xuan Yuan went to the blood array, they heard a cold, suppressed chuckle and suddenly felt an intense pain reminiscent of a hot blade piercing their souls.
A flash of white light escaped the blood array, where they saw some chains being flung out, and an instant later, these chains disappeared into their brains.
The movement happened swiftly, akin to lightning flashing before one's eyes. Chen Yang and Xuan Yuan, being instantaneously petrified, now had empty, spaced-out expressions as they stood still.
Zhuo Ge remained oblivious to this, a considerable distance away, and his perception of the situation led him to believe Chen Yang and the others were closely examining the blood array.
"Fellow acquaintances, I'll spare your lives this one time. Let's hope you won't bother me in the future," Han Li said indistinctly from within the blood array.
As the last of his words faded away, he resumed his fervent stimulation of the blood array and his unwavering, unrelenting assault on the acupuncture points.
Meanwhile, Sun Tu and Duan Tong had fled but were soon intercepted by Zhuo Ge and his companion on the road. As the two tried to get past them, a loud boom echoed through the air.
Suddenly, a gigantic white wolf and an equally enormous silver leopard descended from above, landing before the duo and cutting off their path.
Both of these enormous magical creatures towered over ten meters high, casting long shadows that engulfed Sun Tu and Duan Tong. Their faces were twisted with unsightly expressions as a hint of desperation began to emerge in their eyes.
"I'm sorry, my two acquaintances. Although I don't hold a grudge against you, Han Li's order states that I need to take your lives, so I have no choice but to make an exception," Zhuo Ge explained.
"No, a better reason would be that we have no personal connection with you, so there's no harm in offending you."
Upon speaking, Zhuo Ge wiggled his fingers. At his fingertips, a group of gemstone strings began to sparkle.
Just as he did so, the enormous wolf beast let out a thunderous roar, exposing rows of sharp teeth and hurtling towards Sun Tu and Duan Tong.
Chapter:
Sun Tu and Duan Tong faced the White Wolf Puppet's huge, bloodthirsty maw. They quickly retreated, attempting to dodge the attack.
Unexpectedly, the giant white wolf's body, despite its massive size, was incredibly agile and quick. Duan Tong's vision blurred as a massive, grinding wheel-sized paw appeared out of thin air and swung down at him.
Duan Tong's face contorted in shock, but since he was still mid-air, he couldn't dodge. Instead, he swung his thick right arm down, summoning the power of the Stellar Void. A blinding white light beam formed and collided with the paw.
A loud cracking sound echoed as Duan Tong's invincible right arm was directly twisted and broken. Like a straw, he was blown backward and crashed to the ground, spewing blood from his mouth.
The White Wolf Puppet also stumbled backward, but quickly regained its balance. Its jaws opened wide once more, unleashing a ferocious howl at Duan Tong.
A burst of white light flashed from the puppet's mouth as its entire head shook violently, emitting a low rumble. Countless white flying needles shot out of its mouth, screaming with an otherworldly howl as they pummeled Duan Tong's body and the surrounding ground.
The needles contained massive power, causing the ground within a several-meter radius to collapse.
Duan Tong was buried, his body riddled with holes from the flying needles. He didn't even have time to scream before meeting his demise.
Sun Tu witnessed the entire scene, his face pale with fear. He turned to flee.
Just then, the bald-headed man appeared above him, riding the Silver Leopard Puppet. The puppet's massive paws swung down.
Sun Tu had just seen the White Wolf Puppet easily kill Duan Tong, and he didn't dare resist. A white glow emanated from his legs as he dodged to the side, barely avoiding the Silver Leopard Puppet's attack.
At that moment, the White Wolf Puppet's jaws opened wide once more, its mouth glowing with white energy as it unleashed another barrage of flying needles.
Sun Tu let out a low growl, and a black glow flashed in his hand. A slender black bone sword appeared, and he swung it upward to counter the flying needles.
The black sword emitted a bright black aura, transforming into a black beast that resembled a mountain cat. It opened its mouth, inhaling the flying needles.
A black glow enveloped the needles, and they vanished into thin air. The black beast dissipated, and the black sword's glow dimmed significantly.
Sun Tu flipped his palm, revealing a white crystal grain. He inserted it into a groove on the sword's hilt, and the crystal's glow flashed before disappearing. The black sword's glow immediately returned to its original state.
Zhuo Ge's eyes widened in surprise. However, his movements didn't slow, and his fingers danced with speed.
The White Wolf Puppet's four legs moved, and its massive body became a white blur as it charged toward Sun Tu. Its speed was astonishing, at least twice as fast as the Silver Leopard Puppet. The puppet's paws carried a devastating wind as they swung down.
Sun Tu didn't flinch, and a white glow emanated from his legs as he dodged the attack once more.
The White Wolf Puppet missed its mark, but its body continued forward, colliding with Sun Tu. He stumbled, barely avoiding the impact.
The puppet's body glowed with white light as it rapidly turned its head and snapped its jaws shut, its speed increasing with each passing moment.
Sun Tu stumbled backward, his footwork erratic as he dodged the attack once more.
As the master of White Rock Castle, Sun Tu's power was far superior to that of Duan Tong. Despite his injuries, he managed to evade the White Wolf Puppet's relentless attacks.
The puppet's body erupted with a furious howl as it continued its assault, unleashing a flurry of attacks with its paws, teeth, and claws.
Although it no longer had the flying needles, the White Wolf Puppet's speed continued to increase, its body becoming a white blur as it pursued Sun Tu.
The other bald-headed man simply watched from a distance, not intervening.
Zhuo Ge's "Lonely Wind Phantom Wolf" was an exceptional puppet from the Puppet City, capable of handling a wounded Sun Tu with ease. Moreover, Zhuo Ge believed that intervening would only hinder the puppet's performance.
As the White Wolf Puppet's attack speed increased, it suddenly swung its paw down.
Sun Tu attempted to dodge, but the puppet's angle and speed were too great. Just as the paw was about to strike, he let out a loud roar and swung his black sword upward.
The sword emitted a massive black glow, transforming into the mountain cat beast once more. The beast bit down on the White Wolf Puppet's paw, and it instantly dissolved into nothingness.
The black beast dissipated, returning to the sword. Just as this happened, the white wolf puppet flipped its body, and its other front paw flashed by like lightning, seemingly calculating the exact moment and angle of the leopard beast's virtual image appearing, and as the beast's image quickly retreated and vanished, the paw swiftly crossed over and grasped the front of Sun Tu's chest.
Blood suddenly burst forth!
Sun Tu was instantly sent flying, and his chest was slashed open with several long and deep wounds, with blood rapidly gushing out. His body fell to the ground with a loud thud.
Before he could get up, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air, and a short spear flew in, penetrating Sun Tu's dantian and pinning his body to the ground.
Sun Tu struggled a couple of times before completely ceasing to move.
"Duke Xiao's puppet control technique has advanced even further! It seems that in Puppet City, apart from the castle lord, no one remembers you, impressive." The bald man came over with his silver leopard puppet, laughing.
"Great Black Brother is overpraising, if we talk about puppet control technique, not even Wu Yun Duke or Kun Yu Duke are below me, and the newly-arrived young Miss Zi has exceptional talent, even the castle lord has praised her with her technique advancing these years under my personal guidance, I dare not claim to be the first." Zhuo Ge smiled lightly and said.
While speaking, he leaped off and landed beside Sun Tu's body, retrieving the short spear with one hand.
His gaze then shifted towards the black bone sword nearby, which he picked up and examined for a moment, his eyes slightly lighting up, and a hint of a smile appearing on his lips.
Zhuo Ge reached into Sun Tu's robes and searched around, pulling out several things before quickly returning to the white wolf puppet.
Great Black did not say anything, watching Zhuo Ge's actions.
Sun Tu's belongings naturally belonged to Zhuo Ge, the one who had struck him down.
The two then turned their heads towards Wu Yun and Chenyang's direction, finding them entangled in an intense battle.
Zhuo Ge's expression sank, urging the white wolf puppet to rush over, and it quickly arrived at Chenyang and Xuan Yuan Hang's location.
"Chenyang friend, why aren't you two intervening?" Zhuo Ge asked sternly.
"Huh, what's going on with these two?" Great Black followed over, muttering in puzzlement.
Zhuo Ge heard him, glancing over at Chenyang's and Xuan Yuan Hang's empty, dull expressions before leaping off the puppet.
"What's wrong with you two?" Zhuo Ge asked, shaking them.
"Looks like their spiritual souls are being restrained," Great Black observed their expressions and replied.
"It's seems so, but who did it, is it related to the blood array?" Zhuo Ge wondered aloud, suddenly looking towards Han Li and Fu Jian within the blood array.
The blood sac surrounding Han Li grew increasingly thick, making it impossible to see inside, and only faint rumbling sounds could be heard from within.
"No matter what, this blood array can't continue!" A gleam of cold determination flashed in Zhuo Ge's eyes as he hopped back on the white wolf puppet.
"Hsss!" The white wolf puppet radiated intense white light from its body as Zhuo Ge gestured, gathering the light into its front paw.
"Open!" His face turned serious as his hands moved quickly.
The white wolf puppet leaped into the air, its paw slashing downward.
Five half-moon shaped white lights appeared, rapidly expanding to several dozen zhang in size, unearthing eye-searing brilliance that no one could gaze directly at.
The white lights radiated a severe cutting momentum as they traversed the air, evoking cries from everyone watching.
Wu Yun and company, in the midst of battle, sensed the sudden activation in their surroundings, momentarily faltering before turning to gaze towards the blood array.
The five white lights approached the blood array, suddenly rushing down with extreme speed.
Right then, the blood array display fluctuated, a multitude of crimson array patterns flashing in, followed by a layer of intense crystalline bloodlight that fortified the light screen. It emitted a piercing flash of energy aimed towards the five lights.
The sound of crashing thunder boomed, echoing throughout the hall.
The red and white lights intertwined, bursting in all directions with enormous force, the throne chamber bursting into a violent quake, countless shattered stones falling and cracks in the walls deepening.
The shaking of the chamber slowly subsided, with the fading red and white lights eventually disclosing the unscathed blood array display.
Upon witnessing the scene, Zhuo Ge's face instantly fell.
"Looks like Chenyang and company's predicament is the result of someone inside's actions. Duke Xiao, I'll lend you a hand, and together we can take down this constraint!" Great Black enthusiastically called out.
"I'll join in too!"
As they spoke, Hei Da raised his hands, and the silver leopard puppet beneath him displayed a series of silver patterns on its body, radiating light and gathering energy.
"This light shield is extremely sturdy, and our two puppets aren't enough to break it," Zuogou said calmly, raising his hand to stop Hei Da and speaking in a flat tone.
"What should we do?" Hei Da asked, his eyes widening in surprise.
"Don't worry, our puppets may not be able to break this seal, but that doesn't mean others can't. Now I finally understand why the city lord left the Golden Winged Hawk puppet here," Zuogou said, turning around to look at the Golden Winged Hawk puppet on the ground, a smile spreading across his face.
Just as he was about to turn around, a cold hum sounded in his ear, and a strand of invisible spiritual energy pierced into Zuogou's mind.
Zuogou let out a mournful grunt, suddenly clutching his head with both hands.
At that moment, a crystalline light shot out of the Blood Array like a bolt of lightning, arriving instantly before Zuogou.
Inside the crystalline light, several crystal clear locks could be seen, about to penetrate Zuogou's brain.
Just in time, dozens of nearly transparent crystalline threads burst forth from Zuogou's brow, wrapping around the crystalline light and the crystal clear locks.
The crystal clear locks seemed like fish trapped in a net, halted mid-air by the crystalline threads.
However, the locks were much thicker and longer than the threads, struggling and twisting to continue their advance.
But this brief moment of hesitation was enough for Zuogou to react, leaping off the White Wolf puppet and rapidly flying towards the distance, his voice cold and mocking: "It seems that Your Excellency has little experience fighting against people from the Puppet City. This level of spiritual attack is ineffective against us."
Hei Da immediately followed suit, driving his puppet to chase after Zuogou.
Inside the Blood Array, Han Li's hands formed a seal, and a crystalline light flashed at his brow.
The crystal clear locks immediately intensified their radiance, breaking free from the crystalline threads and shooting back, but they did not pursue Zuogou and Hei Da.
Han Li took a deep breath, operating the Blood Array with all his might, continuously bombarding the mystical orifices on his body.
In this short period, he opened up another 20 to 30 orifices on his body.
Zuogou swiftly flew over to the Golden Winged Hawk puppet, his fingers moving rapidly as crystalline threads shot out from his hands, entering the puppet's body.
Hei Da stood before the Golden Winged Hawk puppet, wary and watching the Blood Array in the distance.
However, no further incidents occurred within the Blood Array.
The Golden Winged Hawk's body immediately radiated a bright golden light, and although the dark energy was still present, it no longer spread.
Zuogou muttered to himself, his hands forming seals as the golden light on the Golden Winged Hawk's body began to churn and surge, enshrouding the dark energy and counterattacking.
The dark energy slowly began to dissipate, but at a very slow pace.
Zuogou's eyes flashed with impatience, and he raised his hand, summoning the black bone sword that had once belonged to Sun Tu. With a swift slash, the sword dispersed a wave of dark energy.
The silhouette of the Lynx Beast reappeared, but its color was much duller than before, and it seemed lazy and unwilling to move.
Zuogou let out a soft snort, his hand grasping the sword as white light flashed, accompanied by several crystalline threads.
The Lynx Beast's silhouette finally stirred, opening its mouth to suck in the dark energy on the Golden Winged Hawk.
The dark energy rapidly detached from the Golden Winged Hawk puppet, forming a hazy column of black light that entered the Lynx Beast's mouth.
The Golden Winged Hawk's golden light drove away the dark energy, and the Lynx Beast's consumption caused the dark energy to rapidly dissipate, disappearing entirely after a few breaths.
The Golden Winged Hawk puppet let out a joyful cry, spreading its wings and taking to the air, transformed into a golden phantom that whirled and spun within the grand hall at an incredible speed, leaving behind over a dozen afterimages.
The golden phantom generated powerful gusts of wind that howled through the hall, leaving behind marks on the floor and walls.
Wu Yun and Zhu Ziyuan were affected by the gusts and immediately retreated to avoid the winds, ceasing their battle.
Zhu Ziyuan looked up at the whirling golden phantom, a hint of fear crossing his face.
Zhu Qing, however, gazed at the phantom, but her eyes were not focused on the Golden Winged Hawk; instead, they reflected Zuogou's figure, a complex glow flashing in her eyes.
Although the golden phantom moved with incredible speed, it seemed slightly unsteady, likely due to Zuogou's unfamiliarity with controlling the puppet.
However, after circling the grand hall twice, the Golden Winged Hawk puppet quickly stabilized.
"The Golden Winged Hawk, renowned for its speed within the Puppet City, truly lives up to its reputation," Zuogou thought, his heart burning with excitement, before turning to gaze at the Blood Array, his eyes flashing with a fierce light, his fingers moving in a blur.
The Golden Winged Hawk let out a sharp cry, its wings beating rapidly as it transformed into a golden afterimage, shooting towards the Blood Array like lightning.
Approaching the Blood Array, the Golden Winged Hawk suddenly retracted its wings, its body resembling a massive golden cone, with its sharp beak at the tip.
The golden beak radiated an unstoppable golden light, imbued with the force to pierce through anything, as it stabbed towards the Blood Array's light shield.
Within the Blood Array, Han Li's brow furrowed, his hands forming a seal as he countered with a swift motion.
A crystalline sword shadow shot out from his brow, radiating a fierce aura, which was his Divine Intent Sword.
However, he was also using his Divine Intent Cage to restrain Chenyang and the other two, exhausting a significant amount of his spiritual energy, so the Divine Intent Sword's might was somewhat diminished compared to when he had last used it.
The Divine Intent Sword shot out, but its target was not the Golden Winged Hawk puppet; instead, it was aimed directly at Zuogou. Only the light flashed, and the sword shadow appeared in front of Zhuo Ge, flying towards his brow.
Zhuo Ge felt the aura of the Mind Sword and his face greatly changed. Without controlling the puppet, his body sprang sideways to dodge.
However, the Mind Sword suddenly changed direction, not striking Zhuo Ge, but instead cutting down the crystal threads emanating from his hands.
"Do you want to pretend one thing but mean another? laughable, do you think I wouldn't see through it?" Zhuo Ge's eyes widened as a sneer flashed on his lips, and his fingers moved, causing the crystal threads on the surface to sparkle, before turning into a misty state.
The Mind Sword didn't stop at all, slashing right through the misty crystal threads.
With a “sizzle” sound, sparks burst out in the void, and the misty crystal threads all exploded and scattered.
The Mind Sword also greatly diminished in radiance, seemingly having consumed a lot, and didn't continue to stay outside, flying back into the blood-colored screen.
"What?" Zhuo Ge was stunned, and an expression of utter disbelieving appeared in his eyes.
The Golden Winged Vulture puppet suddenly lost control, and its wings spread open with a loud whoosh. The direction of its flight suddenly changed, and it began flying upwards.
As a result, the area that collided with the blood-colored screen changed from the bird's beak to its abdomen.
With a loud "Boom" sound!
The blood-colored screen violently indented inwards, before undulating, with the blood light flashing wildly.
The Golden Winged Vulture puppet was bounced back by the screen, crashing into the roof.
Zhuo Ge finally recovered at this moment, and his hands moved again like wheels, sending threads flying out in all directions, darting into the Golden Winged Vulture's body like lightning.
The Golden Winged Vulture puppet glowed golden on the surface, before it was controlled by Zhuo Ge once again. The wings flapped and it barely stopped in time, just inches from crashing into the roof.
Zhuo Ge let out a long sigh, before suddenly looking at the blood formation, and his fingers moved once more, causing the Golden Winged Vulture puppet to turn around and pounce at the blood formation once more.
However, this time he didn't control the Golden Winged Vulture to attack with its beak, but instead had it spread its wings from a distance, with golden light bursting out.
With a “whoosh” sound, countless golden feathers flew out from its wings, emitting a terrifying howl, striking the blood-colored screen.
Han Li, inside the blood cocoon, frowned.
At the moment, he was inside the blood formation, with not many methods at his disposal. If Zhuo Ge was closer to the formation, he could deal with him, but since he was attacking from a distance, he had no way to counter.
Resigned, he pinched his hands together.
The blood-colored screen radiated a strong light, as countless blood-colored thread patterns burst out, and it thickened once more, rigidly resisting the Golden Winged Vulture's attack.
A deafening explosion shook the air, the blood-colored screen violently quaking, rapidly becoming thinner before the naked eye.
The Black large-eyed man at the side, witnessing this scene, urged on the Silver Leopard puppet, launching a long-range attack to aid Zhuo Ge.
The blood-colored screen grew thinner and thinner, until, a few breaths later, it finally shattered with a "Poof" sound.
The countless golden feathers didn't stop at all, continuing to fly into the blood formation.
These golden feathers possessed incredible power, only hearing the sound of tearing fabric, as the thread patterns inside the blood formation were easily cut through, destroyed like dry wood.
The remaining blood formation violently quaked, before large protrusions emerged on its surface, and then exploded with a loud "Boom".
A continuous series of thunderous explosions sounded, until the remaining blood formation had completely disappeared, transforming into a wave of blood energy, wildly surging and spreading outwards.
Zhuo Ge and the Black large-eyed man, though standing at a distance, were swiftly affected by the blood energy wave, and both they and their puppets were pushed back.
Zhuo Ge hastily moved his hands, urging the Golden Winged Vulture puppet to steady itself.
Before he could completely steady the Golden Winged Vulture, a figure burst out of the blood energy wave in front of him, bathed in a dazzling white radiance, and punched at Zhuo Ge's head.
His fist radiated immense power, tearing through the air, leaving a white mark behind, and letting out a thunderous roar.
Zhuo Ge's expression greatly changed, and he didn't bother to control the Golden Winged Vulture, his foot violently stomping on the puppet, as it rapidly shot backwards.
At the same time, a thick white light burst out of his feet, propelling him forward, greatly increasing his speed, as he barely managed to avoid that attack.
"Hmph!" that figure coldly snorted, its foot stomping on the Golden Winged Vulture puppet's back.
A muffled "Boom" sounded, as the Golden Winged Vulture puppet's enormous body crashed to the ground.
That white figure borrowed the force to shoot out, disappearing with a "Whoosh" sound, only to reappear in front of Zhuo Ge the next moment, moving at an unfathomable speed.
A terrified look flashed across Zhuo Ge's face, before he could react, his back suddenly burst out with a "Whoosh" sound, as eight black lights shot out from his spine, transforming into eight long, curved, dark legs, resembling spider legs.
Each of the eight spider legs was 2-3 meters long, with dark and sharp tips, radiating a strange glow, and sending a chill down one's spine.
With a "Whoosh" sound, the eight spider legs immediately shot towards that white figure with the speed of lightning.
Without waiting for the outcome, they struck again and again, not giving the white figure any chance to retaliate.
Eight spider legs moved with the speed of lightning, but the white figure moved even faster. With a stretch and a flick of his hands, the eight spider legs somehow fell into his grasp, and then he snapped them with force.
“Crack” sounded out as the eight spider legs were abruptly severed.
With a flick of his wrist, the eight spider legs transformed into eight black shadows that shot back with lightning speed, stabbing into Zhuo Ge's chest and penetrating through his body.
Zhuo Ge was knocked flying backward, but as he somersaulted in mid-air, he raised his hand and flung out a white cord from his sleeve. With a “Thud,” the cord stabbed into the rooftop and Zhuo Ge pulled himself up with the cord. He flew through a gaping hole in the rooftop and disappeared outside.
This series of actions was incredibly agile, with no signs of injury.
“Hmm!” The white figure exclaimed, but did not give chase. Instead, he flew downward.
The bloody aura below was only beginning to dissipate, and Hei Da's face was filled with fear as he urged the silvery leopard marionette, which had finally stabilized its form, to run toward the nearby wall and escape.
Just then, the white figure suddenly appeared above the silvery leopard's head, as phantom-like as a ghost.
“Hei Da, why are you in such a hurry to leave?”
The figure spoke, and a white light enveloped his body, with an overwhelming power swirling within. The surrounding air seemed to ripple and undulate like the surface of water.
The silvery leopard marionette's head suddenly cracked open, revealing a large web of fractures.
Hei Da moved to jump down from the marionette and escape, but he reconsidered and froze, realizing that he was no match for the white figure's speed.
“Wise decision,” the white figure said, lifting his foot to deliver a kick.
A sharp, immense power exploded from his foot, piercing through the silvery leopard's head and creating a huge hole. The marionette's massive body crashed to the ground.
Hei Da's body trembled, and a flicker of fear crossed his face as he stood motionless.
A loud explosion boomed from the side, and two figures, Wu Yun and Hei Er, burst out from a nearby wall, which had been blasted open.
Seeing the situation with the blood array, they were shocked and immediately abandoned Zhu Zi Yuan and Zhu Zi Qing, turning to flee.
The white figure cast a glance in their direction but did not pursue them.
Zhu Zi Qing's face was filled with fear as she turned to flee, but Zhu Zi Yuan held her back. The two exchanged whispered words and then walked forward.
“Many thanks, Mr. Li, for your help today,” Zhu Zi Yuan said, his body covered in wounds, yet he stood ramrod straight and bowed to the white figure.
Zhu Zi Qing also bowed, thanking him.
The white light enveloping the figure dissipated, revealing Han Li's form.
“The people of Gui Cheng were the ones who left on their own, so you two don't need to thank me,” Han Li said, his eyes flicking toward the siblings before he turned away.
Han Li had no animosity toward Zhu Zi Yuan and his sister, but since E Mei and he were sworn enemies, he naturally did not want to associate with them.
“No matter what, we owe you a debt of gratitude, Mr. Li. I, Zhu Zi Yuan, will definitely repay you someday, thank you,” Zhu Zi Yuan said, turning to walk toward another large hole in the wall.
Zhu Zi Qing glanced at Han Li, her lips moving as if to say something, but she remained silent, following her brother through the hole.
The two quickly disappeared.
“Mr. Li, why did you let me stay behind? What do you want me to do?” Hei Da asked, his face uneasy, as he watched Han Li.
Han Li did not answer Hei Da's question, instead walking away.
“I won't harm you as long as your answers satisfy me. Follow me,” Han Li said, as he walked toward the nearby golden-winged vulture marionette.
Hei Da's face lit up with hope as he followed Han Li.
When they reached the marionette, Han Li gazed at it, his eyes slowly brightening.
“Gui Cheng's puppeteering method involves condensing mental energy into a physical form to control the marionettes, correct?” Han Li asked Hei Da.
“That's right,” Hei Da replied, hesitating for a moment.
“Condensing mental energy requires immense mental strength, and since everyone in Gui Cheng can control marionettes, you must have a secret technique that enhances mental energy. What is it called?” Han Li asked.
“We were taught the 'Puppet Heart' technique by the master of Sha Xin City,” Hei Da replied honestly.
“Tell me about this technique,” Han Li said, his voice cold as his eyes narrowed.
Hei Da's face changed, and he seemed hesitant.
“What's wrong? Does this put you in a difficult position?” Han Li asked, his face frosting over.
Hei Da's expression was troubled, as if caught in a dilemma. "There's no need, the secret art is here, please take a look, Fellow Daoist Lai." Seeing Han Li's expression, Hei Da's heart skipped a beat, knowing that if he didn't comply, he would be on a path to death. He quickly put aside his reservations and handed over a jade slip.
Han Li's expression slightly eased, and he took the jade slip, merging his divine sense into it.
Inside was a secret art for refining one's divine soul, divided into five layers, exceptionally exquisite, comparable to the Refining Divine Technique.
Besides the "Puppet Heart", the jade slip also contained the secret art of transforming one's divine sense into a physical form, and controlling puppets, which was exceptionally mysterious.
Han Li had always been extremely interested in the way of puppets, and he began to study it meticulously.
After a short while, he put away the jade slip and raised his hands.
With a soft hissing sound, thick crystal threads shot out from his fingertips, entering the Golden Winged Hawk's body.
The Golden Winged Hawk's body glowed with golden light, and it immediately took to the air, hovering in mid-air.
Hei Da was shocked upon seeing this scene.
This puppet control technique was extremely profound, and even with sufficient divine sense power, it would take at least a hundred years of bitter practice to master. Yet, the person before him had managed to master it in an instant!
Han Li moved, leaping onto the Golden Winged Hawk's back, and with a slight movement of his fingers, the Golden Winged Hawk darted out, circling and dancing through the air.
However, his control was still somewhat clumsy, and the Golden Winged Hawk flew erratically, far from the exquisite control of Zhuo Ge or the previous Sand Heart.
Han Li didn't linger in the air for long, soon stopping the Golden Winged Hawk and leaping off.
This puppet control technique was quite profound, and he was only able to manage it by relying on his enormous divine sense power. Moreover, he didn't plan on using puppets for combat; he only wanted to familiarize himself with this path to make it easier to fight against the people of Puppet City in the future.
"Earlier, I saw your Puppet City's puppets could shrink into a ball. What method did you use?" Han Li asked Hei Da once more.
"That is a Secret Art of Collecting Puppets, invented by Sand Heart City Lord, combining puppetry with spatial secret techniques. The specific method of application is as follows." Hei Da had already informed Han Li of the "Puppet Heart" and the puppet control technique, so he didn't mind sharing more. He explained the Secret Art of Collecting Puppets to Han Li.
The technique was quite complex, but Han Li had already mastered the puppet control technique. After a bit of practice, he quickly grasped this technique as well.
He formed a seal with his hands, and several crystal lights entered the Golden Winged Hawk puppet's body.
The Golden Winged Hawk puppet's surface glowed with golden light, and the massive puppet rapidly shrunk, transforming into a golden sphere within a few breaths, landing in his hand.
Han Li was satisfied, nodding his head.
"I don't know if Fellow Daoist Lai has any other questions. I'll answer them willingly." Hei Da's heart eased, and he spoke in an attempt to curry favor.
"What is Puppet City's purpose for entering the Great Market this time?" Han Li asked, putting away the golden sphere.
"According to Sand Heart City Lord, our city's objectives are twofold: one is to kill E Bei, and the other is to seize the Sacred Remains. As for whether there are other objectives, I'm not aware of them." Hei Da thought for a moment before answering.
"There's one more question. You just need to answer clearly, and you can leave." Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he paused for a moment before speaking with a serious expression.
"Fellow Daoist Lai, please ask." Hei Da's heart skipped a beat, and he hastily replied.
"That black-robed woman who follows Sand Heart City Lord, I hear you call her Xiao Zi. What do you know about this person? When did she arrive in Puppet City?" Han Li spoke slowly.
"I have a low status in Puppet City, and Xiao Zi always follows Sand Heart City Lord. Her personality is also somewhat cold, and she rarely interacts with outsiders. I only know that she has exceptional talent in puppet control techniques, and the City Lord places significant importance on her. As for when she arrived in Puppet City, I've been in closed-door cultivation for several hundred years, only coming out recently. At that time, Xiao Zi was already present, and it's said she arrived over a hundred years ago." Hei Da thought for a moment before answering.
Han Li listened to his words, standing silently for a long while before lifting his head and saying, "Alright, you can leave."
Hei Da was overjoyed upon hearing this, and he bowed to Han Li before swiftly departing, leaving behind the beheaded Silver Leopard Puppet.
Han Li stood in place for a moment, taking a deep breath, and his expression returned to normal. He first put away Zhuo Ge's white wolf puppet, then walked to the blood pool's edge.
The crying blood formation had exploded, and the five statues beside the blood pool had shattered, but the blood pool itself was relatively undamaged.
He looked down at the blood pool's bottom, and his expression slightly changed.
The blood-colored light door at the pool's bottom was now gone, without a trace.
A person lay at the pool's bottom, motionless, and it was Fu Jian.
Han Li's gaze flashed, and he leaped down, arriving beside Fu Jian's body. He probed with his divine sense.
Fu Jian's body was almost completely ruined, his muscles and internal organs on the verge of collapse. His dantian's Evil Embryo was also nearing collapse.
Although he still had some lingering vital energy, it was rapidly dissipating, and he would soon disappear completely.
Han Li didn't have much goodwill towards Fu Jian, as they had previously had friction. However, seeing Fu Jian's current state, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sorrow.
Nevertheless, he wouldn't take action to save him, nor did he possess such heaven-defying abilities. He soon shifted his gaze, looking at the spot where the blood-colored light door had been.
However, there was nothing there now, not a single trace, as if the light door had never existed.
Han Li's expression was calm, but his heart was filled with a sense of foreboding.
Han Li's gaze flickered as he looked around, his expression contemplative.
Although he had found the Naike Great Formation's formation diagram in the rear hall, he still didn't know why this formation was here, or where the blood-colored light gate's vital energy came from.
Looking at E Mo, he was probably somewhat aware of something.
Han Li raised his head to look at the sky, his thoughts racing nonstop.
E Mo and Sha Xin had left without hesitation, it seemed that the sacred remains were definitely not here, and were probably hidden in a deeper part of the vast wilderness.
However, in order to pursue Zi Ling, and also to be able to leave this Accumulated Scales Realm, no matter the danger, he couldn't retreat.
Han Li exhaled a long breath, as if he had spouted out all his worries, and his expression returned to calm.
His hands were empty, and a brilliant white light surged on his body, with densely packed, fine spots of mysterious energies appearing all over him, a total of four hundred and seventy-five.
Just now, although Zhuan Ge had interfered, he still managed to complete the first three tiers of the Heavenly Massacre Imperial Prison Technique with the help of the Naike Great Formation's power before the formation collapsed.
Moreover, his body's Polarity Seal Bottle had absorbed nearly half of the Naike Great Formation's power, which could be drawn out later to break through other meridians.
With his current physical strength, although he couldn't be a match for E Mo and Sha Xin, apart from those two, no one among the Xuan Castle and Kuicheng's people could be his match.
Also, with his current speed, even if he encountered E Mo and Sha Xin, he should still have a bit of hope to escape.
Han Li quickly retracted the white light on his body and jumped back down to the ground.
His gaze shifted, looking towards the other side of the blood pool.
Chenyang and Xuan Yuan were still standing there, unmoving.
He pressed a seal and pointed, and their heads flashed with a crystal light, several crystal chains shot out.
Chenyang's bodies moved, and they immediately recovered.
They looked around and saw that the grand hall was in an even more disastrous state than before, and apart from Han Li, there was no one else around. Their expressions changed.
"Are you alright, Dao friend...?" Chenyang looked at Han Li, a hint of awkwardness flashing on his face, and spoke in a stutter.
"The Kuicheng people have all left, you two can chase after them if you want," Han Li said indifferently, and didn't bother with them.
His body flickered, turning into a wisp of cyan smoke, which shot out of the large hole in the wall.
Once outside, Han Li swept his gaze around, and his eyebrows furrowed.
In this Vast Wilderness' secret realm, his spiritual sense had little effect, so he could only carefully investigate the remaining fluctuations in the sky and earth to determine where Sha Xin's group had gone.
However, the time interval was too long, and the remaining marks in the void were extremely sparse, so he could only roughly determine a direction, and his body leaped forward, chasing after that direction.
At this moment, his body seemed to be filled with an inexhaustible amount of power, and he was still somewhat unaccustomed to the immense strength in his hands and feet, which often involuntarily burst out with a humming sound.
In a few flashes, his shadow had already disappeared into the distance.
Along the way, he still saw vast expanses of ruined buildings, crumbling walls, and scars everywhere.
Han Li's thoughts were on the black-robed woman called "Little Zi", and he didn't have the time to investigate these places, so he relentlessly pursued her.
Three days later.
Han Li arrived at a desolate garden, where winding corridors encircled, and were dotted with giant, varied boulders, covering a vast area.
As he followed the garden corridor, he suddenly heard the sound of clashing blades coming from the left front, mixed in with some familiar, shrill cries.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he suppressed the fluctuations of his stellar powers, not jumping up, but carefully approaching.
Exiting the garden, he proceeded forward for a few dozen miles, and after passing through a dense area of ruins, he arrived at the edge of an enormous, several-tens-of-thousands-of-meters-wide, deep crater.
He hid behind a crumbling green rock wall, looking down.
Only to see that the deep crater was filled with thunderous noises.
A bone-armored, white-robed woman, holding a white bone whip and a white bone spear, was moving up and down in the crater, her wrist twisting and turning as the whip danced wildly, striking a black-armored man wielding a battle knife.
Where the whip landed, brilliant white lights flashed, accompanied by the sound of thunder exploding, causing the void to shake.
"Is that her?" Han Li muttered.
The white-robed woman was none other than Kotensen, who was fighting a black-armored man.
On his body, he wore a suit of purple magic armor, its purple light radiating strongly, using the armor to withstand Kotensen's long whip, and resisting its attacks with his battle knife in hand, pressing in on Kotensen.
Kotensen had three blood holes on her abdomen, and her lower garments were stained with blood, resembling plum blossoms blooming in the snow. It was clear that she had already clearly fallen into a disadvantageous position, and it was only a matter of time before she was defeated. Han Li's gaze shifted, and he noticed a woman's corpse lying not far from the two of them. Her figure was petite and slender, with a bullet wound in her chest. It was the gentlewoman who had been following Shi Zhanfeng earlier.
A clanging sound!
Gu Qianxun's whip wrapped itself around Shi Zhanfeng's long knife, its tip striking towards his face like a snake spitting venom.
Shi Zhanfeng retreated a step, his long knife violently jerking upwards, causing the whip to tense up.
"Break for me!" he roared, his mouth filled with fury. The starlight on his long knife flashed brightly, and a powerful, overwhelming force erupted.
A series of explosive sounds rang out, and the white whip shattered inch by inch, exploding in all directions.
Gu Qianxun was impacted by the unleashed energy, her abdominal wound worsening, and she stumbled backward.
Shi Zhanfeng had already rushed forward, his knife swooping down towards her with great force.
Gu Qianxun's face turned pale, her hand holding onto her bone spear as she blocked the attack. The force was immense, and the black stone floor cracked, Gu Qianxun's legs sinking into it below the knees. She coughed up more blood, her face deathly pale, and her body trembled.
Shi Zhanfeng knocked the bone spear out of her hand, his knife pressed against her neck, his expression ruthless. "Who instructed you to launch a sneak attack on me?"
Gu Qianxun's gaze was somewhat dazed, and she glanced at the corpse in the distance, feeling a pang of regret.
If it weren't for this woman, who had sacrificed herself to block that one attack, Gu Qianxun would have had the opportunity to kill Shi Zhanfeng.
"Why ask questions? Kill me if you want to," Gu Qianxun said slowly, her voice weak.
"There's no need to waste time with you here; I still have to return to the Qianji Temple. Since you're eager to die, I'll grant you that wish." Shi Zhanfeng sneered, raising his knife to strike.
Just then, a piercing sound cut through the air.
A fireball shot towards Shi Zhanfeng's knife, the force behind it unimaginable. It struck the knife with a loud clang, sending Shi Zhanfeng stumbling backward.
Shi Zhanfeng glanced at the knife mark on his blade and discovered that it was a piece of melted stone, slowly flowing down the length of the knife.
He turned to look at Han Li, who was standing in the distance, three or four stones the size of walnuts in his hand, catching and tossing them in a slow and deliberate motion as he walked towards them.
"Is that...?" Shi Zhanfeng's expression changed, and he exclaimed in surprise.
"Li Dao...friend..." Gu Qianxun's expression was complex, and she muttered under her breath.
"Great Temple Master, you're unharmed, I presume?" Han Li said, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Shi Zhanfeng watched Han Li approach, his eyes narrowing slightly as a strange feeling arose within him. The person before him seemed different from the Han Li he knew.
"Are you here to intervene in my private feud with her?" Shi Zhanfeng asked, his brow furrowed.
"I don't know if you have a private feud with her, but I have some matters to discuss with her. If you'll excuse us, Great Temple Master," Han Li replied, his footsteps uninterrupted.
"Let's resolve our business first, and then you can talk to her," Shi Zhanfeng sneered, his wrist twisting as he swung his knife towards Gu Qianxun's head once more.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and his palm glowed with a brilliant white light. He rubbed his fingers together, and the ordinary stone in his hand turned red-hot.
He jerked his wrist, and a soft crackling sound filled the air, followed by a long, piercing whine.
Four red-hot stones shot out from his hand, becoming four intertwining arcs of fire that flew towards Shi Zhanfeng. Two of the stones struck his war knife, while the other two targeted his dantian and heart.
Shi Zhanfeng's face paled, and he swiftly raised his knife to defend himself.
The two stones aimed at his knife missed their mark, but the other two struck it with a deafening crash, sending Shi Zhanfeng flying backward, his legs scraping against the ground and creating deep grooves.
Once he regained his balance, Shi Zhanfeng glanced at the two visible cracks on his knife and scowled.
"It seems Li Dao has had another breakthrough in this great market. I suppose I'll give you face this time."
Shi Zhanfeng's voice had barely faded when his white bone knife snapped in two with a loud crack.
He tossed the hilt aside, his expression calm, and smiled faintly. "Until next time, farewell."
With that, he turned and leaped into the distance, disappearing from sight.
Han Li let him go without interference, turning to approach Gu Qianxun.
Gu Qianxun's eyes had been fixed on him, and she forced a weak smile.
Gu Qian Xun gazed at Han Li's gradually approaching figure, her complexion changing with a mix of emotions, lost in thought.
"Can you loosen your grip on that thing? Do you really need to be so stubborn and end up like the stone you're holding?" Han Li asked as he glanced at her.
Upon hearing his words, Gu Qian Xun relaxed her body, seemingly recovering some of her energy.
She retrieved a white jade object from her sleeve and inserted it into her clothing, then fell backward, landing seated on the ground. With her hands, she gently pulled her legs out of the ground.
"Why did you save me? We've already become enemies," Gu Qian Xun asked after consuming a beast pill.
"I met Six Flower Lady earlier, and she helped me get rid of the Black Calamity's evil influence. By saving you, I repaid the favor she owed me," Han Li replied slowly, observing that Gu Qian Xun's injuries were severe but not life-threatening.
"You met her? How is she?" Gu Qian Xun inquired hastily.
"She's fine. Earlier, she was taken away by E Mo, possibly to the place where the Sacred Corpse is located," Han Li said calmly.
Gu Qian Xun listened intently and felt somewhat reassured.
"What is your background?" Han Li asked abruptly.
"You should already know, right? Yes, I'm indeed the chess piece Three Prince left in Jilei Space. Back then, if not for his protection, I would have died at the hands of Du Qing Yang along with my mother. As for being able to grow up and eventually avenge my mother's death, it's all thanks to him. So this time, when he ordered me to kill the Eldest Prince and the Thirteenth Prince, I couldn't disobey," Gu Qian Xun replied after a brief hesitation.
Han Li heard this and thought about his past encounters with San Huang Zi Shi Bao Kong. He found that he couldn't pinpoint many flaws, and so he couldn't help but sigh.
Gu Qian Xun assumed Han Li was referring to her, so a bitter smile appeared on her face as she said, "If I had a choice, I really wouldn't want to be your enemy."
"You can go kill the Eldest Prince if you want; I won't stop you and might even lend you a hand when necessary. However, if you harm Shi Chuan Kong again, don't blame me for not showing you mercy and taking your life," Han Li warned, frowning.
Gu Qian Xun listened to his words, her gaze complex, and she remained silent for a long time.
"You should be ready by now, so I'll be taking my leave. Shi Zhan Feng shouldn't be returning anytime soon," Han Li said and jumped over her, disappearing into the distance.
Gu Qian Xun stood motionless, silent for a long time before slowly standing up. She took a few unsteady steps to the side, bent down, and picked up her white bone hook. With a deep breath, she began chasing after Han Li.
Meanwhile, Han Li's figure danced among the ancient structures as he moved swiftly.
Currently, his brow was furrowed, and his emotions were in disarray.
This trip to Jilei Space had taken much longer than he had anticipated. Initially, he thought he would find Zilian quickly and return, but instead, he became embroiled in the intricate conflicts between the two cities, Xuan Qie.
The tricks and schemes between the two cities were already enough to make one's head ache. Now, with the involvement of the Eldest Prince Shi Zhan Feng and San Huang Zi Shi Bao Kong, the situation was becoming increasingly complicated.
Compared to Shi Zhan Feng's personal adventures, Han Li was more concerned about Shi Bao Kong's hidden machinations, as evidenced by Gu Qian Xun's circumstances. It was clear that Shi Bao Kong had been secretly operating in Jilei Space for quite some time.
Why were both parties so interested in this desolate place, Jilei Space? Logically, the reason should be connected to the Sacred Corpse in the ancient city.
This line of thinking made Han Li's heart tighten slightly. Was it possible that Shi Chuan Kong was also searching for this?
"Rather than pondering this, I should think about the enigma of Xi Dao Ren," Han Li said to himself with a hint of self-deprecation.
Ever since he entered Jilei Space, he noticed that his connection with Xi Dao Ren seemed to be growing weaker, not in the sense that their divine soul bond was severed, but rather that he felt an increasing sense of separation from him.
As he pondered the contents recorded on the jade slate Xi Dao Ren gave him, Han Li grew more curious about Xi Dao Ren's true intentions.
He even wondered if Xi Dao Ren's 'Master' was the Sacred Corpse or the previous master of the ancient city, considering the jade slate contained information on the locations and acquisition methods of the hollowed spheres.
At the moment, he was tracing the path outlined in the jade slate. After traveling several hundred miles, vast areas of damaged and dilapidated ruins came into view. The traces were relatively new, covering an extensive range, likely left behind by the previous confrontation between E Mo and Sha Xin.
Han Li occasionally stopped to investigate and would then continue his pursuit.
Time flew, and over half a month passed.
Eventually, after relentless searching, Han Li arrived at a vast expanse of white stone square.
The square was surrounded by four nine-story sharp towers, each standing in the four corners. In the center of the square stood a magnificent temple with a jade-glazed tile roof, its grandeur far surpassing that of any building Han Li had seen in the town before. Unlike the ruins and wreckage he had seen along the way, this temple, though ancient, was remarkably well preserved. The glazed tiles on the roof and the pillars surrounding the temple shone like new, without a single sign of wear.
Han Li gazed at the temple from afar, noticing the two massive doors at the entrance, adorned with intricate carvings and hanging open. Above the entrance, a golden signboard bore three ancient characters.
"The Thousand Mechanism Temple..." Han Li whispered to himself, suddenly recalling that Shi Zhanfeng had mentioned this name before.
As he thought about it, Han Li furrowed his brow, suppressed the fluctuations in his aura, and flew towards the temple.
Upon approaching the temple, Han Li noticed that the stone bricks on the ground were covered with starlight symbols, stretching for thousands of feet around the temple. This was clearly a complex array.
As he reached the corridor outside the temple, the symbol pattern changed again, revealing another array.
Near the entrance, Han Li saw scorch marks on the open doors, indicating that the original seals had been broken.
Instead of rushing in, Han Li carefully peered inside.
The interior of the temple was in disarray, with stone pedestals and furniture overturned and shattered. It was evident that a fierce battle had recently taken place within.
Han Li held his breath, listening for a moment, and discovered that the temple was deathly silent.
With a swift movement, he entered the temple.
Inside, the temple was empty, devoid of any human figures or signs of Sha Xin's group. Only scattered fragments of furniture and towering bone armored puppets lay about.
Han Li's brow furrowed as he cautiously explored the temple.
After a thorough examination, he found that the bone puppets seemed to be of the same origin as those he had seen in other ruins, rather than being controlled by the puppet city.
Just then, Han Li spotted a small, unassuming black stone chair amidst the wreckage. He approached it, circling around it once, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Seizing the chair's backrest with both hands, Han Li suddenly twisted it to one side.
A faint scraping sound was followed by the appearance of a small, dark passageway next to the chair.
After a brief hesitation, Han Li stepped into the passageway and descended the stone stairs within.
A hundred feet down, the stairs ended, and a doorway appeared. A faint breeze and muffled voices could be heard from within.
Han Li slowed his pace, trying not to make a sound, and then activated his Feathered Wings technique, swiftly entering the doorway.
Upon entering, Han Li relaxed, seeing no one lying in wait.
He hid behind a boulder and carefully observed his surroundings.
Before him lay a massive blood lake, its surface spanning thousands of feet. It was filled with crimson liquid, gently rippling like water.
A layer of bloody mist hung above the lake, radiating a faint, flickering glow.
As Han Li scanned the lake, his gaze suddenly locked onto something in the center—a crystal coffin floating on the surface.
The coffin was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, about ten feet in size, with a flawless, crystal-clear body. A complex symbol pattern adorned its surface, including a five-pointed star diagram surrounded by at least five additional arrays. Han Li realized that the core symbol was a five-pointed star, though it was intricate and masterfully crafted.
Within the coffin lay a ten-foot-long, skeleton-like corpse with a jade-like luster. Its head had sharp bones, pointed teeth, and what appeared to be scaly patterns on its bones, marking it as a demon corpse.
Just then, Han Li felt a sudden, faint tremor in his mind, as if sensing a familiar aura—possibly that of the crab-like immortal, yet his location remained elusive.
With a thought, Han Li closed his eyes and focused on sensing the aura.
Opening his eyes shortly after, Han Li's face revealed a look of surprise.
He had discovered that his spiritual connection with the crab-like immortal was growing weaker by the second.
"You traitor, will you continue to be stubborn?" A furious shout echoed from across the blood lake.
Han Li refocused, gazing towards the voice and spotted a confrontation unfolding on the other side of the lake. The puppets and the other group, led by Sha Xin, were facing off against E Mei.
Six Flower Mistress stood behind E Mei, while Shi Chong Kong lay at her feet, either unconscious or bound by E Mei's restraints.
Sha Xin, you've always been stubborn and refused to see reason. I'll ask you one question, after waiting through these endless years, what have we been waiting for?" E Mo asked, his hand raised.
Sha Xin didn't respond, her eyes fixed on E Mo, her expression stern.
"We've been trapped in Jilei Void for so many years, and our cities, your Ku City and my Xuanci City, have been entangled in grudges for just as long. Now that you've come to me, wanting to join forces to enter this ancient land, don't you have the same goal as me? Why bring up old business and deceive yourself?" E Mo sneered.
"Don't put me on the same level as you!" Sha Xin said word by word.
"Sha Xin, for old times' sake, I'll offer you some advice. Now that the Demon King's corpse is before us, if we divide it between us, our great Dao can be expected. When the time comes, wanting to leave Jilei Void, this prison, will be effortless. Once we reach the Demon Realm or the Immortal Realm, it'll be a vast expanse of freedom." E Mo burst into laughter.
When Han Li heard these words, his gaze drifted towards the crystal coffin floating at the center of the Blood Lake.
At this moment, he was almost certain that the crystal coffin contained the Demon Clan's corpse, which they referred to as the "Sacred Remains". But why did E Mo call it the "Demon King"?
As he thought about this, he couldn't help but associate it with Xiadaoren, who seemed to have an unclear relationship with Jilei Void.
Or perhaps this "Demon King" was Xiadaoren's master back in the day?
"Xiadaoren, are you here?" Han Li tried to contact him using his divine sense, but there was no response.
Just then, Sha Xin's voice rang out.
"Do you think I've come to join forces with you for the same selfish reasons? You're greatly mistaken. To be honest, I've already found a way to revive my master." Sha Xin sneered.
"Ha! Revive? You're still delusional... The Demon King's attempt at merging with the Dao failed, and he's long dead, leaving behind only this corpse. It's impossible to revive him, or else this place wouldn't have been quiet for so many years. I wish the Demon King weren't dead, so I wouldn't be stuck here for so long! I advise you to give up, and stop doing something pointless." E Mo's face flickered with mockery.
"You heartless and treacherous thing, if not for your betrayal, bringing the Demon Lord to intervene at the critical moment of our master's merging with the Dao, our master would have succeeded and advanced to the Daoren realm." Sha Xin cursed.
"Hmph... You don't know anything. Even if the Demon Lord hadn't intervened, he still wouldn't have succeeded." E Mo sneered.
"My master possessed unparalleled talent and abilities, how could you possibly understand? If not for my master's cultivation, you would have long ago turned to dust in some filthy place. Now you dare to call him the Demon King, without even showing the respect due to a master... " Sha Xin angrily rebuked.
"That's enough! He taught me the way of cultivation, only because he saw my potential and wanted to cultivate a tool for himself. I'm not like you, treated as a pawn, and still happy about it. But, I chose Xuanshen, and you chose Kuwu, it was predetermined from the start. You're destined to be the Demon King's pawn, even after his death, you can't escape." E Mo's face twisted in anger, interrupting Sha Xin's rebuke.
"No matter what you say, you won't get the master's remains this time. After I revive him, he'll personally settle the score with you for your betrayal." Sha Xin suppressed her anger, her expression gradually calming.
E Mo's eyes flickered towards the figure lying on the ground, Shi Chong Kong, and laughed: "You don't have the Demon Clan's imperial bloodline, so you can't even open the crystal coffin. I have a real imperial prince, if you're willing to cooperate, we can both benefit. Otherwise, we can only watch the treasure before us, without being able to get it."
Just as E Mo finished speaking, a tall figure suddenly emerged from behind Sha Xin, laughing loudly: "Your words are incorrect, Lord E. Our sacred clan's bloodline is rare, but not limited to just the thirteen brothers. Mine is even more refined."
As the person spoke, they removed their hood, revealing a head of white hair, an ordinary face, but with an extraordinary aura. A pair of deep purple pupils shone with light.
Han Li's gaze swept over the figure, and his brow furrowed in surprise. This person was actually the Crown Prince, Shi Zhan Feng.
E Mo's expression changed, his face twisted in ferocity, and he snarled: "I've been kind enough to advise you, but you still refuse to give up. We can only end this in a life-or-death struggle."
With a final word, he stomped his foot, causing the underground space to shake violently. The Blood Lake's surface rippled wildly.
E Mo's figure turned into a wisp of smoke, disappearing from sight. The next instant, he reappeared behind Shi Zhan Feng, his hand shooting out like a hook to grab the crown prince's head.
Shi Zhan Feng's eyes flashed with warning, but his body was too slow to react. As E Mo's fingers were about to pierce his skull, a white bone spear suddenly shot out from the side, clashing with E Mo's wrist.
Shi Chong Kong glanced to the side, seeing Kun Yu standing with eyes blazing, holding a white bone spear with a starry glow. She had thrust it out to block E Mo's attack.
The spear was curved like a crescent moon, and it only managed to push E Mo's palm aside by a fraction of an inch. The crown prince's head was barely missed, but the wind from the spear left several bloody gashes on his face.
Seizing the opportunity, Shi Zhan Feng dodged to the side, his foot stomping the ground fiercely. His body burst forward, and his hand swiftly drew a white three-edged bone sword. The sword's surface shone with starlight as it pierced towards E Mo's abdomen.
E Mo's wrist flexed, shattering Kun Yu's bone spear as it met the three-edged bone sword. He raised his knee, using it to block the sword. Only Han Li saw his legs covered in a dense array of star points which lit up, a hazy layer of white light like armor unfolding to cover his outer body, blocking the bone sword's sharp tip, rendering it unable to pierce through no matter how brightly the star points on the sword shone.
"You seek death!" Er Shi let out a cold snort, ferociously flipping his foot up.
At the tip of his foot, a cluster of condensed white light instantly exploded, charging straight at Shi Zhan Feng's face.
The latter saw things weren't looking good, his long sword not retreating but instead surging forward, fiercely stabbing, and then that counter force suddenly burst out, instantly pulling them apart by nearly a hundred zhang.
However, as fast as he retreated, he was far from a match for Er Shi. Before he could steady his body, Er Shi had already caught up.
Er Shi was clearly urgent to get rid of Shi Zhan Feng. In that instant of nearness, his waist suddenly spun around, his entire spine rising and falling like a dragon emerging from the sea, emitting loud rumbling noises.
Muscles bulged on his right arm, the layers of white starlight bursting out, an explosive power gushing out from the tip of his fist.
The fist hadn't yet arrived, but Shi Zhan Feng's countenance had already undergone a drastic change. He felt even his breathing had become somewhat labored, the surrounding air seemingly twisted to the point that even moving his body became unusually difficult.
Han Li gazed at this scene, his heart somewhat shaken. Previously, Er Shi had suffered severe injuries, but before long, he had recovered to such an extent?
The might of this blow was such that even he, as he was now, had no confidence that he could withstand it.
Just then, an unexpected change took place!
Accompanying the continuous sonic booms, on the twelve metal orbs surrounding Er Shi, dazzling lights suddenly burst out.
The next moment, twelve bone puppets with starlight radiating from their bodies emerged, each holding a sharp, curved white bone chain, simultaneously flung out.
The twelve white bone chains transformed into a network of white rainbows, crisscrossing the air as they swooped in like a web.
Er Shi took in the scene, his fist, which had been moving to strike Shi Zhan Feng, suddenly changing direction, swinging upwards instead.
A burst of white starlight exploded from the top of his fist, like opening up a dazzling starry sky, streams of light shooting up, striking the white bone chain web.
At this time, the bone chain web above, every star point, after a flash of light, ceased to spew out stellar forces and instead transformed into tiny whirlpools that surged forth, exuding a formidable devouring force.
The starlight flowing from Er Shi's fist was like water being absorbed by the void, completely losing its might.
"What is this...?" Er Shi hadn't finished expressing his shock when the bone chain web completely closed in.
"Patterning" a soft cry rang out, the twelve bone puppets simultaneously performing a hand seal, their footsteps rapidly changing as they completed the patterning within seconds.
A flash of silver electricity instantly crossed the bone chain web, coalescing into a silver ball that imprisoned Er Shi.
Han Li heard the cry, frowning as he looked over, discovering that the black-clad woman, Xia Zi, who was called 'Little Purple' by Sa Xin, was currently seated on the ground, an array plate before her, twelve white pieces atop it.
Controlling twelve puppets and having them jointly cast a spell to lay down a formation was an extraordinary feat, and yet, it wasn't Sa Xin but her who achieved it.
Kun Yu, who held the bone spear, stood beside her, guarding her.
Han Li's surprise was ongoing when Er Shi sneered, "Do you think this crude formation can trap me?"
Following that, he bellowed with laughter and continued, "You can't even beat Shi Zhan Feng! Do you think you can trap me with this?"
His words were directed at Xia Zi and Kun Yu.
His body at once grew brighter as he lifted his fist and pummeled the bone chain net imprisoning him with great force.
There was a deafening crash.
The starlight on his fist burst out, and at the same time, the massive force behind it was absorbed by the devouring force of the bone chains.
While Er Shi had counterattacked with huge momentum, the devouring force of the bone chain web absorbed most of it and simultaneously triggered the electrical barrage hidden within, sending forth lightning to clash against Er Shi's body, causing large sparks to erupt.
Er Shi's attack had been strong, but he had not managed to break free. A faint, imperceptible crack appeared on the surface of the puppets.
As for Xia Zi, the moment the puppets finished casting their joint spell, she suddenly stiffened, her face pale and covered in perspiration.
"This natural array might not be able to trap you forever," Sa Xin said in a cold and emotionless voice, "but even if you can break free in a short time, it's still sufficient."
As soon as she said this, Sa Xin made eye contact with Shi Zhan Feng, and both of them leaped off the shore and flew towards the center of the lake.
In just a few flashes of movement, they reached the middle of the Blood Lake.
Shaxin and Shi Zhanteng's toes lightly touched the surface of the Blood Lake, and they stood by the water, beside the crystal coffin. The lake's surface rippled with waves.
Shaxin looked at the skeleton inside the crystal coffin, and her eyes flickered with complex emotions. She took a deep breath and said:
"Shi fellow, lend me your vital blood. I promise to repay you after this matter is settled."
Shi Zhanteng nodded silently, lifted his palm, and made a heavy stroke on the Three- Edged Sword in his hand. A cut opened on his palm, and a few strands of dark red blood with a hint of golden light flowed out.
Shaxin saw this and took out a star-pen carved from white bone, covered in intricate hollow patterns, from her sleeve pocket.
With a stroke, the star-pen was stained with Shi Zhanteng's vital blood. It began to dance and draw on the crystal coffin at an incredible speed.
The dark red bloodstains turned into lines, forming a large blood-colored symbol array on the coffin, complementing the complex five-pronged star map on the crystal coffin and blending into one.
Han Li frowned and looked away, only to see the crystal coffin glowing bright red. The coffin's body was shaking violently, causing the entire Blood Lake to ripple.
A layer of blood-red lake water spread out like a living thing, covering the entire crystal coffin and transforming it into a giant blood cocoon.
A loud "Boom" shook the air.
E Xian continued to attack the surrounding bone chain array that trapped him, with an unstoppable force.
The lightning-covered restraint array absorbed the star power in the attack and blocked the blow, but the cracks on the twelve bone suits of armor increased twofold.
A faint sound echoed.
The twelve white chess pieces on the array plate in front of "Xiaozi" (Little Purple) all cracked open.
Her body trembled violently, and her pale face, covered in black silk, was devoid of any blood color.
Han Li noticed this and his expression tightened, with a hint of hesitation in his eyes.
Under the current circumstances, if he were to act rashly, it was hard to say what actions E Xian and Shaxin would take. Han Li didn't dare to guarantee that his temporary intervention wouldn't backfire and cause unforeseen consequences for "Little Purple."
Although he knew that "Little Purple" was likely Zilong, this wasn't the time to reveal her identity.
Just then, a muffled voice came from the crystal coffin, enveloped in the blood cocoon.
The blood water on the cocoon flowed downward, revealing the legendary saintly skeleton. However, the crystal coffin had vanished, leaving only a blood-red crystal plate beneath the skeleton, floating on the surface of the Blood Lake.
The saint's skeleton appeared without any grand or unusual signs. The corpse itself didn't emit any exceptionally intense energy fluctuations, resembling an ordinary demon corpse.
But when Han Li's gaze fell on the blood-colored crystal plate beneath the skeleton, a glint of surprise appeared in his eyes.
He saw that the crystal plate was covered in mysterious and incomprehensible symbols. Although most of them were unfamiliar to him, the small part he recognized revealed the plate's function – suppressing the blood energy within the skeleton.
E Xian's gaze, piercing through the lightning, looked over, with an increasingly greedy glint in his eyes. He launched another frenzied attack on the confinement array that trapped him.
Shaxin noticed this and focused her gaze, dismissing all nostalgic thoughts. She quickly formed hand seals in front of her.
She whispered incantations, her fingers rotating like blooming flower petals. In front of her, she pinched out a bizarre and intricate spell seal. Pressing her palm against her lower abdomen, a layer of her skin flipped open, revealing a mechanical, clockwork-like interior.
A dazzling white light burst forth from her lower abdomen, accompanied by the sound of machinery whirring.
"It's been transformed into a puppet..." Liu Huaming exclaimed in surprise.
Han Li furrowed his brow, equally astonished.
From the opening in her abdomen, a brilliant, blood-colored glow burst forth, illuminating the surroundings.
The blood-filled lake surrounding them, save for Shaxin and E Xian, was filled with people whose faces all showed shock and astonishment.
Within the blood-colored light, a crystal orb containing a living heart appeared.
Han Li saw through the crystal orb that the heart was still beating – jumping up and down. He could even hear the sound of its rhythmic beats:
"Thump, thump, thump..."
A powerful life force also emanated from the heart.
After removing the heart, Shaxin's opening in her abdomen started to close, layer by layer, like a lily petal folding in. Her entire being weakened, as if she had lost half of her strength; her face turned pale. "Ha ha... I didn't think that to protect this heart, you would actually nourish it within your own body, yet you dare not take anything from it. No wonder you haven't made any progress in so many years, your cultivation has even regressed significantly. How foolish!" Er Bi said with a loud laugh.
Shaxin turned her back to Er Bi, not looking at him. She took out a beast pill and swallowed it, then grasped the crystal ball with both hands. Her palms began to shine with dazzling white light, as she tried to retrieve the sealed heart.
Just then, a sudden change occurred!
Shaxin's expression changed abruptly, and she let out a low groan.
A white, pointed bone suddenly protruded from her chest, piercing her heart.
The white, pointed bone had three grooved slots, guiding the heart's blood to flow out, instantly staining half her body red.
"Sorry, Shazhong..." Shi Zhanfeng, standing behind Shaxin, said expressionlessly, his hand tightening around the three-edged bone sword. A crumbling sound came from her chest cavity.
Shaxin suddenly spat out blood, her body twisting rapidly as she swung her palm at Shi Zhanfeng's head.
However, he had already released the three-edged bone sword and dodged to the side. His body's acupoints flashed rapidly, and his speed reached an extreme point. He slid past her side, a white bone dagger appearing in his palm, which he stabbed into Shaxin's abdomen.
At the same time, his body surged forward, and he snatched the crystal ball from Shaxin's hand. He retreated violently, landing on the other side of the bloody lake, creating distance between himself and Shaxin's group.
Before everyone could react to the sudden change, another explosion occurred on the shore of the bloody lake.
A loud "boom" shook the air.
A massive silver electric light burst forth, fragmenting into countless silver snake-like lightning bolts that shot in all directions, causing the entire underground space to shudder.
White bones shattered and dispersed, striking the ceiling and walls, riddled with numerous holes.
Han Li's gaze narrowed, his body bending downward. A fragmented white bone flew toward him, shaving off the bizarre rock that was shielding him.
The bone chain formation that was trapping Er Bi finally shattered, and the twelve bone puppet suits exploded one by one. The twelve white chess pieces also burst, taking the black array disk with them. Xicao, who was controlling the formation, stumbled backward, spitting up blood from her mouth.
After escaping, Er Bi didn't bother with Xicao. He glanced at Shaxin, who still had the bone sword lodged in her heart, then looked at Shi Zhanfeng and smiled, "Congratulations, Crown Prince. You've obtained the heart."
"Thank you, Lord Er Bi, for helping me," Shi Zhanfeng replied with a smile.
"Originally... it seems you two were in cahoots all along." Shaxin pulled out the three-edged bone sword from her heart, her brow furrowed in displeasure.
Er Bi chuckled, "Shazhong, forgive me. Was our previous performance convincing enough?"
Shaxin remained silent.
Earlier, Er Bi had been chasing Shi Zhanfeng, and she hadn't immediately intervened, intending to gauge his true loyalties. However, she had underestimated their cunning.
She reached into her sleeve and retrieved a small black stone bottle. She opened the bottle and poured out a golden, sand-like substance, which she applied to the wound on her heart. The golden sand instantly swirled into the wound, repairing the damage.
"Without the heart, you no longer have the chance to revive your master. I'll give you one more opportunity to share this holy skeleton with me," Er Bi said, addressing Shaxin as "master" for the first time.
Shaxin ignored him, her palm opening to reveal a metal ball the size of a dragon's eye.
"Xicao, retrieve the heart at all costs."
"It seems you want to oppose me to the end. I won't hold back our past connection," Er Bi sneered, leaping toward the center of the bloody lake.
Shaxin swung her palm, and the metal ball shot out, lighting up the air. A golden giant emerged, its body like copper and iron, adorned with intricate iron chain armor and eight arms, all bare and muscular. The giant's eyes glowed red as its eight arms struck simultaneously, conjuring a tempest.
Er Bi snickered and raised his fist to meet the giant's attack.
His body's acupoints flashed rapidly, like starlight. His punch shattered the air, producing countless fist shadows that clashed with the giant's eight arms.
A deafening crash echoed through the underground space, accompanied by the sounds of thunder and raging winds.
On the other side, Xicao, now back on her feet, controlled two peculiar puppets that appeared before her. One was humanoid with four metallic wings on its back, while the other was beast-like, with a young girl's head, and resembled a tiger or leopard.
The two puppets charged at Shi Zhanfeng from left, right, above, and below.
Shi Zhan Feng seemed to have anticipated this, not moving, but with a single hand flip, a golden sphere appeared in his palm, which he tossed upwards.
The golden sphere glowed with a brilliant light and a series of mechanical sounds could be heard. As it exploded, a blast of golden light enveloped Shi Zhan Feng's figure.
As the light dissipated, the golden sphere had vanished, replaced by a golden cage several feet in diameter, encasing Shi Zhan Feng's figure.
The Winged Puppet flew before him, its four wings flapping in unison, releasing a flurry of sharp, white, feather-like blades that shot towards Shi Zhan Feng with great speed.
The blades ripped through the air, leaving behind a trail of black lines that vanished in an instant.
On the other side, the Beast Puppet had arrived, its head suddenly cocked to one side, as a stream of white light emerged from its mouth, transforming into a streak of silver lightning that struck the cage.
The lightning and flames engulfed the golden cage, as the sound of clashing blades and thunder rumbled on.
Han Li fixed his gaze on the golden cage, his brow furrowing in concern.
As the lightning dissipated, the golden cage, though covered in scars, remained intact.
Inside, Shi Zhan Feng stood unscathed, his face solemn, clutching a crystal sphere in one hand, and using his other hand to etch symbols onto the sphere with his bloody index finger, as if attempting to remove the crystal seal.
Han Li's brow furrowed, hesitant about whether to take the crystal sphere for himself.
He could sense that the crimson heart within the crystal sphere was no ordinary object, imbued with an aura akin to the Blood Tears Array, and seemed to have a connection to the 'Demon King' corpse in the crystal coffin.
Though he had little interest in Sha Xin's efforts to revive the 'Demon King', he couldn't help but suspect a connection to Xi Dao Ren, and it would be a shame to let Shi Zhan Feng take the crystal sphere.
However, if he were to intervene, he would be seen as trying to take advantage of the situation, and risk facing both Sha Xin and E He Bi together. Han Li was uncertain if he could escape, let alone defend himself.
As Han Li hesitated, his gaze caught Stone Piercing Void's shoulder subtly moving, as if trying to signal him.
Han Li transmitted his voice to Stone Piercing Void, "Stone brother, are you alright?"
Stone Piercing Void's shoulders moved once more, and after a pause, he replied, "I'm fine, brother... can you do me a favor?"
Han Li said, "Endure for a bit longer, and when they're distracted, I'll find a way to rescue you."
However, Stone Piercing Void swiftly countered, "No need to rescue me yet... please, you must take the heart from Shi Zhan Feng's hands. No matter what, he must not consume it, or else... the consequences will be catastrophic..."
Han Li inquired, "Stone brother, what is the purpose of that heart, and why is Shi Zhan Feng so desperate to obtain it?"
Stone Piercing Void's transmission grew more urgent, "I don't fully understand its purpose, but it's crucial to Shi Zhan Feng... perhaps even a key to helping him transcend the Heavenly Gate... if he consumes it and refines it within his body... you and I won't need to return to the Sacred Realm..."
Han Li's thoughts turned over, and before he could respond, his expression changed.
A dense, robust life force and a boundless, golden aura burst forth from within the golden cage.
Shi Zhan Feng had broken through the crystal sphere's seal and held the crimson heart, his eyes blazing with fervor.
As he was about to consume the heart, a sudden, loud explosion shook the air, accompanied by a deafening roar.
A figure emerged from the blood lake, creating a massive whirlpool that blew the golden cage asunder, shattering it into two halves. Han Li burst out of a massive silver electric glow, throwing a hook punch that heavily struck Shi Zhanfeng's chest.
"Plop..."
A dense, starry white glow suddenly erupted through his chest, directly creating a round, bloody cavity. A massive amount of dark red blood splattered out like rainwater.
Shi Zhanfeng's body, with this immense force, flew upwards and struck the dome above.
A deafening "Boom" sounded.
The underground dome violently shattered, shattering stone everywhere without any falling down, all pierced through the ground by the fierce aura. Only Shi Zhanfeng's body returned from the hollowed dome.
A massive blood wave splashed from the blood pool, and Shi Zhanfeng slowly stood up from the bloody water.
He didn't look at his chest, covered in blood, but stared at his empty hands, issuing a heartbreaking scream:
"No..."
On the other side of the Blood Lake, Han Li stood still.
He held a heart that jumped with each beat, revealing a thoughtful expression.
Others saw this and were shocked, and even Sha Xin was momentarily stunned.
E Mei, however, didn't pay attention to Han Li and Shi Zhanfeng's situation. During Sha Xin's momentary stun, her body transformed into a cyan smoke, appearing beside Sha Xin and then extending to the crystal coffin.
Sha Xin was shocked and attempted to stop her but failed.
E Mei flashed past Sha Xin and appeared beside the crystal coffin. Her eyes heated up, and with lightning speed, she grasped towards the corpse inside.
At this moment, a white bone awl suddenly emerged, sending an ear-piercing sound, as it thrust onto E Mei's wrist and knocked it off. It was Kun Yu once again.
"You're seeking death!"
E Mei's eyes had a cold glint after being obstructed twice by Kun Yu. Her hand transformed into a fist, swinging back at Kun Yu's awl, sending a dull, thunderous sound.
Bang!
The white bone awl shattered and flew in Kun Yu's direction and entered his chest. Kun Yu couldn't react and was knocked flying.
E Mei's fist flew Kun Yu away, then swung her other hand again towards the corpse in the coffin.
Just then, a dazzling golden light pillar descended from the sky. It distorted the air, sending a sharp whine as it headed towards E Mei's head.
E Mei snorted coldly, with the same fist that knocked Kun Yu away, striking towards the golden light. Her grasping hand didn't stop.
The golden light collided with E Mei's fist, producing a deafening thunderous sound, and the golden light erupted, spreading out in all directions.
E Mei halted her body movement, her foot sinking half a foot into the ground, a stunned look on her face.
Before she could adjust her body, a 4- to 5-zhang long golden tail swung out from the golden light. It struck E Mei with a deafening "Boom."
E Mei's body flew out, and the golden light vanished, only to reveal a 20- to 30-zhang long golden dragon puppet in the air.
Its dragon head shone brightly like solid gold, and on its head rested a pair of coral-like dragon horns. Its golden scales and sturdy dragon tail displayed its immense power. Its massive claws looked incredibly powerful.
In the golden light, a golden giant tiger, a golden turtle, and a golden bird appeared alongside the crystal coffin.
The three new puppets were no less impressive in appearance or aura compared to the dragon puppet. The four puppets released an undistinguished aura, similar to one another.
Sha Xin flew onto the golden bird's back, extending her crystalline threads into the four puppets.
Although her injuries had disappeared, her face was as white as snow. Blood flowed from the corner of her mouth, leaving a trail at her pale lips, incredibly noticeable.
E Mei's four puppets shot towards E Mei and positioned themselves between her and the crystal coffin.
"Indeed, the heavenly cage's four-image battle puppet lives up to its name, but with you injured, Shan Qing, you can't utilize your full strength. Let's see how much power you can muster," E Mei said with a cold laugh, unfazed.
With her statement, her figure blurred, and she charged forward once again.
(Situation unresolved.)
E Ji's hand flashed with a black light, and a long, heavy black sword suddenly appeared in his hand. The sword was not straight, but slightly curved, resembling a black dragon. Its body gave off a ferocious aura.
The sword body had many white patterns etched into it, forming a star map. The star map had over 200 sparkling stellar lights.
"Barbarian Dragon Sword!" Sha Xin's face darkened, his ten fingers turned into residual shadows, and four puppets turned into four golden shadows, flying towards E Ji.
E Ji's arm moved, and the massive black sword in his hand became a black sword aura, chopping towards the five puppets.
The two began to fight fiercely, with continuous explosions, like thunder booms.
The blood lake nearby churned up massive waves, and the entire cave shook.
E Ji's power was fully unleashed, with over a thousand spiritual acupoint lights opening, growing stronger as he fought. His Barbarian Dragon Sword was incredibly powerful.
Sha Xin, on the other hand, seemed to have weakened after being injured, his control over the puppets decreased, unlike their swift and agile movements in the Bloody Hall.
However, E Ji was still entangled by them, unable to get close to the crystal coffin.
Han Li stood next to the crystal coffin in the center of the lake, watching the intense fight between Sha Xin and E Ji. His pupils constricted.
Although Han Li's power had increased greatly, the battle between Sha Xin and E Ji made him feel their immense gap.
"You, human dog thief, return my heart!" A shout of anger echoed, as Shi Zhanfeng flew towards Han Li with bloodshot eyes.
His gaping chest wound had healed, and his arm had developed dark, cruel-looking patterns, emitting an icy and violent aura.
Han Li looked at the dark patterns, his eyebrows twitching.
Shi Zhanfeng's speed had increased by nearly half, his movements swift and deadly. In an instant, he arrived in front of Han Li, a massive fist pounding downwards.
A sound of "Shira" echoed, as a massive amount of dark energy exploded from his palm, transforming into a gigantic black fist that descended onto Han Li.
Han Li swung his own fist, countering the black fist. The air shook violently.
The black fist disintegrated, Shi Zhanfeng's face turned red, stumbling backwards. Han Li's body shook greatly, retreating three steps as his eyes flashed with an unusual color.
The power within the black fist was extraordinary, far surpassing Shi Zhanfeng's previous display of strength. A sharp, cold power coursed through Han Li's body, threatening to break through his defenses.
Just as this happened, two puppets materialized above Shi Zhanfeng.
The winged puppet flapped its four wings, unleashing dozens of white, feather-like blades that shot towards Shi Zhanfeng.
The other puppet's mouth opened wide, releasing nearly a dozen silver branch-like protrusions that emitted silver lightning, striking Shi Zhanfeng.
Shi Zhanfeng's lips curved into a mocking smile, as his body was enveloped in a black crystal membrane, safeguarding him.
The blades and lightning struck Shi Zhanfeng, but they were like gnats shaking a tree, disintegrating immediately, while Shi Zhanfeng's black membrane remained undamaged.
Shi Zhanfeng coldly snickered, extending a lightning-fast hand.
His arm's black energy expanded, transforming into a colossal, door-sized blade of dark energy that radiated pale light, slicing towards the puppets.
Xiao Zi's eyes widened in shock, about to order her puppets to retreat, but it was too late.
The black blade sliced into the puppets, dissecting them with ease.
"What?!" Xiao Zi's expression transformed in shock.
Han Li watched this unfold, an awed look in his eyes.
Sha Xin, still battling E Ji, glanced over and shouted: "Xiao Zi, don't bother with Shi Zhanfeng! The heart is what matters, we cannot let it fall into his hands!"
Xiao Zi's gaze flicked to Han Li, then she wavered for a moment before taking no action.
Sha Xin's eyes darkened, as she began to chant.
Xiao Zi's forehead showed a golden pattern, her eyes turning emotionless. She swiftly waved her hands.
Two golden orbs flew out of her palms, flashing golden light before expanding into two massive, golden human puppets.
The puppets were clad in golden armor, one hand holding a golden shield etched with turtle shell patterns, the other grasping a massive golden sword.
Their presence radiated incredible auras, surpassing the feathered and beast-bodied puppets, even rivaling Sha Xin's four element puppets.
"Miss Xiao Zi, I have no intention of taking the heart, nor do I wish to be your enemy! Please refrain from this!" Han Li beseeched.
Xiao Zi ignored him, ordering her puppets to action.
The two golden puppets stomped the ground, created massive shockwaves, and transformed into golden light, charging towards Han Li.
Their massive swords morphed into two blinding gold arcs, descending onto Han Li.
The sword struck before the light, a dual whirlwind of sword energy roared, piercing Han Li's skin. Han Li furrowed his brow, took a step to the side, and dodged the two incoming swords.
However, these two puppets were extraordinary, turning quickly to pursue Han Li, not losing a step. The large swords in their hands crisscrossed, striking downwards from left and right.
The two puppets also used their shields as weapons, smashing them towards Han Li, almost completely cutting off his surroundings.
At this moment, a cold laugh came from the side, and Shi Zhanfeng pounced once again.
He swung his hand once more, and a dense black light burst forth from his palm, transforming into a huge, black beast claw in mid-air. It seemed to be cast from iron and dropped towards Han Li, cutting off his only escape route.
Han Li's expression turned cold as he rapidly moved his heart into his chest, his body spinning swiftly. At the same time, a white glow enveloped his fists, which he then thrust out in all directions, creating a burst of white fist shadows.
Countless white fist shadows exploded like a peacock's open plumage, shooting towards the surroundings and producing ear-piercing whistles.
A series of loud booms erupted.
The two human-shaped puppets were each struck by dozens of fist shadows, their bodies quivering like sieves as they flew backwards.
The black beast claw above was also shattered by the white fist shadows, exploding apart.
However, Han Li's body was also severely shaken, his face pale as he took a step back.
At that very moment, Shi Zhanfeng's figure appeared behind him, his speed increased even further.
His body was enveloped by a layer of fast-moving black air, producing a faint, ear-piercing whistle. In his hand was a pitch-black war knife, transformed into a black streak that slashed towards Han Li's neck.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and his body suddenly dived forward, but his feet remained firmly rooted on the ground.
The black streak of light passed over his head, missing its mark.
Shi Zhanfeng didn't expect this, and his face changed color as he prepared to retreat.
However, Han Li's body was like a spring, rapidly becoming tense as he stood up. With a swift motion, he closed in on Shi Zhanfeng and hurled his elbow, its shadow appearing as he struck.
Shi Zhanfeng saw that he couldn't dodge in time, so he let out a loud shout, swinging his elbow to strike back. A dark pattern on his arm glowed brightly, faintly revealing the shape of a beast's claw, which collided with Han Li's elbow.
A crackling sound came from Shi Zhanfeng's left arm, his bones snapping. His body was sent flying backwards, a flicker of shock crossing his eyes.
However, he twisted his body in mid-air, heading towards the two human-shaped puppets in the distance.
The two puppets had already regained their footing, ignoring the approaching Shi Zhanfeng. With a powerful kick, they pounced towards Han Li once more, the large swords in their hands shining brighter, transforming into two golden sword qi that chopped downwards.
Han Li had initially wanted to chase after Shi Zhanfeng but was intercepted by the two puppets, forcing him to counterattack. He let out a deep breath and thrust out two fists.
Two large, white fist shadows shot out, crashing into the golden sword qi and producing a series of loud explosions.
The golden sword qi was easily dispersed, and the two puppets raised their shields to protect themselves.
Two loud clanging sounds rang out.
The fist shadows shattered, and the surface of the shields also flashed with golden light.
The puppets' bodies shook violently, taking a step back simultaneously.
At that moment, a golden light flashed between the two puppets, shooting towards Han Li's chest like lightning - a golden lance.
The one wielding the lance was none other than "Xiao Zi", who was now wearing a golden, tight-fitting battle armor that accentuated her curves. On the armor was inscribed a golden Peng bird pattern.
This pattern was incredibly lifelike, with every line radiating a dazzling golden light, appearing extraordinary.
Han Li's gaze shifted slightly, his hands joining together with a slapping sound as he grasped the tip of the golden lance, bringing it to a stop.
Xiao Zi let out a shout, and her golden armor suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light, displaying over fifty Star Orbs that floated to the surface. Her body lifted off the ground, and a powerful force flowed into her through the armor.
With a fierce cry, she pulled on the lance with all her might, but the lance tip seemed to be held in place by an invisible force, refusing to budge.
"Miss Xiao Zi, do you truly have no impression of me?" Han Li gazed into Xiao Zi's eyes, transmitting his voice.
Xiao Zi's eyes remained expressionless, ignoring Han Li's words. The golden light on her armor intensified, and a bloody glow appeared on her face, as if she were preparing to unleash a powerful technique.
Han Li's eyes dimmed slightly as he sighed inwardly, his hands advancing to push Xiao Zi. She flew backwards, lance still in hand.
At that moment, a figure appeared behind Xiao Zi, Shi Zhanfeng's silhouette flashing into existence. A ferocious smile spread across his face as he transformed his black war knife into a black streak, chopping downwards towards Xiao Zi's head.
The black light on the knife danced, momentarily revealing the silhouette of a black, ancient beast. The black knife suddenly became over ten times heavier, and the air in front of it split apart with a ripping sound, creating a perfectly linear tear in space.
Xiao Zi was caught off guard, her body still flying backwards, and she was powerless to avoid the incoming knife.
Han Li saw "Xiao Zi" in a perilous situation, and his pupils suddenly contracted.
The 475 Xuan points on his body all emitted brilliant light, and his body transformed into a white light, making a desperate dash towards "Xiao Zi" just in time, and a fist struck towards the black war knife.
However, at that moment, the direction of the falling black war knife suddenly veered, narrowly avoiding Han Li's fist, and struck towards his neck.
At the same time, the ancient beast phantom on the knife released a low, muffled roar, and a bloodthirsty mouth bit towards Han Li's head.
A massive, crushing pressure threatened to overwhelming Han Li, weighing heavily on his mind, and the light from his Xuan points also dimmed.
Han Li took a deep breath, and another fist flashed out, striking the black war knife, and the surface of his body suddenly radiated a brilliant golden light. A golden giant ape phantom materialized behind him, charging towards the black ancient beast phantom.
Two deafening sounds shook the air.
The golden, white, and black lights burst out, a three-way explosion.
The entire cave trembled with the force, and the massive shockwave attracted the attention of Sha Xin and E Mo.
The entwining three-way lights formed a vortex that shook and trembled.
A figure was flung backward, crashing into the cave wall, and it was indeed Shi Zhanfeng.
His black war knife was broken, the black patterns on his body had dimmed significantly, his mouth was bloody, and his eyes were filled with shock and dismay. He turned around and fled towards the cave entrance.
"Don't go!"
A "whoosh" sound, Han Li's figure burst out from the exploding lights, his face enraged, and his figure flickered, turning into a white light phantom in pursuit of Shi Zhanfeng. He caught up with Shi Zhanfeng in a flash, and a fist crushed down.
A brilliant white light exploded from his fist, causing the air around him to violently shake and tremble. Han Li's fist brought the void with him, crushing it towards Shi Zhanfeng.
Shi Zhanfeng was terrified, his body releasing a brilliant starlight, and the black patterns on his body glowing, forming a black crystal membrane once more.
At the same time, his hands opened, and a gray shield was launched from his sleeve, emitting the light of 30 star points.
With a "whoosh" sound, the gray shield expanded ten times, blocking his front.
Just as Shi Zhanfeng finished setting up his defense, Han Li's fist descended.
A crisp "tearing" sound, the gray shield shattered upon contact with Han Li's fist, shattering like paper.
Shi Zhanfeng was drenched in cold sweat, his hands raised, intending to do something.
But suddenly, his mind was pierced by a sharp pain, as if stabbed by an ice pick. He let out a dull groan, his entire body stiffening.
As Shi Zhanfeng's body became paralyzed, Han Li's white fist struck his chest.
The black crystal membrane on Shi Zhanfeng's body resisted Han Li's fist, but it quickly shattered. A "punching" sound was heard, and Han Li's fist perforated Shi Zhanfeng's chest, striking out a massive bloody cavity, as blood spurted out in all directions.
The next moment, Shi Zhanfeng's body was sent flying, like a falling rock, crashing into the ground near the entrance of the underground space.
A thunderous sound shook the ground, and the impact caused the ground to tremble, like ripples on water. Pebbles and dust flew everywhere.
Shi Zhanfeng spat out a massive amount of blood, his body cracking, his black patterns fading quickly, and disappearing in an instant.
"My Black King bloodline...this is the most superior, true spirit bloodline power...how is this possible..." Shi Zhanfeng, on the verge of death, gazed at his pale arm, his eyes filled with incredulity.
Han Li's gaze was icy, intending to deliver a fatal blow.
At that moment, a white light flashed from the entrance passageway, dragging a trail of frigid white light in the void.
A "punching" sound was heard, the white light piercing through Shi Zhanfeng's head, a white bone spear pinning his body to the ground.
Shi Zhanfeng's face was shocked, his eyes losing their luster, and turning a dull gray.
The sudden turn of events caused everyone in the cave to shift their attention.
Sha Xin's mouth curled into a cold smile.
E Mo's heart sank, Shi Zhanfeng was his man, and his killing spelled trouble. He had only Liu Hua Furen left, and their side was vastly outnumbered.
A thought struck him, and his heart quickened, the white light emitted by his Xuan points growing brighter, like burning white flames. The black light on his brutal dragon sword also intensified, cutting towards the tiger-shaped puppet.
Sha Xin's eyes watched the scene unfold, a finger pointing.
The tiger-shaped puppet's body glowed with golden light, expanding in size, then opening its mouth.
Countless golden blades shot out, forming a massive golden storm, sweeping towards E Mo.
E Mo snarled, his brutal dragon sword's black light intensifying, cutting through the golden storm.
A "tearing" sound was heard, the golden storm splitting in two, the brutal dragon sword slowing momentarily, before striking the tiger-shaped puppet.
A deafening sound shook the air, the tiger-shaped puppet being flung into the air, creating an opening in the four symbol war puppet's attack circle. Sha Xin was shocked, and hastily controlled the other three puppets to respond.
However, after E Mo split the tiger-shaped puppet apart, not only did his movement not falter, but instead became even more fierce and vigorous, with the white light on his body becoming even more radiant. The barbaric dragon sword in his hand transformed into three massive black sword shades that slashed at the other three puppets.
Although the might of these three sword shades couldn't compare to the Heaven-Shattering strike earlier, they still managed to repel the other three puppets.
E Mo's body transformed into a white shadow and shot forward, looking as if he was about to break through the battle formation.
Just as he was about to, a silver shadow suddenly appeared, intercepting E Mo's path and blocking his way. It was a massive, seven-or-eight-zhang-tall silver giant ape puppet that clashed heavily with E Mo.
This sudden turn of events caught E Mo off guard, but he quickly retaliated by swinging his barbaric dragon sword sideways.
A black sword flash appeared, and the silver giant ape puppet was split in two with a hiss, but E Mo's movements also came to a pause.
Sha Xin saw this scene and was overjoyed, his ten fingers moving swiftly.
The four puppets immediately rearranged their formation and charged at E Mo once more.
In a flash of golden light, a dragon tail, a tiger claw, and a golden bird beak shot towards E Mo simultaneously, striking him in tandem.
E Mo let out a series of furious roars, and his barbaric dragon sword transformed into a ring of black sword light, shielding his body. However, he was still sent flying backward by the combined force of the attacks.
A figure appeared from the side and landed on the tiger-shaped puppet's back. It was Kun Yu, who had been blasted away earlier.
A massive hole had been blasted through his chest, but no blood flowed from the wound, which instead glowed with a metallic light. It seemed as though nothing had happened to him.
"Lord, you're injured, and controlling the four puppets alone is too exhausting. I'll take over the tiger-shaped puppet," Kun Yu said.
Sha Xin nodded in response, using a hand gesture to withdraw his control over the tiger puppet and hand it over to Kun Yu.
Although E Mo had been sent flying, he hadn't suffered any injuries. After stabilizing himself, he launched another attack.
However, now that Kun Yu was assisting him, the four puppets' strength increased greatly, and they were able to solidly block E Mo's attacks once more.
Meanwhile, Shi Chuan Kong lay paralyzed on the ground, but his gaze turned to Shi Zhan Feng's corpse, revealing a complex expression.
Liu Hua Furen gazed at the white bone spear, and her eyes lit up slightly.
"Who is it? Show yourself!" Han Li shouted, his eyes scanning the entrance. A intense killing aura erupted from his body.
"Hehe, it's me, Bone Qian Xun. Brother Li, please refrain from releasing such intense killing aura; I fear it may be too overwhelming for me," a white-robed woman walked in, laughing gently. It was indeed Bone Qian Xun.
"It's you? What brings you to this place?" Han Li raised an eyebrow.
"I simply stumbled upon this place by chance; I didn't follow you, Brother Li. In fact, I should thank you for your assistance; it helped me complete my mission," Bone Qian Xun said with a charming smile, as if she had anticipated Han Li's thoughts.
Han Li let out a soft snort but didn't press the matter further.
Even if Bone Qian Xun had been the one to kill Shi Zhan Feng, he was, after all, the crown prince of the Ye Yang Dynasty, and killing him would have meant endless trouble.
"Xun Er!" Liu Hua Furen's face lit up with joy when she saw Bone Qian Xun, and she hastened towards her.
Han Li's eyes observed this scene, and he vanished in an instant, only to reappear beside Shi Chuan Kong. A bright white light emanated from his hand as he struck Shi Chuan Kong's body.
"Stop!" Liu Hua Furen, who had seen this, cried out in alarm and turned around, but it was already too late.
A white glow enveloped Shi Chuan Kong's body, fluctuating with a series of dull sounds as he regained his freedom. He immediately leapt up.
"Many thanks, Brother Li, for saving me once again," Shi Chuan Kong bowed to Han Li.
Han Li casually waved his hand in response.
Liu Hua Furen, who had been watching from a distance of about a dozen zhangs, wore an expression of frustration, but a hint of cunning flashed in her eyes.
Han Li seemed to sense this, and he shot her a thoughtful glance before turning to look inside.
The three-colored light sphere had dispersed, and Xiao Zi's figure emerged from its center. However, she didn't continue to manipulate the puppets to attack. Instead, she stood there in a daze, her eyes gleaming with an unaccustomed spark, no longer as apathetic as before.
Han Li's heart stirred as he watched this scene.
Suddenly, the heart in his chest began to beat fiercely and, without warning, flew out from his bosom, transforming into a blood shadow that soared towards Bone Qian Xun.
Han Li's expression changed, and he gave chase.
Shi Chuan Kong, who had been watching from the side, followed closely behind Han Li.
Bone Qian Xun saw the heart flying towards her and, her face changing color, quickly dodged to the side.
But what happened next was unexpected!
The blood light didn't pay attention to Bone Qian Xun and, with a single flash, disappeared into the corpse of Shi Zhan Feng in the great pit.
Han Li's expression changed as he witnessed the scene, his thoughts racing with urgency.
Could it be that Shi Zhanfeng hadn't died, but had instead used a secret art to feign death, waiting for an opportunity to steal the heart?
As soon as this thought occurred to him, Han Li's anxiety grew, and he accelerated his speed by nearly half, instantly pouncing towards Shi Zhanfeng's corpse.
A fierce, overwhelming power swooped towards Shi Zhanfeng's head, about to shatter it.
However, just at this moment, a deafening "boom" resounded!
A dazzling, blood-red light erupted from Shi Zhanfeng's body, as a formless, boundless energy burst forth from the light, instantly sweeping across a radius of several dozen feet, not only dispersing Han Li's claw strike but also sending both Han Li and Shi Chongkong flying.
Han Li stumbled, landing more than a dozen feet away, his face slightly discolored.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blood-red light pulsed like a heartbeat, yet Shi Zhanfeng didn't revive as Han Li had speculated. Instead, his corpse rapidly withered, transforming into a desiccated corpse before Han Li's eyes.
Witnessing this scene, Han Li's eyes widened.
The heart slowly floated out of Shi Zhanfeng's corpse, suspended calmly in mid-air several feet above it, radiating vibrant, blood-red light.
However, the boundless energy had vanished without a trace.
Han Li's eyes sparkled, and he immediately flew forward once more.
Shi Chongkong also charged forward, reaching towards the heart.
Meanwhile, the tiny, purple-robed girl remained stationary, still not making a move.
Xiaozi, what are you doing? Why aren't you acting?" Sha Xin yelled angrily from a distance, her eyes fixed on the scene.
The tiny girl's body trembled, and she came to, looking at the heart as her hands lifted, ready to control the puppets.
Just then, a pained expression flashed across her face, and she clutched her head, collapsing to the ground.
Han Li beat Shi Chongkong to the heart, grabbing it in one swift motion, and then soared towards the tiny girl.
Sha Xin's eyes widened in alarm at this scene, and she hastily formed a hand seal, her fingertips gleaming with golden characters.
A golden light burst forth from the tiny girl's brow, and her expression turned cold once more. She grasped the golden halberd beside her and swung it, her other hand gesturing rapidly.
Layer upon layer of golden, glowing shadows emerged, carrying a golden aura, and swept towards Han Li.
At the same time, the two stationary puppets behind her suddenly sprang to life, charging forward.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he dodged the puppet's attack, ready to face the two puppets.
"It's enough, stop fighting each other." A voice abruptly resonated within Han Li's mind, and it belonged to Xie Dao.
Han Li reacted to Xie Dao's voice, his heart skipping a beat as he halted, withdrawing several dozen feet.
However, the two puppets also ceased their pursuit.
Han Li pondered Xie Dao's words, his gaze shifting towards Xiaozi and Sha Xin.
Xiaozi's expression remained cold and unchanging, but Sha Xin's face wore a surprised expression, her eyes locking onto Han Li's.
The two exchanged a glance, both detecting something unusual in each other's eyes.
Xie Dao, you've finally appeared. Where are you?" Han Li flew back several dozen feet and asked, his mind connected to Xie Dao.
I'm within the crystal coffin. Just now, my Wooden Heart absorbed a strand of blood lineage power, which allowed me to momentarily awaken. However, I don't have much time, so listen carefully to my next words. Xie Dao hastily replied, his voice urgent.
Han Li heard his words, and countless doubts emerged, but he didn't interrupt.
What I asked of you earlier, to complete a crucial task for my master... actually, my master is myself. My true identity is that of the former master of the Jilian Xian Realm. Many years ago, I was betrayed, gravely injured, and on the brink of death, so I crafted a Xian傀儡 and sealed a portion of my memories within it. I then experienced some events that led me to the lower realms, where I encountered you. Xie Dao continued rapidly.
Han Li heard his words, and his thoughts turned to his encounters with Huang Jinxi. A look of realization dawned on him.
Thanks to your protection, my divided soul safely arrived here, and my revival is at hand. Quickly fuse the Wooden Heart, the Primordial Crystal Core, and my corpse, and with the accumulated power of the immense, dense spiritual energy here, I can recondense a new physical body. After a while, I will be able to revive completely... The task I had you promise to assist me with is to guard this place and prevent anyone from disturbing me during this time... Xie Dao spoke, his voice gradually fading, until it disappeared.
Han Li heard Xie Dao's words, momentarily stunned, but he quickly recovered, his eyes regaining their clarity. He flew towards the crystal coffin at the lake's center.
Shi Chongkong gazed at the heart in Han Li's hand, hesitating to speak, and let out a soft sigh.
From a distance, He Qiong had long noticed the exchange between Han Li and Sha Xin, and upon witnessing the scene, he grew uneasy. "Liuhua, quickly stop that Leng Feiyu!" he shouted.
Liuhua glanced at He Qiong but didn't move.
He Qiong saw this and his anger flared. A faint, bloody glow emerged in his eyes, and a bloody aura erupted from his body, causing his presence to surge. He brandished the Wudong Sword, its black glow surging several times larger, letting out a deafening dragon roar.
As He Qiong readied to swing his sword, a sudden, shrill cry pierced the air, and two golden silhouettes charged forward, toward He Qiong. E Zhan's eyebrows furrowed, and he immediately dodged to the side while swinging his hand backwards. The Mánlóng sword transformed into a black sword shadow, slashing horizontally at the two wooden puppets.
The two human-shaped puppets reacted extremely quickly, their footsteps immediately adjusting as they continued to stab at E Zhan with the large swords in their hands. At the same time, they held up their shields to resist the Mánlóng sword.
Two loud cracking sounds echoed through the air.
The Mánlóng sword directly shattered the shields of the two human-shaped puppets and then slashed into their bodies, deeply embedding itself within them. However, the strength of this sword strike was completely exhausted.
These two human-shaped puppets had not lost their abilities, and they simultaneously threw away the large swords and shields in their hands. With a loud grunt, they clasped their hands together, tightly embracing the Mánlóng sword. At the same time, a golden light suddenly burst forth from their bodies, releasing a series of explosive fluctuations.
E Zhan's expression changed, and he shook twice, unable to shake off the two puppets. He hastily released the sword hilt and retreated backwards, his body shooting back like an arrow.
Two deafening roars shook the air, and two wheels of golden light appeared, followed by the emergence of a series of cracks in the nearby space.
The entire underground space began to shake violently, with countless rocks falling down, and the blood lake's surface erupted into massive waves.
A figure appeared several hundred meters away, and E Zhan's body shot out of the rubble, his face twisted in a grimace.
However, he gazed emotionlessly at the crystal coffin in the center of the lake, as well as Han Li, who was standing beside it. His eyes flickered with unknown thoughts.
At this moment, the four Xiang Zhàn warrior puppets flew towards him, surrounding him, with "Xiao Zi" sitting on top of the black turtle warrior puppet.
"E Zhan, the saying goes that one's path is broadened by many helpers, but narrowed by few helpers. You've committed heinous crimes, and today is the day you die," Sha Xin laughed coldly, raising her hand.
The four warrior puppets immediately pounced, unleashing a flurry of attacks that rained down on E Zhan.
Han Li quickly walked to the crystal coffin and carefully placed the heart into the skeleton's chest cavity.
The heart's blood light immediately brightened, and the holy skeleton also emitted a dazzling light, as if responding to each other.
Han Li then took out the golden orb and revealed a hint of hesitation on his face.
The heart was naturally placed in the skeleton's chest cavity, but where should the orb be placed? Should it be placed in the skeleton's dantian or head?
"Brother Li, the orb is the holy skeleton's original crystal nucleus. It needs to be merged with the heart to become one," a voice echoed in Han Li's mind, belonging to Liù Huā Furen.
Han Li looked up at Liù Huā Furen and nodded slightly, placing the orb on top of the heart.
The golden orb emitted a brilliant light and merged into the heart.
The originally crimson-colored heart was suddenly enveloped by a dazzling golden light, and its color changed rapidly, transforming into a pure golden color within several breaths. At the same time, it grew several dozen times larger, perfectly matching the massive skeleton.
The golden heart began to beat powerfully, overflowing with new life.
A massive golden light column erupted from the skeleton's body, shooting upwards with a deafening roar, as if it were a long-repressed scream of joy.
A vast and boundless aura exploded from the light column, causing the surrounding space to violently tremble.
Han Li's body was also repelled by this immense aura, and he stumbled backwards several steps before stabilizing himself. A hint of shock flashed in his eyes.
The blood lake immediately began to churn, with waves overflowing towards the crystal coffin, pouring into the skeleton's body, and flowing into the golden heart.
Blood lights began to burst forth from the heart, spreading throughout the skeleton's body.
The skeleton's skin rapidly produced numerous flesh buds, which merged together to form a layer of flesh and blood.
As the surrounding blood converged, the holy skeleton's flesh and blood rapidly increased...
At this time, the blood lake's edge was already in chaos, with half of the dome having collapsed. The sky above was visible, but it had already turned dark, with only starlight illuminating the area, devoid of any moonlight.
"You're seeking death, Lǐ Fēi Yǔ!" a loud shout tore through the night air.
The next moment, the entire blood lake violently shook, and Han Li's eyebrows furrowed as he turned to see E Zhan, whose eyes were wide with anger, staring in his direction. A mixture of shock and fury still lingered on his face.
Sha Xin's emotions were the exact opposite, and she was overjoyed in her heart. She shouted loudly, "Don't let him escape! He absolutely cannot be allowed to obstruct our master's plans!"
"Yes!" Kūn Yù and "Xiao Zi" responded in unison.
The two of them began to frantically chant incantations, their faces pale and bloodless.
The dragon-shaped warrior puppet, which was one of the four Heavenly Trigrams warrior puppets, sat in the east, its mouth spewing forth a deafening roar. The air was filled with swirling clouds and a scorching heat, which contained a powerful corroding aura.
The tiger-shaped warrior puppet crouched in the west, its mouth wide open, as a fierce gale howled out, carrying sharp, blade-like winds that swept across the area.
The black turtle warrior puppet guarded the north, spewing forth a green light that generated an immense water pressure, making it seem as if one was carrying a massive mountain on their back, or sinking into a swamp.
The Vermilion Bird warrior puppet hovered in the south, its body ablaze with fierce flames. As it opened its mouth to let out a long cry, a line of scorching flames shot out, incinerating everything in their path.
E Zhan had not expected that, after Sha Xin had given the Heavenly Trigrams warrior puppets' absolute killing array to her two subordinates, they would be able to unleash such powerful strength, completely suppressing him and making it impossible for him to escape for the time being.
E mo's heart was filled with anxiety, his eyes blazed with fury, and his skin had turned a deep crimson under the relentless assault of the Four Images Great Array.
"Halt!"
With a loud bellow, he crouched down like a coiled bow, storing up energy before suddenly bursting upwards, attempting to break through the Four Images Great Array from above.
However, the moment he leaped up, the Xuan Wu's invisible force burst forth, its power surging wildly. The Zhu Que above it fiercely spewed flames, which adhered to E mo's body, searing his internal organs.
E mo's brow was furrowed deeply, but he was undaunted, his only thought being to escape and prevent the resurrection of the saint's corpse.
Just as he was gathering strength, Sha Xin raised his hand, and a golden arc shot out from his palm, emitting a "zila" crackling sound. A golden armored puppet emerged, its entire body radiating electric light.
The puppet was robust and imposing, about five feet tall, with an intricate network of mystic symbols on its armor. Its face was completely concealed behind a thick mask, and in its hand was a massive golden shield.
As soon as the golden puppet appeared, it sprang forward, crashing down on E mo from above like a falling mountain, smashing into him just as he was trying to break through the Zhu Que's flames.
"You stupid fool, get out of my way!"
E mo roared, hurling a fist at the puppet, but it had already pressed the shield against its chest, meeting E mo's blow head-on.
The impact produced a massive shockwave, echoing through the air with a low rumble, its power rivaling that of the great mountains. E mo felt a massive energy coursing through his arm as the puppet countered his blow, forcing him to stop in mid-air, then sending him crashing to the ground.
The golden puppet was also sent flying, its body thrashing about in mid-air, but before it could fall, a new gold shadow appeared in the Four Images Killing Array, untethered by the four symbols' influence. It flashed back and forth beside E mo, its speed breathtaking.
As soon as E mo landed, he threw a punch at the air behind him, sending a massive shockwave through the void, expelling the blistering fog and wind blades. However, the golden shadow darted past him, immediately appearing above his head, its body transforming into a golden puppet.
This time, however, it was only three feet tall and wore light golden armor, its hands grasping a massive golden sword. The blade was almost as long as its own body, and the puppet lunged forward with a swift, powerful thrust.
E mo spun around, his fists swinging towards the puppet, the force erupting from his body spurring the power within. An uncontrollable explosion of starlight erupted from his fist, a burst of energy forcing back the boundless swathing fog and wind blades as if he were repelling the approaching darkness.
The puppet quickly changed tack, adopting a defensive stance as it raised the blade, letting out a long whooshing sound as E mo's mighty force struck the sword, sending the puppet tumbling backwards into the void.
By the time it managed to break free of E mo's attack, the shield-wielding puppet had already repositioned itself and safely received it in hand. As they moved in tandem, the agile puppets merged into a single, cohesive entity.
"Hmph! You've pushed me this far? I'll make you all pay!" E mo snarled in anger.
With a sudden crackle, he pressed two fingers to his brow, meeting a bright crimson hue blazing near his forehead, casting fierce licks of red light that undulated until his aura took on a drastic transformation.
"Quickly! Full strength, suppress him – absolutely cannot let him get away...!" Sha Xin exclaimed as he saw E mo's transformation.
While this happened, Han Li watched from next to the water crystal coffin, observing Sha Xin as he shouted.
But next to E mo, a sudden change occurred! An unforeseen shift, E mo's entire body sounded loudly resonating sounds at every point, but instead of a tranquil snowy-white glow, his meridians flared radiated massive red lights and an intimidating red darkness erupted. The skin was even more bizarre as large quantities of black veins crisscrossed his arms making them writhe around grotesquely.
The air swelled around him as tremendous pressure turned to fierce red mist flowing from outside, crushing the surrounding Four Images Great Array power into him.
Before anyone could resist, E mo jumped once again, but he stood after using a horse-stance on the ground.
The sound resonated like thunderclap exploding and space began shuddering with rapid and constant collisions of explosive booms... The ground beneath Er Mi's feet suddenly trembled violently before collapsing in on itself, with the surrounding earth exploding outward and sending countless massive boulders flying in all directions.
In an instant, the area within a radius of several hundred feet was reduced to dust, while the surrounding earth beyond was reduced to a scene of intense friction, transforming into a sea of fire that swept across the land.
The four War Puppets of the Four Cardinal Directions were caught off guard and failed to dodge in time, stumbling backward as their bodies began to crack and shatter.
The Sword Puppet dodged behind the Shield Puppet, its body nimble and quick. The Shield Puppet, however, was knocked flying by the incoming wave of energy.
Throughout the Blood Lake, explosions continued to ring out, sending waves of blood several dozen feet high crashing towards the Holy Remains at its center.
Han Li's brow furrowed as the over four hundred acupuncture points on his body lit up. His body spun rapidly, and his arms trembled as he unleashed a punch like thunder.
The sound of the explosion shook the air!
Layer upon layer of dense fist silhouettes appeared, resembling a starry sky that pressed down on the surroundings, managing to push back the incoming blood waves and barely holding back the invading storm.
After a moment, all the commotion gradually subsided.
The golden palace at the top of the dome had completely collapsed, revealing the night sky.
Han Li's hands clenched into fists as he swept his gaze across the surroundings, taking in the desolate scene before him. The four War Puppets of the Four Cardinal Directions had been completely destroyed, their fragments mixed in with the rubble. The two Golden Armored Puppets were nowhere to be seen.
Just then, Han Li's pupils constricted as he spotted a lithe, feminine figure half-hidden amongst the rubble. Her face was exposed, and her beauty was breathtaking.
Her face was like white jade, and her eyes sparkled like water.
It couldn't be anyone else but Zi Ling.
Han Li's body flashed, and he appeared beside the woman, sweeping away the rubble and lifting her into his arms.
Looking at the unconscious Zi Ling, whose lower abdomen was pierced by flames and rubble, with blood trickling from her mouth and her brow furrowed in pain, Han Li felt a pang in his heart. If only he had recognized her earlier, she wouldn't have had to suffer like this.
As he thought this, Han Li leapt into the air, heading towards the other side of the Blood Lake.
After a few leaps, he landed beside Liu Tianzi and the others, gently laying Zi Ling down. He produced a medicinal pill from his robes and fed it to her, then turned to Liu Tianzi and said, "Please take care of her for a moment."
Liu Tianzi's expression was solemn, and she nodded without saying a word.
Bone Shatters, who lay nearby, gazed at Zi Ling with a complex look in his eyes.
Shi Chongxin, whose restraints had been removed by Liu Tianzi, was severely injured and could only sit on the sidelines, unable to participate in the fight.
"Thanks," Han Li said, before leaping towards the other shore.
He saw Er Mi approaching, his body radiating a purple-red glow, a blood mist surrounding him, as he grasped the neck of the already deceased Kun Yu.
Han Li's gaze swept over the scene, taking in Kun Yu's mangled body, his dantian exploded into a bloody crater, his head twisted to one side.
"Kid, everything has been part of my plan, but you're an anomaly! You've been disrupting my plans since the Weeping Blood Array. I must say, I admire your unorthodox methods, and I would have taken you as my disciple if you hadn't revived that corpse. Alas, today you must die..." Er Mi casually tossed Kun Yu's corpse aside, slamming it into a nearby stone wall.
"Er City Lord's offer is generous, but I, Li, will repay it with interest..." Han Li retorted, his voice cold and menacing.
As soon as he finished speaking, Han Li had already activated his Feathered Dragon Scales technique, disappearing from the spot in an instant.
Er Mi sneered, reacting to Han Li's disappearance by striking the air beside him.
A massive fist shook the air, as Er Mi's blow was so powerful that it caused the sound of thunder.
In the same instant, a golden light appeared beneath Er Mi's fist, but instead of Han Li, it was the Golden Armored Puppet holding a massive shield that materialized.
The shield rippled like water, as the gold-colored ripples overlapped, creating a sonic boom that shook the air.
The puppet, taking advantage of the momentum, used Er Mi's own strength against him, allowing it to withstand the blow.
The two of them stood frozen, facing off against each other.
At the same time, a slim figure suddenly flipped out from behind the golden shield, like a nimble golden monkey, directly leaping over E Tui's head, holding a huge golden sword in his hand, and fiercely slashing down at his neck.
The golden greatsword was covered in dense star holes, and the moment it slashed down, the star power contained within it almost simultaneously erupted, making it seem as if the sword was enveloped in a layer of serrated sword energy.
However, when the golden sword slashed down, the star power that burst out collided with the layer of blood mist covering E Tui's body, causing sparks to fly and a series of sharp, ringing sounds to explode.
Although the sword's momentum was extremely fierce, it couldn't break through the layer of blood mist and couldn't cut through at all.
"Trivial tricks!" E Tui said disdainfully.
As soon as he finished speaking, the fist that was slamming into the golden shield suddenly retracted, and when it struck again, his entire right arm seemed to have suddenly thickened, the bulging muscle lines like carved with a blade, filled with explosive power.
With a loud bang!
E Tui's fist slammed into the golden shield.
On the huge shield, star holes flickered wildly, sending out layer upon layer of impact force.
However, E Tui crouched down, letting the force wash over him, and directly sent the puppet holding the sword behind him flying out.
At the same time, his right fist struck the golden shield again, and before the sound waves could rebound, his left fist followed, slamming heavily into the surface of the golden shield.
There was a loud rumbling sound!
E Tui's fists were like a storm, continuously pounding on the shield.
The sound waves that should have been rebounding off the golden shield were instead being pounded down, accumulating and compressing on the shield's surface.
In just an instant, the shield's limit was breached.
A deafening explosion rang out.
The golden shield burst apart with a loud bang, and an incomparably powerful force erupted, directly blasting the puppet holding the shield away.
E Tui retreated a few steps, his legs sinking into the ground, stabilizing himself.
At this moment, Han Li's figure seemed to be unaffected by the storm's impact, stepping on air, his entire body like a leaf in the wind, his feet slamming, he flashed a few times and arrived at E Tui's head.
He saw him flip over and dive, his body's Heavenly Demon Suppressing Prison Skill operating at full power, more than four hundred mysterious holes all over his body lighting up, and he fiercely slammed a fist towards E Tui's Baihui acupoint on the crown of his head.
At the end of his fist, star power gathered, condensing into a streak of white fist shadow that seemed to be solid, the surface sparkling, as if inlaid with a piece of void star, the power contained within it even more astonishing.
Although E Tui had been paying attention to Han Li's movements, he still didn't expect him to make a move at this moment, and in his panic, he couldn't make more defenses, and could only tilt his head fiercely, operating his cultivation technique to the limit, to withstand this blow.
Han Li's fist grazed past E Tui's head, but the snow-white fist shadow still left a distinct imprint on his face as it heavily slammed onto his shoulder.
With a loud bang!
The ground under E Tui's feet exploded, countless fragments of rock flying up and turning into dust.
As for him, he fell to one side, his entire body buried in the rubble.
Han Li didn't pause at all, his arms shook, and fist shadows like meteors rained down, a series of chaotic explosions ringing out, the earth shaking greatly, and dust spreading.
Lady Liu Hua watched this scene from afar, and her eyes also flashed with amazement.
As the earth continued to crumble, Han Li and E Tui's figures fell into a deep pit underground, no longer visible.
After a while, a loud rumble came!
Han Li's figure suddenly flew out from underground, flying into the sky, and fell outside.
Immediately afterwards, a figure covered in purple-red followed closely, it was E Tui.
His body had wounds all over, looking bloody, but in fact they were only superficial injuries, not important at all, but being suppressed by Han Li and madly beaten into the ground like that, made him furious.
After E Tui emerged from the ground, he landed and looked at Han Li who was stumbling to his feet not far away, and sneered, "No wonder you kid can have such achievements, it turns out you also cultivated the Heavenly Demon Suppressing Prison Skill, I just don't know which statue you have on you."
After the previous exchange, Han Li naturally could also see that E Tui had similarly cultivated the Heavenly Demon Suppressing Prison Skill, and his cultivation was far above his own.
"I wonder which statue Lord E has cultivated?" Han Li spat out a mouthful of blood foam and smiled back.
"The four statues were deliberately scattered by the Demon Lord back then, I only got two of them, I think the one you have is either the first or the fourth, either way, it's fine!" E Tui said greedily.
"How about we swap them?" Han Li suddenly raised his eyebrows and said.
"Haha... at this time, Fellow Li, don't joke around, okay?" E Tui heard the words and laughed, then said.
As soon as his voice fell, the ground under his feet suddenly shattered, and a golden figure silently charged out, his arms slipped under E Tui's armpits, and he fiercely clasped upwards, tightly clamping him.
The golden figure was none other than the shield puppet that lost its shield, and the sound of its gears turning on its body kept ringing, the golden armor on its body actually split open, like a golden hoop, binding E Tui.
On the golden hoops, dense runes were packed, and the imprisoning power was incomparably strong. At the same time, the sword-wielding puppet abruptly emerged from the ground, discarded its sword, and leaped to the position in front of E'kuī's chest. The puppet's body also emitted a clanging sound as the golden armor on its body split and fused with the shield-wielding puppet.
"Rebel, die!" A frenzied roar came from the distance. It was Sha Xin's enraged shout.
Before he finished speaking, the runes on the two golden-armored puppets burst into dazzling light, turning into a blinding white glow that exploded with a boom.
"Rumble..."
A deafening sound rang out, and under the night sky, it seemed as if a scorching sun had risen, illuminating the entire sky with a blinding light that made it impossible to open one's eyes.
Han Li was already aware of this and had rapidly retreated, avoiding the blast.
The violent shockwave swept through the sky and earth, making it impossible for anyone to see what was happening.
After a while, the turmoil gradually subsided, and the dust dispersed.
Han Li saw that where he had been standing, there was now a huge, deep black pit.
E'kuī stood alone at the bottom of the pit, his clothes tattered and his skin an incomparably dark black. However, it was not the kind of charred black from being burned by intense flames, but a wrinkled, eerie dark gloss.
On the contrary, the jujube-red mark between his eyebrows had now turned snow-white.
"Hehe..."
E'kuī emitted waves of eerie laughter that made people's hearts palpitate. His figure turned into a wisp of green smoke and disappeared from where he was.
In the next instant, a loud rumble came from a great distance away. Sha Xin's figure was smashed into the high sky.
E'kuī's dark figure closely pursued, throwing out a hundred punches in the blink of an eye.
"Boom boom boom..."
Sha Xin's body continuously exploded, like a puddle of mud falling from the sky, his life uncertain.
"His speed is faster, and his power is stronger..." Han Li watched this scene with an extremely solemn expression.
"Don't worry, it's your turn!" E'kuī landed and turned to look at Han Li, saying slowly.
His voice seemed to have changed, making people feel extremely uncomfortable hearing it.
In the next instant, Han Li's pupils shrank sharply. His toes fiercely kicked off the ground, and his figure rapidly retreated backward.
However, his vision still suddenly blurred. That black figure had already caught up.
E'kuī's eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, and his sanity seemed to have dissipated. He raised his fist, and starlight exploded like the scorching sun, blasting straight towards Han Li's chest.
Han Li dared not to be careless in the slightest. He secretly activated the Heaven Slaying Prison Technique while also mobilizing the bloodline power within his body.
The profound light on his arms suddenly brightened. The muscles of his arms swelled up as if inflated, like two city gate doors, blocking in front of him.
At the same time, Han Li suddenly felt a very strange sensation. His arms seemed to have gained an extra special power. It was different from when he used the True Spirit Bloodline power and activated the Heaven Slaying Prison Technique before, yet it seemed to be faintly related.
Boom!
Before he could figure it out, an extremely violent force had already rushed over, crashing into his arms.
Han Li's arm bones shook violently. He felt an immense pressure accompanied by sharp pain suddenly assault him, as if they were about to shatter.
Then, his body was sent flying backwards. He left a thousands-of-zhang-long, nearly hundred-zhang-wide trench on the ground before crashing into a rock wall and stopping.
The entire rock wall, hundreds of zhang high, shattered with a rumble. Rolling stones smashed down, burying Han Li within.
Han Li felt his arms go numb. He moved them a bit, but they were not broken.
At this moment, E'kuī was utilizing the most dangerous Star Blood Ignition technique of the Blood Ignition Secret Art. This technique grew more backlash the longer it was used, so he naturally wanted to end the battle quickly. He wasn't willing to give Han Li a single moment to breathe, already chasing him and attacking once more.
His fist was like a violent storm, continuously striking the rubble. The rumbling sounds were like rolling black thunder, shocking the heavens.
The already shattered mountain wall now thoroughly turned into dust.
From the dust, a fierce roar suddenly rang out. A mountain-like giant ape with golden fur burst out from within. It raised an incomparably huge fist and smashed it towards E'kuī's head.
E'kuī's entire body was not even as large as the giant ape's fist, but he still reached out with a punch.
Boom!
A huge explosive sound rang out, like the eruption of a volcano. A violent force burst out, carrying a shockingly powerful force that even surprised Han Li himself as it surged towards E'kuī.
A flash of surprise flickered in E'kuī's eyes. His body was actually sent flying back by the giant ape's punch.
Han Li wasn't in a good state either. His massive body fell backwards, crashing to the ground once more.
The fallen giant ape then rolled and transformed into a Thunder Roc as silver electric threads surged out from its body. It spread its wings and swiftly glided close to the ground.
"Trying to escape... Where do you think you're going?" E'kuī's pupils contracted as he let out a furious shout.
As soon as E'wa finished speaking, his figure suddenly flashed, like a black lightning bolt, and with a "chi la" sound, he appeared out of thin air in front of Han Li, reaching out his palm towards Han Li's neck.
Han Li seemed to have expected this, and in the instant E'wa reached out, he stopped his momentum and avoided E'wa's attack. He suddenly turned back, his speed doubling, and flew towards the blood lake.
As the lightning fell, just before it reached the surface of the lake, all the silver light suddenly converged, and Han Li's figure reappeared, with E'wa closely following behind.
"Kid, you really have a lot of tricks up your sleeve!" E'wa sneered and attacked again.
Seeing this, Han Li actually retreated instead of advancing, and went straight to meet E'wa.
He silently activated the Heaven Slaying Prison Suppression Technique, and the true spirit bloodline in his body also stirred. The Mountain Giant Ape and Xuanwu bloodlines were simultaneously stimulated. One of his arms suddenly swelled, and steel needle-like golden hairs emerged. On the back of his hand, pieces of cyan light armor appeared.
He punched out with a burst of starlight, which was suppressed under the Xuanwu turtle shell, and clashed with E'wa's punch.
A loud bang sounded.
Han Li felt his arm hurting and splitting, and his figure only retreated a step back, not being blown away. On the other hand, E'wa also took a step back.
Under the urging of the Heaven Slaying Prison Suppression Technique, the true spirit bloodline could burst out with such strong power, which was beyond his expectation.
E'wa's face tightened, and his eyes showed more solemnity.
But then, he took a step forward and suddenly appeared in front of Han Li. A layer of crystal light emerged on his dark arm, and he swung a fist at Han Li.
This punch had no sound of wind or thunder, nor any force of a thousand pounds. It looked light and floating, but its speed was extremely fast.
Han Li was caught off guard and had to activate the power of the Xuanwu bloodline to block with his arm.
Before the tortoise shell pattern on his arm could condense, it was shattered by E'wa's punch, and his whole body was sent flying backwards.
His figure slid across the surface of the blood lake, stirring up thousands of waves of blood, and crashed down beside Ziling.
Seeing this, E'wa did not continue to pursue, but walked on the waves and quickly arrived at the center of the blood lake.
He looked at the sacred corpse lying on the blood-colored crystal stone slab, his eyes revealing a complex expression of reminiscence, hatred, and unwillingness. He formed his fingers into a blade shape and suddenly inserted it towards the heart position of the sacred corpse.
At this moment, the complex patterns engraved on the blood-colored crystal stone slab suddenly lit up, and a layer of blood-colored light, as if it were solid, emerged from it, firmly supporting his palm, preventing him from stabbing down.
At the same time, a loud bang suddenly came from the shore of the blood lake, and Han Li's figure shot out again, rushing towards this side.
At this moment, he had already urged the Heaven Slaying Prison Suppression Technique to the extreme. More than four hundred Xuangliaos all over his body lit up, and almost all the true spirit power in his body was activated.
Behind him, the Mountain Giant Ape, Silver-Winged Thunder Roc, True Dragon, Sky Phoenix, Xuanwu... One by one, the true spirit phantoms appeared out of thin air and then entered his body one after another. Although his figure did not change, the aura on his body changed completely.
Lady Liu Hua looked at this strange scene with no expression on her face, but a hint of admiration flashed deep in her eyes.
Gu Qianxun and the others were also startled.
E'wa also noticed the changes in Han Li at this moment. His palm suddenly withdrew, and without saying a word, he gave up on the sacred corpse and retreated a thousand feet back.
But then, his figure suddenly rose again and rushed towards Han Li.
At the same time, he seemed to have stimulated some kind of demonic bloodline power in his body. There was a series of crackling sounds on his body, two white bone spikes grew on his forehead, his spine bulged upwards, and his vertebrae protruded, piercing through his skin and becoming visible.
As his appearance changed, the aura on E'wa's body became more and more fierce. The blood mist overflowing from his body surface became extremely turbid, and a strong smell of blood seeped out from it.
As he rushed forward, his figure was slightly hunched, his posture different from that of a human, but his speed was extremely fast.
Everyone only saw a blurred afterimage, which suddenly collided with Han Li's body.
A dragon roar and tiger howl-like beast roar sounded!
At the end of Han Li's fist, the star power gathered from the true spirit bloodline burst out, turning into a blinding white light, and collided with the overwhelming bloody aura.
Boom!
A white star and a blood-colored sun exploded at the same time.
The sky was filled with starlight and rolling blood qi, which stirred and dissolved each other. The two violent forces rose upwards at the same time, venting the power into the void above.
Rumble!
High in the sky, the wind and clouds changed dramatically, rumbling continuously, and the spatial cracks that burst out crisscrossed and could not disappear for a long time.
Then, on the edge of the blood lake, a loud shout rang out.
E'wa, who was in a stalemate with Han Li, suddenly focused his eyes, and the fist that was rushing forward suddenly pressed down. An even stronger force burst out again.
Han Li, who was already struggling to hold on, had already reached the peak of his true spirit bloodline and the Heaven Slaying Prison Suppression Technique's operation, with no possibility of further improvement. At this moment, he finally spat out a mouthful of blood, and his fist's momentum dissipated.
A blood-colored aura condensed and turned into a huge fist shadow, heavily blasting Han Li. Boom!
Han Li's body was immediately sent flying backwards like a kite with its string cut, drawing a line of blood in the blood lake as he slammed into its depths.
The figure of E Xiu leaped up and descended from the sky, crashing into the blood lake. With both fists swinging, he frenziedly punched down into the bloody water, strike after strike.
The blood lake shook incessantly, its entire surface quickly receding, yet Han Li's figure was nowhere to be seen.
"Brother Li..." Shi Chuan Kong's face was deathly pale as he murmured.
Gu Qian Xun averted his gaze, unable to bear watching any longer. Liu Hua Madam also let out a long sigh.
Even the unconscious Zi Ling couldn't help but tightly knit her brows, appearing particularly pained.
...
At this moment, deep in the blood lake, Han Li felt his body being continuously struck by towering mountains and great peaks. All the bones in his body seemed to have shattered. He couldn't even struggle to dodge.
What was worse, he felt those punches raining down not only on his body, but also causing his sea of consciousness to shake violently. His divine sense was already somewhat scattered and his consciousness was becoming blurred.
The True Extreme Membrane on his body had long been shattered. The star power he had gathered with the last of his strength was also rapidly dissipating and draining away.
Only now did he realize that the gap between himself and E Xiu was ultimately too vast.
The moment of conclusion had finally arrived...
"Friend Li..." At this moment, a soft call echoed in his mind.
The voice seemed somewhat like Xie Dao Ren, yet also unfamiliar. Han Li wanted to respond but seemed unable to even gather his divine sense.
"Friend Li, I will lend you my Original Spirit Power. Do not resist." Another soft call.
Then, the sacred corpse lying on the blood-colored crystal stone board suddenly opened its eyes and came to life.
Its hands quickly formed a strange hand seal. A finger pointed at its own heart, then with a raise of the wrist, a strand of golden light flowed out from within, condensing at the fingertip and transforming into a golden pellet.
With a casual flick of the finger, the golden pellet turned into a streak of golden light, abruptly flashing and shooting into the blood lake.
"This is bad!"
E Xiu saw this and hastily waved his hand to block, but the golden pellet seemed to be guided, bypassing his fingers and directly entering Han Li's forehead.
"What is that...?" Liu Hua Madam witnessed this, utterly astonished.
"It's Immortal Spirit Power, it's Immortal Spirit Power..." Shi Chuan Kong sensed the aura, his expression drastically changing, crying out in shock.
Gu Qian Xun was filled with confusion, seemingly unfamiliar with this object.
At this moment, deep within the blood lake, blood suddenly surged, as if the first rays of the rising sun. Brilliant golden light gushed out from within.
E Xiu's gaze changed.
He found that his fists had become incomparably slow. In the surrounding void, there seemed to be countless invisible threads, like a woven net binding him, making his movements sluggish.
What shocked him even more was that his thoughts seemed to be slowing down immensely. By the time he realized this, it was already too late.
A massive hollow golden wheel had somehow appeared behind him at some point. The strands of time law power on its surface flowed like water waves, firmly shackling him in place.
E Xiu's strength was beyond doubt. Even being restrained by the True Word Treasure Wheel at such close range, his movements weren't completely sealed. When he sensed something amiss behind him, he even attempted to turn around and shatter the treasure wheel.
However, how could Han Li give him such an opportunity?
With a crackling electric sound.
A streak of golden lightning abruptly flashed. A Green Bamboo Wasp Cloud Sword that had been suppressed in Han Li's body for a long time finally broke free, carrying what seemed like reborn joy as it shot straight towards E Xiu before him.
Due to the extremely close distance between the two, almost instantly, the tip of the Green Bamboo Wasp Cloud Sword pierced into E Xiu's lower abdomen.
But E Xiu's physical strength was truly unimaginable. The power of a single Green Bamboo Wasp Cloud Sword was quite limited. It barely penetrated the outer wall of his dantian before it could advance no further.
At this moment, a roar sounded from underwater. Golden light shone from Han Li's palm, gathering the last remnants of his Immortal Spirit Power and physical strength, all of it slamming onto the sword hilt.
With a soft 'chi' sound.
The Green Bamboo Wasp Cloud Sword finally pierced through E Xiu's entire lower abdomen, directly nailing into his dantian.
"Zi la la..." A streak of golden electric light abruptly flashed. A thunderous explosion suddenly rang out.
A long, miserable cry escaped E Xiu's mouth. A bloody hole burst open in his dantian, from which rose a wisp of charred black smoke.
Immediately after, the blood light in his eyes began to recede, returning to their original color. The dark light on his body also gradually dissipated, but the protruding bones did not retract. His body stumbled back three steps before falling over onto his back.
Han Li struggled to stand up, staggering forward, raising his hand to pull out the Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword that had pierced into E Wu's dantian, his brows tightly furrowed as he swept the sword horizontally, cutting off half of E Wu's head.
At this moment, he also felt a sense of emptiness, and the True Word Treasure Wheel and the Green Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword both flashed with light and returned to his body on their own.
Han Li was covered in blood, his body in tatters, but he looked at the distant Purple Spirit with a smile on the corner of his mouth, his legs went soft, and he collapsed to the ground.
Madame Six Flowers, Bone Qiuxun, and Shi Chuankong all witnessed this scene with shocked expressions.
"E City Lord... E Wu... just like that... died?" Bone Qiuxun murmured to herself.
Madame Six Flowers did not speak, but silently nodded her head.
After the shock, Shi Chuankong couldn't help but let out a long breath and collapsed to the ground.
Han Li barely managed to sit cross-legged, took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.
At this moment, the golden elixir in his body quickly shrank and disappeared, and the immortal spiritual power in his body once again rapidly became stagnant.
He took the opportunity while the immortal spiritual power in his body could still circulate to hurriedly take out some healing elixirs from the Flowing Branch Space.
His healing elixirs had almost been exhausted, and how could the elixirs in Jilei Empty Realm compare to the elixirs outside?
After taking out enough elixirs, Han Li's eyes flashed, as if remembering something, and he reached into his arms.
A black light flashed in his hand, and he pulled out a black statue, which was the statue he had obtained from Zhaogu True Man that day.
Just as he finished doing all this, the golden elixir in Han Li's body completely disappeared, and the immortal spiritual power in his body once again became completely still.
He did not pay attention to this matter, took an elixir and swallowed it, and his injuries quickly healed.
"Fierce Dao friend, are you alright? I didn't expect you to have such strength, even E Wu is no match for you." Shi Chuankong came over and asked.
"It's okay." Han Li waved his hand indifferently, stood up and came to the side of Purple Spirit, carefully examining her condition.
Seeing that she was not seriously injured, he finally breathed a sigh of relief, then turned around and came to E Wu's corpse, his divine sense scanning over it, but his brows furrowed.
E Wu's body was empty, with nothing on it.
"How could this be?" Han Li was greatly surprised.
Storage magic treasures could not be used in Jilei Empty Realm, so everyone carried a lot of items on their bodies, such as elixirs and weapons, which were absolutely indispensable. How could E Wu's body be empty? Could it be that he lost them during the intense battle earlier?
His gaze turned and fell on a bone-white ring on E Wu's left hand.
The ring seemed to be made of some kind of bones, emitting a faint white light, and it did not look like an ordinary object.
Han Li pondered for a moment and took the ring off.
"Not bad eyesight. That is the Starry Sky Ring that I refined for E Wu using the bones of a Starry Sky Beast as the base, supplemented by starry sky restrictions and space restrictions, which can be used with the power of the stars." Madame Six Flowers' voice came over.
Upon hearing this, Han Li glanced at Madame Six Flowers, silently urging the star power in his body, pouring it into the bone ring, while also probing it with his divine sense.
The bone ring floated up with a layer of white light, resisting his divine sense.
Han Li's star power from the Mysterious Orifice crashed into the white light, and soon a soft "crack" sound was heard, the white light shattered, and his divine sense entered the bone ring.
The space inside the ring was not large, only about two or three meters in size, much smaller than any ordinary storage magic treasure outside, but since immortal spiritual power could not be used in Jilei Empty Realm, such a storage magic treasure was extremely precious.
Inside the storage space were piles of various items, elixirs, weapons, beast cores, and some books and classics.
Han Li's divine sense scanned over these items, quickly searching, and soon his eyes lit up, falling on a corner of the storage space, where there were two statues.
He was very familiar with these two statues, which were similar to the two Heavenly Tyrant Prison Skill statues in his hand, and it was clear that they were the remaining two.
Han Li was secretly pleased, but did not take them out to avoid attracting attention.
He withdrew his divine sense and put the storage bone ring on his own hand, then put the two statues and the elixirs on his body into it.
At this moment, a splash of blood shot out from the nearby blood lake, and a beam of blood light quickly wrapped around E Wu's body, pulling it into the lake and disappearing.
Han Li's eyebrows raised, he turned around and glanced at the crystal coffin, his face showing a hint of contemplation.
At this moment, Sha Xin on the side slowly regained consciousness.
Although her body was severely damaged, she still managed to stand up.
As Sha Xin regained consciousness, Purple Spirit, who was on the side, frowned and opened her eyes.
Seeing this, Han Li was overjoyed and was about to quickly walk over, but then his gaze shifted and he stopped in his tracks. "Yao Kui!" Sha Xin looked around and quickly saw Yao Kui's corpse, revealing a shocked expression.
"City Lord Sha Xin, don't worry. Yao Kui has already been killed by Fellow Daoist Li." Madam Liuhua smiled and spoke.
Hearing this, Sha Xin's face relaxed. He looked at Han Li with a hint of astonishment in his eyes, about to say something.
"Alright, Yao Kui is dead, and there's nothing more for you here. Everyone else leave; Fellow Daoist Li, stay behind." A majestic voice came from the crystal coffin, still sounding like Crab Daoist.
At this moment, the blood lake water was still rushing towards the crystal coffin. The flesh and skin on the saint's corpse inside had already grown completely, turning into a naked male body.
He looked like a middle-aged man with a full head of white hair and a square face. Although his eyes were tightly closed, they still emitted an imposing aura.
"This appearance..." Han Li looked at the male body in the crystal coffin, his eyes flashing slightly.
At this moment, the man in the coffin bore some resemblance to the Crab Daoist from years ago, but not completely.
"Master, you have finally been resurrected, that's great!" Seeing this, Sha Xin revealed an ecstatic expression. Regardless of his injuries, he knelt before the crystal coffin and excitedly spoke.
"I have not yet fully recovered and need some time to recuperate. With Fellow Daoist Li guarding me, it will be enough." Crab Daoist continued.
"Ah, although Fellow Daoist Li helped us kill the villain Yao Kui, he is still an outsider. It's better for me to guard you, City Lord." Sha Xin glanced at Han Li and said softly.
"Fellow Daoist Li and I have known each other for many years, you don't need to worry. Moreover, I now have another important task to assign to you..." Crab Daoist's voice lowered halfway through, evidently switching to voice transmission.
Sha Xin's expression changed, then he nodded heavily and said to Han Li, "I'll leave this place to you, Fellow Daoist Li." He immediately led Ziling towards the exit.
"Wait, City Lord Sha Xin. Ziling is my friend. Please remove the restrictions in her soul and let her return to her true self." Han Li suddenly called out to Sha Xin.
Hearing this, Ziling's body trembled, revealing a complex expression.
"My memory, I almost forgot. When Ziling first entered Puppet City, I was worried she was a spy sent by Profound City, so I sealed her memory. Please don't blame me, Fellow Daoist Li. I will now release the seal." Sha Xin apologized to Han Li, then walked over to Ziling.
Her hands quickly formed a seal, then suddenly stretched out two fingers, pointing at Ziling's forehead while muttering.
Golden light emanated from her hands and entered Ziling's forehead.
Ziling's forehead immediately revealed golden patterns, forming a seal-like technique. Her eyes became dazed as she softly sat down on the ground.
"Release!" Sha Xin shouted softly.
The golden patterns on Ziling's forehead flashed, then turned into specks of light and scattered.
Ziling groaned and fell into a coma, her body falling towards the ground.
In a flash, Han Li appeared next to Ziling and caught her.
"What happened to her?"
"Fellow Daoist Li, don't worry. Daoist Ziling is only temporarily unconscious and will awaken soon." Sha Xin smiled faintly.
After saying this, she bowed again to the crystal coffin, turned, and walked outside.
Madam Liuhua and Gu Qianxun followed behind her.
Shi Chuankong's gaze moved away from Crab Daoist and looked at Han Li, seeming to want to say something, but in the end did not. He walked outside.
The group quickly left the underground space and arrived above ground.
Sha Xin closed the passage entrance and did not leave. Instead, she sat down cross-legged nearby, white light emanating from her body as if she was cultivating to heal her injuries.
Madam Liuhua and the others did not leave immediately either, each going to a side.
Madam Liuhua's expression fluctuated, then she gritted her teeth and led Gu Qianxun to Sha Xin. She bowed deeply and said, "I, Liu Hua, along with my daughter Qianxun, greet City Lord Sha Xin."
"Daoist Liu Hua, how can I accept such a grand gesture from a young woman?" Sha Xin slowly opened her eyes and calmly spoke.
"City Lord Sha Xin is virtuous and prestigious. Now with the help of the great person in the crystal coffin, unifying the Accumulated Scales Region is only a matter of time. I was previously muddle-headed, aiding the villain Yao Kui against you. I hope you can forgive me. I am now willing to turn over a new leaf and join your Puppet City. I hope the City Lord can accept me." Madam Liuhua earnestly stated.
"My daughter is also willing to join Puppet City. I hope the City Lord will accept us." Gu Qianxun also bowed and spoke.
"Oh, you want to join my Puppet City? Hehe, as for Gu Qianxun, we won't discuss that yet. Daoist Liu Hua, you previously helped Yao Kui create countless star weapons, causing immeasurable damage to our Puppet City. Even if I could be magnanimous and accept you, the others in Puppet City probably couldn't tolerate you." Sha Xin glanced at Madam Liuhua and coldly spoke.
"I understand. In order to quell the rage of the Puppet City Daoists, I am willing to reveal to City Lord Sha Xin the troop deployments around Profound City, as well as the weaknesses in the city's defenses. Most of Profound City's defenses were arranged by myself and Yao Kui. Is this acceptable?" Madam Liuhua bitterly smiled and asked.
"Since Daoist Liu Hua is so sincere, I am not an unreasonable person. Very well! From today onwards, you two are members of my Puppet City." Sha Xin's eyes lit up and she spoke.
"Thank you, City Lord." Madam Liuhua's eyes sparkled with joy. She and Gu Qianxun bowed again.
Shi Chuankong, who was beside them, heard the conversation between Madam Liu Hua and Sha Xin, and after a moment of contemplation, he stepped forward.
"City Lord Sha Xin, I have something I would like to discuss with you. Would you be willing to spare some time for a conversation?" Shi Chuankong said with a slight bow.
"Brother Shi, what is it? Please feel free to speak your mind." Sha Xin glanced at Shi Chuankong and said calmly.
"Can we talk in private?" Shi Chuankong added.
Sha Xin's eyebrows twitched slightly, and a sharp gleam flashed in his eyes.
Shi Chuankong just smiled and calmly met Sha Xin's scrutinizing gaze.
Sha Xin retracted the sharpness in his eyes, nodded, and stood up to walk with Shi Chuankong to a nearby spot, where they began to communicate through voice transmission.
...
In the underground space.
Han Li carried Zi Ling to a flat area and placed her on the ground.
He then took out a healing pill and fed it to Zi Ling. Afterwards, he sat quietly beside her, carefully examining her sleeping face.
Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, more than half an hour had gone by.
Zi Ling's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly, and she let out a soft whimper as she opened her eyes.
"You're awake?" Han Li leaned in to look at her, his eyes flashing with excitement.
Zi Ling's bright, intelligent eyes looked back at him, no longer showing any confusion, clearly having fully regained her mental clarity.
The next moment, her delicate body stiffened, and her beautiful eyes stared blankly at Han Li.
"Is it really you?" She reached out to gently caress Han Li's cheek, murmuring to herself, as if she had gone silly.
"It's me. These years have been hard on you." Han Li grasped Zi Ling's soft hand and said softly.
The two did not speak further, but just gazed at each other, both seemingly immersed in the joy of reuniting in another realm after so many years apart.
Han Li looked at Zi Ling's incomparably beautiful face, and memories of the past flashed through his mind one by one.
From their chance encounter in the Chaotic Star Sea, to their shared hardships in the Void Sky Palace and the Netherworld, their joint venture into the Fallen Devil Valley, and the deep bond they formed, leading to their travels together in the Great Jin, and finally, their reunion in the Devil Realm...
These scenes were like they had happened just yesterday, and they were etched in his heart and soul.
Now, in the blink of an eye, tens of thousands of years had passed, and looking back, though her beauty remained unchanged, everything else was different, as if a world apart.
In Zi Ling's bright eyes, like mirrors of water, Han Li's every minute facial expression was reflected, and she too seemed to be lost in memories of the past.
"I thought that after ascending to the upper realm, I wouldn't know how long it would take to see you again, considering how vast this place is... I didn't expect to meet you so soon, and under such circumstances." After a long while, Zi Ling's expression regained its calmness, and she spoke.
"It was all a coincidence. I came to the Devil Realm because of a certain matter, otherwise I don't know how long it would have taken to meet you." Seeing this, Han Li also regained his composure from his earlier emotional state and smiled.
They were both strong-willed individuals, and even though they had reunited after a long separation, they quickly restrained their surging emotions.
"By the way, I remember entering the Jilin Void Realm and then being taken into the Puppet City by City Lord Sha Xin. How did I end up here? And where is this place?" Zi Ling looked around, her face showing confusion.
"This is the Great Ruins, deep within the Jilin Void Realm. After you entered the Puppet City, Sha Xin must have used some means to seal your divine soul, which is why you don't remember what happened during this time..." Han Li recounted what had happened since their reunion, as well as what he had heard about Zi Ling from the people of the Puppet City.
"I see. I didn't expect City Lord Sha Xin to seal my memories. Fortunately, she didn't have any ill intentions towards me, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to meet safely today." Zi Ling murmured to herself, then smiled.
"It is said that 'one should not harbor ill intentions towards others, but one must always be on guard against others.' We don't know Sha Xin's temperament well, so it's best to be cautious." Han Li said.
"Yes, I understand. I was a bit careless before." Zi Ling nodded obediently.
"By the way, how were things in the lower realm after I ascended? And how did you ascend so quickly? With your aptitude, according to my estimation, it shouldn't have happened so fast." Han Li seemed to have thought of something else and asked with some confusion. "You want to ask about Sister Nangong's situation, right? Just ask directly, no need to beat around the bush." Zi Ling glanced at Han Li.
Han Li did indeed have that intention, and being seen through by Zi Ling, he immediately felt a bit embarrassed.
"Don't worry, before I underwent my tribulation, I went to the Spirit Realm to investigate. With the foundation you left behind, everything in the Qing Yuan Palace is normal. Sister Nangong's cultivation is also very smooth, and she has already reached the Mahayana Realm. She is currently accumulating resources and making preparations in order to pass through the Ascension Tribulation as soon as possible... As for me, it's because of some opportunities that came my way, so the story is long. That's why I passed through the tribulation earlier than Sister Nangong and them." Zi Ling said calmly.
Hearing this, Han Li's expression didn't change much on the surface, but inwardly he secretly let out a sigh of relief.
"What you cultivate is a genuine human race technique, and the place of ascension should be the Immortal Domain, right? How did you end up in the Devil Domain?" Zi Ling asked.
"When I ascended, it was indeed in the Northern Cold Immortal Domain of the True Immortal Realm. Afterwards, many things happened before I arrived in the Devil Domain." Han Li nodded and said.
"Although I haven't been in the Devil Domain for long, I know that the Devil Domain and the Immortal Domain are sworn enemies. I'm curious, how did you end up traveling with the prince of the Night Sun Dynasty, and seemingly on good terms?" Zi Ling blinked her eyes and asked.
"That's a long story. After I ascended to the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, I encountered powerful enemies and was severely injured and lost my memory. I drifted into the Spirit Border Realm and only managed to recover my cultivation with great difficulty before returning to the True Immortal Realm... Afterwards, I went to the Black River Water Palace to look for you, and learned that you had been taken into the Accumulated Scale Void, so I also entered the Accumulated Scale Void. Heaven helps those with an unyielding heart, and I finally found you." Han Li recounted his experiences over these years in detail. Aside from matters like the Heaven Bottle that were inconvenient to mention, he hid nothing and roughly told Zi Ling everything.
Hearing Han Li's incredible experiences with their dramatic ups and downs, Zi Ling's expression changed again and again. Even with her resolute and firm temperament, her heart couldn't help but be moved by Han Li's story.
Especially when she heard that Han Li had entered the Accumulated Scale Void to search for her despite the strange dangers, her heart was even more touched.
After a long time, Han Li finally finished speaking. Zi Ling stared blankly into the void in front of her, lost in thought.
"Although I knew early on that you were someone with great divine powers and great fortune, and that your abilities were far beyond what I could anticipate, I still couldn't imagine that you experienced so many things over these years. Moreover, your cultivation has already soared to the Grand Unity Realm. During this time, you must have suffered untold hardships." Zi Ling sighed and said softly.
"I did encounter some dangers, but since they're all in the past now, they naturally don't matter anymore. Furthermore, if I hadn't encountered so many obstacles, my cultivation wouldn't have improved so quickly. This is what they call 'misfortune, upon which good fortune leans'." Han Li said with a carefree laugh.
"You're quite open-minded. But what are your plans next?" Zi Ling smiled and didn't dwell on the matter, changing the subject.
"I previously promised Crab Daoist friend that I would protect him here until he fully recovers. After that, I'll leave the Accumulated Scale Void and find a way to return to the True Immortal Realm." Han Li thought for a moment and said.
"Crab Daoist friend has a way to leave the Accumulated Scale Void?" Zi Ling's pretty face froze, and she asked in surprise.
"Haha, Zi Ling Daoist friend, don't worry. Once I fully recover, I'll be able to drive the origin power of the Accumulated Scale Void and send people outside, allowing you and your partner to escape this dangerous place together." Crab Daoist's voice suddenly rang out without warning, and he laughed loudly.
Hearing this, Zi Ling's face flushed bright red.
"Zi Ling, you just ascended to the Devil Domain, and your cultivation isn't strong yet. In the future, come with me to the True Immortal Realm. As long as there are enough Devil Essence Stones, you can cultivate there just the same." Han Li looked at Zi Ling and seemed to have made some decision. His tone was solemn.
Hearing this, Zi Ling fell silent and didn't speak for a time.
Han Li understood her personality and naturally didn't urge her, just quietly waiting.
"Han brother, I've had a question buried in my heart for a long time, and I've always wanted to ask you." After being silent for a moment, Zi Ling suddenly spoke up.
"Go ahead." Han Li was startled, but nodded and said.
"In Han brother's heart, between me and Sister Nangong, who do you care about more?" Zi Ling looked directly into Han Li's eyes, her gaze bright and clear.
"Why would you say that, Zi Ling? You and Wan'er are both the people I care about the most." Hearing this, Han Li was stunned. After a long while, he forced a smile and said.
Zi Ling looked at Han Li. Although his face didn't reveal much, her beautiful eyes still flashed with a hint of disappointment, but she quickly regained her composure.
"You men are truly insatiable, and this has nothing to do with cultivation level." Zi Ling murmured, and then fell silent again.
Han Li continued to look at Zi Ling, and also silently sighed in his heart.
"I've never had the idea of relying on others before, and I won't in the future either. I still want to cultivate on my own like you, and forge my own path. Besides, even though your cultivation is strong, your enemies are not weak either. If I followed by your side, I would only be a burden. It's better for me to stay in the Devil Domain. The environment here suits me better." After a long silence, Zi Ling said.
"You really haven't changed, still exactly the same as before. So what are your plans for the future?" Hearing this, Han Li asked with a bitter smile.
"My aptitude is ordinary, and my cultivation can't compare to yours, Han brother. However, I feel that puppet techniques suit me quite well, so I plan to continue following Sand Heart City Lord and focus on studying puppet techniques. In the future, when Crab Daoist friend is fully resurrected, I should also leave this place and go to the Devil Domain to cultivate." Zi Ling pondered for a moment and said.
"Since you've already made your plans, I won't force you. But take these things. They'll be of great help to your future cultivation." As he spoke, Han Li took out a few jade slips, copying the techniques of the first statue of the "Heavenly Demon Prison Skill," as well as two devil race techniques suitable for Zi Ling's cultivation. He handed them all to Zi Ling.
Regarding the items Han Li gave her, Zi Ling did not refuse this time. After taking the jade slips and briefly examining them, her pretty face changed.
Although her cultivation was not high, she had been in the Black River Water Palace and the Puppet City, so her knowledge was not ordinary.
The cultivation methods on these jade slips were extremely precious. Any one of them, if spread, would be a treasure fought over by countless people.
"You have cultivated the Puppet Heart of Puppet City to a quite high level, but when it comes to tempering divine consciousness, no matter how many realms you traverse, no cultivation method can compare to the Soul Refining Technique. If you can cultivate it, it will surely be of great help to your puppet manipulation skills. However, this cultivation method also has its disadvantages. I have recorded everything in the jade slip. How to choose is up to you. Don't relax in the cultivation of the Heavenly execution Prison Skill. In the future, after leaving the Jilin Empty Realm, you will still have to rely on cultivation to determine victory or defeat. First, clear the Profound Orifice, then impact the Immortal Orifice will be much easier." Han Li carefully instructed.
"I understand." Zi Ling nodded and kept the jade slips close to her body.
"As for those two cultivation methods, I obtained them from a Demon Race Daluo. Although you can't cultivate them now, they are quite compatible with your physique, so you can save them for later. The first two cultivation methods can be cultivated now, especially in the Jilin Empty Realm where the power of the stars is rich. It's the best environment for cultivating the Heavenly Execution Prison Skill. You might as well stay here with me to protect Crab Daoist friend. I can also give you some pointers." Han Li said again.
"No, I plan to return to Sha City Lord first. My puppet manipulation skills have not yet reached a profound level. I need her to continue teaching me to improve, otherwise my previous efforts will have been in vain. As for the cultivation methods you gave me, I will arrange them properly. Moreover, I can take care of myself, you don't have to worry." Zi Ling looked away and said calmly.
"In that case, keep this too. I took it from someone in your Puppet City before. It's quite powerful. And since this is something I'm giving you, even if Sha Xin knows, she won't dare say anything. You keep it for your own protection." Han Li then took out a golden ball and handed it to Zi Ling. It was the Golden Winged Owl Puppet.
"Golden Winged Owl!" Zi Ling saw the golden ball, her beautiful eyes moved, but she did not refuse. She took the ball and put it away.
"You've given me so many things, I have nothing to repay you with, so I'll give you a small gift in return." She hesitated for a moment, then took out an object and handed it over.
Han Li took the object, but it was a green jade pendant, crystal clear like water, and it looked like it was made of extraordinary material.
But this jade pendant was not complete, it seemed to be only half, and the broken mouth was jagged, as if it had been forcibly broken off.
In the center of the jade pendant, a group of light and shadow emerged, vaguely revealing the image of a person.
"Zi Ling, this..." Han Li's face changed slightly, and he looked up at Zi Ling.
"You don't need to worry about this matter, I will handle it myself, I'm just telling you today." Zi Ling said calmly, her voice light but full of determination.
As soon as the words fell, she turned and walked outside.
Han Li stepped forward, as if wanting to reach out to stop her, but in the end he stopped his steps, looked at the jade pendant in his hand, and sighed.
Zi Ling quickly left the underground space and came outside.
Outside the entrance, a group of people was standing at this moment, including Sha Xin, Six Flowers Madam and others, Zhuo Ge, Black Big, Black Two also came to this place, surrounding Sha Xin.
"City Lord." Zi Ling came to Sha Xin's side and bowed.
"Zi Ling, how did you come out? How is the owner inside?" Sha Xin looked surprised and hurriedly got up to help Zi Ling.
"That senior is still recovering. I talked with Li Daoist friend and then came out." Zi Ling said calmly.
"Zi Ling, I previously sealed your divine soul. Although it was for Puppet City, the consideration was indeed inadequate. I hope you don't take it to heart." Sha Xin slowly nodded, held Zi Ling's hand, and said apologetically.
"City Lord, please don't say that, I understand." Zi Ling said.
"What are your plans for the future?" Hearing this, Sha Xin's heart secretly relaxed, and then she asked.
"I am willing to continue to follow the City Lord." Zi Ling said firmly.
......
In the underground cave, after Zi Ling left, the blood lake suddenly churned up a whirlpool.
The blood-colored crystal stone plate then sank down, bringing Han Li with it into the lake water below.
Below the blood pool, a spell formation flashed with light.
Then, Han Li and Crab Daoist appeared together in a large crystal palace.
The walls of the palace were transparent and flawless, showing a faint crystal red color, covered with various patterns, looking like a large crystal coffin.
The blood-colored crystal stone plate carrying Crab Daoist's sacred bones fit perfectly with a half-man-high stone platform on the ground, linking the patterns together, looking like one.
On the ground of the crystal palace, there were also three circular trenches, also engraved with complex patterns. The entire palace seemed to be a vast stellar formation.
With a glance, Han Li couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, only to discover that Yue Qiu's corpse was lying in a circular trench not far away.
"Brother Han, although I have now merged with this corpse, it is far from being resurrected. I need to recuperate here to achieve true resurrection. As I said before, I still need you to guard me for some time." The holy body on the blood-colored crystal stone suddenly spoke.
"Why me, and not Sha Xin? Isn't she your subordinate? It seems that she has been very loyal to you over the years, always wanting to resurrect you." Han Li frowned and asked.
"Yue Qiu was once my trusted subordinate, ordered to guard this place for me, but in the end... he colluded with the Demon Lord and almost destroyed this place. Now, the only person I trust is you, Brother Han." Crab Daoist shook his head and said.
"I have one thing that I don't understand. What is your relationship with the Demon Lord, and why did he harm you?" Han Li asked again.
"This matter... is a long story. Let's wait until I fully recover before I tell you in detail. There are two side halls on the left and right of the Falling Star Crystal Palace. One was where I used to study the mysteries of the Dao and puppet techniques. The books and materials stored there are still intact and have not been affected. You can read them freely. The other was where I used to cultivate. You can also go into seclusion there." Crab Daoist hesitated for a moment and continued.
Han Li didn't ask any more questions and nodded in agreement.
A moment later, a circular formation above the crystal palace lit up with a starlight, and then, like a prairie fire, it instantly ignited the entire formation.
The four walls and the ground of the crystal palace were filled with stars, as if a vast galaxy had emerged. The vast power of the stars gathered from all directions.
All the patterns on the blood-colored crystal stone and the stone platform below lit up, and a layer of hazy light immediately gathered from them, turning into a blood-colored barrier that enveloped the Crab Daoist's holy body.
At the same time, the sound of flowing water came from the trenches on the ground of the crystal palace.
The lake of blood containing pure blood power also gathered from somewhere, filling the three circular trenches and converging towards the blood-colored stone platform in the center.
Han Li could clearly feel that the vast power in the blood was slowly fusing into the body.
Just then, a "bang" sound came.
When Han Li looked over, he found that in the outer trench, Yue Qiu's body suddenly burst open, and pieces of flesh and bones were sucked onto the crystal wall of the trench by a strange force.
Under the constant flushing of the blood, his flesh began to dissolve rapidly, and even the bones were slowly melting. All the power in the remains turned into pure blood energy and fused into the entire formation.
At this moment, Han Li suddenly felt his heart tremble violently, and his face became extremely flushed.
His expression changed slightly, and he silently activated the star power in his body, turned around, and walked towards the right side hall.
Han Li passed through a crystal stone door and entered the side hall, immediately sitting down cross-legged.
At this moment, the blood in his body was raging in his veins, and all the blood seemed to be boiling. The skin on the surface of his body seemed to be burning, and layers of hot pink heat were constantly evaporating from his pores.
Including the mountain giant ape, thunder roc, true dragon, and other true spirit bloodlines, they all began to riot in his body and seemed to be uncontrollable, all showing signs of exploding.
Han Li immediately activated the Heavenly Devil Imprisoning Skill, mobilized all the star power in his body, and tried to suppress it.
As a result, it was better not to activate it. As soon as he activated it, the true spirit bloodlines in his body immediately became more violent, as if they had been injected with a powerful medicine, causing Han Li's bones to make cracking sounds.
"What's going on?" Han Li was stunned and extremely surprised.
He thought about it for a moment, and only then did he remember that when he was fighting against Yue Qiu, it was when he activated the Heavenly Devil Imprisoning Skill that the true spirit bloodline's power greatly increased. It seemed that there was indeed a connection between the two.
But now that the true spirit bloodline was backlashing, it would be counterproductive to stimulate it like this.
In addition to being shocked, Han Li immediately stopped the operation of the technique and only used his mental power to draw the star power in his body and disperse it to various parts of his body to help calm the turbulent blood.
Two hours later, the true spirit bloodline that was rioting and counterattacking in Han Li's body gradually subsided. Han Li slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a long breath, but his face was still flushed with blood.
"I didn't expect the true spirit bloodline to backlash at this time. It will be troublesome in the future..." Han Li sighed.
As he spoke, he stood up and looked around.
In the center of the hall, there were several white jade bookshelves about a foot high, with a total of eight columns, arranged in a radial pattern towards the center of the hall, filled with all kinds of books.
In the center of the hall, there was a crystal pagoda less than a foot high, with a total of eight corners and nine layers, surrounded by spiritual light, looking extremely beautiful.
Han Li passed through the layers of white jade bookshelves surrounding him and approached the crystal tower. Upon closer inspection, he discovered that the tower was not carved with any spell patterns, nor was it a fairy treasure. It was simply a uniquely shaped storage shelf.
The crystal tower was divided into eight compartments on each layer, with each compartment containing numerous jade slips and silk papers.
The bottom layer had the largest space and the most books, mostly in the form of books and scrolls, densely accumulated, with about a hundred or so in just one compartment.
As one went higher, each layer of the tower became smaller, and the number of books that could be stored inside became fewer. At the top layer, there were only eight remaining, all in the form of jade slips.
With Crab Taoist's previous words in mind, Han Li had no reservations. He casually took out a jade slip, glanced at it, and then raised his hand to place it on his forehead, carefully examining it.
After a moment, he put down the jade slip in his hand, and his expression changed slightly.
The jade slip he had just put down contained a puppet refining technique called " Hundred Refinements into a Puppet." Han Li was astonished after just a brief scan.
Just the materials used for the puppets were discussed from three aspects: "Heavenly Time," " Geographical Advantage," and " Human Harmony." It not only fully demonstrated the influence of different puppet materials on the quality of the refined puppets but also detailed the importance of refining puppets with different attributes under various heavenly time environments.
However, Han Li's mind was not focused on this at the moment. He wanted to look for some cultivation-related books to see if he could find any techniques or divine powers to suppress or resolve the backlash of the True Spirit bloodline within his body.
So, after putting away the " Hundred Refinements into a Puppet," he continued to pick up other jade slips and place them on his forehead for viewing.
...
In the blink of an eye, seven days passed.
Han Li sat cross-legged, leaning against a corner of the main hall, holding a scroll named " Star Element Blood Refining Technique," carefully examining it.
The content recorded in this technique was indeed unique, different from the common cultivation techniques of tempering the body, muscles, and even tendons and bones. It boldly proposed using the power of the stars to refine the blood.
By cultivating this technique, a cultivator's blood could also be refined, allowing the blood to contain a large amount of star power. When fighting enemies, occasionally using the blood flowing out of wounds as an attack method often produced unexpected effects.
Moreover, the blood of those who practiced this technique often contained more energy. When using some blood-burning secret techniques, they often had an even more terrifying power boost.
However, this technique was extremely difficult to cultivate. During the process of introducing star power into the blood, not only did one have to endure unimaginable pain, but they also had to bear enormous risks.
Because blood travels throughout the body through veins, passing through important points such as the heart and dantian, if one lost control and the star power in the blood went out of control, it would be a life-threatening situation.
However, after reading it, Han Li only marveled at it and had no intention of cultivating this technique. The scroll clearly stated that this technique was not suitable for people with special bloodlines to cultivate.
The reason was simple: the blood power of these people was stronger, making it more difficult to control the fusion of their blood and star power. Han Li's bloodline power was already quite complex. If he wanted to cultivate this technique, it would be like adding fuel to the fire, seeking his own death.
However, this technique was not completely useless for Han Li. The various blood circulation methods and ways to calm the turmoil of star power mentioned in it were very useful.
As for how to cultivate and learn, Han Li still needed to carefully extract the beneficial parts.
After a while, he slowly rolled up the scroll, rubbed his slightly painful forehead, and slowly stood up, placing it back on the crystal tower.
In these few days, he had gone through all the books on this tower, but the useful information he found was not much.
Even the " Star Element Blood Refining Technique" he just found could only serve an auxiliary purpose and could not completely solve his current predicament.
However, since he had found some alleviating methods, Han Li decided to try cultivating them.
He turned around and left the main hall, heading towards another main hall.
When Han Li arrived at the central hall where the star formation was operating, he saw that Crab Taoist in the formation had already been completely covered by a layer of blood-colored crystal light. The light refracted, making it impossible to see his figure clearly.
Han Li did not linger. He only glanced briefly before turning around and leaving.
As soon as he entered another main hall, Han Li felt as if he had bumped into a wall of qi. Immediately after, it seemed as if his entire body was wrapped in a warm current, extremely comfortable.
He looked around and discovered that the entire main hall was filled with various spell patterns. The ceiling and floor were carved with star patterns, flickering unpredictably.
Among them were river-like patterns, with white light flowing like water waves, looking incredibly dazzling.
"No wonder this was Crab Taoist's closed-door cultivation place. The star power here is so dense..." Han Li couldn't help but exclaim upon seeing this. After finishing his words, he arrived at a lotus platform in the center of the great hall and sat down cross-legged.
Underneath Han Li's buttocks, a white halo of light immediately lit up, as if a cotton cushion had been inserted, making it very comfortable.
After sitting down, he closed his eyes and rested for a while before starting to recall the "Xingyuan Blood Refining Technique" he had just seen in his mind, but he did not immediately start cultivating it.
He directly ignored the part about how to draw the power of the stars into his body to refine his blood, and only selected the latter half of the technique on how to calm the power of the stars to learn.
The star power emphasized in the technique was actually not much different from the nature of the True Spirit Bloodline. When it became violent, the power was uncontrollable. On one hand, it would burn the essence and blood in the body, and on the other hand, it would break through the blood vessels, causing the whole body to explode.
Han Li relied on his strong physique to avoid the fate of his body exploding and dying to a certain extent, but he could not avoid the boiling heat of his blood. After it was completely burned, his whole body would wither and die.
After thinking for a long time, Han Li began to follow the mnemonics in the technique, pinching his fingers and silently cultivating.
...
Time flew by, and more than eight years passed.
In the closed-door cultivation hall, Han Li sat cross-legged on the lotus platform. His entire body was red, and pink mist steamed from his body, filling the room as if a hot spring had been opened.
His eyes were as red as blood, but the divine light in his pupils was calm, without any sense of panic.
He then formed a strange hand seal, and a chanting sound came from his mouth. His body tilted to the right, and he propped up his head with one hand and bent one leg, making a pose of a sleeping Buddha.
As he laid down in this pose, the star power in his body surged like river waves, from his head to his feet, and from his feet to his head. It circulated steadily, gradually suppressing his raging True Spirit Bloodline.
The red color on his body also began to recede from his head to his neck, from his neck to his chest, gradually returning to normal.
"Success! The effort I put in during this time was not in vain..." After a while, Han Li sat up and a smile appeared on his face.
In these eight years, except for a small amount of time when Han Li went to the hall where the techniques were stored to read books, he spent most of his time in the closed-door secret room cultivating the Xingyuan Blood Refining Technique.
After countless attempts, he finally gradually mastered the method to calm his True Spirit Bloodline.
Han Li stood up, stretched, and looked up. He suddenly saw a star map carved above his head, with its light flashing constantly. The Milky Way engraved on it was like a jade belt hanging horizontally in the air. Although it was mysterious and beautiful, it was not as gorgeous as before.
"It seems to be another clear sky with sparse stars..." Han Li was in a good mood and muttered to himself.
He had discovered early on that although the crystal palace he was in was located under the blood lake, it could connect with the outside starry sky. Every time night fell and stars filled the sky, the star map above the palace would light up like the stars.
The denser the stars in the night sky, the brighter the star map in the crystal palace would be, and the denser the star power it would absorb. Today, the moon was clearly in the sky, but the starlight seemed a bit dim.
Han Li looked at it for a while, and suddenly had a thought. He reached into his arms and, after fumbling for a while, took out a small dark green bottle that had accompanied him throughout his cultivation journey. He bent down and placed it on the ground.
The light projected from the roof above spilled onto the small dark green bottle, giving it a soft glow and clearly outlining the patterns on the bottle's body.
However, after waiting for a long time, the small bottle just stayed still in place without any change.
"Sure enough, it doesn't work? It seems that only the starlight can be transmitted into this crystal palace..." Before he could finish his words, his eyebrows raised slightly, and a very familiar scene appeared before his eyes.
A hazy white light enveloped the small bottle, and the leaf-like patterns on it also lit up, making the whole bottle body crystal clear. White spots of light formed around the bottle, turning into a huge white halo that glowed with a soft light.
However, the speed at which these white spots of light gathered was indeed a bit slow, much slower than before in other places.
Han Li looked at it for a while, then put the small bottle away again. He was just curious and wanted to try it, but he didn't plan to use the Palm Heaven Bottle to gather green liquid, because in this Jilin Kong Realm, there was no need for this item for the time being.
After putting it away, he turned around and left the hall, and went to the hall of books again.
...
More than a month later, one day.
Han Li sat cross-legged in the closed-door cultivation hall and took out three items from his sleeves, placing them one by one in front of him.
They were four ancient statues made of the same material, which seemed to be some kind of demon race creature, all in the shape of three heads and six arms, but their facial expressions and action details were very different.
Han Li stood in front of the four statues, his eyes flashing slightly.
Among them, the one on the far left was obtained from Du Qingyang and had already been cultivated in the previous blood formation. The two beside it were obtained from E Wai not long ago.
The last one was taken out by Han Li from the Flowing Branch space using the remaining bit of Immortal Spirit Power he had left.
According to what E Wai said, there should be a total of four such statues, and these should be all of them.
When Han Li thought of this, a hint of gloom inevitably appeared in his heart.
At that time, his Immortal Spirit Power was almost exhausted, only enough to take out this one statue. Even if he wanted to enter the Flowing Branch space again to take another look, he couldn't do it.
He had thought he would be able to return from the Accumulated Scaly Void soon, but he didn't expect it to take so long. What about Ti Hun, who was still sleeping on the second floor of the bamboo building? How was he doing?
However, no matter how worried he was, there was nothing he could do about it now.
The Third Prince, Shi Pokuoju, had ulterior motives, and his so-called method of returning to the Demon Realm was completely unusable. The only way to leave the Accumulated Scaly Void was to wait for the Crab Daoist to recover.
Now that the Eldest Prince, Shi Zhanfeng, had fallen, even if he returned to the Demon Realm now, he probably wouldn't be able to ask him to abide by the agreement and have the High Priest come to treat Ti Hun.
Moreover, the Demon Realm was already in chaos, and the subsequent struggle for the throne would only intensify. Han Li didn't want to get involved in it anymore.
Putting aside his chaotic thoughts, Han Li picked up the second statue and took a deep breath. A flash of light appeared between his eyebrows, and a crystal beam of light shot out from it, entering the black statue.
Immediately after, just like the first statue before, this one began to make all sorts of strange gestures, and behind it, a dense array of profound texts appeared, naturally containing the contents of the Heaven Slaying Prison Skill.
Han Li's eyes were fixed on the movements of the statue, and he began to imitate them.
...
On a distant continent, far away from here, there was a magnificent city with a dense array of guards.
In the center of the city, in a grand palace, a beautiful woman sat on a high platform, leaning against a white jade chair, listening with a relaxed expression to the report of a handsome man below her.
If Han Li were here, he would have recognized the woman as the master of the Puppet City, Sha Xin, and the man reporting to her as Zhuo Ge.
"Reporting to the City Master, the situation in the Mysterious City has basically stabilized. Although the five major cities and some affiliated small cities have put up some resistance, they were quickly suppressed. By the way, Gu Qianxun has been very helpful in this process," Zhuo Ge said respectfully.
"I heard that in Xuanzhi City, the elders and their clans who originally followed Qin Yuan, even those who took the lead in surrendering and pledging their loyalty, were all slaughtered?" Sha Xin asked casually, her tone devoid of any emotion.
"This... It was done by Gu Qianxun, but only after the Six Flower Madam gave her approval. He said he would explain it to you himself." Zhuo Ge hesitated for a moment before answering.
"They have some old grudges between them, it doesn't matter, let them do as they please." Sha Xin said indifferently.
"In this matter, Gu Qianxun acted decisively. Instead of relying on his influence to kill people, he fought in the city's Xuan Battle Arena for seven days and seven nights, a total of eighty-one matches, killing those people one by one. Not only did this not provoke the anger of the people of Xuanzhi City, but it actually won over quite a few hearts." Zhuo Ge said carefully.
"Since they are willing to serve under the Master, let Six Flower Madam be the City Master of Xuanzhi City. Have the City Masters of the other cities been decided yet?" Sha Xin nodded and then asked.
"Mysterious City is temporarily under the control of the Six Flower Madam, and the Zhu Ziyuan siblings have voluntarily come to pledge their allegiance, assisting in managing Mysterious City. It has been the smoothest transition. The other cities have suffered many deaths, but the City Masters have all been chosen." Zhuo Ge reported.
"As one of the main cities comparable to Puppet City, Mysterious City needs to be closely monitored, both openly and secretly. Necessary surveillance cannot be lacking." Sha Xin instructed.
"I will follow the City Master's orders," Zhuo Ge replied.
"These are small matters, you can handle them as you see fit. How many of the ruins I ordered you to excavate have been found?" Sha Xin waved her sleeve lightly and asked.
"So far, only twenty-one have been found, and the remaining eighty-seven are still being sought." Zhuo Ge answered.
"These ruins are scattered throughout the Accumulated Scaly Void, and some are in remote and dangerous places where people rarely venture. Finding twenty-one can be considered a fast pace. However, there's no need to rush too much. As long as they can all be excavated within the next thousand years, it will be fine." Sha Xin nodded and said.
"Yes!" Zhuo Ge responded, clasping his fist.
"This matter concerns the Master's re-control of the Accumulated Scaly Void after he comes out. Remember, there must be no mistakes. Alright, you may go now." After Sha Xin finished speaking, she waved her hand, dismissing Zhuo Ge.
Zhuo Ge bowed in response, then turned and left.
...
In the western district of Puppet City, within a large mansion, all was silent.
In an underground secret chamber within the mansion, a white-haired man, completely naked, was soaking in an octagonal blood pool. His body was bound by eight blood crystal chains, connected to eight blood-colored stone pillars at the edge of the pool. Chapter:
His appearance was handsome, with deep purple eyes, and it was Shi Chuankong.
"Clang..."
The sound of chains rattling echoed continuously, causing the surrounding eight blood-colored stone pillars to shake violently. The entire blood pool seemed to be boiling, with waves of blood surging and emitting rolling hot breaths.
Shi Chuankong, who was in the middle of it all, seemed completely unaffected. His body didn't even tremble excessively. Only his tightly furrowed brows and the sound of his gritting teeth revealed that he was enduring unimaginable pain.
However, all of this was voluntary, and it was even the result of a deal he made with Sha Xin.
"Fellow Daoist Li, the feeling of being pulled away by you is really uncomfortable..." After he said this through gritted teeth, a point of light on his chest suddenly lit up, and he had actually broken through a mysterious orifice.
...
As the saying goes, cultivation knows no age. In the blink of an eye, more than 800 years had passed.
In the crystal palace beneath the Great Xu Blood Lake, the Star Array was still operating. In the side hall next to it, there were rumbling sounds.
Inside the side hall, a humanoid monster covered in golden fur, with lightning wings on its back, bulging eyes, and green tortoise shell-like armor on its arms, was wantonly punching the palace walls.
Fortunately, the runes on the crystal walls emitted a brilliant light, releasing a vast star power that strongly blocked the monster's heavy blows, preventing the entire crystal palace from being reduced to ruins.
After the monster had been rampaging for three hours, its momentum gradually weakened and it slowly stopped.
As its movements became slower, the silver wings on its body disappeared first, followed by the green tortoise shells fading away one by one, and finally, all the golden fur disappeared completely.
After all the abnormalities disappeared, it finally transformed back into a human form, which was Han Li.
At this moment, his eye sockets were sunken, and he looked like he had lost a lot of weight. His hands were supporting him on the ground, his chest was heaving, and he was panting heavily. The sweat on his body turned into mist as soon as it flowed out, evaporated by the high temperature emanating from his body surface.
His entire body seemed to be shrouded in a layer of smoke, making him look hazy and unclear.
After a long while, he leaned against the wall and sat down. The raging True Spirit bloodline in his body finally stabilized.
"The True Spirit bloodline is not a star power after all. With just this Star Essence Blood Refining Technique, it's becoming increasingly difficult to suppress the bloodline eruption. If this continues a few more times, I'm afraid it will eventually burn all the essence blood in my body dry." Han Li frowned and sighed.
All the books in another side hall had been read by him more than ten times. Among all the techniques for cultivating the body, none of them could deal with this situation. Instead, it was in the books about puppet techniques that a method was mentioned.
However, Han Li had a strong aversion to this method and was unwilling to try it.
The content described in this method was to refine a powerful puppet, channel the True Spirit bloodline into it, and then draw fresh blood from elsewhere into one's own body to preserve one's life.
However, if this method were followed, the strength of the main body would naturally be greatly damaged. Although the resulting puppet would have extremely powerful combat strength for a short period of time, once the refined blood in the puppet's body was exhausted, it would also become useless.
Although Han Li was resistant, he also knew clearly in his heart that if it really came to this point, life was naturally more important than anything else.
During this period of time, Crab Daoist had awakened several times. Han Li took the opportunity to borrow some of his Origin Immortal Spirit Power and opened the Flower Branch Cave to check on the state of the sobbing soul.
The result was that although the Purple Yang Warm Jade had been completely exhausted, for some reason, the state of the sobbing soul had not continued to deteriorate. So, he followed Crab Daoist's teachings and temporarily sealed the sobbing soul using the puppet secret technique, planning to deal with it in the future.
In addition, Han Li had also inquired with Crab Daoist about the issue of the True Spirit Bloodline backlash.
After all, it was Crab Daoist who had advised him to choose to cultivate the Heaven Slaying Prison Technique. And when he used the advanced refinement method recorded in the technique to refine the True Spirit Bloodline, the backlash situation began to appear.
After pondering, Crab Daoist also only gave an answer that "it was probably that after completely refining the True Spirit Bloodline, the power of the bloodline was inadvertently amplified, resulting in the backlash situation."
Unfortunately, he was unable to provide a solution and only said to wait until he came out of seclusion before discussing it further. Then, he fell back into a deep sleep.
Although Han Li felt helpless in his heart, there was nothing he could do about it.
However, as things stood now, as long as he continued to cultivate the Heaven Slaying Prison Technique and strengthen his physical strength, while not using the Heaven Slaying Prison Technique, he could use the star power to suppress the outbreak of the True Spirit Bloodline, which still had a certain effect.
Therefore, he intensified his cultivation of the Heaven Slaying Prison Technique even more.
Currently, Han Li had already finished cultivating the second statue, opening up more than 900 mysterious orifices, and his strength was already comparable to that of E'wan in the past.
The reason why he was able to cultivate so quickly was partly due to the ingenuity of the "Heaven Slaying Prison Technique" and partly due to the massive amount of qi and blood stored in the Grasping Heaven Bottle. Of course, this crystal palace also played a significant role.
Although he possessed such unique cultivation conditions, Han Li still encountered some difficulties in comprehending the third statue.
This was because the cultivation method of the third statue had changed, completely different from before.
It required the simultaneous circulation of the power of the stars to impact the mysterious orifices, while using the power of blood qi as support, causing the fleshly body to undergo a transformation similar to demonification, growing three heads and six arms.
This method had extremely high requirements for blood qi power; otherwise, it would be impossible to simultaneously derive three heads and six arms.
Although Han Li's current blood qi power was strong, it still couldn't reach such a transformation.
A moment later, he remained sitting in the same spot, his mind rarely not continuing to ponder about the matter of the True Spirit bloodline.
He saw the corner of his mouth slightly lift, hooking a smile. He raised his hand and groped in his bosom, taking out the half piece of jade pendant that Zilin had given him, holding it in his hand and carefully examining it.
The jade pendant slowly rotated in his hand, casting a sparkling green light, inside which a blurry figure was reflected. Han Li looked at it, unable to help but feel a strange sense in his heart.
"What is the purpose of Zilin giving me this thing? It seems that there is nothing extraordinary about it. However, this figure's shadow is quite similar to me. Could it be an item that Zilin used to remember me in the past?" Han Li murmured.
In his deep-set eye sockets, some laughter seeped out.
He picked up the jade pendant's hanging string, and with a light rub of his fingers, the jade pendant began to spin rapidly in mid-air, pulling out traces of afterimages that connected into a patch, looking just like a green ball.
And within that green ball, a rather three-dimensional figure image also emerged.
Seeing this scene, Han Li's expression suddenly changed. He was stunned for a moment, then murmured, "Perhaps it can work, perhaps it can work..."
After speaking, he once again took out the four statues and placed them in front of himself, carefully observing them.
In the third statue of the Heaven Destroyer Prison Technique, it mentioned using the power of blood qi to change the fleshly body. Han Li couldn't achieve this solely relying on his own blood qi power, but if he changed it to the True Spirit bloodline, it might not be impossible.
This was just like the half piece of jade pendant and the figure's side profile within it. It wasn't necessary to separate you and I. The two merged into one, simultaneously operating. Perhaps, on the contrary, both could be accomplished?
However, before this, Han Li still had some concerns.
After all, the previous several instances of backlash from the True Spirit bloodline were more or less related to the operation of the Heaven Destroyer Prison Technique. If he were to simultaneously operate both at this moment, would it attract an even more violent backlash from the True Spirit bloodline? Han Li didn't have much confidence.
After pondering for a long time, he still decided to give it a try. At this point, the matter of the backlash of the True Spirit bloodline had already reached a critical juncture and could no longer be delayed.
Planning before acting, once he made the decision, Han Li no longer hesitated.
He held the third statue in his hand, and a beam of crystal light shot out from between his eyebrows, entering the statue, which then began to move.
Han Li was extremely familiar with all the actions of this statue. This time, he paid more attention to the profound text on the back of the statue, carefully examining the method of using blood qi power to change the body's form mentioned inside.
After confirming there was no danger, he began to follow the actions on the statue and started moving.
As his movements changed, over nine hundred mysterious orifices on his body lit up one after another.
At the same time, Han Li also began to silently circulate the True Spirit bloodline within his body.
A moment later, a feeling of irritation and heat came from his heart.
Han Li was very familiar with this. It was the precursor to the True Spirit bloodline's backlash. Soon after, the blood in his body would rapidly rise in temperature, becoming like boiling water.
He calmed his mind, trying to keep himself as calm as possible. Unlike before, he didn't attempt to use the methods from the Star Essence Blood Refinement Art to calm the restless blood. Instead, he began to guide the True Spirit bloodline within his body, according to the path recorded in the third statue, gathering it towards his shoulders and back.
It was fine not to try, but once he did, the True Spirit bloodline immediately surged towards his head like floodwater released from a gate.
Han Li suddenly felt a tearing pain in his neck and shoulders as the muscles in his shoulders swelled up, giving him a feeling of flesh growing.
However, accompanying this was the sharp pain in his knowledge sea's divine sense. The unbearable pain was like a powerful tearing force trying to tear his divine sense apart.
And the source of this power was precisely the raging True Spirit bloodline.
"Ah..."
The tearing pain simultaneously coming from his knowledge sea and body made even Han Li, who was used to all kinds of pain, find it somewhat hard to bear. He couldn't help but let out a series of screams.
What he found strange was that at this moment, his divine sense was unexpectedly clear, not as if he was about to lose it like before. But precisely because of this, the tearing pain was doubly clear.
However, this also proved that the method he had thought of before was indeed feasible.
After screaming in pain, Han Li gritted his teeth and focused on cultivating the Heaven Destroyer Prison Technique. Underground cultivation, time unknown, in the blink of an eye, another five hundred years passed.
In a side hall of the crystal palace, layers of blood-red light shimmered like Buddha's treasure light.
In the blood light, a strange man with three heads and six arms, about a hundred feet tall, was sitting cross-legged on a lotus platform, waving his six arms and making various strange movements repeatedly.
On his shoulders, he carried three heads, none of which were human.
The one in the center was a golden monkey head resembling an angry-eyed Vajra, the one on the left was a majestic true dragon head, and the one on the right had golden eyes like lightning, an eagle beak, and plumes, a giant bird head.
After a series of movements, the strange man suddenly brought his six arms together, all doing the gesture of joining hands in front of his chest.
The blood-red halo enveloping him slowly converged, and his figure gradually shrank amidst the blood light. When all the light was gone, a bare-chested young man emerged, revealing Han Li.
He exhaled turbid energy and slowly opened his eyes, twisted his neck, and a smile appeared on his face.
Since discovering that the True Spirit bloodline could be integrated into the Heaven Defying Prison Technique, he had been practicing hard. Over the years, although the number of profound orifices had not changed much, remaining at over nine hundred, his physique had undergone tremendous changes.
What pleased him the most was that now, the backlash of the bloodline had been solved by half. The monstrous state he had just displayed was the result.
Now, when he activated the third statue's technique of the Heaven Defying Prison Skill, he could simultaneously invoke the bloodlines of the Mountain Giant Ape, True Dragon, and Sky-roaming Kun Peng. When transformed into the three-headed and six-armed form, his body possessed the enormous power of three True Spirits simultaneously, making the might far superior to before.
As of now, the backlash threat from these three True Spirit bloodlines had been completely resolved by him. As for the remaining few other True Spirit bloodlines, they could be resolved in the same way in the future.
According to Han Li's speculation, when he completed the cultivation of all the techniques of the Heaven Defying Prison Skill, he would be able to cultivate four different three-headed and six-armed forms, like the four statues. Each head would transform into the appearance of three True Spirits.
However, there was a certain randomness in this process, and the outcome was still unclear.
After resting for a moment, just as Han Li was about to get up, he suddenly found that the entire crystal palace began to shake violently. In the seclusion hall where he was, all the patterns on the walls and floors lit up without being activated.
His expression changed slightly, then his eyebrows twitched, and he flashed out of the hall door.
When Han Li arrived at the main hall where Crab Taoist was, he saw Crab Taoist floating out of the crystal coffin at the moment, enveloped by a substantial layer of white light.
His whole body was flashing with countless profound orifice light points, densely packed like stars in the sky, even more than the profound orifices on E'Luo's body.
Han Li's gaze swept over and quickly identified that Crab Taoist had a total of one thousand eight hundred profound orifices on his body!
Crab Taoist's body floated in mid-air for a moment, and as the starlight around him flickered, he exuded an overwhelming aura, several times stronger than before.
With Han Li's strength, he couldn't withstand this pressure and stood outside the hall, unable to step in, feeling shocked in his heart.
"This aura... could it be that Brother Crab's strength has reached the level of Dao Ancestor?"
"Huh?... What's this?" Han Li's face then flashed with a hint of surprise again.
Because there was clearly another figure lying in the crystal coffin at the moment, identical to Crab Taoist, except that the entire body was golden, and now the eyes were tightly closed, as if in deep sleep.
"Two Crab Taoist? No, this is not a person." He quickly recognized that the one lying in the coffin was not a person, but a golden puppet. However, Han Li keenly sensed that the aura of this puppet was somewhat strange. It was not a simple puppet, and something seemed to be sealed inside.
The floating Crab Taoist slowly opened his eyes, shooting out two dazzling golden lights, dignified and powerful.
The golden light then quickly spread out, enveloping Crab Taoist completely, filling the entire hall, and even Han Li outside the hall was covered.
Han Li's face was delighted. Being enveloped by this golden light, the nearby pressure in the void actually dissipated rapidly, and the fairy spiritual power within his body could operate normally, just like when he fought E'Luo before.
He immediately activated the fairy spiritual power, broke open the restrictions of the Fazhi space, and let his divine sense enter to check on Jiu Hun's situation.
Jiu Hun looked the same as before, with no changes, which relieved him.
As for Crab Taoist, his entire body was enveloped in golden light and his figure looked somewhat blurry. He looked up at the sky and then disappeared in a flash.
In the next moment, his figure appeared out of thin air above the Thousand Machines Hall.
Crab Taoist's golden light became even stronger, like a golden sun, illuminating all around.
Black One and Black Two, ordered to guard outside the hall, were both shocked to see this scene.
Before they could react, they felt their bodies enveloped by the golden light, and the pressure in the void around them suddenly vanished. The demonic energy in their bodies even began to flow freely.
However, the two had been in the Jilin Empty Realm for too long, and most of the demonic energy in their bodies had dissipated, with only a tenth remaining, so they didn't feel it strongly.
In the underground palace, as Crab Daoist's figure disappeared, the dazzling golden light that filled the entire palace also disappeared without a trace.
Han Li felt the flow of the fairy spirit power in his elixir field become sluggish again, but it did not completely solidify, because the omnipresent sense of oppression from before was no longer present.
After he settled his mind, he used his divine sense to locate Crab Daoist's position, barely mobilized his fairy spirit power to perform the escape technique, and in the next moment appeared on the ground, continuing to bathe in the golden light, and the fairy spirit power restored its agility again.
At this moment, Crab Daoist was standing with his hands hanging at his sides, looking up at the sky, his eyes revealing some excitement and some expectation.
Han Li was puzzled in his heart and also looked up at the sky.
At this moment, the originally bright sky suddenly became gloomy, and the originally dense yellow clouds also turned into a gray-black color at a speed visible to the naked eye, revealing an extremely heavy pressure.
This pressure was as high as the heavens and as heavy as the earth, vast and mighty, and unstoppable.
Han Li's body, suspended in mid-air, suddenly became heavy, as if being pressed by a giant peak. With a "plop" sound, he fell from mid-air directly to the ground.
"This is the aura of a great calamity of heaven and earth!"
Han Li's heart suddenly moved, and his expression changed.
The upcoming great calamity aura was so strong that it was many times more powerful than any thunder calamity he had experienced before. Even the slight signs revealed just now were already impossible for him to resist.
Black One and Black Two were originally standing on the ground and received much less impact than Han Li, but at this time their legs were trembling uncontrollably and their faces were pale.
"You guys stay away, this is not something you can bear." Crab Daoist's powerful voice came down from mid-air.
Black One and Black Two heard the words and dared not slack off. They hurriedly flew towards the distance.
Han Li didn't wait for Crab Daoist to speak. With a flash of golden lightning on his body surface, he disappeared without a trace. In the next moment, he appeared in the air hundreds of miles away, looking back in the direction where Crab Daoist was.
The golden light on Crab Daoist's body could no longer shine here, but he only glanced back, and without saying a word, he turned around and continued to shoot towards the distance with all his strength. In the blink of an eye, he advanced hundreds of miles again.
But within a thousand miles, the sky was still dark, and in the rolling of wind and clouds, it quickly spread in all directions, obviously he was still within the range of the great calamity.
The sky above his head looked even more gloomy, almost turning pitch black, reflecting the ground below into a black mass, and the silence revealed a sense of murderousness.
Han Li was shocked in his heart and hurriedly sped up his escape from the center position again.
But at this moment, the sky suddenly rang out with a slight "hiss hiss" sound. The dark clouds in the sky suddenly rolled violently towards a certain direction, continuing to gather towards the center, forming an incomparably huge vortex, covering an unknown range.
Bolts of black lightning appeared in various places of the vortex, traveling like fireworks, illuminating the ground below.
And soon, a black hole appeared in the center of the vortex, emitting a deep light, as if connected to an unknown place.
Boom!
An aura of terror, many times more vast than before, emanated from the vortex, and the surrounding void shook violently, distorting completely.
Han Li had nowhere to avoid and was directly pressed down by this huge aura.
Buzz!
His mind spun, and even though he had opened nearly nine hundred profound orifices at this moment, he was still an ant in the face of this great force. His vision went black and he fainted.
However, before he fainted, Han Li saw with the corner of his eye a grey cloud fly out from the center of the huge vortex and cover Crab Daoist.
The grey cloud looked ordinary, but it emitted a terrible aura of destroying everything. He was hit by this aura of destruction, which caused him to fall into a coma.
...
In the Demon Domain, within a pitch-black palace in Night Sun City.
The Demon Lord's body was enveloped by a soft silver light, forming a huge silver ball of light, slowly rotating.
The surrounding void rippled with the rotation of the light ball, visible to the naked eye.
"Eh!"
He suddenly opened his eyes, the silver light on his body surface instantly disappeared, and he looked towards the void outside.
"This is coming from the Jilei Empty Realm, could it be..." The Demon Lord's face flashed with a coldness, and he slowly stood up.
...
In the Luoheng Mansion.
Third Prince Shi Pukong stood outside a large hall, looking towards the distant horizon, his face filled with an uncertain expression.
...
In a certain dark void, a slight 'eh' sound suddenly rang out. In the darkness, a black figure could vaguely be seen.
"Unexpectedly, it was accomplished so quickly? It's getting lively now." The black figure smiled, and with a flicker, he disappeared into thin air. Han Li found himself trapped in a terrifying nightmare. His body felt as if it was submerged at the bottom of a ten thousand zhang deep icy cold lake, completely unable to move. Moreover, there were strands of cold power as fine as dust, like small fish invading every part of his body, causing immense pain.
After an unknown period of time, the cold power gradually disappeared, and then a vast warm current entered his body, extremely comfortable.
Han Li slowly woke up and found himself lying on the ground.
The sky above his head had turned purple, and there was a soft and warm aura in the air.
He suddenly remembered something and looked towards the direction of the Thousand Machines Hall.
He saw the Crab Daoist still standing in midair, his whole body charred black, with huge scars appearing on it. He looked like a piece of broken wood after being struck by lightning and scorched by fire.
But above him, in the center of the vortex, a mass of purple auspicious clouds gradually emerged and descended, enveloping the Crab Daoist's body and rapidly permeating into it.
The Crab Daoist's battered body absorbed the purple auspicious clouds and immediately recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye, healing completely in the blink of an eye.
All the purple light in midair rapidly condensed into a purple rainbow.
A thick crystal light also rose from the Crab Daoist's body and merged with the purple rainbow.
With a "boom", the purple rainbow suddenly expanded several times in size and turned into a purple dragon, circling and dancing around the Crab Daoist's body.
Within the purple auspicious light, countless crystal threads could be seen, densely packed and emitting vast law fluctuations as the light flashed.
Han Li was enveloped by this law fluctuation, and his body involuntarily moved, as if he were a puppet being pulled by strings.
The nearby void and ground were the same, automatically trembling non-stop.
Fortunately, after the purple dragon circled and danced for a while, it quickly disappeared into the Crab Daoist's mind, and the vast law fluctuation disappeared without a trace.
The Crab Daoist's body was enveloped in purple auspicious light, his eyes tightly closed, as if sensing the changes inside his body.
After a while, the light on his body flashed, and all the purple light disappeared, revealing his figure.
At this moment, the Crab Daoist was wearing a light purple robe and straw sandals, seemingly unchanged, but the power that could shake the world surrounded him with every move.
But in the next moment, with a slight movement of his eyebrows, the power on his body immediately disappeared.
In a flash, all the strange changes in the sky also disappeared, and the nearby sky returned to its previous appearance, and the terrifying pressure emanating from the sky also dissipated.
Han Li felt his body lighten, and he slowly stood up, though he still felt a bit heavy-headed and light-footed.
Hei Da and Hei Er were lying on the ground over a hundred miles away from him. The two seemed to have been injured much more severely than Han Li, and were still unconscious at the moment, but fortunately they had escaped in time and should not be in any life-threatening danger.
The Crab Daoist turned his head and looked in Han Li's direction, and with a movement of his feet, he disappeared into thin air and appeared beside Han Li.
"Crab Fellow Daoist, you..." Han Li looked at the Crab Daoist with a surprised expression.
"I didn't expect the Dao Heavenly Tribulation to be so vast and to come so quickly, so I didn't have time to let you leave earlier, causing you to be affected by the great tribulation." The Crab Daoist said.
As they spoke, he waved his hand.
Han Li felt a warm current enter his mind, and his spirit immediately shook, and the heavy-headed and light-footed feeling immediately disappeared.
In the distance, Hei Da and Hei Er's bodies also stirred, and although they were still unconscious, their injuries were gradually recovering.
"Dao Heavenly Tribulation... Don't tell me you have already reached the Dao Ancestor realm?" Han Li couldn't care less about his physical condition and stared at the Crab Daoist with wide eyes.
"After countless years of bitter cultivation, going through many ups and downs, and the separation and reunion of body and mind, today I have finally attained the Great Dao by luck." The Crab Daoist said with a smile.
"That's really congratulations to you." Although Han Li had guessed it earlier, he still let out a light breath when he heard this, and then congratulated him.
"The success I have today is also thanks to the help of Fellow Daoist Han, so I thank you here." The Crab Daoist bowed slightly.
"I dare not, since you have attained the position of Dao Ancestor, I am ashamed to accept the title of Fellow Daoist. Just call me Han Li." Han Li hastily said.
"Fellow Daoist Han, you and I have been friends for many years, and I also know that you are a free and easy person, so why bother with these worldly etiquettes? Just call me Crab Fellow Daoist, I still like this title." The Crab Daoist waved his hand.
"Since that's the case, then I will shamelessly call you Fellow Daoist. By the way, Crab Fellow Daoist, did you just say your surname is Shi?" Han Li also smiled, then asked.
"Yes. My original name is Shi Kongjie, I didn't mean to hide it from you, it's just that I hadn't remembered it before, and after entering the Jilei Void Boundary, many things happened, so I didn't have time to tell you." The Crab Daoist nodded and said.
"Shi Kongjie... Could it be that Fellow Daoist Shi has some relationship with the Night Sun Dynasty?" Han Li hesitated for a moment, but still asked.
The Crab Daoist looked up at the sky and did not answer Han Li's question for a moment.
"If Fellow Daoist Shi has any secrets that are difficult to tell, then just pretend I didn't ask." Han Li glanced at the Crab Daoist's expression and said.
Now that the Crab Daoist had reached the Dao Ancestor level, he couldn't help but feel awe in his heart and spoke very cautiously.
"Fellow Daoist Han is overthinking, there are no secrets that are difficult to tell, it's just that returning to the Sacred Domain this time, I feel a bit emotional. Fellow Daoist Han, you have protected me all the way here, so emotionally and logically, I should inform you of these matters. Moreover, I have something to ask of you, so you must know these things." The Crab Daoist smiled faintly and said meaningfully.
"You have something to ask of me? I wonder what it is, but please feel free to tell me." Han Li was shocked when he heard this, and said so.
"It's not very convenient to talk here, let's go back underground first." Crab Daoist glanced around, his eyes seeming to flash, and waved his hand.
Han Li suddenly felt his body enveloped by a gentle force, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared in the underground palace.
The other golden "Crab Daoist" in the crystal coffin had also awakened at this moment and was standing aside with his hands down.
Not only that, but there were also two human-shaped puppets standing beside him.
These two puppets also looked exactly like the Crab Daoist, except that one was completely black and the other was pure white.
The black puppet looked at the Crab Daoist with fierce light flashing in his eyes, as if he wanted to choose someone to devour. His expression was indescribably grim.
The white puppet, however, was gentle and solemn, with a warm smile always on his face, making people feel at ease when they looked at him.
Han Li was slightly startled when he saw this scene and looked towards the Crab Daoist.
However, the three puppets did not pay attention to Han Li, and their eyes were all focused on the Crab Daoist.
The golden puppet did not speak, a hint of strangeness flashed in his eyes, and then he looked away.
"Hmph! This time, you were lucky to survive the Heavenly Tribulation, but don't be too proud. Sooner or later, I will kill you and take your place!" The black puppet sneered coldly.
"Congratulations, fellow Daoist, you have finally attained the Great Dao. You summoned us here, do you have something to instruct us to do?" The white puppet looked exactly the same, but his expression was completely different. He said with a gentle smile.
"There are indeed some things that I need the three of you to do. Black Spirit fellow Daoist, please go to the Puppet City and inform Sha Xin that I have come out of seclusion, so that she can make preparations." The Crab Daoist instructed the black puppet.
Although the black puppet was unwilling, he still turned around and left without saying a word.
"White Spirit fellow Daoist, please go and remove the spatial restrictions around the Great Ruins, and then bring all the people from the Puppet City here." The Crab Daoist said to the white puppet.
The white puppet agreed and also turned to leave.
"As for the Golden Spirit fellow Daoist, you go and prepare. Later, I will activate the power of the Jilin Empty Realm's origin at the right time and open a spatial passage connecting to the outside world." The Crab Daoist said to the golden puppet.
The golden puppet nodded and also left the palace.
Han Li watched as the three puppets left one by one, with a pensive expression on his face.
"Fellow Daoist Han seems to be very curious about these three puppets." The Crab Daoist sat down on a chair next to the palace and had Han Li sit down beside him, saying calmly.
"Yes, I am. These three puppets seem to have complete spiritual intelligence. I wonder what kind of puppets they are?" Han Li nodded and asked.
"With your experience and knowledge, Fellow Daoist Han, I'm afraid you already have some idea. Why don't you tell me what you think?" The Crab Daoist said with a faint smile.
"It seems that I really can't hide anything from Fellow Daoist Crab. These three puppets, could they be related to the three corpses you cut out?" Han Li's eyebrows twitched, and a smile appeared on his face as he spoke.
"Haha, Fellow Daoist Han is right. I really did seal the three corpses I cut out into these three puppet bodies." The Crab Daoist laughed heartily.
"I've heard that cultivators above the Daluo stage have a lot of trouble dealing with the three corpses they cut out. The three corpses cannot be killed, as killing them will cause some harm to the main body. But keeping them by your side, those three corpses may backlash at any time. That's why the immortals in the Heavenly Court would try every means to seal them in the Gray Realm. It's amazing that Fellow Daoist Crab can seal the three corpses into puppets and keep them by your side to make use of them!" Han Li said in surprise.
"Fellow Daoist Han, you are right. The three corpses are indeed difficult to deal with. Most Daluo or Dao Ancestors will seal the three corpses they cut out. I dare to keep them by my side because I cultivate the Puppet Laws, which specialize in control. That's why I'm confident enough to keep them by my side." The Crab Daoist said.
Han Li nodded silently, feeling that he had gained a lot.
Such experiences beyond the Daluo stage were not something that could be heard casually.
"Fellow Daoist Crab, let's get back to the point. What were you talking about just now?" He then asked again. "This matter is not urgent, Fellow Daoist Han, listen to what I have to say first. My identity, as you guessed, is indeed related to the Night Sun Dynasty. To be precise, I am the younger brother of the current Holy Emperor Shi Kongyu, and also the uncle of Shi Chuankong." Daoist Xie said slowly.
Although Han Li had guessed that Daoist Xie had a significant relationship with the Night Sun Dynasty, he didn't expect it to be like this, and he was secretly shocked.
"Daoist Xie, since you are the brother of the Demon Lord, why are you in this Jilei Empty Realm? Moreover, from what Ahuai and the Sand Heart City Lord said before, it seems that you are currently enemies?" He carefully chose his words and asked.
"The story behind this is long. It dates back to when the two of us were fighting for the position of Holy Emperor. I won't go into the details, but in the end, he won, and I lost. The space laws I had bitterly cultivated in my body were even extracted by him. Fortunately, I still had some skills, and with the help of others, I managed to narrowly escape from Shi Kongyu's hands and hide in this Jilei Empty Realm." Daoist Xie said calmly.
Han Li's expression didn't change, but he was shocked by the revelation.
Daoist Xie's explanation was simple, but the battle back then must have been extremely intense. Moreover, Daoist Xie's statement that "the space laws in his body were extracted" left Han Li utterly astonished.
However, it seemed that this matter was related to the secrets of the Night Sun Dynasty, so he didn't ask further.
"I see. But Shi Kongyu wouldn't just let you go, right?" Han Li nodded and then said.
"Of course not. Shi Kongyu appears to be elegant and magnanimous, but in reality, he seeks revenge for the slightest grievance. He naturally wants to cut the grass and eliminate the roots. However, Jilei Empty Realm is a special space that has existed in the Dao Domain since ancient times. The cultivation of those who enter here will be completely suppressed, and those with magic power and cultivation above the Great Luo Realm simply cannot set foot here. Shi Kongyu cannot enter this place, so I was able to save my life." Daoist Xie nodded and said.
"Great Luo Realm cultivators cannot enter this Jilei Empty Realm... Could it be that someone has set up restrictions here? But are there really restrictions that can limit Shi Kongyu?" Han Li frowned and said, feeling a bit incredulous.
"Jilei Empty Realm was opened up by an ancient Dao Ancestor. That senior set up this strict rule in this space. It is precisely because this rule is too harsh and destroys the balance of the heaven and earth laws here that this place is so desolate." Daoist Xie explained.
"Oh, there is such a thing." Han Li was stunned when he heard this, and then he looked around, a hint of shock flashing in his eyes.
He had now cultivated laws more deeply, but he could only influence a certain range around him with the laws, and everything would return to normal after retracting the laws.
That ancient Dao Ancestor could actually affect the entire Jilei Empty Realm with his own laws, and it remained unchanged for hundreds of millions of years. Han Li truly could not reach this level at his current stage.
"Fellow Daoist Han, your cultivation has not reached this level, so you don't quite understand these matters. But with your aptitude, I believe you will reach this level soon." Daoist Xie seemed to smile.
"I hope it will be as Daoist Xie says. Since there are such rules here, how could you enter this place, and even break through to the Dao Ancestor realm here?" Han Li changed the subject and asked.
"Back then, Shi Kongyu extracted the laws from my body, causing my cultivation to plummet and fall to the Taiyi Realm, which allowed me to enter here. Moreover, after coming here, I was fortunate enough to obtain the Dao inheritance left behind by that ancient Dao Ancestor, making me half the master of this Jilei Empty Realm, so I was not restricted by the rules here." Daoist Xie explained.
"I see. Then what happened next? How did you become a puppet and end up in the lower realm?" Han Li suddenly realized and asked.
"Staying here, my cultivation of space laws had reached a dead end, so I switched to cultivating another profound law, the puppet laws, which was also the law that ancient Dao Ancestor cultivated. I had a good aptitude for the puppet laws, and with the help of that senior Dao Ancestor's Dao inheritance, I finally reached the Great Luo Realm, and then I even killed two more corpses, reaching the peak of the Great Luo Realm. However, when I was killing the last corpse, I was betrayed by Ahuai, and Shi Kongyu intervened, causing my efforts to fail at the last moment, and my physical body even perished. With no other choice, I had to seal my soul's memories into a puppet, which was that golden crab, and throw it into the lower realm to prepare for a comeback in the future. You should know the rest of the story, Fellow Daoist Han, so I won't explain everything." Daoist Xie sighed and continued.
"What is the favor you mentioned earlier that you need my help with?" Han Li listened and slowly nodded.
"Although I have now achieved the position of Dao Ancestor, if I were to fight against Shi Kongyu, I would still likely lose. To avenge the past, I need to find external help." Daoist Xie looked at Han Li and said.
"Daoist Xie, do you want to join forces with me to fight against Shi Kongyu?" Han Li's eyebrows raised, and he said in surprise.
"Yes." Daoist Xie nodded with a smile.
"Daoist Xie thinks too highly of me. I may have some skills, but I am just a minor cultivator at the Taiyi Realm. Compared to Shi Kongyu, there is an unimaginable gap. How could I possibly help you?" Han Li laughed.
"There's no need to belittle yourself, Fellow Daoist Han. In the short term, you indeed pose no threat to Shi Kongyu, but with your aptitude and fortune, you will reach our level one day. Moreover, with so many mysterious cavities opened in your body now, once you leave here, your strength will soar. I believe that day is not far off." Daoist Xie said with a smile.
Han Li's heart stirred when he heard this. It turned out that Daoist Xie had been tirelessly helping him improve his physical cultivation for this reason.
However, although he and Daoist Xie were friends, their previous agreement had been fulfilled. Now, rushing into a struggle between two Dao Ancestor-level powers could easily result in being reduced to dust.
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but show a hesitant expression.
"Fellow Daoist Han, rest assured. I'm not asking you to stay here now. I just hope that when your strength is sufficient in the future, you can come back and lend me a hand. Moreover, I, Shi, will not let you participate in my struggle with Shi Kongyu for nothing. Consider this item a small token of interest for today's agreement." Daoist Xie took out a jade bottle and handed it over.
Han Li took the jade bottle and opened it to find a ball of white light slowly rotating inside. With each rotation, the white light would flash and expand, as if it possessed life.
At the center of the light was a white pill. Countless specks of light flickered on its surface, looking extremely profound and emitting an overwhelming aura of life.
"What is this?" Han Li's eyes flashed.
The aura emitted by this pill was somewhat similar to the Crab Daoist's heart.
"This pill is called the Mysterious Truth Pill. I used the elemental essence energy and combined it with many other precious materials to refine it. Although this pill is not used to refine the True Soul, it contains a lot of 'Mysterious Truth Essence', which is enough for you to advance to the Great Luo stage in the future." The Crab Daoist said slowly.
Han Li was both surprised and delighted. He had seen the name "Mysterious Truth Essence" in ancient books many times. It was the key to advancing to the Great Luo realm.
To advance to the Great Luo realm, in addition to having sufficient cultivation and unblocking the 360 immortal cavities, the most important thing was to complete the transformation of the soul, turning it from an ordinary soul into a Great Luo True Soul.
To complete this transformation, the Mysterious Truth Essence was required.
The Mysterious Truth Essence was extremely precious. It was said that only by passing through the Nine Heavens' Wind and entering the extremely dangerous outer void could one find a trace of it in the purest place between heaven and earth. It was truly a divine object of the Mysterious Heaven.
Now, Han Li finally understood the reason why Shi Zhanfeng entered the Accumulated Scale Void. He guessed that it was also to obtain enough Mysterious Truth Essence for his future advancement to the Great Luo realm.
"Thank you, fellow Daoist Crab. This is indeed what I need." Han Li did not decline and accepted the jade bottle.
Seeing Han Li accept the bottle, a smile appeared on the Crab Daoist's face.
"Fellow Daoist Crab has given me such a treasure. I, Han, am not an ungrateful person. When my cultivation is sufficient in the future, I will definitely come back to help you." Han Li said solemnly.
"Then I will thank you in advance. This small Mysterious Truth Pill is far from enough to repay fellow Daoist Han's kindness. If there is anything I can do for you, please feel free to ask." The Crab Daoist said with a smile.
"Since fellow Daoist Crab said so, there is indeed one thing I would like to trouble you with." Han Li's heart stirred and he said.
"Oh, what is it? Please tell me." The Crab Daoist was slightly stunned, then immediately said.
"It's still about Ti Hui's matter. Fellow Daoist Crab, your divine power has greatly increased. I hope you can diagnose her." Han Li said.
More than a thousand years ago, the Crab Daoist had only taught him a sealing technique and could not let him examine Ti Hui carefully at that time.
"No problem." The Crab Daoist immediately nodded and then pointed his finger.
A golden light entered Han Li's body and turned into a golden ball of light in his dantian, constantly spinning.
As before, the pressure of the surrounding space immediately disappeared, and the spiritual energy in his body resumed circulation. He immediately opened the branch space.
The two of them entered the pavilion inside.
Ti Hui was lying on the bed, her body covered in black lines, forming a sealing formation that emitted waves of sealing aura.
This was the sealing technique that the Crab Daoist had taught him.
The Crab Daoist walked to Ti Hui's side and carefully examined her for a moment, his brows suddenly furrowing.
Seeing the Crab Daoist's expression, Han Li's heart couldn't help but tighten, and his face turned slightly gloomy.
The Crab Daoist raised his hand and pointed at the center of Ti Hui's eyebrows. The tip of his finger revealed a black crystal light that rippled outwards in circles.
Ti Hui's body trembled slightly, and her cultivation seemed to recover a bit, as if she was about to wake up.
Seeing this, Han Li was immediately overjoyed.
But in the next moment, Ti Hui's body resumed its silence and stopped moving.
The Crab Daoist's expression changed slightly. He flipped his hand and a beam of black light shot out from his palm, entering Ti Hui's forehead.
Ti Hui's body trembled again slightly, then immediately resumed its silence.
The Crab Daoist's face turned solemn. He slowly withdrew his hand and his brows were tightly locked.
"Fellow Daoist Crab, how is Ti Hui's condition?" Han Li asked uneasily.
"Ti Hui's condition is very peculiar. It seems that she has been injured by some kind of extremely powerful law force, causing her soul and vitality to continuously dissipate. I can only stabilize her condition, but to cure her, I am powerless." The Crab Daoist shook his head and said.
"With your cultivation as a Dao Ancestor, you can't cure Ti Hui. Who else can cure her?" Hearing this, Han Li's heart turned cold and he said slowly.
Although the Grand Priest of the Demon Race had not yet diagnosed Ti Hui, with the Crab Daoist's strength, he was still unable to do anything. It was feared that the Grand Priest's intervention would also be useless.
"You don't have to be so discouraged, Dao Ancestor. I am not omnipotent. The puppet laws I cultivate specialize in control and are not good at saving people. The mysteries of the countless laws in the world are far beyond your imagination. Although I can't save Ti Hui, someone else can." The Crab Daoist said with a light smile.
"Is that so? Who is this person?" Han Li was stunned for a moment, then immediately asked anxiously.
"It's the Grand Priest of the Sacrificial Temple that Shi Chuankong told you about before. This person cultivates laws that target the soul and has reached an extremely high level. He should be able to cure Ti Hui." The Crab Daoist said.
"I see. Thank you for your guidance, fellow Daoist Crab." Hearing this, Han Li's eyes lit up and he cupped his fists in gratitude.
Now that the Great Prince was dead, it would probably be much more troublesome to ask the Grand Priest to act. It might even develop into a direct conflict with the Night Sun Dynasty. But for Ti Hui's sake, he couldn't care about so much anymore. "Senior Xie, when will you open the spatial passage?" Han Li's thoughts raced, and he quickly made up his mind to ask.
"Although I have now advanced to the Dao Ancestor realm, opening a spatial passage connecting to the outside still requires some preparation. Moreover, opening the spatial passage this time is not just for you alone. I have other arrangements, so let's wait until Sha Xin and the others arrive. It will be in about half a year." Xie Dao Ren pondered briefly before replying.
Han Li nodded slowly, naturally having no objections.
The two then left the flower branch space and returned outside.
Xie Dao Ren went to handle matters related to opening the spatial passage and soon took his leave. Han Li returned to his previous closed-door cultivation location.
After Xie Dao Ren left the main hall, he quickly arrived at a hidden secret room.
In the secret room, only a single oil lamp was lit, its dim light illuminating a small area while the rest remained pitch black.
At this moment, a hazy black figure stood beside the oil lamp with his hands behind his back.
Xie Dao Ren saw the black figure but showed no surprise on his face, as if he had expected this.
"Dao friend Shi, after many years of hard work, you have finally succeeded in one go. Congratulations." The black figure turned around, his face blurred and his body indistinct, as if not a physical entity but a projection.
"All thanks to your guidance back then. In my youth, after slaying two corpses, I rashly attempted to kill the third. But due to flaws in my state of mind, even if that villain E Wu hadn't lured the Shi Kong fish, that attempt to kill the corpse would have surely failed. Fortunately, at the critical moment, I received your guidance to seal my soul's memories into a puppet, transforming into a puppet to experience the puppet path in the lower realm. Now I have gone from puppet to human, finally comprehending the true meaning of the puppet laws and succeeding in one fell swoop." Xie Dao Ren bowed deeply to the hazy figure, expressing his gratitude.
"It was just a bit of cultivation experience. Dao friend Shi's ability to comprehend it is also due to your own extraordinary perception." The hazy figure said calmly.
"No matter what, I will never forget Senior Shi's great kindness." Xie Dao Ren said solemnly.
"I don't want to hear such empty words of thanks. I came this time to ask you if the agreement from back then still stands." The hazy figure said.
"Of course. Shi Kong Yu caused me such misery. If I don't properly repay him, it would be too easy on him." Xie Dao Ren sneered.
"Shi Kong Yu has controlled the demon domain for a long time and is very powerful, far beyond what you, a minor Ji Lin Kong realm cultivator, can handle. Moreover, although you have now attained the Dao Ancestor position, fighting alone is still far inferior to Shi Kong Yu. Don't be impatient. We will slowly plan for the long term." The hazy figure's eyes flashed with a hint of joy before advising.
"I understand. I won't make the same mistake twice. Senior, rest assured." Xie Dao Ren nodded and said.
"That's good. By the way, I came this time because there is something I need your help with." Hearing this, the hazy figure nodded slightly before speaking.
"Senior, please tell me." Xie Dao Ren was stunned for a moment before quickly responding.
The hazy figure walked over to Xie Dao Ren's side and moved his lips slightly.
Hearing this, Xie Dao Ren instinctively glanced in one direction, his expression changing slightly.
...
Han Li's closed-door cultivation location.
The golden sphere of energy in his dantian was much fuller than before, still spinning rapidly without dissipating.
Han Li sat cross-legged and circulated his immortal spiritual power, causing a burst of golden light to emanate from his body.
Since entering the Ji Lin Kong realm, he had not operated his immortal spiritual power so smoothly for over a thousand years. At this moment, he felt extremely comfortable.
The power of the time laws that had been dormant in Han Li's body for many years was finally no longer restrained and surged wildly inside him like a tidal wave.
A buzzing sound rang out as a golden wheel appeared behind him, spinning rapidly. It was the Zhen Yan treasure wheel.
Then, a flash of light appeared on the other side of his body, revealing the Guang Yin bottle. With successive flashes of light, the Fantasy Chen hourglass, the Broken Time fire, and the East Yi divine wood all emerged, revolving around his body on their own.
Han Li frowned. The Zhen Yan treasure wheel and other items had now appeared automatically, not triggered by him.
"Could it be happening again..." he thought, startled, muttering to himself.
At this moment, threads of time law crystals flew out from these objects, converging into a golden ring that spun rapidly.
All the time law power in Han Li's body swarmed out and merged into the golden ring.
The golden ring quickly expanded, doubling in size in the blink of an eye. It emitted dazzling golden light and trembled violently, producing a sharp buzzing sound.
With a whoosh, a green light flew out from his chest. The green light then shrank and transformed into a dark green small bottle, which was the Palm Heaven bottle.
The bottle's body burst with light, like a green sun, while simultaneously emitting a powerful attractive force.
Another whoosh rang out.
The golden ring shot towards the bottle, rapidly shrinking until it was the same size as the bottle's mouth before directly fusing with it.
Upon contact, a vast amount of time law power rippled out from the Palm Heaven bottle.
The bottle then quickly expanded as countless green symbols appeared within it, transforming into a mass of green clouds that churned endlessly.
Immediately after, green light flashed from the bottle's mouth as a thick green beam shot out and disappeared into the void in front of it.
Boom!
The void in front of him cracked open, and countless crystal lights surged out from it, condensing into a crystal wall with countless scenes flashing rapidly on it.
With a "chila" sound, the light on the crystal wall suddenly burst out, revealing a huge vortex that rotated endlessly, emitting a tremendous suction force that enveloped Han Li's body.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and he did not dodge. He allowed the suction force to pull his body.
However, at this moment, the golden light sphere in his dantian suddenly flickered and went out. The fairy spiritual power within his body came to an abrupt halt, and the suction force emitted by the vortex also greatly decreased. Han Li's body, which had been pulled up, stagnated in midair and then fell back to the ground with a "plop" sound.
However, a pain shot through his mind, and his divine soul was helplessly sucked into the vortex. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.
When Han Li regained consciousness, he found himself by the side of a vast river in a wilderness.
In the river, countless water droplet-like light spheres were still suspended, flowing forward with a rumbling sound, looking no different from before.
At this moment, Han Li was in his divine soul form, hovering by the side of the river.
"Back in this place again, I wonder what this place really is?" Han Li looked around and murmured to himself.
His thoughts turned, and instead of approaching the river and entering one of the light spheres, he went upstream along the river, wanting to explore this place thoroughly.
He was now in a divine soul state, like a white cloud drifting in the air, moving with the wind, not very fast.
The desert scenery remained unchanged, and no matter where he went, it felt the same. There was no alternation between day and night here, and the flow of time was very vague.
Han Li continued forward, estimating that he had walked for about seven or eight days, but the river beside him showed no change at all.
Gradually losing patience, he endured for another two days, but the river beside him still showed no change.
"Forget it, I don't know how far this place is, or maybe there's some kind of illusion or prohibition here, so continuing on is probably a waste of time." Han Li stopped, pondered for a moment, and looked towards the river, about to leave.
At this moment, a yellow light flashed above his head, and a yellow cloud several feet in size appeared, with two black eyes the size of beans in the cloud, looking at Han Li.
"You are the Bottle Spirit!" Han Li was startled when he saw the yellow cloud appear, and then immediately recognized the true form of the yellow cloud.
The black eyes in the yellow cloud blinked twice, as if observing him.
"I wonder why you have appeared at this moment, what is the matter?" Han Li frowned slightly and asked again.
As soon as he finished speaking, the yellow cloud suddenly lit up, and a yellow crystal light shot out from it, entering his divine soul at an extremely fast speed.
Han Li's divine soul had no time to dodge, and the yellow crystal light had already entered his body, turning into a warm current and fusing into his divine soul.
He was greatly shocked and was about to question, but the Bottle Spirit's yellow cloud above his head disappeared again in a flash.
Han Li stood there in a daze for a moment, then carefully examined the situation inside his divine soul, but found nothing unusual and no discomfort.
He was silent for a moment, temporarily putting the matter aside, and came to the side of the river, looking at the countless shuttling light spheres in the river.
After so many transits, he had a general guess about the origin of the light spheres in the river.
Each of these light spheres represented a time node in the past, and entering one would take him back to that moment in the past.
Han Li's face showed a pensive look, and his eyes flickered.
The ability of the Mastery Sky Bottle to traverse time was unheard of, and if it could be completely mastered, the benefits would be immeasurable.
Not to mention anything else, with this ability, it would be much easier to investigate past events.
However, there were really too many light spheres in the river, and there seemed to be no pattern, making it somewhat chaotic. As for traversing to a specific time, one could only rely on luck.
Han Li sighed and secretly thought that it would be great if he could control the time nodes of the transit. At this moment, he wanted to investigate whether what the Crab Daoist had just said was true or false.
After the Crab Daoist merged with the sacred corpse this time, his cultivation soared, reaching the realm of Dao Ancestor. However, a rift had developed between the two, and they were no longer as close as before.
What the Crab Daoist had just said seemed logical and without flaws.
However, Han Li always felt that there seemed to be something hidden.
At this moment, a sudden change occurred.
The light spheres in the river suddenly fluctuated violently, as if a wave had suddenly risen.
Then, swish swish swish -!
More than a dozen light spheres of varying sizes flew out from various parts of the river and stopped in the river near Han Li, no longer flowing forward.
Han Li's face showed a surprised look, and he carefully examined those light spheres.
As with the previous light spheres, various scenes appeared on them, but this time the scenes on the light spheres were similar, all showing a beautiful palace.
"This palace looks somewhat familiar." Han Li murmured, took a couple of glances, and immediately realized.
The palace on the light spheres was the group of buildings near the Thousand Machine Hall. From the scenes on these light spheres, a fierce battle was taking place in various parts of the palace.
Han Li was greatly surprised. After pondering for a moment, his gaze fell on the largest light sphere, and he took two steps closer.
The light sphere suddenly released a tremendous swallowing force, and with a "swish" sound, it sucked Han Li's divine soul in. Han Li's vision went dark, and he lost consciousness once again.
...
Unknown how much time had passed, Han Li slowly regained consciousness. He discovered that he had possessed the body of a young man wearing black armor, lying in a half-collapsed palace, with a gaping hole in his lower abdomen where the dantian should be, blood gushing out.
A semi-transparent golden wheel hovered above his head, with more than a thousand temporal runes flickering on it.
Continuous loud noises came from nearby, indicating an intense battle was taking place.
Han Li's heart stirred, but he did not immediately control the man in golden robes to stand up. Instead, he used his spiritual sense to communicate with the man's remaining memories.
Suddenly, a vast amount of memories flooded into Han Li's mind, and he hurriedly digested them. It took a while before he completely absorbed the information.
This man in golden robes was named Wu Xuan, a prisoner who was imprisoned in Jilin Empty Realm. Later, he was taken in by Shi Kong Jie, also known as Crab Daoist, and served as Crab Daoist's personal guard due to his considerable strength.
Over a hundred years ago, Crab Daoist began closed-door cultivation, attempting to cut off the last corpse to take the crucial final step. The entire Jilin Empty Realm was on high alert.
Unexpectedly, a large group of enemies suddenly attacked today, directly targeting the Qianji Palace where Crab Daoist was cultivating.
Seeing Wu Xuan's memories, Han Li's eyes revealed a strange light.
Previously, by the riverbank, he had the idea of investigating the drastic changes that happened to Crab Daoist back then. Now that he arrived here, could it be that he could control the nodes of time?
The more Han Li thought about it, the more he felt it was not a coincidence. Although he didn't know why, he indeed gained the ability to control temporal nodes.
Perhaps it was due to the spirit in the bottle from before, or maybe it was for some other reason.
Regardless, this was the best thing that could happen to him.
Han Li quickly stood up and went to the collapsed entrance of the palace, looking outside.
In the sky outside, he could occasionally see puppets fighting each other, as well as some people with the ability to fly, engaging in fierce battles, creating earth-shaking noises.
Among the two sides in combat, one side wore black armor like Wu Xuan, while the other side wore purple-black battle armor.
Han Li was not unfamiliar with the purple-black battle armor; it was the guard armor of the Night Sun Dynasty.
These people from the Night Sun Dynasty had abnormally tall and large bodies, with dark green skin revealing dragon-shaped patterns. With their fangs exposed, they looked like ferocious ghosts.
Although there were not many of these people, they were extremely powerful, incredibly strong, and fast as lightning.
Although Jilin Empty Realm had more people, they were at a disadvantage.
"Those are the Nightmare Dragon Guards. It seems that back then, it was indeed Shi Kong Yu who attacked." Han Li thought to himself.
When he chatted with Shi Chuan Kong, he had heard him mention the various secret legions of the Night Sun Dynasty, and they had discussed the Nightmare Dragon Guards many times. This was a legion composed purely of body cultivators, directly under the command of the Demon Master.
At this moment, it seemed that these Nightmare Dragon Guards were indeed extraordinary. Each one of them had the strength of an expert who had opened at least 150 mystic apertures.
After taking a couple of glances at the battle outside, Han Li's gaze shifted towards the distance.
From here, he could vaguely see four nine-story pagodas standing in the four corners of a white jade square.
And in the center of the square, there stood a majestic glazed palace - the Qianji Palace.
The closer to that place, the more intense the fighting became.
After a brief contemplation, Han Li pulled his armor to cover the wound on his lower abdomen. He then activated the "Ten Thousand Apertures Empty Silence Technique", and his figure shot out towards the Qianji Palace.
Using the nearby palaces as cover, he quickly approached the Qianji Palace.
At first, relying on the "Ten Thousand Apertures Empty Silence Technique", he went unnoticed. However, the closer he got to the Qianji Palace, the more intense the fighting became, and the more people there were. Eventually, he was discovered.
A Nightmare Dragon Guard holding a battle knife charged towards Han Li like lightning. The sound of exploding bones rang out from within his body like a string of firecrackers. The purple-black battle knife in his hand transformed into a dragon-shaped knife light, slashing towards Han Li's head.
Wu Xuan had only opened a little over a hundred mystic apertures, roughly equal to the strength of a Nightmare Dragon Guard. However, Han Li was now controlling this body, and his eyesight, knowledge, and judgment were naturally vastly different.
His body swayed left and right, transforming into nine shadows, instantly dodging the knife slash. The nine shadows then converged into one behind the Nightmare Dragon Guard, and Wu Xuan's body emerged, continuing to shoot forward.
The Nightmare Dragon Guard was about to give chase but was blocked by other people from Jilin Empty Realm, forcing him to abandon the pursuit.
Seeing that his actions had been exposed, Han Li decided to let loose. He weaved left and right through the crowd of intense battles, squeezing every bit of strength from this body and pushing his movement technique to the limit. He never stopped, avoiding engaging with others, and quickly approached the Qianji Palace.
The battle here was even more intense, with people from both sides fighting together at the entrance of the palace.
"That is..." Han Li hid behind a nearby wall of ruins, looking towards the entrance of the palace.
The leader of the Jilin Empty Realm faction was none other than Sha Xin. She was controlling five puppets, fighting fiercely with a person wearing cyan-colored battle armor.
That person was none other than E Chu.
His entire body's mystic apertures were flashing with light, approximately six to seven hundred. In his hand, he held the Barbaric Dragon Sword.
The appearances of the two had not changed much, but their temperament was distinct and sharp, lacking the smoothness they would develop later.
"E Chu, you actually colluded with Shi Kong Yu to harm our master. You deserve to die ten thousand deaths!" Sha Xin shouted angrily.
"Those who understand the times are brilliant. Shi Kong Jie will undoubtedly die today. Sha Xin, considering our past friendship, I advise you to surrender to the Holy Emperor. With your strength, the Holy Emperor will surely make good use of you." E Chu said with a smile.
"Dream on!" Sha Xin snorted coldly, controlling the five puppets to launch a massive attack.
Xue scoffed coldly, his Barbaric Dragon Sword transforming into a gust of black wind that swirled around him, blocking all of the puppet's attacks.
At the same time, his sword energy surged out, entangling the five puppets and Sha Xin, preventing them from leaving.
The other Nightmare Dragon Guards formed a combined attack formation, tightly blocking the people from the Ji Lin Empty Realm, not allowing them to enter the gate.
Upon seeing this, Han Li's thoughts raced, and in the next moment, he flew out, transforming into a black shadow that pounced towards the entrance of the main hall.
The three Nightmare Dragon Guards in front of him immediately noticed Han Li and attacked simultaneously. A golden sword light, a bright snow-white saber glow, and a green spear shadow all struck towards Han Li at the same time.
Han Li didn't slow down at all. Instead, he fiercely stomped on the ground, increasing his speed by three points, taking the initiative to crash into the attack range of the three people in front of him.
However, at the same time, he waved his arm, and a green shadow shot out from his sleeve, agile like a snake, wrapping around the weapons of the three people in an instant, revealing a green long whip.
This item was obtained on the way here from a fallen Nightmare Dragon Guard.
With their weapons entangled by the green long whip, the three people's movements were hindered.
Han Li once again fiercely stomped on the ground, his skin faintly revealing a blood color. His body swayed left and right, once again transforming into several blurry afterimages, his speed increasing by a few points compared to before. In a flash, he bypassed the three people and continued to rush towards the Thousand Machine Hall.
He had already made up his mind not to waste time entangling with anyone. He spared no effort in forcing this body to unleash all its potential in order to enter the Thousand Machine Hall.
But at this moment, a purple-black figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
This person had an extremely tall body, a full two heads taller than the average Nightmare Dragon Guard. On his purple-black armor chest, there was an extra golden dragon head pattern, looking like a leader.
He drew a circle in the air with one of his thick arms, and substantial black light emanated from his hand, enveloping the several human shadows that Han Li had transformed into.
The several human shadows, once covered by the black light, instantly slowed down significantly, as if they were being fixed in place.
"Hmph! A mere trivial body technique, also daring to show off!" The Nightmare Dragon Guard leader sneered coldly, turning his right hand from a claw into a fist and fiercely striking down.
A violent black fist wind erupted from his fist, and the several human shadows dispersed rapidly like bubbles upon contact with the black fist wind.
However, Han Li's figure did not appear, as if he had disappeared.
"This..." The Nightmare Dragon Guard leader was instantly stunned.
"Above!" Xue's voice transmitted over, and the Nightmare Dragon Guard leader quickly looked up upon hearing it.
He saw a blurry human shadow appearing several yards above the Nightmare Dragon Guard leader's head, and it was Han Li.
At this moment, the blood color on his body surface was even heavier, almost dripping with blood, but his speed was faster, bringing with him afterimages, whistling as he flew over the Nightmare Dragon Guard leader's head.
The Nightmare Dragon Guard leader wanted to reach out to intercept, but it was already too late.
"When did Wu Xuan have such strength!" Sha Xin also noticed this scene, a hint of surprise flashing through his eyes, but he immediately waved his hand.
"Useless!" In the sky, Xue's face turned furious as he saw this scene, and he waved his arm.
Nearly a hundred profound orifices on his arm suddenly lit up, faintly revealing strands of blood light.
In the next moment, the Barbaric Dragon Sword in his hand transformed into a black afterimage and shot out from his hand, instantly appearing half a yard behind him, stabbing towards the center of Han Li's back.
Han Li's expression changed slightly, his body moving sideways to dodge, but the speed of the Barbaric Dragon Sword was really too fast, unable to completely avoid it, and his left arm was about to be split open.
His eyes flashed, but he didn't do anything else, allowing the Barbaric Dragon Sword to chop down, his body shooting towards the front.
But at this moment, a golden shadow shot out from the side, instantly blocking behind Han Li, revealing a golden eagle puppet, its two golden sharp claws grabbing towards the Barbaric Dragon Sword.
The Barbaric Dragon Sword easily destroyed the two golden sharp claws, and with a "puchi" sound, it pierced into the chest of the eagle puppet, penetrating it in one shot, but the power of the Barbaric Dragon Sword was also exhausted, stopping there.
Han Li's face revealed a surprised expression, but his body didn't stop at all. Ahead, there were no more obstructions, and his shadow flashed as he rushed into the Thousand Machine Hall.
Xue's face turned furious, and he suddenly looked towards Sha Xin.
Sha Xin's mouth revealed a smile, proudly looking at Xue.
"Send a few people into the hall to kill that thief, absolutely not allowing him to hinder the Holy Emperor!" Xue couldn't be bothered with Sha Xin, shouting angrily.
Xue's authority seemed quite high, and four Nightmare Dragon Guards immediately left the battle formation, chasing towards the hall. The face of that Nightmare Dragon Guard leader turned iron-blue, and he also pounced towards the hall.
Sha Xin's gaze shifted, and with a flutter of his ten fingers, the head of the eagle puppet that was pierced through by the Barbaric Dragon Sword opened its eyes.
Two golden lights shot out from its eyes, flashing and disappearing into the stone wall beside the hall door.
With a "peng" sound, the originally open two hall doors suddenly closed.
The Nightmare Dragon Guard leader and others couldn't stop their momentum, crashing into the door. The tall hall door only flickered with white light, remaining motionless.
"You..." Xue's eyes emitted a cold light, filled with killing intent as he looked towards Sha Xin.
"The Thousand Machine Hall door has already closed, and there is a prohibition set up by the owner himself on the door. With your abilities, forget about opening it. Xue, you miscalculated this time!" Sha Xin suppressed the astonishment in his heart and sneered. Han Li looked at the palace door that suddenly closed behind him, slightly stunned, but then ignored it and walked into the palace to take a look.
The situation inside the Qianji Palace was exactly the same as what he saw many years later. There were broken table and chair fragments everywhere, and some broken bone armor puppets, obviously having just experienced a fierce fight.
At this moment, there was not a single person in the palace, but it was filled with a blood-colored fog everywhere, emitting a sweet smell.
This blood fog was harmless. On the contrary, Han Li's body had become much slower due to the activation of potential before. As soon as he touched this blood-colored fog, it immediately eased a lot.
He was surprised in his heart, but he didn't pay much attention to these things. His body flashed and he rushed to the back of the palace.
As expected, the black stone chair was still there.
He was overjoyed and grabbed the stone chair, turning it fiercely.
With a "click" sound, a black passage appeared on the ground behind the stone chair, leading to the underground.
Han Li was overjoyed in his heart. The mechanism here had not changed.
He activated the "Wanqiao empty silence technique", and his body shot down. He followed the stone steps inside skillfully and quickly, and soon came to the door hole at the end of the stone steps.
Behind the door hole was the huge underground cave. The rumbling sound came from inside the cave, and each sound was like a thunderbolt exploding, causing the entire underground cave to shake.
Han Li silently came to the side of the door hole and carefully looked outside.
The underground cave was not much different from later. Inside, there was a large blood lake, which was now violently rippling.
However, there was no crystal coffin in the center of the lake, but a blood-red square stone platform suspended in the air.
Around the stone platform stood nine tall blood-red jade pillars, on which countless lines were engraved, emitting dazzling blood light, condensing into a thick blood-red light cover, enveloping the stone platform.
On the stone platform, a figure was sitting cross-legged, who was the Crab Daoist. His whole body was wrapped in dazzling golden light.
At this moment, his eyes were tightly closed, his eyebrows were locked and trembling, as if he was suffering from great pain.
The Crab Daoist's body was also trembling slightly, and strands of phosphorescent gray-white fog flew out from all over his body, floating towards the top of his head.
At this moment, it had already condensed into a large group of Qi, rolling and surging, vaguely forming a human shape.
On the empty ground beside the blood lake, three figures were intertwined, fighting fiercely.
The rumbling sound was caused by the three of them fighting.
The three figures, one black, one white, and one purple, were fighting. The black and white figures were actually the two slashing puppets of the Crab Daoist. The purple figure was a middle-aged man wearing purple armor.
Han Li had also seen this man's appearance, who was the Demon Master Shi Kongyu.
"This is not right. This feeling is not a real person, but also a puppet!" Han Li looked at him twice, and his heart moved. He immediately judged the true body of Shi Kongyu.
It makes sense. The Jilin Space does not allow people above Daluo Realm to enter. Naturally, Shi Kongyu's real body cannot be brought in, so he can only be attached to the puppet.
The three of them moved as fast as lightning, and most of the time they could only see three blurry shadows. With Han Li's reaction speed, he could barely keep up with the movements of the three.
The three figures were sometimes divided and sometimes combined. Every time they fought, they burst out thunderous roars and extremely strong spatial fluctuations.
The underground cave seemed to have a prohibition. The spatial fluctuations hit the cave, causing it to shake a little, but it didn't have much effect.
The blood lake was rolling like raging waves, and the blood-colored fog became more and more dense, filling the entire underground space.
The purple puppet of Shi Kongyu was very powerful. His whole body was wrapped in purple electric arcs. When he moved, he was like a purple electric dragon crossing the void, causing a low and muffled rumbling sound. Wherever he passed, he easily drew curved spatial cracks.
The Crab Daoist's two slashing puppets were also very powerful, and their bodies were wrapped in a layer of golden light, not suppressed by the Jilin Space, so they could use demonic energy and law attacks.
Unfortunately, Shi Kongyu's puppet was too powerful, and the two slashing puppets still couldn't defeat him.
However, Shi Kongyu couldn't do anything about the two slashing puppets, and the two sides fought to a draw.
After a fierce collision, both sides retreated.
" Fellow Daoist Shi Kongyu, don't try anymore. Although your puppet is extraordinary, it is still not as good as us. I think you should retreat. Fellow Daoist Shi no longer cultivates the Space Law and will not pose a threat to you. Why don't you find a way to resolve your past grievances and live in peace? After all, we are all people of the Holy Realm, and the Heavenly Court is our enemy." The white Crab Daoist said.
Shi Kongyu snorted, ignoring what the white Crab Daoist said. His figure flickered and disappeared.
The white Crab Daoist's face changed slightly, and his body quickly moved sideways to dodge. He had just moved 2-3 meters away when a fist flashing with thunder light appeared and hit the position where the white Crab Daoist had been standing.
With a "puchi" sound!
The place where the fist hit seemed to tremble and shatter like the surface of a lake, and a black hole the size of a water tank collapsed.
At this moment, a black shadow flashed over Shi Kongyu's head. It was the other black Crab Daoist appearing out of thin air.
He held a black battle knife in his hand, and with a series of "hissing" sounds, black knife lights burst out, condensing into a black lotus, and enveloping Shi Kongyu.
Where the knife light passed, the void seemed to be cut open like paper!
:。:
Shi Kongyu faced the black crab Daoist's war knife in the air without fear. He raised his arm and punched upwards, his fist bursting with purple lightning.
Boom!
The clash of fist and blade caused the space to shake violently, tearing open seven or eight spatial cracks.
Shi Kongyu and the black crab Daoist were both pushed back by the impact.
But soon, the three of them fought fiercely again.
Han Li, who was hiding in the distance, was initially shocked by the scene, but his expression quickly returned to calm, with a pensive look on his face.
The situation here was exactly as the crab Daoist had told him not long ago. It seemed that the crab Daoist had not lied to him. The intensity of this battle far exceeded what he had described.
Han Li looked up at the illusory circular wheel in the sky. Many of the time runes on it had already been extinguished.
He withdrew his gaze and wondered if he should leave now.
In fact, there was no point in him continuing to stay. He could not do anything for the crab Daoist from back then with his weak body. And for him, who already knew that the future crab Daoist would achieve the Dao Ancestor realm, everything happening now might not necessarily be a bad thing.
Just as he was considering whether to go somewhere else, a loud collision sounded and the fierce battle suddenly stopped.
Shi Kongyu's figure shot backwards, stopping near the entrance of the underground cave.
Han Li was shocked and quickly hid in the shadows behind the door, running the Wanqiao Empty Silence Technique at full strength to suppress his aura.
Shi Kongyu did not attack again. He just stood there, a smile even appearing on his face.
Since the enemy did not attack, the two Slash Corpse Puppets did not make a move either.
However, seeing the expression on Shi Kongyu's face, the two puppets frowned like ordinary people, their expressions lifelike and no different from real humans.
"Friend Shi Kongyu, we are evenly matched. No matter how long we fight, there will be no outcome. I'll say it again, you should leave." The white crab Daoist slowly opened his mouth.
"You're right, I've long known that we are evenly matched and it's almost impossible to defeat you," Shi Kongyu said with a slight smile.
Behind the entrance, Han Li heard Shi Kongyu's words and was slightly stunned.
If what Shi Kongyu said was true, why did he fight so hard against the two Slash Corpse Puppets for so long? It was clear he had other intentions!
The two Slash Corpse Puppets also realized this problem now. Their expressions sank and they immediately transformed into black and white light, pouncing towards Shi Kongyu.
"Haha..." Shi Kongyu laughed loudly, completely ignoring the actions of the two Slash Corpse Puppets. He suddenly punched his chest.
With a splattering sound, a fist-sized gray bone flew out from his body. A black symbol resembling a dried octopus was engraved on it.
The moment the gray bone left Shi Kongyu's body, gray flames immediately appeared on its surface, burning fiercely.
Within the gray flames, countless black symbols faintly emerged, condensing into a human face pattern. Its features were ferocious, filled with deep grief and resentment. It let out rapid and crazed strange noises that shocked those who saw it.
Immediately, a cold and eerie law fluctuation spread out from the gray flames and dispersed in all directions.
Jilei empty realm rejected all other elemental energies and law powers were no exception.
As soon as this cold law appeared, it began to weaken, but it did not immediately disappear. It continued to disperse, quickly filling the entire underground space.
Han Li was behind Shi Kongyu, closest to him, and was the first affected by this law power.
He felt his mind go dizzy as an invisible force directly penetrated deep into his soul, stirring it.
Han Li's originally pure soul suddenly dimmed, as if covered with a layer of dust. His soul force churned, the small person in his soul letting out irritated roars.
He saw various bizarre illusions, signs that inner demons were arising.
At the same time, Han Li felt nauseous, his body experiencing a desire to vomit that he had not felt in countless years, wanting to throw up his internal organs.
"What is this law?!"
Han Li was greatly shocked and hurriedly severed his connection to his physical body while running his soul cultivation technique at full power to stabilize his soul's fluctuations.
The two Slash Corpse Puppets were also enveloped by the cold law power, their faces immediately showing pain.
"Curse law!" The two puppets' expressions changed drastically. They immediately stopped and pounced towards the crab Daoist with all their strength.
At the same time, black light surged around them as two intense law fluctuations erupted, enveloping the crab Daoist and his blood-colored barrier.
Although the two puppets moved fast, they were still a step too late. A cold law force invaded the blood-colored barrier before they could deploy their law defenses, entering the crab Daoist's body.
Pfft!
Inside the blood-colored barrier, the crab Daoist, who was originally making an all-out attempt to break through to the Dao Ancestor realm, was attacked by the curse law. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
The light around him became chaotic, and the human-shaped light mass above his head fluctuated violently, showing signs of collapse.
The crisis back then was actually nothing much. Although Shi Kongyu was powerful, he was similarly suppressed in the Jilei Empty Realm and couldn't display much of his strength. His main goal was to disrupt Fellow Daoist Shi Kong's breakthrough. After succeeding with one strike, he immediately retreated and didn't pursue us to the death. As for outside help, we were imprisoned here and couldn't easily leave. We had basically no contact with the other forces in the Saint Realm. Shi Kongyu single-handedly dominated the Saint Realm, and the other forces were still trying to avoid us, let alone lend a helping hand." Daoist Crab smiled and spoke with a calm tone.
"I see." Han Li was silent for a moment before nodding with a smile.
"I still have some matters to attend to. Fellow Daoist Han, please feel free to do as you wish." Daoist Crab nodded slightly and turned to leave.
Han Li watched Daoist Crab's departing figure with a slight frown. The matters from back then, whether Daoist Crab or the two Soul Seizing Puppets knew the inside story, from the looks of Daoist Crab, even if he did know, he clearly wouldn't easily tell others. Asking Daoist Crab probably wouldn't yield any answers.
Wanting to understand the truth from back then, he could only slowly investigate elsewhere.
After pondering briefly, Han Li quickly walked outside to the main hall.
Inside the main hall stood quite a few people. Besides Daoist Crab, there were over twenty others, including Violet Spirit, Sha Xin, Madam Six Flowers, Shi Chuan Kong, Zhuo Ge, Xuan Yuan Xing, and even the Zhu siblings.
In an empty space on the other side of the great hall, a white stone platform was set up.
At the top of the stone platform was a round magic formation several meters in size, emitting bursts of golden light.
Powerful spatial fluctuations emanated from the formation, causing the space above the formation to ripple like water, forming a spinning vortex several meters in size.
"Fellow Daoist Han, you've arrived." Daoist Crab stood up to welcome him.
Seeing this, Sha Xin and the others also enthusiastically greeted Han Li.
Violet Spirit stood behind Sha Xin. Her bright eyes also looked over, sensing that the aura Han Li emitted was even more powerful and vast, his temperament more mature and steady. Her beautiful eyes couldn't help brightening.
"Fellow Daoist Han feels guilty for making everyone wait for him." Han Li cupped his hands and said.
"Not at all, Sha Xin and the others only just arrived. This transportation formation leads to the outside world. I will open it shortly. Fellow Daoist Han, if you have any matters to attend to, please handle them now." Daoist Crab glanced at Violet Spirit, his words carrying a hidden meaning.
Hearing this, Han Li's expression froze.
After Daoist Crab said this, he pointed and a golden light entered Han Li's body, restoring the flow of Immortal Qi within him.
After doing all this, Daoist Crab stood up and walked over to the formation.
Sha Xin immediately followed. The two spoke in low voices, seemingly discussing the transportation matters.
Han Li was somewhat baffled by Daoist Crab's actions, but being able to circulate his Immortal Qi again was definitely a good thing.
He collected himself and walked over to Violet Spirit. With a wave of his hand, he set up a sound barrier and was about to speak when Violet Spirit stopped him with a wave.
"I only came here this time to see you off, don't overthink it." Violet Spirit smiled enchantingly and said.
"You plan to continue staying here?" Han Li's eyes flashed with surprise before glancing at Daoist Crab with sudden realization.
So Daoist Crab already knew Violet Spirit planned to stay, which was why he spoke the way he did earlier and even restored Han Li's Immortal Qi.
"The Heaven Destroyer Prison Technique you taught me, after researching it these years, I find it truly profound. The star power in the Jilei Empty Realm is dense, making it an ideal place to cultivate this body refinement technique. I plan to increase my strength here some more before going to the Devil Realm." Violet Spirit nodded and said.
"That's good. The Devil Realm is not very safe right now. This Jilei Empty Realm is actually safer. You should cultivate well here." Han Li stared at the stunning beauty before him for a long time before finally speaking, his voice unusually calm.
"I've also started cultivating the Divine Essence Technique you taught me." Violet Spirit's beautiful eyes were filled with determination as she continued.
"I knew you would definitely cultivate this technique." Han Li was silent upon hearing this, then sighed.
"I have decent talent in divine sense cultivation, no worse than you Han, I'm sure. Since you can cultivate this Divine Essence Technique, of course I can too." Violet Spirit blinked playfully.
"Since you plan to cultivate this technique, then do as you wish. But if any problems arise during cultivation, remember to contact me immediately." Han Li instructed.
"Okay." Violet Spirit nodded with a smile.
Han Li led Violet Spirit to the side, took out some special items from his Starry Sky Bracelet, and put some other things in.
"This bone bracelet looks a bit ugly, but it's a storage bracelet that can be used in the Jilei Empty Realm. It's quite practical. Since you've chosen to stay, I'll give this to you." Han Li then took off his Starry Sky Bracelet, lifted Violet Spirit's left hand, and put it on her.
"This item is too precious, I can't accept it. You should keep it for yourself." Violet Spirit was shocked and immediately tried to take off the bracelet.
"No need. I'm about to leave this place. Outside, this bracelet will be completely useless." Han Li stopped Violet Spirit's movements and transmitted with a smile.
"Right, I almost forgot." Violet Spirit was stunned, then laughed.
"The bracelet contains the latter nine layers of the Heaven Destroyer Prison Technique, as well as a Wheel Turning Hall mask. If you need to contact me in the future, you can use this item. In addition, there are some other things, all of which will be useful to you now." Han Li continued to explain.
Violet Spirit's eyes flashed with a hint of tears as she nodded lightly.
"When I'm not by your side, if you encounter any difficulties you can't resolve, don't stubbornly resist. Remember to seek help from Fellow Daoist Crab." Han Li reminded again. After a long discussion off to the side, the two walked back.
Han Li's gaze shifted, looking towards Shi Chuankong.
Seeing this, Shi Chuankong stepped forward.
"Daoist friend Han, since entering the Jilin Void, I have relied on your help, and I am deeply grateful. This time I came, like Daoist friend Zi Ling, just to say goodbye to you. I don't plan to leave the Jilin Void for now." Shi Chuankong nodded at Zi Ling, looking very familiar, and then said to Han Li.
"Daoist friend Shi doesn't plan to leave either?" Han Li was slightly stunned, and couldn't help but touch his nose.
"Third brother is now untrustworthy, and my strength is still very weak. Instead of returning to the Night Sun Dynasty now and being bullied by others, I might as well stay here and cultivate. Besides, with your relationship, Daoist friend Han, I'm living quite comfortably here." Shi Chuankong said with a smile.
"That's good, then I'll leave Zi Ling in your care." Han Li nodded.
The Crab Daoist is now at odds with the Demon Master, and Shi Chuankong staying here, I don't know if it's voluntary or coerced.
Although he and Shi Chuankong are friends, his relationship with the Crab Daoist is deeper, and now that he has allied with him, these matters are not easy to ask about.
"Now Daoist friend Zi Ling is a big celebrity in Puppet City, where does she need me to look after her? These years, I have mostly relied on Daoist friend Zi Ling's care." Shi Chuankong laughed heartily.
"Daoist friend Shi is too kind. You are Brother Han's friend, so naturally you are also my friend, and since you are the Thirteenth Prince of the Night Sun Dynasty, there may be many things to rely on Daoist friend Shi after leaving the Jilin Void." Zi Ling said with a smile.
"Of course." Shi Chuankong said, patting his chest.
Seeing this, Han Li's heart was slightly relieved.
This way, whether Zi Ling is in the Jilin Void or in the Demon Realm in the future, there will be someone to look after her.
"After I leave, you take care of yourself." Han Li's lips moved slightly, transmitting a message to Zi Ling.
"Take care." Zi Ling transmitted back.
"Daoist friend Han, I heard from Daoist friend Zi Ling that you will soon return to the Immortal Realm after leaving the Jilin Void. I am staying here and cannot help you. Speaking of which, the rewards I promised you before, I have hardly fulfilled any of them, which makes me ashamed." Shi Chuankong sighed and said.
"Daoist friend Shi is too kind. You helped me find Zi Ling, which is enough. I will handle the other things myself." Han Li waved his hand.
Hearing this, Shi Chuankong's face looked slightly better.
"By the way, besides you two, are all the other people here going to be sent back to the Saint Realm?" Han Li glanced at the others and transmitted a message.
"Yes. Daoist friend Crab seems to have some plan." Zi Ling said.
Han Li nodded slowly upon hearing this.
After chatting for a while, Crab Daoist seemed to be ready and called Han Li over.
Han Li, Sha Xin and others quickly boarded the transmission formation.
But the Crab Daoist did not step on it. He chanted in his mouth, bent his finger and pointed.
The transmission formation burst out dazzling golden-white light, and the speed of the space vortex above it suddenly increased. A dark space passage soon emerged.
A huge space suction force emanated from the space passage, enveloping Han Li and others.
Han Li looked up at Zi Ling, their eyes meeting.
In the next moment, Han Li and others disappeared into the space passage with a "swoosh" sound.
Zi Ling's body trembled slightly, her beautiful eyes staring blankly at the place where the figure disappeared, as if she was in a daze.
...
Above a barren forest in the Demon Realm, a dazzling white light suddenly appeared out of thin air and quickly expanded, forming a white light ball dozens of meters in size in the blink of an eye.
The space inside the light ball rolled violently. After a few breaths, a cracking sound was heard, and a black space door opened.
In the next moment, more than twenty figures flew out of the space door one by one. After the initial panic, everyone quickly stabilized their figures. They were Han Li, Sha Xin and others.
Han Li felt the spiritual energy of the surrounding world and the disappeared space pressure, revealing a relieved look on his face. The others were the same.
Han Li took a deep breath and quickly calmed down. His divine sense spread out, exploring the surrounding terrain and confirming his location.
After a few breaths, his eyebrows moved, as if he had discovered something.
"Daoist friend Han, I am entrusted by my master and have some things to do. I will take my leave now. We will meet again later." Sha Xin bowed slightly to Han Li, then without waiting for Han Li to reply, she left with the others in a hurry.
Seeing this, Han Li's eyes flashed.
He didn't stay here any longer. Turning into a streak of cyan rainbow light, he shot towards the distance, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
The moonlit city, a wide and bustling main street in the city center, branched off into a narrow alleyway.
The alleyway was secluded, with no one in sight, and at the end of it stood a weathered stone wall, covered in the marks of time.
As the sun set, the fading light of the evening sun cast an orange glow on the wall.
At this moment, the space behind the wall rippled, and a figure clad in a blue robe suddenly appeared, revealing Han Li.
As soon as he entered the alley, he turned his wrist and pulled out a mask from the Wheel of Rebirth, putting it on his face. A wave of light rippled out, and he transformed into a young demon with a short horn on his forehead, walking towards the entrance of the alley.
As he exited the alley, he saw a giant banyan tree with lush branches and leaves, its canopy stretching out like an umbrella, and seven or eight people gathered under the tree, chatting idly.
Han Li had not yet approached when he heard a loud-voiced black-clad man say, "I think the Third Prince is doing a good job ruling. In the past, if you wanted to visit the Mahayana district, you had to go through repeated identity checks, but now it's much more convenient for both merchants and cultivators."
"I disagree," said an elderly man with a thin build, "When the First Prince was in power, the law and order in the Raksha district, Mahayana district, and even our own Black Heaven district were all much better. Look at the situation now, street fights break out every few days, and when they do, it's not just the people involved who get hurt, but also the innocent bystanders."
"If only the two princes could work together and rule jointly..." said a young demon boy, leaning against the elderly man, "that would be perfect."
The others laughed at this suggestion.
"I'm a traveler from outside the city," Han Li said, walking up to the group and bowing, "Could you tell me where I am?"
"Ah, you're from outside the city?" said the middle-aged man, looking at Han Li with curiosity, "We're in the southernmost part of the Black Heaven district. Where are you headed?"
"I'm going to the Mahayana district to visit a senior member of my clan," Han Li said, feigning ignorance, "I thought I was almost there, but it seems I'm still in the Black Heaven district. This city is really big..."
The elderly man smiled and said, "You're new here, aren't you? Hurry up and rent a carriage at the market ahead, or you'll be walking for who-knows-how-long to get to the Mahayana district."
Han Li nodded, but didn't leave, instead asking, "I overheard your conversation earlier, and I'm a bit confused. Isn't the Holy Ruler in power?"
The middle-aged man laughed and said, "You're from a remote village, aren't you? News travels slowly there, I suppose. The Holy Ruler has been in seclusion for 500 years, and now the Third Prince is in power."
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise, and he asked, "But wasn't the First Prince in power before?"
The elderly man chuckled and said, "The First Prince has been missing for over a thousand years. Some say he's in seclusion, others say he's traveling, and some say he's been imprisoned by the Holy Ruler. There are all sorts of rumors, but no one knows the truth."
Han Li thanked them and left, walking along the main street towards the market.
...
Several days later, on a moonless night.
In the northern part of the imperial city, a series of connected palaces were brightly lit, with demon guards patrolling the grounds, their spears at the ready.
In the shadows of the palace walls, a figure clad in black was moving swiftly, dodging between the buildings with ease. It was Han Li, his aura suppressed, relying solely on his physical strength to move undetected.
As he moved, he noticed that the palace's defensive arrays were like an open book to him, and he avoided them with ease.
Before long, he arrived at a beautiful, isolated palace.
Without approaching the door, Han Li wrinkled his nose, sensing the strong scent of medicinal herbs. He noticed that the windows were all closed, and a faint mist was rising from the roof.
After a brief examination, he pressed his hand against the door's lock, and a burst of silver light flashed out, destroying the hidden symbols and disabling the lock.
Han Li pushed open the door and slipped inside, his figure flashing into the palace.
As he entered, he was met with a sudden gust of wind, and he dodged to the side, his fists flying forward, striking the two figures that had been hiding in ambush.
The two figures crashed to the ground, their bodies limp and lifeless.
Han Li had not intended to kill them, so he had struck them with precision, hitting their vital points and rendering them unconscious. "If not to kill, then it's to seek something...” A hoarse voice sounded, accompanied by the splashing of water.
Han Li didn't immediately respond, instead gazing forward.
In the center of the palace, a large water pool resembling a heavenly well was filled with a dark, viscous liquid that seemed to be slowly churning. The misty vapor emanating from it was rising into the air.
From within the pool, a stout figure slowly emerged, its body covered in a massive black cloak that obscured its head and body, making its face impossible to discern.
"Is the friend's surname Li?" the person asked, seeing Han Li's silence.
The stout figure slowly walked out of the pool, its body seemingly surrounded by flames as it radiated intense heat, quickly drying the black cloak.
Han Li's heart stirred slightly at the mention of his surname, but he didn't confirm or deny it, instead asking, "Is the friend the Grand Priest?"
"How can it be that Friend Li has come all this way, yet still can't determine if I'm the one he's looking for?" the Grand Priest asked.
"The Grand Priest is known for being reclusive and secretive, so it's unusual that he's so unguarded today. That's why I'm a bit uncertain," Han Li replied, his brow furrowed.
"Being within the heavily guarded palace, with two Taichi initial-stage cultivators serving as bodyguards, doesn't count as being heavily guarded? Ha ha, I think Friend Li is just too skilled," the stout man chuckled.
"Time is short, so I won't engage in wordplay with you. Since you're the Grand Priest, you should know what I'm seeking," Han Li asked, his expression unchanging.
"I've known for over a thousand years, but unfortunately, I'm unable to fulfill your request," the Grand Priest sighed.
"Unable to fulfill... if that's the case, then I'll just have to take your head and go see the real Grand Priest," Han Li sneered.
"It seems Friend Li still doesn't believe me. I am the Grand Priest," the hoarse voice replied, sounding somewhat helpless.
"You're the Grand Priest, yet you haven't even looked at me. How can you be sure you can't help me?" Han Li asked sternly.
"Over a thousand years ago, I cast a divination, and the results showed that the matter is impossible," the Grand Priest explained.
"Impossible doesn't mean it can't be done. Why must you say you can't do it?" Han Li sneered.
"Knowing that something is impossible yet still attempting to do it is a great taboo," the Grand Priest shook his head.
"It's been over a thousand years since then. Why not cast another divination? Perhaps the situation has changed," Han Li suggested, suppressing the turmoil in his heart.
The Grand Priest was taken aback by Han Li's words, then smiled and said, "If that's the case, I'll cast another divination. If the results still show that it's impossible, will Friend Li not force me to do something I'm unwilling to do?"
Han Li didn't respond.
The Grand Priest saw Han Li's expression and shook his head, then rubbed his hands together and produced five silver coins, which he tossed into the air. His other hand swiftly reached out, palm up, and caught the coins.
The five coins were arranged in a plum blossom pattern in his palm, with two or three of them showing their reverse side.
The Grand Priest manipulated the coins for a moment, then suddenly changed expression, his brow furrowed as he exclaimed, "You're an extraordinary person! Why is your fate so chaotic?"
"Grand Priest, it seems you've calculated something you shouldn't have," Han Li's voice turned cold.
As soon as he spoke, the surrounding air was filled with flashing lights, and nine Cloud-Drifting Swords shot out, cutting through the space around them and pointing at the Grand Priest.
The Grand Priest's eyes flashed with a strange light, as if he had suddenly remembered something, and he asked, "Friend Li, are you surnamed Han?"
"It seems you're truly seeking death..." Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he spoke.
"I think that, as a fellow member of the Wheel of Reincarnation Temple, Friend Li wouldn't do such a thing," the Grand Priest said, his voice hoarse as he laughed.
He slowly raised his arm, and a pale, bloodless hand emerged from his sleeve, holding a round, palm-sized token with the words "Wheel of Reincarnation Token" engraved on it.
Han Li's gaze changed slightly, and his heart was filled with doubt.
"Did you learn of my identity through the Wheel of Reincarnation Temple's internal news?" Han Li asked, his Cloud-Drifting Swords still unsheathed.
"That's not important... what's important is that the matter you're seeking can be accomplished today," the Grand Priest said, shaking his head.
Han Li didn't respond, instead raising his hand to summon a silver light door that floated in the air, revealing a small room inside.
"This... could it be the legendary Cavern of the Heavens treasure?" the Grand Priest asked, surprised.
"Not bad, Grand Priest. Please wait..." Han Li nodded and said.
He stepped into the room, lifted the wailing spirit, and turned to return to the palace.
The high priest saw the situation and waved his hand, causing the water in the pool to churn and a white jade stone bed to slowly rise from the water. The bed was covered in a layer of frost, and on top of it lay a young woman with a pale complexion, her face serene and her chest still. It was as if she were a perfectly preserved corpse.
The high priest walked forward, removing his hood to reveal a handsome young face with a pale complexion. He gazed at the woman's body, then turned to Han Li and said, "Brother Han, please remove the puppet seal from her body."
Han Li nodded and stepped forward, his hands forming a seal as he conjured a white starlight force from his palm. The force flowed from the woman's head, down her neck, shoulders, and finally to her feet, where it exited through the Yongquan acupoint.
As the force passed through each acupoint, a thin white bone needle emerged from her body, each one covered in intricate symbols. Han Li collected the needles, and as he did, the woman's eyebrows furrowed, and her body began to convulse violently.
The high priest's eyes widened as he sensed the woman's aura, and he exclaimed, "This is...!"
Han Li explained, "She is not human, but a creature known as a 'Xing Shou' or 'Punishment Beast', a type of heavenly beast."
The high priest nodded, "I understand. As a Punishment Beast, she possesses the power of the Wheel of Reincarnation, one of the three supreme laws of the universe. I couldn't sense her aura earlier, but now that the seal is removed, I still can't sense any power within her. This must be why she fell into a coma."
Han Li nodded, "That's correct. She was affected by a certain law of the universe, which caused her to lose her connection to her innate power."
The high priest continued, "If we can use the Wheel of Reincarnation law to awaken her, she should recover."
Han Li's expression turned skeptical, "Is it that simple?"
The high priest replied, "The Wheel of Reincarnation law is extremely difficult to master, even more so than the Space Law. To control its power, one must be extremely cautious, lest they suffer unforeseen consequences."
Han Li asked, "I didn't know that the Wheel of Reincarnation law was so powerful. Are you saying that you've mastered it?"
The high priest chuckled, "I've only learned a fraction of its power through my study of the Tian Yuan prophecy technique. While I can use it to predict the future, I haven't truly mastered the law."
Han Li's eyes widened, "So, you're saying that you'll use your knowledge of the Wheel of Reincarnation law to help her awaken her innate power?"
The high priest nodded, "That's correct. If we can—"
Just then, the woman's body relaxed, and her eyebrows unfurrowed. A faint glow appeared on her forehead, and wispy strands of white light emerged, like silk threads floating in the air.
Han Li's expression changed, "What's happening? Her soul is escaping!"
The high priest shook his head, "It's not surprising. When her innate power is lost, her soul becomes like a floating leaf, unable to remain within her body. The 108 soul-sealing needles were used to lock her soul in place, but now that they're gone, her soul is beginning to escape."
Han Li's eyes widened, and he quickly activated his spiritual technique, pointing to his own forehead and drawing a line of spiritual energy that shot out and merged with the woman's forehead. The wispy strands of white light disappeared, and the woman's soul was once again contained within her body.
Han Li turned to the high priest, "Please, you must save her now."
The high priest nodded, "I'll begin the treatment. Please, Brother Han, protect me during this time." The High Priest reassured, "Rest assured, I will not be disturbed while I administer the treatment."
The High Priest did not say another word, and instead walked to the other side of the white jade bed, standing behind the wailing spirit's skull. He clasped his hands together in front of him, as if praying to the heavens, and then opened his hands, waving them forward as if scattering money.
A burst of blood flowers shot out from his palms, transforming into five blood-red plum blossoms that fell onto the wailing spirit's forehead. The center of his palms also split open, revealing twisted and distorted patterns like a turtle shell.
At the same time, a blurry red glow appeared behind him, and his robes fluttered in the wind, even though there was no wind. A familiar yet unfamiliar aura of the law emanated from him.
Han Li suddenly caught a glimpse of the High Priest's exposed skin under his robes, and a wave of nausea washed over him.
Underneath the High Priest's handsome face, his skin was covered in large, festering wounds, most of which were oozing pus and had turned a deep purple. The wounds were mixed with yellowish-brown mucus, making them look particularly disgusting.
These scars were clearly old injuries, some of which had already healed and left behind large, tumor-like scars. Others had only formed a ring of scabs around the wound, while some still had pus oozing out.
The High Priest's body was so swollen and fat because of these numerous tumors and growths. Han Li couldn't help but feel a sense of pity when he looked at the High Priest's handsome face.
Earlier, because of the strong medicinal scent in the air, Han Li had not noticed anything out of the ordinary. However, now that he caught a whiff of the High Priest's body odor, he was struck by its pungency.
"Brother Han, if you find it difficult to endure, you can go outside and keep watch. The treatment will take at least an hour," the High Priest's voice suddenly echoed in Han Li's mind.
"No need," Han Li replied curtly, without saying another word.
The High Priest did not respond.
However, after a few dozen breaths, Han Li frowned and spoke up again, "It seems I must go outside after all..."
"Brother Han, please be at ease. Just make sure no one disturbs us," the High Priest instructed.
"Thank you," Han Li said, bowing and making a gesture of respect before flashing out of the hall.
In the distance, a few streaks of light pierced the dark night sky, landing several dozen feet away from Han Li.
The leader of the group was a man with snow-white hair that was neatly combed and tied up with a pearl crown. His eyes were a deep purple, and his face was handsome, with a strong resemblance to Shi Chongyun. Han Li confirmed that it was his third brother, Shi Po Kong.
Behind him were two demon men. One was a giant of a man, with a body like an iron tower and a metal mask that covered half his face, leaving only his nose and mouth exposed. His face was twisted in a fierce expression.
The other was a slender man dressed in a blue robe, with white hair and a gentle smile. He looked like a ordinary teacher from the mortal realm, with his hands clasped behind his back.
Han Li's spiritual sense suddenly expanded, enveloping the surrounding area. He discovered that, apart from the palace guards, there were only three people present.
The iron tower man's aura was shocking, but he was the weakest of the three, with a cultivation level of only mid-stage Taishi. Shi Po Kong, on the other hand, was also a mid-stage Taishi, but his aura was more stable and long-lasting. The gentle old man, who looked like a teacher, was the strongest of the three, with a cultivation level of late-stage Taishi.
"Ah, Brother Li, it's been a while," Shi Po Kong said with a smile, his hands clasped together in a gesture of respect.
"Thank you for your concern, Brother Shi," Han Li replied with a smile. "I didn't die in the Jiling Caverns, thanks to your care."
"Since you've returned to the Holy Land, my thirteenth brother should also be back, right? Where is he now?" Shi Po Kong asked, his smile growing wider.
"Shi Chongyun has always considered you his closest friend and never had any intention of competing with you," Han Li replied, his expression unchanged. "Don't you think it's unnecessary to do all this?"
"Brother Li, you're a clever person, surely you know that 'not competing' is actually the biggest competition of all," Shi Po Kong said, his expression turning slightly somber before returning to normal. "Besides, it's not something he can decide, nor is it something I can decide."
"Your brothers' competition or lack thereof has no bearing on me," Han Li said, his expression indifferent. "I don't want to get involved, so as long as you don't disturb me, we can each go our separate ways."
"I won't stop you, but can you tell me what happened in the Jiling Caverns?" Shi Po Kong asked, his brow furrowing. "Why did all the pawns I placed inside fall silent?"
Han Li's expression remained calm, and he replied, "I won't tell you."
Han Li said with a hint of mockery, "Since the Third Prince is so eager to know, why not enter the accumulation of scales' empty boundary to investigate? But don't blame me for not warning you, the accumulation of scales' empty boundary is not as safe as the demonic realm. If you're not careful, you might die inside, just like the Eldest Prince."
Shi Po Kong's brow furrowed, and he said in a low voice, "Stone Slashing Wind has indeed died, what a pity."
The two people beside him changed their expressions upon hearing his words.
Han Li stood alone, looking at Shi Po Kong, no longer speaking.
Shi Po Kong's eyes sank, and he said, "Li Dao, actually, you and I don't have any deep grudges or hatred. I have always looked at you with favor, and although the current situation in the sacred domain is unclear, I believe Li Dao is a clever person and can see who has the upper hand between me and the Thirteenth Prince."
Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked, "What do you plan to do with the demonic realm? I don't care about your family's affairs. As long as you don't interfere with the high priest's rescue of the wailing souls, I can let bygones be bygones regarding the matter of the violent empty boundary symbol. Once this is over, I will leave the demonic realm and won't bother you with my presence again. What do you think, Third Prince?"
Shi Po Kong asked, "Li Dao, don't say I'm making things difficult for you. You don't have to tell me everything that happened in the accumulation of scales' empty boundary. Just give me a straight answer about the Thirteenth Prince's situation. Is he dead or alive, and has he returned to the sacred domain?"
Han Li's face suddenly turned cold, and he said, "I've already said it clearly, don't be so greedy and ignorant of the consequences."
As soon as he finished speaking, Han Li's body suddenly became blurry, and he disappeared from his original location.
The next moment, his figure reappeared in front of the left side of the main hall's entrance.
He lightly lifted his foot and stomped on the ground.
A loud crash echoed, and the black stone pavement beneath his feet suddenly erupted in a violent surge of energy, sending rolling smoke and dust into the air. The black stone slabs on the ground cracked and shattered, layer by layer, as if they were being lifted up by an invisible force.
A disheveled figure emerged from the smoke and dust, covered in blood, and fled towards the distance.
Han Li's previous kick had been restrained, as he had feared damaging the main hall behind him. If he had used even half of his strength, the person would not have been able to escape and would have been crushed like the shattered stone slabs.
The figure was small and had black scales covering its body, with sharp claws on its hands. It was clear that it was an expert in earth escape and concealment techniques. After fleeing several hundred feet, it tried to burrow into the ground again.
However, in the blink of an eye, a figure appeared in front of it, lifting its foot to block the figure's sharp claws and holding it in mid-air.
The figure was then caught by a large hand that grasped its throat, rendering it immobile.
Han Li held the figure by the neck and returned to Shi Po Kong's side, saying with a cold smile, "Your earth escape technique is impressive, but you almost managed to sneak into the main hall."
The figure trembled in Han Li's grasp, unable to move.
Shi Po Kong glanced at Han Li, his eyes sinking.
The iron tower-like magic clan member roared, "You dare to harm our Yuan Xi? Release him!"
The old man with a scholarly appearance frowned, his eyes flashing with anger.
Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked, "Release him?"
Without waiting for a response, he twisted his wrist, and the sound of bones cracking echoed as he broke the figure's neck.
He then casually tossed the figure, Yuan Xi, at the iron tower-like magic clan member's feet.
The iron tower-like magic clan member's eyes widened in rage, and he shouted, "You're seeking death!"
A loud roar echoed, and the magic clan member's body began to glow with dark energy, his magic surging. His body expanded, and his armor transformed into a massive magic armor giant.
The magic armor giant raised its hand, and a massive black eight-sided hammer appeared in its palm, surrounded by dark energy.
The giant's body began to glow with red light, and its surroundings were filled with strange ripples, as if the air itself was being distorted.
Han Li's legs felt heavy, as if they were being weighed down by lead, and he was unable to move.
The magic armor giant took a step forward, causing the ground to shudder, and the black stone pavement beneath its feet cracked and shattered.
The giant's hand swung down, and the massive hammer descended towards Han Li, its symbol flashing with energy.
Han Li's head was surrounded by a vortex of energy, as if the air itself was being compressed, and the space around him was being sealed off.
The magic armor giant's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and it thought it had already won.
However, just as it was about to deliver the final blow, its eyes widened in shock as it saw Han Li calmly take a step forward, as if he were strolling through a garden. Just then, his body slightly bent, his clothes fluttering without wind, and his body seemed to have a series of white light points lit up underneath his clothes.
"That is..." the Demon Armor Giant's mind was puzzled, but his hand movements didn't stop.
"Not good, retreat quickly!" At this time, the emaciated old man's expression suddenly changed, and he loudly shouted.
However, it was already too late.
Only to see Han Li's bent body suddenly straighten up, the Tianxia Town Prison's power surged, and his arms made a loud "popping" sound, the star power in his acupoints bursting out, gathering into a giant white fist shadow outside his arm, and fiercely smashing upwards.
"Boom!" a loud explosion sounded.
The Demon Armor Giant's eight-sided giant hammer, wrapped in demonic energy, was struck, and from the point of impact, it broke apart, the massive hammerhead flying backwards, like a meteor, leaving a trail of light in the night sky, unknown where it landed.
The giant hammer's handle still had a powerful force rotating upwards, directly wrapping around the Demon Armor Giant's arm, like a rope, climbing up to his shoulder and head.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
A series of explosions continued to sound, the Demon Armor Giant's arm armor, along with his flesh and blood, were shattered into pieces by the powerful force, even the exposed white bones were twisted and distorted, almost like a twisted rope.
At this time, the old man in the blue robe suddenly flashed, appearing at the Demon Armor Giant's shoulder, and heavily slapped his shoulder.
Only to see his palm gathering a green light, seemingly without much power, but the force contained within was quite astonishing.
The Demon Armor Giant's shoulder was like a thunderclap, the green light suddenly bursting out from his shoulder, colliding with Han Li's energy, and exploding, completely shattering the Demon Armor Giant's arm.
However, it was precisely this intense collision between the two forces that completely countered Han Li's energy, otherwise, if the power had continued to rise, it would have been the Demon Armor Giant's entire arm that was broken.
"Thank you, Old Qiu..." the Demon Armor Giant's demonic energy retracted, his figure quickly returning to normal, and he opened his mouth to respectfully say.
His expression was somewhat mournful, but no matter how painful his shoulder wound was, he didn't make a single sound.
"This person's fist power has almost been completely neutralized by me, but there's still some residual power at the wound, don't try to regenerate flesh and blood before this power completely disappears, or there will be endless consequences." The old man stood in front of him, warning.
Han Li saw this, and withdrew his hand, standing with his hands behind his back, not continuing to pursue.
"Brother Lei, you've injured two people, and it's not putting our Night City in your eyes, is it?" Shi Po Kong walked forward, coldly smiling, and said.
"I left them two lives, the Third Prince should be grateful." Han Li smiled.
"It seems Brother Lei has made great gains in the Accumulated Scales Realm, and now has the confidence to challenge our entire Sacred Clan?" Shi Po Kong's expression became increasingly serious, and he slowly said.
"The Third Prince doesn't need to use the Demon Clan to intimidate me, I, Lei, have no intention of being enemies with the Demon Clan, but if the Third Prince insists on forcing me, I don't mind causing a big commotion in Night City. I know that as the capital city, Night City naturally has powerful seniors sitting in, like the Old Qiu in front of me, who is not ordinary." Han Li said, glancing at the old man.
The latter's eyes were like stars, his gaze falling on Han Li, becoming even brighter, and his aura also rose to its peak, his entire body's aura changing, no longer like the harmless appearance from before.
"But what about that? If I, Lei, have made up my mind to die together with the enemy, even if I can't destroy half of Night City, I can still destroy half of the Demon Palace. At that time, the Third Prince, as the ruler, will certainly be blamed. Moreover, during the time the Eldest Prince was in power, it was a time of great peace and prosperity, but now, the Third Prince has destroyed the palace, who is better or worse, it's clear. Like this, haha... I don't need to say more, do I?" Han Li indifferently smiled, and continued.
Shi Po Kong heard this, his expression unchanged, but his heart was deeply contemplative.
Regarding Han Li's words, he had already thought of it, and even understood the consequences, that his father would be enraged, and his position as ruler would be revoked, and Shi Jingyan would certainly take advantage of the situation.
Like this, he would have worked hard to get rid of Shi Zhanfeng, only to do it for someone else.
He was hesitant because he still had one thing he couldn't confirm, that was whether Han Li really had the ability to destroy half of the Demon Palace.
"This person's Xuan repair power has already surpassed mine, wanting to defeat him might not be difficult, but wanting to kill him is extremely hard, what he said about destroying half of the Sacred Palace is not empty words..." At this time, his mind suddenly heard Old Qiu's voice.
Shi Po Kong was silent for a moment, then suddenly smiled, and said:
"Originally, I wanted to recruit Brother Lei to my side, to create a glorious foundation together, but now it seems I was one-sided. Since Brother Lei insists, I won't force it anymore, but I still hope Brother Lei will keep his promise, and leave the Sacred Domain immediately."
"This is natural, but I'll need to use the transmission array in the aristocratic families to leave." Han Li smiled.
"Tomorrow morning, Brother Lei can come to the Sacred Palace, and I'll send you away." Shi Po Kong naturally wanted to send Han Li away as soon as possible, and agreed.
"Then I'll trouble the Third Prince... since there's nothing more to do here, everyone can leave." Han Li smiled, and actually gave the order to leave, like a host.
Shi Po Kong's expression stiffened, and he gritted his teeth, leading the others to leave.
Han Li watched as Shi Po Kong and the others departed, his spiritual sense carefully scanning the surroundings to ensure there were no abnormalities before turning back to the great hall.
Inside the hall, the jade bed in the water pool was where Qi Hun was lying on her side, her already petite body curled up into a ball, her eyebrows tightly furrowed, and her face filled with pain.
Han Li's heart stirred, and he immediately focused his spiritual sense on her, examining her body.
A moment later, his expression relaxed, and he let out a silent sigh of relief.
Although Qi Hun was still trapped in a deep sleep, her body had undergone a significant transformation.
Especially in her dantian, the flickering and unstable source energy was like a faint light in a dark room, the flame weak but warm.
A splashing sound came from behind the stone bed, and Han Li turned to see the Grand Priest emerging from the water, his body covered in wisps of gray smoke, and a smell of charred flesh emanating from him.
When he saw Han Li's face, his expression changed, and he couldn't help but ask, "Your face..."
The Grand Priest smiled wryly, touching his cheek, and said, "Using the power of the cycle of reincarnation to forcibly probe the heavens, what can I expect but to pay a price?"
His neck and face were covered in burn-like scars, filled with pus that flowed like molten lava, emitting a foul and scorching aura.
"What about the scars on your body?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed.
"Each time I probe the heavens, these scars appear, like a heavenly punishment. No matter what spiritual pills or elixirs I use, they're useless. At first, they were just thick scabs, but later they formed into tumors. Over time, I've become like this, neither human nor ghost."
The Grand Priest smiled wryly, his voice hoarse, and said, "I've been punished by the heavens, and my body has become like this."
Han Li understood, and he realized that the Grand Priest's reluctance to help Qi Hun was not only due to the Crown Prince's influence but also because of his own circumstances.
It could be said that when this heavenly punishment reached a certain level, even with high cultivation, one couldn't escape the fate of falling. From the current situation, the Grand Priest was already close to this critical point.
"This is a debt I owe the Grand Priest," Han Li said after a moment of contemplation. "If there's anything I can do, please don't hesitate to ask."
The Grand Priest walked out of the water pool, his voice low, and said, "For now, there's nothing I need. But if there's an opportunity in the future, I'll need your help, Brother Han."
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he asked, "What kind of help?"
"The heavens' secrets cannot be revealed," the Grand Priest said, shaking his head.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he was about to ask again when Qi Hun suddenly groaned, as if she was about to wake up.
"Qi Hun..." Han Li called out softly.
However, Qi Hun only shuddered again and didn't truly wake up.
The Grand Priest explained, "Her source energy was lost for too long, and her spiritual energy was severely depleted. If not for your help in stabilizing her soul, she would have already dissipated. Don't worry, she just needs some time to recover, and she'll wake up on her own."
Han Li's concerns were alleviated, and he thought of something else, asking, "How will you explain this to the Third Prince?"
The Grand Priest smiled, glancing at the two men still lying unconscious at the entrance, and said, "I'll just say I was coerced by you, Brother Han. If you're still worried, you can always make it look like I was forced to help you."
Han Li chuckled and continued, "The Third Prince might not be so easily fooled..."
The Grand Priest's voice was hoarse, and he said, "Even if he's not, I'm the Grand Priest of the Holy Tribe. He won't dare to be too excessive. Besides, he didn't gain anything from his visit, so what right does he have to blame me?"
Han Li nodded in agreement.
Later, he took Qi Hun back to the Flower Branch Cave Heaven and stayed by her side.
Until the second day, Qi Hun still didn't wake up, but her aura had improved, and Han Li felt slightly better. He bid farewell to the Grand Priest and left the great hall, heading towards the Demon Palace.
However, he had only just left when he saw Shi Po Kong waiting for him in the square with over a dozen people.
Han Li's gaze swept over them, and he noticed that besides the old man from the previous night, there were three Taiyi late-stage cultivators, and seven or eight Taiyi mid-stage and early-stage cultivators.
The Third Prince was making a big show of things, but Han Li's expression remained calm, and he smiled, saying, "Is the Third Prince trying to intimidate me?"
Shi Po Kong laughed, "Brother Li, you're a guest of our Holy Tribe, and now that you're leaving, we must see you off with courtesy."
Han Li smiled, and his figure flashed, passing the group and standing in front of them.
Shi Po Kong's eyes narrowed, and he snapped his fan shut, following Han Li, "Brother Li, I must ask, do you think it's too late for me to regret not befriending you earlier?"
Han Li smiled, "I'm not sure if you're referring to when I first arrived in Night City or when I entered the Accumulated Scales Realm."
Shi Po Kong walked alongside Han Li, asking, "Am I too late to make amends?" "What's the difference?" Shi Po Kong asked.
"Actually, there's no difference, as long as you gave me the Void Boundary Token before, it wouldn't be too late. Unfortunately... you, Third Prince, don't have the Time Reversal Technique, so there's no need to regret." Han Li shook his head.
"That's really too unfortunate..." Shi Po Kong sighed, saying.
Han Li heard this, his face revealed a hesitant expression, and he was rarely moved, sighing: "Between you and Shi Chuan Kong, why is it like this?"
Shi Po Kong naturally knew what Han Li was referring to, but unfortunately, there were some secrets that couldn't be shared with outsiders, so he just sighed again and didn't say anything, his face showing a hint of desolation.
Han Li saw this and didn't say anything more, just continuing on his way.
The group flew through the air until they reached a square in the south garden of the Demon Palace, where they landed.
Han Li's gaze swept across the area, and he saw a strange, conical building in the distance that resembled a sharp tower. The tower's surface was covered in circular patterns that connected to each other, forming a complex network of symbols that extended all the way to the ground.
The tower was only a hundred or so meters tall, but its base took up a third of its height, and its exterior was embedded with a ring of transparent, crystal-like stones that refracted the sunlight, casting a kaleidoscope of colors that made it hard to look directly at.
"Is this the legendary Void Tower?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed.
"Ordinary transmission arrays can't directly return to the Immortal Realm, so we have to use this Void Tower to tear through the void and return." Shi Po Kong nodded.
"Can this tower return me to the Northern Cold Immortal Domain?" Han Li asked, his brow raised.
"Cross-domain transmission is extremely difficult, and the resources required are enormous. Even if we tear through the void, we can only reach the nearest location in the adjacent domain." Shi Po Kong smiled.
"Where is that?" Han Li asked.
"The Golden Source Immortal Domain." Shi Po Kong looked at him.
"Where is the Golden Source Immortal Domain?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed.
Although Han Li had never been to this domain, he wasn't unfamiliar with it. After all, the Nine Yuan Observatory and the Hundred Forge Mountain were both located within it, and Jintong was probably still there.
"There are a few transmission arrays in the Golden Source Immortal Domain, such as the Nine Yuan Observatory and the Shouyang Mountain, but they require a sect's token to activate. If you don't have one, you can only rely on luck, so you might be randomly transmitted to any location in the Golden Source Immortal Domain." Shi Po Kong smiled.
"Let's go." Han Li thought for a moment before speaking decisively.
He took the lead, walking into the Void Tower.
Shi Po Kong followed him, his brow furrowed in concern.
As they entered the tower, Han Li saw that the floor was covered in symbol patterns, and several snow-white stone pillars stood in the center, also adorned with strange patterns.
The walls of the tower were embedded with transparent, crystal-like stones that reflected the light, casting a series of overlapping shadows.
In the center of the room, a ten-meter-high platform stood, topped with a lifelike carving of a Luozhen Spirit. The platform was surrounded by a complex network of symbols that seemed to be flowing with energy.
"It's been a while, I hope we won't meet again in this sacred domain." Shi Po Kong suddenly spoke up.
"I, Li, always keep my word." Han Li smiled ambiguously.
"Good, please enter the array." Shi Po Kong nodded.
Han Li examined the array again, noticing that it was identical to the one the High Priest had described to him the night before. He nodded and stepped forward.
"Li, rest assured, this Void Tower is extremely valuable, and I wouldn't dare tamper with it. If it's damaged, it would be like destroying half of the Sacred Tribe's imperial city." Shi Po Kong smiled.
Han Li didn't say anything, just looking at Shi Po Kong before nodding.
The latter didn't say anything more, just waving his hand.
The several Demon Tribe elders behind him immediately dispersed, sitting down at the four corners of the array and closing their eyes to begin activating the Void Tower.
As a humming noise filled the air, the floor of the tower began to vibrate, and the platform in the center lit up with a silver glow, enveloping Han Li.
The symbol patterns on the floor began to shine brightly, and the crystal-like stones on the walls refracted the light, casting a dazzling array of colors that made it hard to look directly at.
Han Li stood at the center of the array, surrounded by the intense energy, as the space around him began to distort and converge.
Just as the array was about to activate, Han Li heard Shi Po Kong's voice:
"Until we meet again, Han Li."
With the sound of "later will have no chance" accompanying, a white light flew out, under the protection of a spatial law, it pierced through the big array, and hit his body.
Han Li was shocked, only had time to lower his head to take a glance, and found that it was a marked jade ring, but he didn't have time to react, a strong tearing sensation surged in from all directions.
He felt the air around him tighten, and then a twisting force surged towards him from all directions, making him feel like his body was about to be torn into pieces, his powerful divine sense was also somewhat scattered, and he couldn't concentrate at all.
There was a loud explosion.
The entire Void Tower shook violently, a silver light shot out from the top of the tower, and violently rubbed against the void clouds, creating a dazzling display of colorful light.
At the same time, the silver light on the surface of the rhombus-shaped crystal stones on the outer wall of the tower suddenly exploded, turning into a wave of invisible energy that swept in all directions.
The silver light shot out for a few breaths, and then suddenly dimmed, and the sound stopped.
The entire Void Tower was filled with smoke and dust, the rhombus-shaped crystal stones on the outer wall were mostly destroyed, and the remaining ones were dull and dim, it was clear that the energy they contained was almost exhausted.
A moment later, Shi Po Kong and his group walked out of the tower.
His face was still not looking good, his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, as if he was thinking about something, but his eyes had a few more relaxed expressions than before.
...
In the immortal realm, a place surrounded by green mountains, a ancient Taoist temple was built.
The temple's buildings were built according to the terrain, stretching for dozens of miles.
In a slightly lower valley, there was a white stone formation, surrounded by stone pillars, and dense talismans were carved everywhere.
At this moment, nearly a hundred cultivators, dressed in two different uniforms, were gathered around the formation, their faces serious and solemn.
Among them, there were two leaders, one was a middle-aged man wearing a white robe, his body was not too tall, but his aura was very powerful, and he looked like a person who was used to holding power.
The other was an old man with a thin and long body, his cheeks were sunken, and his beard was sparse, making him look somewhat withered.
"Ta Ji, brother, where did you get this information from, is the person really going to come here today?" the old man suddenly asked, breaking the silence.
"Jin Chuan, brother, yesterday night I suddenly received a cross-border message, saying that the killer of Yu Er would appear on the transmission platform of the Returning Dragon Temple today. Time was too tight, I didn't have time to verify the authenticity, and I hurriedly brought some of my subordinates who could be mobilized, and came here. I thought you were not far away, so I bothered you to come and help." Ta Ji said.
"No problem. But if I'm not mistaken, the person who killed Yu Er back then was just a True Immortal, a small person who could be crushed with just one finger, why are you making such a big fuss?" Jin Chuan asked in doubt.
"This matter is somewhat strange, the person who sent the message said that the person's strength is not bad, and I should treat him as a Tai Yi realm cultivator..." Ta Ji hesitated for a moment before saying.
"This is impossible! How many years has it been since Yu Er was killed? Even if someone is a genius, it's impossible to cross from the True Immortal realm to the Tai Yi realm in such a short time. It's definitely not possible. If I were to say, it's probably someone setting a trap for you, you've offended many people in your position over the years." Jin Chuan shook his head and said.
"Jin Chuan, brother, you also know how much thought I've put into this matter, even if there's only a slight chance, I don't want to miss it. Besides, even if someone is setting a trap for me, with you here to help, what do I have to fear?" Ta Ji sighed and said seriously.
"Don't mention having me help, I think that even if I didn't come, with your current lineup, as long as it's not a Da Luo realm expert, no one would be able to take advantage of you." Jin Chuan swept his eyes around the white stone formation and smiled.
"I only have five Golden Immortal peak cultivators from the Immortal Palace, and over 40 Golden Immortal mid-to-late stage cultivators, if it weren't for your people coming to supplement, and setting up this complete Yin Yang array, I'm afraid the power wouldn't be able to reach its best." Ta Ji smiled bitterly and said.
"Earlier, I heard you say that this person cultivates the power of time laws, it's really quite reckless." Jin Chuan suddenly thought of something and said.
"Probably because he's from a humble background, without a large sect's background, he doesn't know the secrets of law cultivation, and blindly walked onto this path of no return. But he was able to kill Yu Er with his True Immortal cultivation, and then kill Gong Shu Jiu, it's clear that he has already achieved some level of proficiency in his cultivation of time laws." Ta Ji said thoughtfully.
"Haha... even if he has achieved some level of proficiency in time laws, as long as he enters this Yin Yang array, he won't be able to use his power, and will be at our mercy. Don't worry, today he won't come, but if he does, we'll let him know that he's flown into a trap, and avenge Yu Er's blood debt!" Jin Chuan laughed.
Ta Ji's expression relaxed a bit, and he was about to speak when his expression suddenly changed.
"He's here..." Jin Chuan's expression moved, and he smiled.
As soon as he finished speaking, the void above suddenly violently churned, and the clouds gathered above the valley, blocking out half of the sky.
The valley suddenly darkened, and a loud whistling sound rose, and the crowd looked up at the sky.
The clouds above churned violently, and the air was filled with an intense energy, as if something was about to descend from the sky. "Set up the formation." Tao Ji's expression turned solemn, and he gave a low order.
The nine leading Golden Immortal peak cultivators immediately responded, each leading nine Golden Immortal mid-to-late stage cultivators to move around the transmission platform, searching for their own positions to guard the formation's nodes. They wove a complex large formation together.
The ninety people simultaneously used their hands to seal their techniques, recited incantations, and the ground and the stone pillars around them emitted symbol lights. A layer of black and white glow slowly enveloped the surroundings, like a large mouth waiting to swallow its prey.
A loud rumbling sound shook the air!
Above the transmission platform, a burst of electricity exploded from the gathering dark clouds, and a strong spatial fluctuation spread out. A silver light column tore through the void, emitting a dazzling seven-colored light, and descended straight down.
The transmission platform shook violently as the silver light landed, and a blue figure appeared - it was Han Li.
As the silver light dissipated, a humming sound came from above, and the black and white glow closed in instantly, like a large pot being overturned. The entire transmission platform was enveloped.
The spatial tearing force accompanying the inter-domain transmission was extremely terrifying. Only a Taiyi cultivator would dare to attempt it. If a Golden Immortal cultivator forced it, they would likely suffer severe injuries or even death.
Han Li's physical body was exceptionally strong, so he wouldn't suffer from tearing damage. However, he still felt his head spinning, his body aching, and it was difficult to stand up immediately.
The refining technique in his mind had automatically activated, and after a moment, he recovered his calm.
As he stood up straight, a thumb-sized jade ring fell from his side with a crisp sound.
Han Li shook his head, picked up the jade ring, and looked around. Seeing that half of the people setting up the formation were wearing clothes with the mark of the Heavenly Palace, he couldn't help but sigh:
"Stone Breaker, it seems you've set me up again..."
On the other side, Jing Chuan glanced at Han Li and thought he looked ordinary. He asked:
"Is it him?"
Tao Ji's eyes locked onto Han Li, and he nodded affirmatively.
Although he had never seen Han Li before, he felt a strange sense of recognition when he saw him. He instinctively knew that this person was the one who had killed his child.
"Should I call you Lei Feiyu or Han Li?" Tao Ji asked coldly.
Han Li had already guessed that something might go wrong when he heard Stone Breaker's parting words, but he hadn't expected it to be like this.
"Have we met before?" Han Li asked, furrowing his brow.
"You haven't seen me, but you've seen Yu'er, and you killed him." Tao Ji said coldly.
Han Li examined the middle-aged man carefully and found that his eyes and eyebrows seemed familiar. After a moment, he realized:
"You're Tao Yu's father, the Tao Long that Gong Shujiu mentioned?"
Tao Ji nodded, his expression unchanging.
"You've found the right person, so today is the day you pay your debt in blood. Take action."
The transmission platform shook violently, and the air seemed to be sucked dry. Han Li's brow furrowed as he discovered that the heavenly spiritual energy in the surrounding air had vanished in an instant, making it seem like he had returned to the Accumulated Scale Realm.
He thought about it and couldn't help but feel a mix of emotions, his face showing a hint of helplessness.
"Activate the Yin-Yang Extreme Stone." Tao Ji ordered, his brow slightly furrowed.
As soon as he spoke, the Golden Immortal cultivators changed their techniques, and their hands pushed forward simultaneously.
The symbol lights on the formation's edges suddenly appeared, and the black and white glow seemed to be attracted to them, separating into two distinct parts. The white light moved to the left, and the black light moved to the right, condensing onto the symbol lights and transforming into two massive black and white millstones. They rotated fiercely, pressing towards the center.
Han Li stood at the center, feeling the crushing force from the millstones even before they touched him. The air around him seemed to compress, forming two invisible walls of air that locked him in place, making it impossible for him to move.
Han Li only felt the wind howling in his ears, with waves of tearing force opening from both sides, bringing a gust of wind that made his face ache.
He was squeezed and felt a bit stifled, and subconsciously stretched out his arms, using his elbows to push open the grinding wheel, but he only managed to push back the air a little, and the black and white grinding wheel's physical body continued to squeeze in from both sides.
Tao Ji saw Han Li unable to move for a moment, and his heart couldn't help but relax, with a smile spreading across his face.
Jin Chuan, on the other hand, was unimpressed, and with a smirk, he seemed to be looking down on his old friend for making such a big fuss over a small person.
"Once you enter this yin-yang array, you're on the path of yin-yang, put in some effort, and grind this guy's physical body into powder, leaving only his divine soul. I want to use it to light up a heavenly lamp, to comfort my son's spirit for ten thousand years." Tao Ji shouted loudly.
"Yes!" Behind him, the ninety golden immortal cultivators responded in unison, their voices shaking the air.
Being able to be chosen by Tao Zhanglao to participate in this array, and to receive a reward of ten blocks of immortal stone, was a great opportunity for their future cultivation, and they didn't want to miss it.
They saw that Han Li was not putting up much of a fight, and they thought it was just right, a good opportunity to get a reward without much effort.
If they could get Tao Zhanglao's recognition, their future prospects would be even brighter.
They changed their magic seals, and their immortal energy poured out, stimulating the array to its full power.
The black and white grinding wheel's symbols glowed brightly, and the pressure between them grew stronger, finally pushing Han Li's elbows back, and making a grinding sound that made their teeth ache.
Han Li was in the array, his expression unchanged, and he didn't seem to be in a hurry to counterattack.
He was thinking of using this opportunity to test his physical body's strength, after cultivating in the Accumulated Scales Realm for so long, and to see how strong he had become.
He was adapting to the grinding wheel's pressure, and didn't use much force to resist.
Of course, he still showed a painful expression, and even pretended to be exhausted, and his body was covered in sweat.
In the end, he withdrew his arms, and let the black and white grinding wheel squeeze his body.
"Boom boom boom"
The black and white grinding wheel shook violently, and it seemed like it was about to close in on Han Li.
"Looks like that person was lying, this guy can't hold on for a moment, he's going to turn into powder, Tao Zhanglao should prepare to capture his divine soul, don't let it disperse." Jin Chuan glanced at the array, and said with a smile.
"I didn't expect Yu'er to lose to this kind of person, he must have underestimated his opponent, and was caught off guard, it's all because I wasn't strict enough with him, sigh..." Tao Ji shook his head, and sighed.
"It's not Yu'er's fault, this person was unable to move because of our pre-arranged array, and his immortal energy couldn't be mobilized, and his law's power couldn't be used, so he was at a disadvantage from the start." Jin Chuan waved his hand, and said.
"No matter what, today I can finally avenge Yu'er." Tao Ji nodded, and said with a sense of relief.
Just as they finished speaking, a sudden change occurred!
The black and white grinding wheel suddenly made a strange noise, and when they looked closely, they were shocked to see that the two grinding wheels, which had almost closed in on Han Li, had reopened a gap.
"Is this all you've got? You can't even let me test my physical body's strength?" Han Li's voice came from within, with a mocking tone.
Tao Ji and Jin Chuan's expressions changed, and Tao Ji shouted: "Use all your strength to crush him!"
The other golden immortal cultivators, who had just relaxed, immediately poured all their immortal energy into the array.
The black and white grinding wheel's symbols glowed even brighter, and the pressure between them grew even stronger, but it still couldn't close in on Han Li, and was instead pushed back by him.
Han Li's face was calm and composed, and he didn't seem to be using much force.
Tao Ji saw this, and his expression changed, and he raised his hand, and a golden light appeared in front of him, transforming into a golden flying sword.
The golden flying sword had nine flame symbols engraved on it, and it emitted a wave of heat.
"Fast!"
Tao Ji shouted, and pointed at the sword, and the first flame symbol lit up, and a layer of red flame appeared on the sword, which didn't seem to be burning intensely, but rather like a saw-toothed sword light.
Tao Ji glanced at Han Li, and his hand moved again, and the second flame symbol lit up, and a layer of orange flame appeared on the sword, which surrounded the red flame.
The temperature around them began to rise, and the air was distorted by the heat.
Tao Ji's hand moved again, and the third flame symbol lit up, and another layer of flame appeared on the sword.
The sword was surrounded by layer after layer of flame, and the heat grew stronger and stronger. Until the seventh emblem lit up, the flying sword was shrouded in seven layers of flames, each layer burning fiercely, making it look like a seven-colored fire fan.
The entire green mountain valley was filled with scorching heat, and the vegetation on the ground had withered and turned yellow under the intense heat. Even the Golden Immortal controlling the formation couldn't bear it, feeling like their blood was about to boil.
"Tao, this person's physical strength is quite impressive, but it's just the last burst of energy from a bowstring. You're using the Seven Fiery Emblems, isn't that a bit too much?" Jing Chuan said, his expression surprised.
Tao Ji didn't respond, but instead pushed his hands forward.
The flying sword, shrouded in seven-colored flames, suddenly shot out, turning into a colorful rainbow, and instantly entered the formation.
Han Li felt the power of the fire element from the flying sword, but his face showed no fear, and he felt a thrill of excitement in his heart.
"This is more like it, just right for testing the depth." Han Li said, his voice low, and he didn't use any techniques, simply unleashing the power of the stars within him, and stood tall, facing the flying sword.
A loud explosion sounded!
The tip of the seven-colored sword was embedded in Han Li's chest, and a wave of intense heat immediately burst out.
Han Li's clothes were instantly incinerated, revealing his chest, which was not overly muscular, but was like steel, resisting the seven-colored sword, and a brilliant white light burst out.
The dazzling light obscured the formation, enveloping Han Li entirely.
A massive wave of flames, like a peacock's feathers, burst out, exploding in all directions, and the intense heat emanating from it shook the entire formation.
The Golden Immortals outside the formation were affected by the power, their bodies swaying, and their figures trembling, almost as if they were being blown away by the flames.
After a while, the flames on the flying sword finally dissipated, and Han Li's figure reappeared.
He was unscathed, except for the torn clothes on his chest, and not a single burn mark was visible.
"This...how is this possible?" Jing Chuan's expression changed, and he exclaimed in shock.
"This person's physical strength is far beyond imagination, Jing Chuan, don't underestimate him." Tao Ji said, his brow furrowed, and he recalled the flying sword.
"Is that all you've got? Is it my turn now?" Han Li said, smiling, as he looked at the two of them.
As soon as he finished speaking, he began to circulate the Heavenly Executioner's Prison technique, his body's acupoints responding with a loud rumbling sound, and his five fingers turned into claws, stabbing into the black and white grinding disks.
Immediately, his body's muscles began to bulge, and a layer of golden fur grew on his skin, and his body expanded to ten times its original size, transforming into a ten-zhang-tall giant ape.
He grasped the two massive grinding disks with his hands, and with a loud roar, he pulled them, causing the entire formation to shake violently, and the light on it began to tremble wildly, losing control, and being pulled into Han Li's hands.
All the people who had set up the formation were affected by the backlash, their bodies shaking violently, and they spat out blood.
"No, quickly retreat..." Tao Ji shouted, alarmed.
But it was too late, Han Li's actions had already triggered the formation's collapse, and the ripples caused by the massive power had trapped everyone, making it impossible for them to escape.
Han Li swung the massive grinding disks with a loud roar, and they came crashing down on the people who had set up the formation.
The Golden Immortals saw that they couldn't avoid it, and their faces filled with terror, they activated their protective treasures, releasing a burst of light, in a desperate attempt to resist.
Two loud explosions sounded, and the light from the treasures burst out, filling the air with the sound of crashing and the smell of blood.
Ninety Golden Immortals had been reduced to a puddle of flesh, not a single one escaping, not even their Nascent Souls.
"You're seeking death!"
A furious roar echoed through the air, and Jing Chuan's figure shot up into the sky, his hands forming a seal, and a blue light shield appeared, covering the entire mountain valley.
"A fire element technique, a water element technique, you two are quite complementary." Han Li said, his expression changing slightly, as he smiled.
As he spoke, his body rapidly shrunk back to its original size.
Jing Chuan didn't dare to hesitate, his hands forming a seal, and a powerful aura burst out, his clothes fluttering wildly, like a fierce wind.
Jin Chuan suddenly waved his sleeve, and under the scorching sun, countless rain threads suddenly appeared in the air, densely covering the area within a thousand meters of Han Li.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he saw that the seemingly weak rain threads contained a faint purple glow.
"It's poisonous..."
He thought to himself, and with a swift motion, he punched out with one hand.
The fist was covered in a layer of white starlight, which repelled the rain threads and sent them flying back a hundred meters, disappearing into the air.
Han Li was about to jump into the air and pursue when he suddenly felt his feet being restrained, and he couldn't move.
He looked down and saw that a layer of blue water had gathered around his feet, swirling around his legs and binding them tightly.
The blue water had a faint jade-like luster, and within it, he could see a series of strange patterns that seemed to be infused with the power of the water element.
Han Li lifted his legs, but they felt incredibly heavy, as if they were rooted to the ground.
"Tao, my water binding technique is connected to the underground water veins. To break free, he would have to contend with hundreds of underground rivers. He won't be able to escape in an instant. You must act quickly and..."
Jin Chuan's voice was cut off, and his face contorted in shock.
A figure suddenly appeared before him, and Han Li's body was surrounded by a surge of blood and flesh power.
His body glowed with a crimson light, and his nine hundred or so acupoints shone brightly as he unleashed the full power of his heavenly suppression technique.
Jin Chuan's eyes widened in horror as Han Li's fist struck the air, creating a shockwave that seemed to shatter the very fabric of reality.
Han Li's fist hit the water screen, but he felt a strange power pulling him back, as if his fist had missed its mark. His strength was unable to penetrate the water screen and reach Jin Chuan's chest.
"Now! Quickly!" Jin Chuan shouted.
As soon as he spoke, Tao's figure appeared behind Han Li, surrounded by a halo of flames. He made a hand seal and shouted:
"Go!"
The golden flying sword shot out, and its nine seals glowed brightly. The sword's power surged, and it seemed to rival that of a fifth-grade immortal treasure.
The sword was about to strike Han Li when a golden light erupted from his body, and a golden wheel appeared, spinning rapidly as it released a beam of golden light that enveloped the surrounding area.
The flying sword's speed slowed as it entered the golden light, and it seemed to be suspended in mid-air.
The sword's flames raged wildly, burning away the golden light, but it couldn't break free from the golden wheel's restraint.
Tao's face was filled with shock and disbelief as he watched the scene unfold.
Jin Chuan, who was closest to the action, was frozen in place, his eyes wide with terror.
"It seems you're not as formidable as I thought. You've truly disappointed me..." Han Li sighed, and his body began to glow with a crimson light.
His body expanded, and he transformed into a three-headed, six-armed figure. His three heads were those of a golden ape, a dragon, and a giant bird, each one a manifestation of his true spirit bloodline.
One of his fists was still trapped by the water screen, but his other hand, which was covered in golden scales, burst forth and pierced the water screen, reaching into Jin Chuan's chest and grasping his heart.
Han Li didn't even look at the heart as he crushed it with his fingers.
Jin Chuan's body began to crumble, and his soul was torn from his body.
At the same time, Han Li's body turned, and his two lower hands grasped the golden flying sword, which was still trying to break free from the golden wheel's restraint.
A surge of intense heat flowed through his body, and Han Li felt his blood boiling, as if it was about to erupt. The sensation was similar to the backlash of his true spirit bloodline.
Han Li sneered, unfazed, and his two hands, which were covered in fine scales, grasped the sword tightly, enduring the intense flames that engulfed them.
With a swift motion, he twisted the sword, and it let out a deafening screech as it struggled to break free from Han Li's grasp. The massive power unleashed by the three true spirit bloodlines - the Mountainous Giant Ape, the True Dragon, and the Kunpeng - under the stimulation of the Heaven's Punishment Seal, was not something that a mere five or six-grade immortal sword could withstand.
As a metallic ringing sound echoed, the flame-wrapped flying sword began to twist and deform, finally letting out a loud explosion and shattering into pieces.
The surrounding flames shot out in all directions, and the intense heat waves rolled and churned, scorching the massive Kunpeng hand that Han Li had transformed into, releasing a pungent smell of charred flesh.
Han Li casually tossed the hand aside, his body flashing with a bloody glow as he returned to his human form, a smile spreading across his face as he gazed out at Tao Ji in the distance.
Tao Ji had already spat out a mouthful of blood and turned to flee at the moment the flying sword shattered, his body erupting with a fiery blaze that left a trail of flames in his wake, like a fire arrow shooting off into the distance.
However, Han Li's Time Domain had already enveloped the surrounding hundred-mile radius, and although Tao Ji was only a hundred or so yards away, he was still bound by the golden light of the True Speech Treasure Wheel, and even if he managed to temporarily break free using some secret technique, his movements were still sluggish.
"It's too late to try and escape now!" Han Li's voice fell, and he immediately retracted the Treasure Wheel into his body, reversing his momentum.
At the same time, he lifted his foot and heavily stomped the ground, his body bursting forth with a sudden explosion of speed, vanishing into the air as a silver electric light enveloped him.
Tao Ji's eyes widened in shock as he realized Han Li had disappeared, his divine sense unable to accurately lock onto Han Li's position, his face pale with fear.
He could no longer afford to hesitate, and with a swift motion, he formed a hand seal and activated his Burning Blood Technique, his speed increasing by a factor of two as he fled in a distant direction.
"Tao Long, why are you leaving so soon? Didn't you just say you wanted to destroy my soul?" Han Li's voice echoed through the air, and a flash of electric light appeared beside Tao Ji.
Tao Ji's eyes were wide with terror, and he didn't dare respond, fleeing for his life.
Han Li, however, seemed to be toying with him, keeping pace with Tao Ji as he spoke, "If it weren't for Tao Yue's deception and attempt on my life when I first arrived in the immortal realm, forcing me to the brink of death, you and your son wouldn't be in this predicament today. You have no one to blame but yourself for not teaching him properly..."
Tao Ji's eyes turned red with rage, the Burning Blood Technique pushed to its limits, but he still couldn't shake Han Li off his tail.
"However, I, Han Li, am a man of my word, and I don't have the same hobby as you do, of refining human souls into lanterns. I simply kept Tao Yue's soul with me for a while, playing with it... if only you had found him back then..."
Tao Ji's anger finally boiled over, and he stopped fleeing, his body erupting with a massive blaze of flames as he confronted Han Li.
The flames enveloped the surrounding area, and the temperature skyrocketed, but Han Li had already retreated to a safe distance, his eyes fixed on the explosion's center.
A deafening boom shook the air as a massive explosion erupted, sending a wave of flames and heat crashing out in all directions.
Han Li, however, simply smiled coldly, his eyes gleaming with a deep purple light.
"Despicable trick!" Han Li's voice echoed through the air, and he charged forward, his body bursting forth with a sudden explosion of speed.
As he approached the center of the explosion, he noticed that the flames contained a faint, weak power, unlike the true power of a self-destructing technique.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he spotted hundreds of fist-sized flames, all converging on a single point, merging into a single, massive blaze.
Han Li's lips curled into a smile, and with a swift motion, he pointed forward, unleashing a wave of eighteen cyan-colored flying swords that shot towards the flames, dispelling them with a burst of golden light.
The flames dissipated, and Han Li's eyes landed on a single flying sword, which had a small, green glow emanating from it - a storage ring.
"Wanting to feign death and escape, yet you couldn't even bring yourself to destroy your storage ring... you really don't have the courage to do it properly." Han Li's voice dripped with amusement as he retrieved the storage ring.
With a wave of his hand, he recalled the flying swords, and with a final glance at the area, he turned and flew back to clean up the battlefield in the nearby mountains.
A long time later, a small, flickering flame appeared on the crown of an ancient tree in the forest below, dancing in the wind before disappearing into the distance.
In a dark and mysterious hall within the Golden Origin Immortal Palace, a faint red glow emanated from the intricate blood-red patterns etched into the walls and floor, forming a massive array.
As the array pulsed with an otherworldly energy, a chill ran down the spines of those who dared to approach. At the center of the array stood a black stone pillar, its seven branches adorned with ancient oil lamps that burned with a faint, eerie green flame.
The soft glow of the lamps seemed to amplify the ominous atmosphere, and suddenly, the flames erupted, growing several times larger before detaching from the lamps and floating in mid-air.
The surrounding space was filled with a network of green patterns, connecting the seven orbs of flame to form a seven-star array.
At the center of the array, a dark flash of light appeared, and a residual soul materialized, coalescing into a blurry face – that of Tao Ji.
"Fortunately, I had set up the seven-star lamps as a precaution, or I would have indeed perished," Tao Ji muttered, his eyes flashing with a malevolent glare.
"Han Li, you killed my son and destroyed my cultivation. This vendetta will not be forgotten! I may not be able to kill you, but I will stop at nothing to destroy you through the hands of others. That thing, I no longer want!"
Tao Ji's residual soul twisted into a grotesque grimace as he opened his mouth, inhaling the seven orbs of flame.
The flames rushed into his mouth, and his soul rapidly solidified.
Simultaneously, a loud crack echoed through the hall as the black stone pillar split open, revealing a hidden compartment from which a human-shaped symbol emerged, merging with Tao Ji's soul.
A brilliant black light flashed, and a figure materialized – Tao Ji, his body seemingly crafted from a dark, liquid substance.
He flexed his limbs, nodding in satisfaction, before flying towards the outside.
Half an hour later, Tao Ji arrived at the entrance of a golden palace.
"Tao Elder!"
The palace gates were flanked by two attendants, who exchanged a surprised glance upon seeing Tao Ji's current appearance.
"I have urgent business with the Palace Master. Please, announce my arrival!" Tao Ji exclaimed, his expression grave.
"Of course, Tao Elder. Please wait a moment," the attendants replied, preparing to enter the palace.
However, a stern voice from within the palace interrupted them.
"Let Tao Elder enter. There is no need to announce him."
Tao Ji pushed open the palace doors and hastened inside, traversing a grand hall and a lengthy corridor before arriving at a magnificent garden.
The garden was filled with an array of colorful flowers and trees, their sweet fragrance wafting through the air.
At the garden's center stood a white pavilion, where a white-robed figure stood with his back to Tao Ji, admiring a pale red tree.
"Greetings, Palace Master!" Tao Ji rushed forward, bowing respectfully.
The white-robed figure turned to face him, revealing a middle-aged man with an unremarkable appearance, except for his piercing eyes, which seemed to hold a deep understanding of the world.
"What brings you here, Tao Elder? You have used the Heaven's Shadow Symbol to condense your form, a move that is not to be taken lightly," the Palace Master said, his voice firm but measured.
"I beg to report, Palace Master, that I was not using the Heaven's Shadow Symbol to condense my form, but rather to revive my body, which had been destroyed. Fortunately, I had set up the seven-star lamps as a precaution, allowing me to preserve a residual soul. I had no choice but to use the Heaven's Shadow Symbol to revive my body and seek an audience with you," Tao Ji explained, his voice laced with sorrow.
The Palace Master's expression turned grave. "Who could have destroyed your body? Tell me, Tao Elder."
"It was a man named Han Li, also known as Lei Fei Yu. He is a fugitive on the Heavenly Court's list, and his crimes include cultivating the Soul Refining Technique and conspiring against the Heavenly Court. My son, Tao Yu, was also injured by him," Tao Ji spat, his eyes blazing with hatred.
The Palace Master's eyes narrowed. "Han Li... Lei Fei Yu. I recall his name. He was a True Immortal who had made a name for himself by cultivating the Soul Refining Technique and participating in the assassination of a high-ranking Heavenly Court official. A bounty of 5,000 sacred stones was placed on his head. You and he have a history of conflict, and it is only natural that you would seek to capture him. However, according to our records, he is only a True Immortal, and even if he has made significant progress in his cultivation, he should not have surpassed the Golden Immortal realm. How did you come to be defeated by him?"
Tao Ji's face twisted in a snarl. "According to our records, he has indeed surpassed the Golden Immortal realm, and his cultivation has reached the Tai Yi realm. His physical strength is also formidable, rivaling that of a Tai Yi Xian. I, along with my friend Jing Chuan and nearly a hundred Golden Immortals, set up a Yin-Yang array to capture him, but he easily broke free. Everyone else was killed, except for me."
The Palace Master's expression turned incredulous. "What? He has cultivated both the body and the soul to the Tai Yi realm? This is impossible!"
Tao Ji's eyes flashed with determination. "I swear on my honor as a cultivator that this is true. I have recorded the battle with the Heaven's Soul Pearl, and I implore you to examine it, Palace Master."
Tao Ji produced a small, crystal orb from his mouth, which hovered in the air before the Palace Master.
The Palace Master's eyes gleamed with interest as he reached out to touch the orb.
The orb burst into radiance, revealing the details of the battle between Tao Ji and Han Li. The Palace Master's eyes widened in shock as he realized the truth.
"This person's cultivation has indeed reached the Tai Yi realm, but he has only been on the list for a mere two or three thousand years," the Palace Master muttered, his voice filled with awe. Here is the translated text:
"It seems that the only explanation is that this person hid his cultivation back then and wasn't a true immortal, no wonder my son had already become a Golden Immortal but still fell to his hands." Tao Ji said with anger.
"That's impossible, the Heavenly Court would have thoroughly investigated his background before putting him on the Annihilation List, and his cultivation level would be the most important thing, there's no way they would make a mistake!" The white-clothed man shook his head.
"If the investigation back then was correct, then it's impossible for him to have gone from the True Immortal realm to the Taiyi realm in just a few thousand years, and also cultivate his physical body to the same level. This is impossible! Even if he has the best talent and has a powerful backing, his cultivation couldn't have increased so quickly, unless he has some kind of heaven-defying treasure that can shorten his cultivation time... Ah!" Tao Ji shook his head, his eyes suddenly focusing on something.
"What did you think of, Tao Long?" The white-clothed man was deep in thought, but was interrupted by Tao Ji's sudden exclamation.
"I remember something, but it's related to my son Tao Yu," Tao Ji said.
"What is it?" The white-clothed man asked.
"My son had a feud with Lü Fei Yu in the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, and he had sent back some information about him. I remember some of it was about a time law treasure. Previously, I was too caught up in my grief over my son's death, and didn't investigate further, but could it be related to Lü Fei Yu's sudden increase in cultivation?" Tao Ji said.
"What information?" The white-clothed man's spirit was shaken.
"It's been a long time, and I don't remember it clearly, but I still have the records. Let me send for them, and we can take a look," Tao Ji said quickly, then took out a communication array plate and whispered a few words.
A moment later, a golden-robed young man flew in from outside and bowed to the two of them.
"Greetings, Palace Master, Tao Uncle."
"No need to be polite, did you bring the things I asked for?" Tao Ji said.
"Regarding Tao Yu's records, they're all here," the golden-robed young man said, taking out a stack of jade slips and placing them on the stone table.
The white-clothed man didn't pay attention to the golden-robed young man, instead taking a jade slip and examining it.
"Ah!" The white-clothed man's face showed excitement as he looked at a white jade slip, his eyes flashing with intensity.
"Palace Master, did you find something?" Tao Ji asked.
The white-clothed man glanced at Tao Ji, then handed him the jade slip.
Tao Ji took the jade slip, and his divine sense entered it, finding a record of Tao Yu sending back a message, vaguely mentioning that he was investigating someone who had a crystal treasure that contained time laws.
"Right, it's this, the time law crystal, Palace Master, do you think it's related to Lü Fei Yu's sudden increase in cultivation?" Tao Ji asked quickly.
"Now that we've found the thread, we can contact the Observatory and find the source of the Chaos Crystal!" The white-clothed man said excitedly, immediately striding towards the depths of the garden.
"What, this crystal is the Chaos Crystal?" Tao Ji's eyes widened in surprise, following after him.
"Although we can't be certain, there's a 70-80% chance, according to the Observatory's records, the Chaos Crystal has the effect of accelerating law cultivation, and can also be used to mature spiritual herbs, it's a first-class treasure that can quickly increase cultivation. Lü Fei Yu's cultivation speed is so fast, and he has the time law crystal, it's unlikely that it's just a coincidence, that crystal is likely the Chaos Crystal!" The white-clothed man said quickly.
"I see, it's indeed very likely! Ai, I'm to blame for being too careless in the past, and not investigating this matter thoroughly, we missed the chance to capture him. Luckily, Palace Master, you're so perceptive and noticed the crystal's origin," Tao Ji said, nodding.
The white-clothed man stopped in his tracks, turning to look at Tao Ji, his eyes deep and profound.
"Palace Master?" Tao Ji also stopped, looking puzzled.
"Tao Long, did you really not notice the crystal's existence, or did you intentionally hide it, wanting to keep the treasure for yourself, but Lü Fei Yu's power was too great, and you couldn't get your hands on it, so you revealed this matter?" The white-clothed man's eyes flashed with white light, becoming two white blades that stared intensely at Tao Ji.
A massive aura burst forth from his body, pressing down on Tao Ji.
"Palace Master, I assure you, that treasure is related to the rise and fall of the Nine Yuan Observatory, even if I had a million courage, I wouldn't dare have such thoughts, it's really just that I noticed it now!" Tao Ji's face changed, and he fell to his knees, wailing.
The white-clothed man didn't pay attention to Tao Ji's wailing, his eyes flashing with white light, becoming brighter and brighter.
Tao Ji's body shook uncontrollably, his head bowed repeatedly.
"Hmph! Regardless of whether you're telling the truth or not, you've done some merit in finding the Chaos Crystal's thread. Now, you can go, later the Immortal Palace will choose a suitable body for you to reincarnate into," the white-clothed man said, his eyes flashing with white light, then suddenly dimming, and his body disappearing into thin air.
Tao Ji saw this, and his face relaxed, slowly standing up, wiping his forehead, and walking towards the outside.
A sly smile flashed in his eyes, and then disappeared.
The white-clothed man reappeared, his eyes still flashing with white light, his body disappearing into thin air once again.
Tao Ji saw this, and his face changed, his eyes narrowing, and his body disappearing into the shadows.
A moment later, the white-robed man, referred to as "Gongzhu" by Tao Ji, appeared in a grand hall deep within the Jin Yuan Xian Palace.
Inside the hall, a golden disc about the size of a foot floated in mid-air, radiating a bright golden light and forming a complex transmission array.
He took out a purple token, one side of which was engraved with the three golden characters "Jiuyuan Guan", while the other side featured a majestic landscape of mountains and rivers.
The white-robed man was about to place the token into the transmission array, but his gaze flickered and he stopped.
He hesitated for a moment, then put the token away and turned to enter another grand hall.
"Come forth!" the white-robed man sat down on the main seat, his voice booming.
As soon as he spoke, two figures appeared out of thin air in front of him.
One was an old man with gray hair, small eyes that darted back and forth, a nose that was nearly twice as long as normal, and two wispy yellow mustaches. He looked like a giant, intelligent mouse.
The other was a burly man wearing a black robe, his arms crossed, with a black ghost-head battle knife on his back. His face was cold and expressionless.
"Gongzhu, what are your orders?" the two men bowed and spoke in unison.
The old man's voice was shrill, like the cry of a mouse in the fields, while the black-robed man's voice was rough and hoarse, like the sound of steel needles piercing the ear.
"Ly Yun, go to the North Han Xian Domain and investigate that Han Li. Start from the time he ascended to the True Immortal Realm and don't miss any details," the white-robed man ordered.
"Yes," the old man nodded.
"Hei Dao, go to the Tian Song Guan and track down Han Li's trail. Find him, but don't alert him," the white-robed man continued to order the black-robed man.
"Yes!" the black-robed man nodded.
"Go!" the white-robed man waved his hand, and the two men disappeared in an instant.
The white-robed man closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair, a faint smile on his lips.
At this moment, Han Li was riding a sky-blue flying car, which had transformed into a blue streak of light as it flew forward.
This flying car was found in the storage device of the Zhuo Gu True Person, and its quality was not inferior to his previous blue jade flying car.
He sat cross-legged in the flying car, controlling its movement while simultaneously waving his hand to release over a hundred storage devices from his sleeve. These were the storage devices he had obtained from Tao Ji and the others.
Han Li took out Tao Ji's storage device, his divine sense entering it, and after a moment, a golden light flashed, and a golden token appeared. One side of the token was engraved with a dragon pattern, while the other side had the words "Tao Ji" written on it. The bottom of the token had the words "Jin Yuan Xian Palace" written in small characters.
He looked at the token, his brow furrowed.
He had been entangled in a web of debts with the Heavenly Court for many years, and he was quite familiar with the various Xian Palaces. He also knew a great deal about the identity tokens used by the Xian Palaces.
This identity token was a long-standing token of the Jin Yuan Xian Palace.
He put the token away and examined the storage device of the other person, Jing Chuan, and quickly determined his identity. Jing Chuan was a elder of the Tian Shui Sect, a large sect in the Jin Yuan Xian Domain.
As for the other Golden Immortals, half of them were from the Jin Yuan Xian Palace, while the other half were from the Tian Shui Sect.
These people's cultivation was not low, and they held a certain status within the Xian Palaces and sects. However, to Han Li, the items in their storage devices, aside from the numerous immortal stones, were not very impressive.
He simply divided the items into several categories, planning to exchange them for immortal stones in the future. The number of immortal stones he had obtained would be enough for a Taiyi Realm cultivator to cultivate in seclusion for at least a million years.
Han Li was organizing his spoils, a contemplative look on his face.
The Tian Shui Sect was not a concern for now, but the Jin Yuan Xian Domain was one of the Heavenly Court's top domains, and its ruler was at least a Da Luo Realm cultivator. This was far beyond the North Han Xian Domain where he had first arrived in the True Immortal Realm.
He had killed one of their elders and many Golden Immortals, and although there were no survivors, he didn't know what methods they might use to find him.
But as the saying went, "many debts don't weigh on the body." The Heavenly Court had killed him before, and since his identity had already been exposed, they would not spare him. So, he might as well kill one more, or a pair, and see how it went.
His current cultivation and physical strength were far beyond what they had been when he first arrived in the True Immortal Realm. Even if a Da Luo Realm cultivator came, he was confident he could escape.
However, the Jin Yuan Xian Palace was backed by the Heavenly Court, an enormous organization that included the existence of the Dao Ancestor. Although he had caused a stir before, it was unlikely to have attracted the attention of the Dao Ancestor. But now, it was uncertain.
He was quite confident in his abilities, but he was not arrogant enough to think he could oppose the entire Heavenly Court.
It seemed that for now, he had no choice but to hide his tracks.
Han Li took out several thick books and flipped through them quickly.
These books were from the storage devices of Tao Ji and the others, and they contained information about the Jin Yuan Xian Domain.
The books were detailed records of the domain's geography, human geography, and other information. Han Li's mind was preoccupied with multiple things, and he was simultaneously flipping through several books. With his current memory abilities, he finished reading them in an instant.
His eyes flashed momentarily, and then he pinched a seal.
The flying car's blue light flashed, and it immediately changed direction, speeding forward.
More than a decade passed in the blink of an eye.
In a certain location within the Golden Source Immortal Domain, a blue streak of light flashed across the sky, coming to a gentle stop. A blue flying car appeared.
In front of the flying car was a massive, golden mountain range, with peaks that reached into the clouds. The mountain range stretched out to the sides, extending to the limits of one's vision, resembling a gigantic, golden heavenly moat that stretched across the horizon.
The golden mountain range was surrounded by a dense, golden mist that made the peaks within seem to appear and disappear, giving off an air of mystery.
"We've finally arrived," Han Li said, standing on the flying car and gazing out at the mountain range with a relaxed expression.
Standing beside Han Li was a black-robed girl, none other than the recently awakened Qiuhun.
Her complexion still looked somewhat pale, and her beautiful eyes flashed with a hint of surprise as she gazed out at the massive mountain range.
This mountain range was known as the Golden Source Mountain Range, the most renowned mountain range in the Golden Source Immortal Domain. Unlike the complex geography of the Northern Frost Immortal Domain, the Golden Source Immortal Domain was comprised of a single, massive continent, with the Golden Source Mountain Range stretching from west to east, covering nearly half of the continent.
In terms of area, the Golden Source Mountain Range was the largest Han Li had ever seen.
The Golden Source Mountain Range was not only vast but also a place where wealth and danger coexisted.
This immortal domain was named the Golden Source Immortal Domain, and as the name suggested, the golden attribute spiritual energy was extremely dense. The Golden Source Mountain Range was the gathering place of the golden attribute spiritual veins throughout the entire immortal domain.
The golden attribute spiritual energy within the mountain range was incredibly dense, giving birth to countless golden attribute spiritual materials. Almost every cultivator in the Golden Source Immortal Domain would come to explore and search for treasure.
However, the Golden Source Mountain Range's golden attribute spiritual energy was too dense, causing the formation of numerous natural golden force fields within the mountain range. The deeper one went into the mountain range, the stronger the golden force fields became, greatly affecting the strength of ordinary cultivators.
Moreover, the Golden Source Mountain Range's golden attribute spiritual energy was too abundant, giving birth to many peculiar metal beasts. These strange creatures were formed from the golden attribute spiritual energy and possessed great strength. Since they were born in this place, they were not affected by the golden force fields, and they would often engage in fierce battles with cultivators.
The golden force fields, metal beasts, and other dangers within the mountain range resulted in countless cultivators losing their lives each year.
However, the allure of wealth and treasure was too great, and many cultivators continued to flock to the Golden Source Mountain Range, seeking to claim its riches.
The Golden Source Mountain Range was a natural treasure trove, and the Golden Source Immortal Palace would not ignore it. In fact, the Golden Source Immortal Palace was located at the western end of the Golden Source Mountain Range and had been trying to bring the entire mountain range under its control.
Unfortunately, the mountain range was too vast, and the Golden Source Immortal Palace could only control a small portion of the western region. The remaining area was controlled by numerous sects and noble families.
These regions were not unified under a single authority, and the various powers vied for their own interests, resulting in a chaotic situation.
Han Li had come to the Golden Source Mountain Range precisely because of this chaotic environment.
He had currently opened up over nine hundred acupoints, and based on his past experiences, he believed that continuing to open up his immortal acupoints would be much easier.
He now possessed a large quantity of immortal stones and planned to spend some time in secluded cultivation, aiming to rapidly improve his cultivation level.
Regardless of the circumstances, the sudden attack by Tao Ji and the others had instilled a sense of urgency within him.
He had an idea, and he once again activated the Wheel of Reincarnation mask, changing his appearance to that of a black-faced, black-bearded man. His cultivation level was suppressed to that of a Golden Immortal at the initial stage.
"Master, should I also use the Wheel of Reincarnation mask to change my appearance?" Qiuhun asked, seeing Han Li's actions.
"There's no need to bother, as no one recognizes you here," Han Li replied, shaking his head. He then activated the flying car, and it continued forward, soon entering the Golden Source Mountain Range.
As they drew closer, the Golden Source Mountain Range appeared even more majestic, and a massive, oppressive feeling washed over them, shaking their hearts.
Compared to the massive mountain range, Han Li and Qiuhun seemed like insignificant ants.
The spiritual energy in this place was extremely dense, with the majority being golden attribute spiritual energy. Other attributes were scarce.
This unique environment was ideal for cultivators who practiced golden attribute cultivation techniques, but it was unfavorable for others.
However, this environment did not affect Han Li, as he relied on medicinal pills for his cultivation rather than external spiritual energy.
"Master, where will we go next? Will we find a place to cultivate within the mountain range?" Qiuhun asked, looking around.
"There are many sects that have established cities within the Golden Source Mountain Range. Let's take a look and see if the outside is stable. If it is, we can cultivate there," Han Li replied after a brief moment of consideration.
"Alright!" Qiuhun nodded in agreement.
Han Li and the other person continued to move forward, soon flying into a mountain range tens of thousands of miles away.
"Roooaaaar!"
As the flying car passed by a golden mountain peak, a golden light flashed on the mountain wall, and a golden wolf-like monster suddenly flew out, transforming into a golden arrow that pounced on the flying car, its jaws wide open.
Han Li snapped his fingers, and a golden sword energy shot out, striking the wolf-like monster.
With a "chi" sound, the wolf-like monster was cut in half from head to toe, spewing out large amounts of golden blood.
Han Li emitted a stream of blue light, holding up the two halves of the wolf-like monster's corpse.
The wolf-like monster had originally been in a warm and soft state, but after it died, its corpse quickly hardened, and by now it had transformed into two golden statue-like objects.
"Is this the Metal Beast?" Ti Hu cried out, her eyes blinking several times as she curiously looked over.
Han Li also looked at the two halves of the monster's corpse, reaching out to snap off a small piece of its body.
The hardened Metal Beast's corpse and some golden mineral deposits were almost indistinguishable, with no signs of life whatsoever.
Han Li waved his hand, tossing the two halves of the corpse away, his brow furrowed.
The Metal Beast's strength was secondary; what was more astonishing was that this creature could merge with the mountain rocks, making its stealth abilities extremely strong.
This wolf-like Metal Beast was merely a low-level Metal Beast, but if it were a higher-level one, Han Li wasn't sure if he could even detect it.
In this case, it seemed that staying outside to cultivate was not a good idea.
The two of them continued to move forward, flying for a short while.
"Save me, save me..."
Just then, a series of divine thoughts transformed into sound waves came from the left front, seemingly from a woman, her voice extremely pitiful and evoking sympathy.
This divine thought wave was very unusual, directly transmitting into the hearts of the two people.
Han Li's eyebrows twitched; this technique of transforming divine thoughts into sound waves was novel, far surpassing the usual method of transmitting thoughts.
"Master, should we..." Ti Hu looked at Han Li, her expression filled with sympathy.
"Let's go take a look." Han Li had no intention of getting involved in other people's business, but since Ti Hu had spoken up, he couldn't refuse, and besides, he was somewhat curious about the owner of this voice.
He pinched his fingers, turning the flying car around, and simultaneously used a secret technique to conceal their tracks, flying towards the source of the sound.
A few breaths later, the flying car stopped beside a valley, where five golden lights were surrounding a beautiful young woman in a green dress, fiercely battling.
The voice for help was coming from the young woman.
The young woman's situation was not good; her protective green light was being suppressed to a thin layer, and could break through and kill her at any moment. She was desperately resisting the attacks around her, while also emitting the unusual sound wave to seek help.
"Ah!" Han Li's face revealed a hint of surprise.
This young woman in green was a member of the demon tribe, her cultivation not weak, having already reached the mid-stage of the True Immortal realm.
And the golden lights surrounding her were five Daoist priests wearing golden crown robes, with a golden horse pattern on their sleeves, looking like the uniform of a certain sect.
These five people had also reached the True Immortal realm, although they were only at the initial stage, but they had the advantage of numbers.
The five people were holding golden flags, using their magic to form a golden light circle, tightly suppressing the young woman.
"Haha, little demon girl, hand over the Golden Dragon Beast's inner pellet, and surrender obediently. Looking at your pure and unadulterated green fox bloodline, we won't kill you, but will take you in and offer you as a birthday gift to our master." The leader of the five Daoist priests, a tall and thin man, sneered.
"Your green fox tribe is just a small and insignificant tribe, on the verge of being destroyed by other forces at any moment. What future do you have? Our Golden Horse Sect is a hundred times stronger than your green fox tribe, and our master is a Golden Immortal, being able to become his concubine is your good fortune, don't be ungrateful!" Another Daoist priest wildly laughed.
"Hmph! If it weren't for the fact that I exhausted most of my energy in the great battle with the Golden Dragon Beast, you five would not be able to trap me!" The young woman in green gritted her teeth and retorted.
"Since you're not willing to accept our offer, big brother, let's not waste any more words on this demon girl. Use the Five Golden Radiance Array to break her protective green light and seal her cultivation, then offer her to our master. He has always wanted a green fox tribe concubine, and if we offer him the young master of the green fox tribe, he will definitely be pleased and reward us heavily." A short and fat Daoist priest shouted.
"Impossible, the Five Golden Radiance Array is too powerful, and breaking her protective green light will likely damage her foundation. What's the point of offering her to our master then?" The tall and thin Daoist priest shook his head and said.
"Big brother is right!"
"We almost got impulsive and ruined a great gift!"
"Indeed, let's slowly grind down her last bit of demonic energy instead!"
The other Daoist priests all chimed in.
The young woman in green heard the five Daoist priests treating her like a piece of meat, and her anger surged. The green light on her body suddenly brightened, and the tail behind her suddenly tensed up, a burst of green fox hair shooting out, emitting a terrifying whistling sound as it struck the surrounding golden light circle.
The golden light circle instantly shook violently, rapidly becoming thin.
The five Daoist priests saw this and quickly spat out a stream of essence blood, injecting it into the golden flags in their hands.
The golden flags instantly flew out, merging with the golden light circle, and the five Daoist priests simultaneously used their hands to cast a spell. The golden light ring immediately stabilized, withstanding the attack of the fox hair.
The blue-clothed girl's attack was unsuccessful, and the blue light on her body quickly dimmed, finally shattering with a loud crash.
She seemed to be unstable, falling towards the ground.
The five Taoists were overjoyed at the sight.
The lead Taoist, with a lecherous smile on his face, flew out and reached out to grab the blue-clothed girl.
"Master!" The Wailing Soul cried out in urgency and anger, looking at Han Li, who remained unmoved.
"Don't worry, the unfortunate one is not that girl," Han Li said with a calm smile.
The Wailing Soul was taken aback by his words, and just then, the situation on the ground took a drastic turn.
The blue-clothed girl, who had been unstable, suddenly steadied herself as the lead Taoist approached. Her clear eyes flashed with a cold light.
The lead Taoist was shocked, realizing he had fallen into a trap. He tried to stop himself and retreat, but it was too late.
The blue-clothed girl raised her hands, and several blue lights shot out, striking the lead Taoist.
The blue lights were extremely sharp, easily piercing the lead Taoist's protective light and revealing his true form - a few fingers.
The lead Taoist's vital points were struck, and he spat out blood, his eyes filled with regret. He fell to the ground, his life force quickly fading away.
The blue-clothed girl had successfully counterattacked, but she had exhausted her demonic energy and could no longer stand, falling to the ground.
The other four Taoists, enraged, attacked the blue-clothed girl with various magical artifacts.
The girl's face showed no fear, calmly gazing at the attacks as they fell upon her. Her hand, hidden behind her back, was pinching a spell, her eyes flashing with determination.
Just then, a blue light appeared above the blue-clothed girl's head.
The attacks fell upon the blue light, which seemed to be as soft as cotton. The magical artifacts sank into it, but the blue light suddenly flashed, and the artifacts rebounded, striking the four Taoists with increased speed.
The four Taoists' bodies exploded, turning into a bloody rain.
The blue-clothed girl's eyes widened in shock, but her hand remained steady.
Just then, two figures descended from the air, revealing Han Li and the Wailing Soul.
"Thank you, sirs, for saving my life," the blue-clothed girl said, her face pale, as she struggled to stand up and bow to the two.
"It was nothing, don't be polite," the Wailing Soul said, hastily waving his hand and releasing a stream of light to support the girl.
The blue-clothed girl did not show any resentment towards the Wailing Soul's kindness, instead smiling at him, and her hand relaxed.
"What's your name? Which faction of the Golden Source Mountain Range do you belong to? And what's the situation with these people?" Han Li asked the girl, glancing at the Wailing Soul.
"I'm Ye Susu, a member of the Qing Huo tribe," the girl replied respectfully. "These people are disciples of the Golden Horse Sect, and we've always been at odds with them. I was hunting a Golden Python beast, but my energy was severely depleted, and they took advantage of me. Luckily, I met you two sirs."
Han Li's eyes flashed with interest.
"I intervened because of the Wailing Soul, and also because you're a member of the fox tribe," he said. "Perhaps you have a connection to the Tian Huo tribe, where Liu Le'er is from."
Ye Susu explained that the Golden Horse Sect was the largest faction in the area, with over 10,000 disciples and several Golden Immortals, including a powerful elder who had reached the late stage of the Golden Immortal realm.
Han Li listened attentively, nodding his head.
Ye Susu answered Han Li's questions, her face pale and almost translucent, her body trembling slightly. However, she remained standing, gritting her teeth.
"You're injured, so let's focus on recovering your wounds first," Han Li said, raising his hand.
A blue light shot out from his hand, entering Ye Susu's body. She felt a warm, powerful energy flowing into her, restoring her damaged body and stabilizing her energy.
The energy eventually merged with her demonic core, causing it to glow brightly and expand slightly.
Ye Susu sat down, cross-legged, and began to circulate her energy, ignoring her exhaustion.
"Master, is she alright?" Ti Hu returned to Han Li's side and asked softly.
"She's fine, she just exhausted her demonic energy, causing her foundation to become unstable. I've already smoothed out the hidden dangers within her body, and her demonic energy will recover on its own. But I didn't expect you to have such a good impression of Ye Susu, you've never been so kind to anyone before." Han Li said with a hint of surprise.
"I don't know... maybe it's because her spiritual energy is so pure, like a mountain spring, clean and far-reaching, it makes me feel comfortable." Ti Hu lowered her head, her voice filled with a hint of embarrassment.
"Spiritual energy... you can sense that?" Han Li's face showed surprise.
"I was in a coma, my vital energy was severely depleted, but my law comprehension improved, allowing me to sense the spiritual energy of every person. With this ability, no one can hide their true nature from me!" Ti Hu said with a hint of pride.
Han Li listened to her words, his face showing surprise.
Ti Hu's ability, if true, was indeed impressive. It was said that one could know a person's face but not their heart, and even with high cultivation and strong spiritual energy, one could only judge a person's character through experience and intuition.
"That's impressive, but what about my spiritual energy?" Han Li asked with curiosity.
"Master's spiritual energy is too vast, I couldn't sense it clearly, but overall, Master's spiritual energy is upright and just." Ti Hu glanced at Han Li, her voice hesitant.
"Upright and just, I'm afraid I don't deserve those words, being able to not betray my own conscience is already good enough." Han Li shook his head.
"Cultivation is a perilous path, and those who are too soft-hearted will not be able to go far. Sometimes, being too indecisive can harm oneself, and even harm those one cares about. Master may seem cold to outsiders, but you have your own principles and never betray them, which is rare in this vast spiritual world." Ti Hu shook her head, speaking seriously.
"I didn't expect you to have such insight after being in a coma for so long." Han Li laughed, his expression noncommittal.
He then turned his gaze, waving his hand to release a stream of cyan light that retrieved the storage devices from the five Golden Horse Sect members.
The five True Immortals' magical artifacts and treasures were of no interest to Han Li, but they did have some scriptures and information about the Jin Yuan Mountains and the surrounding forces, which was what he needed.
Han Li took out the scriptures and began to carefully read through them.
Ti Hu watched the scene, waiting quietly without interrupting.
More than an hour passed, and Ye Susu stood up, looking refreshed and revitalized, her vital energy fully recovered and her aura even stronger.
"Senior, not only did you save my life, but you also exhausted your own vital energy to help me break through my cultivation bottleneck. I, Susu, will never forget this kindness. If Senior has any tasks, please just command me." Ye Susu spoke with determination.
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Han Li waved his hand, speaking lightly.
"If the two seniors don't mind, I'd like to invite you to stay in our Qing Huo Clan's Qing Huo City for a few days, and let me show you some hospitality." Ye Susu looked at Han Li and Ti Hu, a hint of expectation in her eyes.
Ti Hu didn't speak, looking at Han Li.
Ye Susu followed her gaze, also looking at Han Li.
"Alright, we'll come to the Jin Yuan Mountains to travel, and we don't have any specific destination in mind, so we'll take you up on your offer." Han Li nodded, agreeing.
"That's great, please follow me." Ye Susu's face lit up, and she spat out a stream of cyan flames that incinerated the five Golden Horse Sect members' corpses, then waved her hand to release a flying boat magical artifact.
Han Li watched Ye Susu's efficient and ruthless actions, nodding in approval.
The three of them boarded the flying boat, heading towards the depths of the mountains.
"By the way, I didn't ask for your names, seniors." Ye Susu controlled the flying boat, asking.
"I'm Han Li, and she's Ti Hu. You can just call us by our names, no need to use titles." Han Li's gaze flashed, not using his pseudonym.
Over the years, he had used pseudonyms to avoid trouble, but now that his true identity was no longer a secret, he didn't see the need to hide it anymore.
"Ah, I see, so it's Han Li and Ti Hu. I'll make sure to remember it, seniors. Although our Qing Huo Clan is a demon clan, we also know about etiquette." Ye Susu spoke seriously.
Han Li smiled lightly, not pursuing the matter further.
"Hehe, it was Master who saved you, not me. You can just call me Ti Hu, no need to use titles." Ti Hu laughed, approaching Ye Susu and taking her hand.
"This... " Ye Susu glanced at Han Li, seeing that he didn't seem to mind, and relaxed, starting to chat with Ti Hu.
The two women seemed to have a natural affinity, and Ye Susu was quite talkative, while Ti Hu was curious and asked questions like a child, quickly becoming familiar and laughing together. Not long after, the flying boat arrived at a massive mountain valley.
This valley covered an area of several thousand miles, with a massive city built within it. The city was constructed using materials that were mostly gold in color, with walls that were extremely high and not much shorter than the surrounding mountains. The city did not stand upright, but instead curved inward from all sides, without fully closing in.
Around the city, dozens of massive gold-colored stone pillars stood, each topped with a gigantic gold-colored sphere hundreds of feet in diameter. It was unclear what they were used for.
At this moment, several streaks of light shot forth from the front, landing in front of the flying boat. Several figures in blue robes appeared, all of whom were members of the Qing Huo tribe.
"Master, you've returned!"
A tall, thin man led the group, his face filled with joy as he approached. However, upon seeing Han Li and Ti Huo standing beside Ye Su Su, his brow furrowed in a mixture of surprise and wariness.
"Who are you?"
"They are honored guests I've invited, and they have saved my life. You must not be rude to them," Ye Su Su said, her expression somewhat displeased.
The thin man was taken aback, his mouth opening as if to ask about Ye Su Su's encounter with danger. However, he restrained himself.
"Ah, I see. I apologize for my mistake earlier," the thin man said, bowing his head in respect to Han Li and Ti Huo.
Ti Huo shook her head, a faint smile on her face, indicating that she didn't mind.
Han Li ignored the thin man and the others, instead gazing out at the valley below. He noticed that the valley was home to a large wood-attribute spirit vein, with dense wood-attribute energy emanating from the earth. The valley was filled with lush green vegetation, and the air was filled with the scent of wood and gold.
The Qing Huo tribe had indeed found a suitable place to settle, surrounded by the energies of wood and gold. However, the materials used to construct the city below were unlike anything Han Li had seen before. The gold-colored stone had a faint, dark pattern on its surface, resembling the growth rings of a tree. It emitted a cold, gloomy energy that was distinct from the energies of the Jin Yuan mountain range.
"That's Jin Wu stone, found deep within the Jin Yuan mountain range. It can block the stealthy movements of metal beasts, and most cities within the Jin Yuan mountain range are built using this material. Otherwise, it would be impossible to live safely with those metal beasts around," Ye Su Su explained, noticing Han Li's gaze.
Han Li had also read about Jin Wu stone in the ancient texts he had obtained from the Jin Ma Sect. He nodded slightly in response.
The thin man, whose name was Ye Ping, noticed Ye Su Su's respectful attitude towards Han Li and Ti Huo, and his expression changed. He discreetly probed their cultivation levels, and his face immediately changed.
"Ah, I see that two esteemed seniors have arrived. Please follow me," Ye Ping said, bowing his head in respect as he led the way towards the city.
As they walked, Ye Su Su asked Ye Ping about her mother's condition, using a transmission technique to communicate with him. Ye Ping replied that the tribe's leader was still recovering from her injuries, and that the elder was watching over her.
Ye Su Su's expression relaxed, and she continued, "I've gathered all the materials needed for the Hua Xue Gui Yuan formation. I'm certain I can cure my mother's illness!"
Ye Ping's expression, however, was complex, and he didn't seem to share Ye Su Su's enthusiasm.
Han Li glanced at Ye Su Su and Ye Ping, noticing that they were communicating through a transmission technique. He wondered what was going on.
The group soon arrived at the city gate, where the words "Qing Huo City" were inscribed. The gate was guarded, but Ye Su Su's presence ensured that they were able to pass through without any issues.
Inside the city, the streets were wide and paved with a type of blue brick. The buildings were constructed using wood, and the architecture was unlike anything Han Li had seen before. Some of the buildings were even constructed using unpolished tree trunks, but they didn't seem to be in disarray. Instead, they blended in with the natural surroundings, giving the city a unique charm.
The city was also home to many tall trees, which added to its beauty.
"Our Qing Huo City may not be large, but it has its own unique charm. I think it's worth a look," Ye Su Su said, smiling.
Han Li nodded in agreement, glancing at Ti Huo.
Ti Huo seemed to be enjoying the city, looking around with a curious expression.
Han Li noticed Ti Huo's reaction and felt a mix of emotions. He was happy to see her so carefree, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. Ti Huo had become more lively and cheerful since her awakening, but it reminded him of the girl he had lost, Jin Tong. He wondered what had become of her and whether she had found what she was looking for.
Here is the translated text:
"I am the leader of the Qing Huo tribe, but my mother has been ill recently and has been in seclusion to recover, so she cannot come to greet you. Please forgive her," Ye Su Su said with a hint of apology, noticing that Han Li seemed to be in a daze.
"It's no trouble, we should pay our respects to the master anyway. Since she's in seclusion, we won't disturb her. The scenery in Qing Huo City is quite unique, could you show us around?" Han Li replied.
"Of course," Ye Su Su agreed, dismissing her attendants and leading Han Li and Ti Huo to explore the city.
Qing Huo City was vast, covering several thousand miles, with a generally flat terrain, but also several rivers and low mountains. The city was surrounded by lush forests, making it a beautiful sight.
As they walked, the sun began to set, casting a warm orange glow over the city.
Ye Su Su led Han Li and Ti Huo to the center of the city, where a grand palace stood.
The palace was enormous, covering an area of about 200-300 acres, and was made of wood, exuding a sense of grandeur and precision.
In front of the palace stood a massive statue of a blue fox, carved from a single piece of jade, its body towering over 100 feet tall, with nine long tails stretching behind it.
"This is the Tian Huo Palace, where my ancestors used to reside and hold meetings," Ye Su Su explained.
"Tian Huo Palace? Your tribe is called Qing Huo, why isn't it called Qing Huo Palace?" Han Li asked, his curiosity piqued.
"I'm not sure, it's just what our ancestors decided," Ye Su Su replied, shaking her head.
Han Li nodded thoughtfully, not pursuing the matter further.
"There are several quiet courtyards next to the palace, used to receive honored guests. It's getting late, so I'll let you rest here tonight, and I'll come visit you again tomorrow," Ye Su Su said, leading them to a nearby courtyard.
"Thank you," Han Li said, as Ye Su Su summoned two attendants to guard the courtyard before leaving.
Han Li watched Ye Su Su disappear into the distance, his eyes narrowing slightly before turning to Ti Huo and entering the courtyard.
The courtyard was paved with blue bricks, with a small garden to the left and a cluster of bamboo to the right. The night breeze rustled the flowers and bamboo, filling the air with a subtle fragrance.
Han Li nodded in approval, taking a seat in the main hall and falling into thought.
"Master, are you planning to stay in Qing Huo City for a while?" Ti Huo asked, approaching Han Li.
"How did you come to that conclusion?" Han Li asked, his brow raised in inquiry.
"If not for that, with your usual style, you would have just saved Ye Su Su and left. You wouldn't have used up your energy to help her cultivate, and you wouldn't have come here with her. And earlier, you asked Ye Su Su to show us around, wasn't that to gather information about the city?" Ti Huo asked, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"Qing Huo City is a small and unassuming tribe in the Jin Yuan Mountains, and it's located in a remote area, making it a good place to hide. I've been exploring the city, and I haven't found any dangers," Han Li said, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
"That's great, but how can we stay here? The Qing Huo tribe seems to be quite hostile towards outsiders. Of course, if you show off your strength, it would be easy to stay, but that would defeat the purpose," Ti Huo said, her face lighting up with excitement before furrowing her brow.
As they had walked through the city earlier, they had noticed the hostile gazes of the Qing Huo tribe members towards them.
"Don't worry, I have a plan," Han Li said, his eyes glinting with amusement as he gazed towards the east side of the city.
...
Later that night, under the soft moonlight, a figure emerged from the city, flying towards the east side of the city.
The figure landed in front of a dense forest, revealing Ye Su Su, dressed in a majestic blue palace gown, her hair adorned with a jade crown.
In front of her stood a small, dilapidated statue of a blue fox, only half the size of the one in the palace. Ye Su Su's face was solemn as she bowed to the statue, then drew a drop of blood from her finger and dripped it onto the statue.
The statue's eyes suddenly lit up with a bright, pulsing blue light, which disappeared into the void.
The forest began to tremble, and a series of ripples appeared on the surface of the air.
Ye Su Su's palm also glowed with a bright blue light, which she extended towards the void, and then pulled back.
A tearing sound echoed through the air as a gap appeared in the void, revealing a dark and mysterious space.
Ye Su Su's eyes scanned the surroundings, ensuring that no one was watching, before she stepped into the void and disappeared. At this moment, a faint shadowy figure floated out, and before the void's crack could close, it flashed in.
Ye Susu only felt a blur in front of her eyes, and a large basin-like depression, dozens of miles in size, appeared before her.
The basin was mostly empty, with large tracts of spiritual fields opened up, and it seemed that many spiritual herbs and medicines were planted within.
However, the spiritual fields were surrounded by restrictive light screens, blocking the view of the inside, and waves of intense medicinal fragrance wafted out from the screens, making one's spirit quiver.
Ye Susu didn't pay attention to the spiritual fields and flew straight forward.
Behind her, the void flashed, and the shadowy figure reappeared, with Han Li's face emerging, looking around at the spiritual fields with a surprised expression.
Han Li was extremely familiar with various spiritual herbs and medicines, and just by smelling the fragrance, he knew that the herbs and medicines planted inside were extraordinary, comparable to his own medicine garden, and his heart couldn't help but be shocked.
To know that the medicine garden had taken him a great deal of effort to establish, and with the help of the Heaven's Palm Bottle, it had reached its current scale, and the Qing Huo clan's strength wasn't particularly powerful, yet they were able to cultivate a medicine garden comparable to his.
He moved his body and flew towards the spiritual fields below.
...
Ye Susu flew forward, quickly arriving at the depths of the basin.
A large, emerald-green pool of water appeared on the ground, with gentle waves and soft, rippling light.
Next to the pool were several large, blue-green stones, and she lightly tapped on one of them.
The stone suddenly sank downwards, revealing a dark cave entrance, and a long staircase leading deep into the earth.
Ye Susu stepped into the cave, quickly reaching the end.
A large, stone chamber appeared before her, with the ceiling inlaid with several fist-sized, white pearls, illuminating the space with a milky white light, and the walls flashing with starlight, making it look quite beautiful, with obvious restrictive spells cast upon it.
Inside the chamber, a white, jade bed was placed, and a woman in a blue dress lay on it, her lower body encased in a massive, blue ice mountain.
The ice mountain emitted a bone-chilling cold air, and the entire chamber was extremely cold, with faint, icy wisps floating in the air, as if they too were frozen.
The woman's face was deathly pale, her teeth clenched tightly, and her eyebrows furrowed, clearly enduring immense pain and suffering.
A string of sweat droplets the size of beans fell from her forehead, and as soon as they landed, they froze into ice beads.
A woman in a white dress stood beside the bed, her hands pressed on the woman's shoulders, and her hands emitted a bright, blue light, continuously flowing into the woman's body.
The woman in the white dress had an immense aura, clearly a Gold Immortal of the initial stage.
"Master, you've returned," the woman said, looking up at Ye Susu, her face slightly surprised, and she stopped her hand, bowing.
The woman on the bed also opened her eyes, looking at Ye Susu.
"Susu, you've returned," the woman said, her lips moving, revealing a difficult smile, and her eyes filled with tender emotions.
"Mother!" Ye Susu quickly walked to the bed, grasping the woman's hand, and her eyes suddenly turned red.
"Good child, Mother... is fine, it's just that the cold air has been invading more severely lately, but with Elder Qiu's help, I can withstand it. But you, you've gone out again, and this time you've been gone for so long, what have you encountered? Have you met any dangers?" the woman said gently.
"Child, I went to Jin Xi City, and traded some things with them, and on the way back, I met a few people from the Jin Ma Sect, it was a bit perilous, but fortunately, I met two seniors who helped me..." Ye Susu concealed most of the truth, simply recounting her journey.
To avoid her mother noticing anything unusual, she explained the matters of Han Li and Qi Huo in detail.
"What! Master, you actually invited a human cultivator into the Qing Huo City! The others in the clan don't know, but do you not know that the clan leader's current state is precisely because of those human cultivators?" the woman in the white dress said, her face immediately turning cold, and she scolded.
"Elder Qiu, the ones who harmed Mother are indeed human cultivators, but we can't just hate all human cultivators because of this. The Jin Yuan Immortal Realm is currently under human control, and the Qing Huo clan wants to develop, so we must interact with them. As the leaders of the Qing Huo clan, we must put aside personal grudges and consider the interests of the clan." Ye Susu's eyes flashed with hatred, but she quickly suppressed it, and sighed.
In the shadows of the corridor outside the hall, a blurry figure stood silently, which was Han Li.
He heard Ye Susu's words and a hint of admiration flashed in his eyes.
The woman in the white dress heard Ye Susu's words, her eyebrows furrowed, and she was about to say something, but was interrupted by the woman in the blue dress:
"Elder Qiu, let's do as Susu said, those two seniors have Gold Immortal-level strength, if we befriend them, it will be greatly beneficial to the Qing Huo clan's future development. My past injuries, you don't need to worry about them."
"Since the clan leader and Master have said so, then let's do it," the woman in the white dress said quietly.
"Thank you, Mother!" Ye Susu's face lit up with joy.
Su Su, forming alliances with various clans and developing our own clan is not wrong, but your safety is more important. You now bear the heavy responsibility of the Qing Huo Clan, and with your mother's current state, you must not take any risks," said the woman in blue, looking at Ye Su Su with a gentle sigh.
"No, mother, you will definitely recover!" Ye Su Su suddenly exclaimed.
"I will definitely recover, don't worry," the woman in blue hastily added, regretting her momentary lapse into pessimism.
Ye Su Su's head lowered slightly, her eyes flashing with determination. Her hands suddenly shot out, pointing at the woman in blue's forehead, and a brilliant white light burst forth from her fingertips.
"You...!" the woman in blue's eyes widened, but her pupils quickly became unfocused, and she fell into a deep sleep.
"Master, what are you doing?" the woman in white beside her exclaimed.
Ye Su Su didn't respond, instead taking out a crimson brush and beginning to draw intricate patterns on the ground around the jade bed. She then retrieved various materials and placed them within the patterns.
The woman in white opened her mouth to ask something, but seeing Ye Su Su's intense focus, she bit back her words.
Time passed, and half a day went by, with the sky outside gradually lightening to a pale blue.
Ye Su Su finally stopped, having completed a complex blood-red array around the jade bed.
"Master, what array is this?" the woman in white asked, seemingly unfamiliar with the array.
"The Hua Xue Gui Yuan Array!" Ye Su Su replied calmly.
"What! The Hua Xue Gui Yuan Array is a heaven-defying technique that strips away one's bloodline power and transfers it to another person. You want to use your Qing Huo bloodline power to aid our clan leader, but this is too reckless! The array will cause immense harm to your body, and once your bloodline power is stripped away, it can never be restored. You will ruin your own cultivation, and even be reduced to your original form," the woman in white warned.
"As long as I can save mother, I don't care," Ye Su Su said, her expression serene, with a hint of a gentle smile.
Han Li, watching from the shadows, saw Ye Su Su's expression and furrowed his brow, clearly moved.
"If that's the case, let me do it instead. My cultivation is far superior to yours, and the chances of success are greater," the woman in white suggested.
"No, Elder Qiu, your cultivation may be higher, but when it comes to the purity of the Qing Huo bloodline, I am more suitable. Moreover, Elder Qiu, you don't know that the closer the bloodline relationship between the two individuals, the higher the chances of success," Ye Su Su said firmly.
The woman in white was taken aback.
"Our clan leader's poisoning is extremely severe, and even with this technique, the chances of saving her are only 50%. If we fail, both of us will die here. Elder Qiu, you are the only intact Golden Immortal of our clan, and mother just said that my safety is important. In reality, your safety is more crucial. If you are safe, even if I and mother fall, our clan will still have a glimmer of hope. But if you were to fall, our clan would be doomed," Ye Su Su continued.
The woman in white stood silently, her expression unreadable.
"So, please leave this to me. If I and mother were to fall, our clan's future would be in your hands," Ye Su Su said, bowing her head slightly.
The woman in white remained silent, unsure of what to say.
Ye Su Su stepped forward, her eyes fixed on the blood-red array.
Just as she was about to enter the array, the woman in white grasped her wrist.
"Master...!" Ye Su Su turned to her.
"Elder Qiu, you just said that as leaders of the Qing Huo Clan, we should put the clan's interests above our personal feelings. You have exceptional talent, and your Qing Huo bloodline is extremely pure. Even I and our clan leader are inferior to you in this regard. Our clan's future is limitless with you. But if you use the Hua Xue Gui Yuan Array, you risk ruining your own cultivation. I know this sounds cruel, but if we consider the clan's interests, it's better for you not to take this risk," the woman in white said, her eyes filled with a mix of pain and pleading.
"No, my actions are not driven by personal feelings, but by the clan's interests. I may have some talent, but I'm still only a Mid-True Immortal. Who knows if I'll be able to reach the Golden Immortal stage in the future? If I can save mother, even with only a 50% chance, it's a worthwhile risk," Ye Su Su said, her expression calm and resolute.
The woman in white's eyes widened in alarm, but she couldn't think of anything else to say.
"Besides, it was because of me that mother was injured by the thieves from the Tian Shui Sect. Even you, Elder Qiu, were almost implicated. If I don't do something to help her, I'll live with guilt and regret for the rest of my life. That would affect my cultivation, and I might not even be able to reach the Late True Immortal stage," Ye Su Su said, her voice soft but firm.
The woman in white knew that Ye Su Su's mind was made up and wouldn't be swayed. She could only sigh and step back.
"I'll leave the future to you, Elder Qiu," Ye Su Su said, smiling faintly, before entering the blood-red array.
She sat down at the woman in blue's head, her hands forming a peculiar hand seal, and began to chant a mysterious incantation.
The stone room was filled with a sudden, earsplitting whine, and the blood-red array around the jade bed erupted in a brilliant light, as if it had come to life.
A powerful surge of energy burst forth from the array, expanding outward in all directions.
The woman in white's expression changed, and she quickly formed a hand seal, pointing at the stone room's walls.
The room's seals accelerated, and countless starlight patterns emerged, blocking the array's energy from escaping.
However, the blood-red array's energy was too intense, and some of it still managed to seep out.
The woman in white didn't have time to worry about that, her attention fixed on the two individuals within the array.
Just then, the blood-red array began to change.
A series of sharp, piercing whines echoed through the room, and countless blood-red threads erupted from the array, wrapping around Ye Su Su and entering her body.
Han Li, watching from the shadows, saw this and raised an eyebrow, his eyes filled with surprise.
Ye Su Su's body glowed with a bright, emerald light, her brows furrowed in pain, but she suppressed it, continuing to chant the incantation. The blood array's radiance intensified, and more blood-colored threads emerged, pouring into Ye Susu's body.
Ye Susu's body emitted a bright blue glow, and her skin flashed with a blue light, revealing a network of blue veins that seemed to traverse her entire body, shining with a fierce blood pulse.
At the same time, a blue fox phantom appeared behind her, exuding an aura of nobility and majesty, but with only two tails.
Ye Susu's hand suddenly extended, pressing against the brow of the blue-robed woman.
Innumerable blood-colored threads shot out from her palm, entering the woman's brow.
The blood-colored threads contained a faint blue pattern, which flowed into the woman's body.
The blue-robed woman's skin flashed with a blue light, revealing a network of blue veins, albeit less vibrant than Ye Susu's.
As Ye Susu's palm continued to inject the blood-colored threads, the woman's blue veins gradually brightened.
Ye Susu's own blue veins, however, began to fade, and her face rapidly turned pale. The blue fox phantom behind her also grew thinner.
But her eyes still shone with a hint of joy, and she pointed with her other hand.
A blue light shot out from her finger, entering the woman's lower abdomen.
A loud "boom" echoed, and the woman's body suddenly radiated a dazzling blue light, like the sun.
The blue light quickly receded, and a layer of blue flames enveloped her upper body, spreading towards her frozen lower half.
The blue flames clashed with the icy blue crystals, emitting a hissing sound, before slowly melting and disappearing.
The white-robed woman's tense face relaxed slightly as she watched.
In the distance, Han Li's eyes flashed with a purple glow, gazing at the icy blue crystals, before shaking his head.
The blue flames continued to advance, and the icy blue crystals rapidly melted, retreating from the woman's waist to her calves.
The woman's lower legs turned a deep blue, resembling two blue crystal shards, with a blue light pulsating within.
However, the icy blue crystals' melting slowed, and they began to resist the blue flames' assault.
Ye Susu's blue veins had faded significantly, and the blue fox phantom behind her had almost disappeared.
She gazed at the woman's blue lower legs, her eyes narrowing, and her voice low and urgent. The blood array beneath her flashed again, and a surge of blood energy flooded her body.
Ye Susu's blue veins flashed once more, before disappearing, coalescing into a blue light that merged with the woman's body.
The woman's blue flames surged, fiercely attacking the icy blue crystals, but ultimately failing to eradicate them.
Instead, the woman's blue light within her legs suddenly intensified, launching a counterattack that forced the blue flames to retreat.
A blast of icy energy erupted, and the icy blue crystals rapidly reformed, re-freezing the woman's body.
The stone chamber's temperature plummeted, and the walls creaked with a "crackling" sound, as a layer of ice crystals formed.
The blood array on the ground was also frozen, and Ye Susu's body was trapped within.
Her face turned deathly pale, and she stumbled, her eyes wide with terror, yet unable to act.
The white-robed woman's face changed, and she released the seal on the stone chamber's restriction, rushing towards Ye Susu.
Ye Susu turned to face her, and their eyes met.
The white-robed woman's face turned pale, and she froze, halting her approach.
The blue-robed woman on the bed stirred, awakened by the cold energy.
She assessed the situation, and her voice rose in a gentle shout. The blue flames on her body briefly intensified, temporarily repelling the blue light's invasion.
"Qiu Long, quickly take Susu away..." the blue-robed woman cried out.
But before she could finish, the blue light surged again, its radiance illuminating a multitude of blue runes, coalescing into a blue flame that shattered the blue-robed woman's defenses.
The icy blue crystals spread rapidly, reaching the woman's chest, on the verge of completely freezing her.
Ye Susu's body was also frozen, her lower half encased in ice.
The white-robed woman watched, her eyes struggling, before gritting her teeth and summoning a burst of blue energy, ready to charge forward.
Just then, a black figure appeared, blocking her path.
It was none other than Han Li.
A cultivator of the human tribe!
The white-robed woman was initially shocked, but then her eyes locked onto Han Li's identity, and a deep-seated hatred flashed in her eyes. The white cold light around her surged, and she was about to strike Han Li down.
"If you want these two to live, then stand still and don't move!" Han Li said calmly, then raised his hand in a seemingly casual motion.
A stream of green light shot out from his hand, blocking the surging blue cold light.
The blue flame seemed to be provoked, and it violently jumped and danced, the blue cold light also immediately bared its teeth and claws, like a furious beast, and violently attacked the green light.
The green light seemed thin and weak, but it was incredibly resilient, and no matter how the blue cold light attacked, it remained unmoving.
The white-robed woman saw this scene, and her raised arm stopped, but the white cold light around her did not dissipate, and it continued to stare at Han Li.
Han Li ignored the white-robed woman, and once again waved his sleeve.
Another stream of green light shot out, merging with the previous one, and then quickly suppressed the blue cold light.
The blue cold light that Ye Susu and the others had struggled to repel with great effort was unable to withstand Han Li's attack, and it was quickly pushed back to the small leg area.
Han Li waved his hand again, and a silver flame shot out from his sleeve, spinning and transforming into a silver firebird, which dove into the blue cold light and disappeared.
A clear and melodious cry echoed from within the blue cold light, and then a flash of silver light appeared, and a wave of intense heat burst out, causing the air around it to distort and become blurry.
The blue cold light was instantly torn apart and dispersed, and in its place, a wave of intense heat swept out, driving away the cold air in the room.
The ice crystals in the stone room instantly melted and disappeared.
The white-robed woman saw this scene, and her eyes widened in surprise, but her guard did not relax in the slightest.
After a short while, the silver firebird reappeared, its beak holding a small blue flame, and it swallowed it with a "gulp".
The blue flame disappeared into its mouth, and the firebird let out a happy cry, as if it had eaten a delicious meal.
Then the silver firebird flew back and disappeared into Han Li's sleeve.
At this time, the blue ice crystals on the blue-robed woman's body had completely disappeared, and she had unknowingly woken up, her eyes filled with a disbelieving expression.
The blue ice around Ye Susu had also disappeared, and she looked stunned.
But she immediately revealed a pained expression, and the green light around her body rapidly dissipated, her body shrinking, and a layer of green fur appearing on her skin.
"Susu!" the blue-robed woman's face changed, and she tried to get up from the bed.
"Don't move!" Han Li said calmly, and pointed his hand.
Two streams of green light shot out from his hand, entering the blue-robed woman's and Ye Susu's bodies.
The two women were immediately immobilized, as if they had been bound by a spell.
"You human tribe thief, what are you doing!" the white-robed woman shouted, her body flying towards Han Li.
Han Li didn't turn around, and waved his sleeve.
Five crystal threads shot out from his hand, entering the white-robed woman's body.
The white-robed woman's flying body froze, and she was unable to move, standing still and unable to struggle.
Han Li's other hand made a hand seal, and a blood light shot out, entering the blood array on the ground.
The blood array on the ground glowed brightly, and a wave of blood-colored light threads burst out, wrapping around the blue-robed woman's and Ye Susu's bodies, forming a blood-colored bridge between them.
Han Li's figure flashed, and he appeared beside the blue-robed woman, his palm striking her forehead.
A massive blood light shot out from his palm, raging into the blue-robed woman's body, and then flowed out, carrying away nearly half of the blue blood vessels on her body.
The blood light then flowed into Ye Susu's body, and the green fox blood vessels on her body reappeared, and her body returned to its original state, the green fur disappearing.
Moreover, the blood light also filled her body, replenishing the energy she had lost from using the array, and her pale face returned to normal, with a hint of redness.
Han Li stopped using the blood array, and his hands returned to his sides. Ye Su Su and the other two regained their mobility.
"Who are you?" the woman in blue clothing asked, standing up from the bed, with a slight sway, and Ye Su Su quickly supported her.
"Mother, this is Han Qian Bei, the one I told you about before. Han Qian Bei, this is my mother, the leader of the Qing Huo tribe." Ye Su Su quickly introduced them.
"Ah, Han Dao You, nice to meet you. I am Ye Luo, the leader of the Qing Huo tribe. Thank you for helping me and my daughter, driving out the cold toxin from my body and restoring my Qing Huo bloodline. I owe you a great debt, and if you need anything from our tribe in the future, just let us know." Ye Luo said solemnly.
The white-clothed woman beside her furrowed her brow, but didn't say anything.
"No need to be polite, I'm just a guest in Qing Huo City, and I saw that the master had a problem, so I naturally lent a hand." Han Li said with a faint smile.
"Han Qian Bei's divine abilities are truly remarkable, easily driving out the cold toxin from my mother's body and restoring my bloodline. How did you do it?" Ye Su Su asked, looking at Han Li with a few hints of admiration.
"Han Mou has done some research on bloodlines, and it was fortunate that Ye Dao You's bloodline and the leader's body hadn't completely dissipated, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to restore it." Han Li explained vaguely.
"Han Dao You, thank you for saving our leader and young master. But I have a question, this is a secret place of our Qing Huo tribe, how did you enter without permission?" The white-clothed woman asked, her tone somewhat aggressive.
"Han Dao You, this is Ye Qiu, our tribe's elder. Qiu Long Lao, Han Dao You is our tribe's noble guest, don't speak out of turn." Ye Luo quickly introduced the white-clothed woman's identity, then softly scolded her.
"No need to apologize, Qiu Long Lao's question is normal. Han Mou is quite skilled in investigative arts, and tonight I was bored, so I went out to admire the moon, and felt the intense fluctuations in the atmosphere here, so I cast a spell to investigate, and saw the situation was critical, so I came to intervene, and apologize for any offense." Han Li said with a light laugh.
"Ah, I see. Thanks to Han Qian Bei's timely arrival." Ye Su Su said, sticking out her tongue.
"You should say, earlier, you were reckless, and dared to transfer the bloodline on your own, such a major matter, if Han Dao You hadn't been here, the consequences would have been unthinkable." Ye Luo said sternly.
Ye Su Su looked down, her small mouth pouting, seemingly not very obedient.
Ye Luo saw Ye Su Su's expression, and glared at her, but didn't scold her further, considering Han Li's presence.
"This place is a mess, it's not suitable for receiving Han Dao You, Su Su, you take Han Dao You back, and I'll go visit him personally tomorrow." Ye Luo said.
"I'll take my leave then." Han Li said, nodding slightly.
Ye Luo returned the courtesy, but Ye Qiu didn't move, her face cold and unfriendly, clearly full of distrust towards Han Li.
Han Li didn't pay attention to Ye Qiu's attitude, and turned to leave.
Ye Su Su followed closely behind, and they soon exited the underground tunnel, and arrived outside.
Han Li looked at the numerous spiritual fields in the valley, and stopped.
"I noticed this place earlier, and didn't expect to see so many spiritual fields, and the spiritual grass and medicine inside are of such high quality. Is your Qing Huo tribe skilled in cultivating spiritual grass?" Han Li asked Ye Su Su.
"The spiritual fields are surrounded by restrictions, and Han Qian Bei can see the situation inside? Ah, yes, the restrictions here are no match for Han Qian Bei's skills." Ye Su Su seemed to have relaxed a lot, and playfully raised an eyebrow, then smiled.
Han Li just smiled, and didn't respond.
"As for cultivating spiritual grass and medicine, I'm not bragging, but in the entire Jin Yuan mountain range, our Qing Huo tribe is second to none! Han Qian Bei, do you need any spiritual grass for cultivation? This is a list of the various spiritual grass and medicine that our tribe cultivates, if you need any, just let me know, and I'll send them over immediately." Ye Su Su said proudly, then took out a jade slip and handed it to Han Li.
"I do need some spiritual grass, so I won't be polite." Han Li took the jade slip, and scanned it with his divine sense, nodding inwardly, then said.
He had already looked at the spiritual grass and medicine in the fields, and they matched the records on the jade slip, and Ye Su Su hadn't hidden anything.
"Han Qian Bei, Qiu Long Lao wasn't very friendly to you earlier, please forgive her. She's not intentionally targeting you, but Qiu Long Lao's parents, and two younger brothers, all died at the hands of human cultivators, so she's very hostile towards human cultivators." Ye Su Su whispered.
"Ah, I understand." Han Li said, nodding.
The two of them didn't stay there, and soon flew off towards the distance.
...
In the underground stone room, Ye Qiu set up several layers of restrictions, then stopped.
"Qiu Long Lao, I know you hate human cultivators, but Han Dao You has helped our tribe three times, so please try to control your hostility, at least on the surface, don't be so rude." Ye Luo said, sighing.
"Do you think this person came to our Qing Huo tribe with good intentions?" Ye Qiu asked, coldly.
"What do you mean?" Ye Luo asked, frowning.
...
Recommended by "Qi Jia Qi Ge" - "Jiu Long Tun Zhu"
Qiu Zhanglao spoke in a solemn tone, "Tribe Leader, forgive me for speaking straightforwardly. This person just said they sensed the magical fluctuations in this place, so they came over, but I think it's not that simple. Even if this person's scouting technique is exceptional, allowing them to sense the situation here despite the multiple layers of restrictions, the Mysterious Void Great Array surrounding the Wood Spirit Basin should have reacted when they entered. However, I didn't feel any anomalies in the array. I suspect he secretly followed the Young Master, entered this place earlier, and has been spying on us, I'm not sure what his intentions are."
Ye Lü pondered for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Your words are not without reason, but these are just speculations. Even if Han Dao Friend secretly entered this place, he shouldn't have any malicious intentions towards the Qing Huo tribe, otherwise, he could have taken action earlier and killed us three, and no one would be able to stop him."
Qiu Zhanglao remained silent for a moment before speaking, "I understand, Tribe Leader. Regardless of his intentions, just looking at how easily he dispelled the cold poison in my body, his strength is far beyond ours. We must not offend such a person."
Ye Lü's expression relaxed, and he warned again, "I understand, but if we find out he's plotting against our tribe, I'll risk my life to stop him."
Qiu Zhanglao's eyes showed a hint of pain, and he nodded slowly.
Ye Lü didn't say anything else, just patted Qiu Zhanglao's shoulder lightly.
"Tribe Leader, you just dispelled the cold poison, and your vitality hasn't recovered yet. Please rest well, I'll take my leave." Qiu Zhanglao said, then bid farewell and left.
Ye Lü nodded, watching Qiu Zhanglao leave, then returned to the jade bed, sat down, and began to meditate to recover.
The night passed without incident.
The next morning, Ye Lü and Ye Su Su arrived at Han Li's residence, but Qiu Zhanglao didn't come. Ti Hu was also cultivating in the flower branch space and didn't come out.
"Qing Huo City is located in a remote area, and its architecture emphasizes natural style, so there's no grand, beautiful reception area. I apologize for letting Han Dao Friend reside in this small courtyard." Ye Lü said with a hint of apology.
After a day of rest, her complexion looked much better.
"No need to apologize, I prefer this quiet environment." Han Li let them in, smiling.
"Please don't hesitate to ask for anything, Han Dao Friend," Ye Lü said.
"Thank you, Tribe Leader. I've heard that the Qing Huo tribe excels at cultivating spirit herbs, and I'd like to request some. Here's the list." Han Li handed over a jade slip.
During his journey to the Jin Yuan Mountain Range, he had been gathering materials for a Tai Yi-grade elixir called the "Tian Qing Dan". He now had a considerable amount of spirit stones, as well as many precious materials from the Gray Realm, Demon Realm, and Ji Lin's realm.
He had used the Rebirth Palace's mask to purchase or exchange materials for the Tian Qing Dan, and now he only needed a few more materials. Coincidentally, he found that the Qing Huo City had the materials he needed.
Ye Lü had already learned about this from Ye Su Su, but when she received the jade slip, her expression still changed.
"Han Dao Friend requires a large quantity of spirit herbs, and the years required are also very high. However, please don't worry, Tribe Leader, I'm not asking the Qing Huo tribe to provide them for free." Han Li took out a storage device and placed it on the table.
"Tribe Leader, you're too kind. I should be the one to thank you." Ye Lü's divine sense scanned the storage device, and her expression turned slightly joyful, before she looked embarrassed.
"I... understand. But if I find out you're plotting against our tribe, I'll risk my life to stop you." Qiu Zhanglao had said earlier.
Ye Lü didn't say anything else, just patted Qiu Zhanglao's shoulder lightly.
"Su Su, please go and fetch the materials Han Dao Friend needs." Ye Lü handed the jade slip to Ye Su Su, instructing her.
"Yes." Ye Su Su replied, then left.
"Han Dao Friend, please forgive me for asking, but what brings you to our Qing Huo City?" Ye Lü asked, her eyes fixed on Han Li.
"Han Dao Friend, I have no malicious intentions towards the Qing Huo City. I just like the peaceful and safe environment here, and I want to cultivate in seclusion for a while. Is it possible?" Han Li replied, his expression sincere.
"Is that all?" Ye Lü's expression changed, showing a hint of surprise.
"Of course. I don't care about the Qing Huo tribe's other things, Tribe Leader can rest assured." Han Li waved his hand casually.
"Is that so... I was overthinking." Ye Lü observed Han Li's every expression, and seeing that he wasn't lying, her heart relaxed, and she smiled. Han Li thanked the clan leader and then said with a profound meaning, "I hope the clan leader can help cover up the news of my and Ti Hu's presence here, it would be beneficial for both of us."
Ye Luo was taken aback, but nodded in agreement.
The two of them had a frank and open conversation, and after discussing the main topic, they both felt a bit more relaxed and started chatting about various things in the Jinyuan Mountain Range.
"Clan leader Ye Luo, I've read in some ancient texts that the demon tribes in the Jinyuan Mountain Range are not many, and most of them are from the outside world. Your Qing Huo tribe is skilled in wood-attribute divine abilities and illusions, which doesn't seem to match the environment here. Are you also from the outside world?"
Han Li asked suddenly, as if he had thought of something.
Ye Luo nodded, "What you said is correct, our tribe indeed migrated from the outside world many years ago and settled here."
"I'm sorry to ask, but where did your tribe migrate from?" Han Li asked further.
Ye Luo replied, "I'm not very clear about that, our tribe's ancient texts don't have any clear records. I remember reading a ancestor's notes, it seems that our tribe migrated from the southern part of the Jinyuan Continent, but it's been too long ago, I'm not very sure. Why did you ask this?"
Han Li smiled, "It's nothing, I just happened to meet another Liu-surnamed fox tribe many years ago, and I felt that they were similar to your Qing Huo tribe, so I asked."
Ye Luo's eyes lit up, "Liu-surnamed fox tribe? According to our tribe's ancient texts, when our Qing Huo tribe first settled here, a female ancestor named Liu Mei joined our tribe and brought the secret technique of cultivating spirit grass. It seems that she is the one who brought this technique. I and Su Su are also descendants of this Liu Mei ancestor, but she never mentioned her past, she is a mysterious figure in our tribe's history. Could it be that she is related to the Liu-surnamed fox tribe you mentioned?"
Han Li shook his head, "I'm not sure, I didn't have much contact with that Liu-surnamed fox tribe, I'm not sure if they also cultivate spirit grass."
Ye Luo's face showed a hint of disappointment, but she asked again, "Han Dao friend, can you tell me more about that Liu-surnamed fox tribe?"
Han Li thought for a moment before telling Ye Luo about his encounter with the Liu-surnamed fox tribe in the barbarian domain, but omitted the parts that involved himself.
Ye Luo listened attentively, nodded slowly, and then fell silent.
Just then, Ye Su Su flew in from outside and handed Han Li a storage artifact. "Han Shixiong, the spirit grass you wanted is inside, please check it."
Han Li took the storage artifact, scanned it with his divine sense, and nodded in satisfaction.
Ye Luo suddenly stood up, pulled Ye Su Su, and bid farewell to Han Li.
Han Li saw them off, closed the door, and then turned to the empty space, "What do you think of Ye Luo, is she speaking the truth?"
As soon as he finished speaking, a light door appeared beside him, and Ti Hu's figure emerged from it.
"Ye Luo's soul is very pure, she is not a deceitful person. I carefully examined her soul fluctuations when she spoke, and there were no unusual changes. What she said was the truth." Ti Hu said after a moment of thought.
Han Li's face relaxed, "That's good, it was worth me expending my energy to help her drive out the cold toxin last night."
Ti Hu's awakening had greatly increased her divine abilities, allowing her to see through people's true nature and judge whether they were telling the truth by sensing their soul fluctuations. This had saved Han Li a lot of trouble.
"Master, the Liu-surnamed fox tribe you mentioned to Ye Luo, is it the same as the Tian Huo tribe where Liu L'er is?" Ti Hu asked, her eyes sparkling.
Han Li nodded, "Yes, I was trying to find out if there's a connection between the two."
Ti Hu asked, "Does this mean that the Qing Huo tribe is actually a branch of the Tian Huo tribe?"
Han Li thought for a moment before responding, "I've sensed the Tian Huo tribe's bloodline power from Fox Three and the others, and it's similar to the Qing Huo tribe's bloodline power. Combining this with the mention of Liu Mei, I think there's likely a connection between the two tribes."
Ti Hu nodded, "Master, you've received the Liu-surnamed fox tribe's kindness, and staying here to cultivate in seclusion is not only to avoid trouble, but also to provide some protection for the Qing Huo tribe."
Han Li didn't dwell on this topic, "This is just a temporary measure, we'll leave some benefits for them when we leave. For now, I plan to start my seclusion immediately, I've been feeling uneasy lately, as if some danger is approaching, and I need to increase my strength as soon as possible."
Master's intuition has always been quite accurate. It seems I also need to hurry up and close up for a period of time, not to mention improving my cultivation, at the very least to recover the spiritual energy I've lost before. Ti Hou's expression changed slightly upon hearing Han Li's words, and he immediately spoke up.
Han Li didn't say anything else, and immediately began setting up the area around the small courtyard. He took out several sets of restrictive flags and arranged them around the courtyard, then set up a few more layers of restrictions in the rooms where he and Ti Hou would be staying. Once he was certain that everything was secure, he stopped.
The two of them then began their closed-door meditation. Han Li entered the secret room in his quarters, sat down in the lotus position, and closed his eyes. He sat quietly for half a day, until his mind and spirit were completely calm, then took out a silver-colored pill furnace.
With a wave of his sleeve, a blue light flew out from his sleeve and swept across the floor, causing various spiritual materials to appear on the ground. These materials were all ingredients for the Heaven's Blue Pill.
Han Li spat out a mouthful of silver-colored flames, which landed on the pill furnace, and the furnace quickly heated up. He took out one of the materials and put it into the furnace, and began to refine the pill.
...
At the same time, in the great hall of the Qing Huo clan, Ye Luo, Qiu Long, and Ye Su Su were gathered together.
"Clan leader, do you really intend to let that human cultivator stay in our clan and live among us? I think this is unwise, his background is unclear, and he's a human cultivator, after all. Most of our clan members harbor deep resentment towards human cultivators, and if we let him stay in the city, it will inevitably lead to discontent among our people." Qiu Long frowned and spoke in a serious tone.
"Qiu Long, don't worry, Han Li is planning to stay in our clan to cultivate in seclusion, and he won't be going out and about. He's also asked us to keep his presence a secret, so we'll just announce that he's left Qing Huo City. This matter will only be known to the higher-ups, that's all." Ye Luo shook his head and said.
"But he's a human cultivator, after all, and his nature is difficult to predict. His cultivation is quite high, and leaving him in our clan is a hidden danger." Qiu Long still looked somewhat unconvinced.
"But he's helped us so much, and now he's just asking to stay and cultivate. If we don't agree, we'll be too petty." Ye Luo waved his hand and said.
"Qiu Long, I think Han Li and Ti Hou are not bad people, and Han Li's strength is quite formidable. Our Qing Huo clan has been facing many crises in recent years, and who knows, maybe one day we'll need to rely on his power." Ye Su Su also spoke up.
"Since the clan leader and the young master both think this way, then let's let him stay. But his identity is unclear, so let's arrange for some people to secretly monitor him, just in case." Qiu Long fell silent for a moment, then reluctantly agreed.
"Alright, then let's leave this matter to Qiu Long. But Han Li is skilled in the art of investigation, so when you arrange for people to monitor him, be careful not to let him discover it." Ye Luo thought for a moment, then nodded and said.
"Clan leader, don't worry." Qiu Long replied, then quickly left.
...
Three years later.
In Han Li's secret room, he made a hand seal and pointed at the silver-colored pill furnace. The furnace's lid emitted a flash of light, and it flew up into the air, hovering in mid-air.
Han Li made another hand seal, and five blue-colored pills flew out of the furnace and landed in a jade bottle. Each pill was the size of a dragon's eye, and was a deep blue color, like the sky. They emitted a faint, ethereal fragrance.
He had already filled dozens of jade bottles with pills, and each bottle was filled with a fragrant aroma that could be smelled through the walls.
Han Li looked at the jade bottles surrounding him, a satisfied smile on his face.
This Heaven's Blue Pill was the first time he had refined a pill of the Tai Yi level, and at first, it had been very difficult. But with the help of the True Speech Treasure Wheel's divine abilities and his previous experience in refining pills, his success rate had quickly improved.
Han Li waved his hand, and the pill furnace and the refined flames all disappeared. He then took out a jade bottle, poured out a Heaven's Blue Pill, and swallowed it. He circulated his cultivation method, and a dazzling golden light erupted from his body, illuminating the secret room and turning everything golden.
...
The years passed, and the closed-door meditation continued. Before he knew it, over a hundred years had passed.
In the Jin Yuan Immortal Palace, a magnificent golden palace, a middle-aged man dressed in a white silk robe sat on the golden dragon throne, his temples slightly gray, his eyes deep and profound, as if he had already seen through the ages. This was the master of the Jin Yuan Immortal Palace, Dong Fang Bai. At this moment, his eyes were deep and profound, slowly scanning the person standing below, although his face showed no anger, it still made his heart tremble, and he didn't dare to breathe.
The person below, not tall, but slender and handsome, was a young man dressed in colorful and elegant clothes, looking around fourteen or fifteen years old, but his eyes seemed like a dry and ancient well, exuding a faint aura.
"Tao Longzhang, I found this body for you to possess, not for you to enjoy idly, why have you not found even a hint of Han Li's whereabouts after over a hundred years?" Dongfang Bai slowly opened his mouth, asking.
"Palace Master, Han Li has been hiding his tracks since he escaped from Tian Song Guan, seemingly aware that we would search for him, and has not appeared in any major cities in the Xian domain, so it's likely that he is hiding in some remote and secluded place, making it difficult to find him." The young man replied, his expression tightening.
This young man was naturally Tao Ji, who had possessed another body to reincarnate, and had not fully merged with his new body, still getting used to his new voice, which was clear and bright, unlike his original middle-aged voice.
Seeing Dongfang Bai's face sink, Tao Ji became even more anxious and hurriedly explained:
"He has not appeared in any major cities, so it's impossible to use the long-distance transmission arrays, but it's clear that he has not left the Jin Yuan Xian domain, if you give me a little more time, I will definitely find him."
Dongfang Bai heard this and his eyes narrowed slightly, just about to speak, when his expression suddenly changed, and he said: "He's back..."
Not long after, someone outside the hall shouted, asking to enter.
When Dongfang Bai shouted "Enter!", the hall doors were slowly pushed open, and a thin, gray-haired old man and a black-robed, giant of a man with a ghostly head war knife, walked in side by side.
"Greetings, Palace Master." The two men stopped beside Tao Ji, bowed, and said.
"No need for formalities, what about the investigation?" Dongfang Bai waved his hand, asking.
The black-robed giant, Hei Dao, and the gray-haired old man, exchanged a glance, and the old man nodded, indicating for Hei Dao to speak first.
Hei Dao didn't hesitate, and began to speak:
"Reporting to the Palace Master, I was sent to investigate the situation at Tian Song Guan, and found that the battle scars left behind had been deliberately destroyed, and the residual law fluctuations in the void had been completely cleared."
"So, you also have nothing to show for it?" Dongfang Bai's eyebrows furrowed, asking.
"The battle scars were completely cleared, but the residual souls of the Xian Palace cultivators who died that day were not completely erased, I used ghostly secret techniques to collect some of the souls, and from their fragmented memories, I saw part of the battle scene. From that, I can tell that the person's cultivation was extremely deep, with over nine hundred Xuan Qi apertures opened, and his physical body was almost comparable to that of a Da Luo cultivator." Hei Dao shook his head.
"Over nine hundred Xuan Qi apertures... no wonder the two-yin-yang array, activated by ninety Golden Immortals, had no effect on him..." Tao Ji heard this, and his shoulders relaxed, muttering to himself.
"That day, Tao Longzhang, you personally fought against him, and didn't even notice that? You thought he could be easily defeated, how laughable!" Dongfang Bai's face finally showed some anger, asking.
"This... is my fault..." Tao Ji heard this, and was momentarily speechless.
At first, he had underestimated Han Li, and didn't pay much attention to his physical abilities, and when his spells didn't work, he was busy fleeing, and didn't notice much.
"This is not surprising, Tao Longzhang, the person's appearance and movements were all concealed, and in the chaos, it's hard to see clearly. I was able to see the truth through the souls of the dead because of my ghostly secret techniques." Hei Dao's expression remained unchanged.
"Is there anything else?" Dongfang Bai clearly didn't intend to pursue the matter further, asking.
"This person's body has at least three types of true spirit bloodlines, namely, the mountain giant ape, the true dragon, and the sky-traversing Kunpeng, which is why he has unmatched physical strength, and can control the yin-yang array, killing those who activated it. This kind of physical strength is comparable to that of a Da Luo cultivator." Hei Dao continued.
"If that's the case, I remember that when I was being pursued, I sensed a hint of Lei Peng's power from his body, which should also be a true spirit bloodline." Tao Ji suddenly remembered something, and hastily added.
"This is indeed strange, a human cultivator with four true spirit bloodlines, all of which are top-tier, how did he manage to avoid being counterattacked by the bloodlines?" Dongfang Bai's eyebrows furrowed, asking.
The gray-haired old man, who had been listening to Hei Dao's account, had his eyes spinning around, his hands holding a dozen or so jade slips, which he was flipping through, as if searching for something.
"This person has also cultivated time magic, and can condense it into a golden wheel, which can bind anyone it touches, making them feel like their thoughts are slowing down." Tao Ji added.
"True spirit bloodlines, Da Luo cultivation, supreme laws, and Tai Yi cultivation... can you imagine all of these being combined in one person? It's unbelievable! If such a person existed, they would have long since become famous in the Xian domain, so how could they be so low-key, and their tracks so difficult to find... are you sure you didn't make a mistake?" Dongfang Bai's expression was filled with doubt, asking.
Although it was possible that the person had made rapid progress in a short time, it was impossible for them to be so powerful, to combine these four attributes in one body.
"Palace Master..."
At this time, the gray-haired old man, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.
"Lu Yun Longzhang, do you have any insights?" Dongfang Bai looked at him, asking.
"I don't have any insights, but I have found some interesting things in my travels, Palace Master might find them useful in understanding this person." The gray-haired old man bowed, and said.
He then handed over seven or eight jade slips, which he had selected, with both hands, respectfully presenting them.
Dongfang Bai's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he listened to the old man's words, and with a subtle movement of his fingers, a golden light shot out from his palm, retrieving the jade slips and examining them one by one.
As he looked through the slips, his eyebrows became increasingly furrowed, and his expression grew more and more solemn.
"Are you certain? Do the jade slips really say the same thing?" Dongfang Bai asked after a moment, his voice heavy with concern.
"Reporting to the Palace Master, I have sent out all the spies under my command over the past hundred years, and although they are not particularly skilled, they have some ability to gather information. We started our investigation in the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, and what we found was surprising. It seems that this Han Li was once within the sight of the Northern Cold Immortal Palace when they were eliminating the Candle Dragon Sect's Bai Li." Lü Yun's voice was sharp and clear as he spoke.
"My son, Tao Yu, was killed by him during that time." Tao Ji's face was filled with pain as he spoke.
"It's likely that he obtained his time law from the Candle Dragon Sect's 'True Word Transformation Wheel Scripture'." Dongfang Bai said calmly, not paying attention to Tao Ji.
"That's right, in the messages that followed, the name 'Lü Fei Yu' appeared several times, but each time the information was vague, as if he was intentionally hiding his tracks. Apart from that, there was also a name 'Lü Han' that appeared, and some of its characteristics match Han Li's, it's likely another one of his aliases." Lü Yun nodded and continued.
"How is this possible? If we look at the information presented in the jade slips, Han Li has spent so many years, and his footprints are already all over the Northern Cold, Black Mountain, Black Earth, Barbarian, and Golden Source Immortal Domains. And from a temporal perspective, it seems that he has a connection to many of the major events that occurred in those regions." Dongfang Bai's expression was one of doubt.
"According to our investigation, the Candle Dragon Sect's destruction, the emergence of the Ming Han Immortal Palace, and the reopening of the True Word Sect's ruins, all of these events seem to be connected to him, and there is evidence to prove that he was involved. Moreover, the death of the Gongshu family's Gongshu Tian brothers also seems to be related to him." Lü Yun spoke slowly and calmly.
Dongfang Bai's expression grew more and more solemn as he listened, and after a moment of contemplation, he asked:
"What happened after the True Word Sect's ruins were reopened? Where did he go? Why did he suddenly appear in our Golden Source Immortal Domain?"
"Palace Master, please take a look at this." Lü Yun said, taking out another jade slip and handing it to Dongfang Bai.
"This is not the report of the Feng Qing Shui Dao Zu's journey to the Gray Boundary?" Dongfang Bai took the slip and quickly examined it, his eyes filled with doubt.
"It seems that many people who appeared in the True Word Sect's ruins also appeared in the Gray Boundary. So, I think that Han Li likely went there, and then somehow ended up in the Demon Realm, before returning to the Immortal Realm, which led to the events that followed." Lü Yun said, glancing at Tao Ji.
As he finished speaking, the hall fell silent, and everyone present fell into deep thought.
Tao Ji's face turned pale, and then he seemed to think of something, and his forehead began to sweat, his expression one of fear.
"This person has a close relationship with the Reincarnation Hall, and is able to move freely between the different realms, and yet he has not been injured, and his cultivation has been rapidly increasing. What do you think?" Dongfang Bai leaned forward, his eyes scanning the room, his expression serious.
"Without mentioning his current strength, just his speed of progress is alarming, and it's clear that his identity is not simple. To be able to connect with the Reincarnation Hall and the Demon Clan, his background is likely not simple." Hei Dao spoke up after a long silence.
Han Li, if he were present, would likely be laughing and crying at the same time, for he had never imagined that these people would come to such a conclusion after their analysis.
"So, does this mean that I have provoked an existence that I am not capable of dealing with?" Tao Ji's face was filled with regret after a moment of thought.
"Palace Master..." Lü Yun bowed slightly, speaking slowly.
Hei Dao did not speak, but it was clear that he was waiting for Dongfang Bai to make a decision.
Dongfang Bai stood up from the Golden Dragon Throne, his eyes fixed on the ground, his mind racing.
After a long moment of contemplation, he stopped pacing and looked at the others, saying:
"No matter what his cultivation is, or what his background is, as long as it is related to that thing, I want you to pursue it to the end. Once you find his trail, do not act rashly, report back to me, and I will make the necessary arrangements."
"What if we encounter conflict?" Lü Yun asked.
"If we encounter conflict, do not retreat, you can first try not to kill him... naturally, try to capture him alive, and once you understand the situation, bring him back to the Nine Yuan Tower to be dealt with." Dongfang Bai said.
"Understood..." Lü Yun and the others replied, their voices hesitant.
"Remember, this matter is only to be discussed among you, if anyone leaks the information to the Heavenly Court's inspectors, do not blame me for not being able to protect you." Dongfang Bai's expression was stern, his voice cold.
"Yes!" This time, the three of them replied quickly, without hesitation.
After they left, Dongfang Bai paced back and forth in the hall, his mind filled with a growing sense of unease. He was also the first to encounter someone like Han Li, who was so peculiar that despite his incredible strength and background, he was still able to keep a low profile and hide his tracks so well.
Moreover, the snakes and grass, the hidden dangers, were all still unknown to him, and what was revealed to him was only a small part of Han Li's true nature.
A person like this, who had not been truly noticed by the Heavenly Court, was truly terrifying.
...
The Middle Earth Immortal Domain.
A vast, unknown void space, with floating blood-red clouds.
The sky was shrouded in a thick, bloody aura, and in the distance, one could see a series of black buildings with curved, twisted architecture, protruding from the blood-red clouds.
The blood clouds seemed to be layered, with the highest layer being the thickest.
At the bottom of the blood clouds, a white stone archway stood tall, with two large, blood-red characters carved into it: "Xian Prison".
A faint, clear sound echoed through the air, as a large, black temple stood nearby, its eaves curved like a flying bird.
On the temple's roof, a pair of cow-sized, eight-sided bells hung, swaying gently in the wind, producing a clear, ringing sound.
The sound of the bells caused a faint, golden glow to emanate from the void, dispelling some of the heavy, bloody aura.
At the temple's entrance, two black-armored warriors stood guard, their faces pale, their teeth sharp, and their eyes filled with bloodshot veins.
They were guarding the temple, whose entrance was locked, with a large, horizontal plaque hanging above the door, inscribed with the words "Cai Dian" in golden characters.
Inside the temple, two rows of crimson pillars stood tall, with iron plaques hanging from them, inscribed with characters that started with the words "Xing Qi".
For example, "Xing Qi Xing, Punish the Treacherous", "Xing Qi Mie Hun, Punish the Wicked", "Xing Qi Dian Tian Deng, Punish the Unlawful".
The temple's interior was dimly lit, with a large, dark-red fire burning in a brazier, casting flickering shadows on the walls.
At the far end of the temple, a large, black iron desk stood, with a tall, imposing figure standing behind it, its back to the door.
The figure's appearance was strange, with long arms and legs, and wide, flat hands and feet, resembling a fan.
One of its hands rested on the desk, while the other held a jade slip, its upper body glowing with a fiery red color, as if it had been burned.
On its head, a fiery red hair grew, with flames erupting from it from time to time.
Han Li would have recognized this person, as one of the five disciples who served beside Miro, the old ancestor, and also the one who had betrayed him, Qi Mozi.
"Ah, heat, heat, did you understand the efforts I made back then?" Qi Mozi sighed, putting down the jade slip, and murmuring to himself.
"It seems that your most beloved disciple is still him..." A voice echoed from a nearby brazier, where a flaming face rose up, commenting.
"Originally, I only hoped that he would stay away from this vortex, but in the end, he still got pulled in. Although I never had a good impression of him, he went to the True Words Gate this time, ultimately for my sake. Who would have thought that both of them would die in the Gray Boundary?" Qi Mozi sighed.
"What's the point of dying? It's not like you were able to retrieve the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique'! Dying without achieving anything, that's just foolish..." The flaming face in the brazier retorted.
"No! After investigating, I discovered that they didn't leave empty-handed. Chi Rong sent back a message before entering the Gray Boundary, mentioning a person... a very strange person. He might be the one who gained the most from the True Words Gate's exploration, and the complete 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique' might be in his hands." Qi Mozi replied calmly.
"Who is that person? Where is he now?" The flaming face asked eagerly.
"That person's name is Han Li, and he has appeared in the Golden Source Immortal Domain in the past hundred years." Qi Mozi's eyes flickered, as he spoke.
"Ha ha... it seems that it's time for me to take action! Staying in this Xian Prison for too long, I've grown a bit bored. Let's make a deal, if I help you capture this person, you'll let me burn the rivers and boil the seas once? Don't worry, I've already chosen a place, a small, unremarkable location in the lower realm, it won't cause you any trouble." The flaming face rose up, hovering near the ceiling, and let out a strange, high-pitched laugh.
Qí Mò Zǐ ignored the Flame Person's words and thought for a moment before reaching into the fire pit and casually grabbing a handful of flames. The Flame Person was pulled out along with a ball of fire, and as it left the fire pit, its body began to take shape.
It transformed into a large, fiery humanoid with a wide body and limbs, and its appearance was identical to Qí Mò Zǐ's. As Qí Mò Zǐ's palm glowed with flames, the Flame Person's aura suddenly surged, matching Qí Mò Zǐ's own aura.
"I'll take care of this myself, you stay and guard the Xian Prison," Qí Mò Zǐ said, retracting his hand.
The Flame Person, who had been about to speak, was interrupted by Qí Mò Zǐ: "This is the Xian Prison, no one will dare to speak out of turn. I'll only bring one person with me, and we'll return quickly."
"You're not even bringing me, who are you bringing?" the Flame Person asked, puzzled.
"Someone he knows," Qí Mò Zǐ replied with a faint smile.
With that, he strode out of the temple, his aura suddenly concealed, and a burst of flames enveloped his body. He transformed into a ball of fire and flew off towards a distant, golden-colored space adjacent to the Blood Cloud.
...
Sixty years passed in the blink of an eye.
In the Qing Huo City, a quiet courtyard outside a secluded mansion had a clean, winding path made of bluestone. The morning sun cast dappled shadows on the path, creating a serene atmosphere.
A group of children, holding colorful paper windmills, ran back and forth on the path, laughing and playing. The sound of their laughter carried over the low wall and into the adjacent courtyard.
In the courtyard, a young girl in black clothes sat on a stone bench, listening to the children's laughter. She was none other than Tí Hún.
Since she had gained the ability to see into people's hearts, she had grown fond of listening to children's laughter, which was filled with pure and joyful emotions.
As she smiled to herself, she suddenly turned her head to look behind her.
Han Li, wearing a new, sky-blue robe, walked out of the main hall with a smile on his face.
"Master, you're out of seclusion so quickly, have you broken through?" Tí Hún asked, raising an eyebrow.
"It wasn't too difficult. With the various mystical techniques open to me, cultivating the Great Five Elements Illusory Realm Technique has become much easier. It only took a little over a hundred years, which is within my expectations," Han Li replied with a smile.
He didn't mention that he could have broken through to the Tai Yi late-stage realm if he had continued to cultivate.
"Congratulations, Master!" Tí Hún said, her face lighting up with joy.
"Thank you for guarding the law for me during this time... Has anything unusual happened in the Qing Huo tribe?" Han Li asked, continuing.
"Nothing out of the ordinary," Tí Hún replied. "The tribe's leader has fully recovered from his injuries, and the tribe's morale has greatly improved. It's as if they've gained a commander, and their spirits have been lifted. The Jin Ma Sect hasn't dared to cause any more trouble, and everything has calmed down. I was worried that Master's breakthrough would attract attention, but I didn't even notice anything."
"This breakthrough was relatively easy, and I didn't encounter any major obstacles. Besides, I was cultivating in the Flower Branch Cave Heaven, which was sealed with a powerful array to conceal my aura. That's why there was no commotion. However, when I break through to the Tai Yi late-stage realm, I won't be able to stay in the Flower Branch Cave Heaven, and the disturbance will be much greater. I'll need to find a new place to cultivate," Han Li explained.
Han Li and Tí Hún were chatting and laughing when, in the Qing Huo tribe's council hall, a heated discussion was underway.
"Tribe leader, when that person came to our tribe, I felt that he was suspicious. Now, with this news from the Xian Palace, he's probably the one who's been slaughtering ordinary people to cultivate dark magic. We can't let someone like that stay in our tribe!" Qiú Zhǎnglǎo said, his face filled with anxiety.
"Yes, Qiú Zhǎnglǎo is right. We can't trust the human tribe, and we must be cautious. What if he's indeed the one on the wanted list?" another elder said, nodding in agreement.
Several others in the room nodded in agreement, their faces grave with concern.
"I don't think there's been a misunderstanding," Yè Sùsù said, her face red with anger. "Han Li's aura is calm and composed, not at all like that of a dark cultivator. He wouldn't be the one on the wanted list. Besides, he saved me and my mother, so he can't be that kind of person."
The Qing Huo tribe's elders looked at each other, unsure of what to do. "If the people of the Immortal Palace were to investigate here, our Qing Huo tribe would be unable to bear the consequences, and even the entire Qing Huo City might be destroyed in an instant." Another elder sighed and said.
"Yes, it can't be like this..."
"It can't be that we would put the lives of the entire tribe at risk because of an outsider..."
"Tribe leader, think carefully!"
The great hall was filled with murmurs and sighs.
"Uncle and elder uncles, Han Li has done us a great favor, and we, the Qing Huo tribe, can't be ungrateful and repay kindness with enmity, can we?" Ye Su Su exclaimed loudly, seeing that most of the people were in agreement.
After her outburst, the great hall finally quieted down, and everyone's face showed a hint of guilt.
"I understand what you all mean," a gentle voice suddenly spoke up.
Everyone turned to look at the dignified woman sitting on the large chair, Ye Luo, the tribe leader of the Qing Huo tribe.
"No matter what the Immortal Palace's wanted poster says, Han Li has done us a great favor, and we can't repay kindness with enmity," Ye Luo said calmly.
"Mother, you are wise..." Ye Su Su nodded repeatedly.
"But, Han Li has been targeted by the Immortal Palace, and we can't continue to keep him in our tribe, or it would be a disaster for both us and him," Ye Luo said, interrupting Ye Su Su.
Ye Su Su's face fell upon hearing this.
Although she was grateful to Han Li for his help, she knew that her mother was right, and she had been unwilling to admit it earlier. Now that her mother had spoken, she could only remain silent.
The others nodded in agreement, and some even let out a sigh of relief.
"Su Su, Han Li was brought to our tribe by you, and this matter can only be discussed with him by you," Ye Luo said, looking at her daughter.
Ye Su Su opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately said nothing, nodding silently.
"This person's identity is unknown, and I don't want the young master to go and negotiate with him personally. I'll go and talk to him instead," Qi Long said, his face sinking.
"Qi Long, Han Li is our tribe's benefactor, and he has a connection with Su Su. Since the matter started with her, it should be ended by her," Ye Luo said, shaking her head.
"Qi Long, don't worry, I'll go and settle this matter," Ye Su Su said, bowing.
"This... fine, I'll go with you," Qi Long said, sighing.
About half an hour later, two figures appeared, and they landed outside the small courtyard. The children on the small path outside the courtyard called out, "Sister, sister," and gathered around.
Ye Su Su didn't have time to play with them today, so she let them go and play on their own, while she and Qi Long went to the small courtyard door and knocked.
The sound of the knock was followed by a gentle male voice: "Please come in."
Ye Su Su and Qi Long pushed open the door and saw Han Li sitting at the stone table in the courtyard, holding a cup of tea and smiling at them.
"Han Li..."
Ye Su Su greeted Han Li, but then remembered the purpose of her visit and felt a pang of guilt, lowering her head.
Qi Long stepped forward, placing himself in front of Ye Su Su, his eyes scanning the surroundings before landing on Han Li with a cautious expression.
"Since it's Ye Su Su and Qi Long who have come together, I suppose it's not a private matter, and it's related to me, right? Please speak freely," Han Li said, ignoring Qi Long's caution.
Qi Long's eyes sank, and he was about to speak when Ye Su Su raised her hand to stop him.
"Han Li, please forgive me for being abrupt. The matter is this..." Ye Su Su stepped forward and explained the situation with the Immortal Palace's wanted poster, but didn't mention the part about him leaving the Qing Huo City.
Han Li listened seriously, and after Ye Su Su finished, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "The Immortal Palace is being so secretive, and they're even fabricating a false charge against me?"
Ci Hun also smiled silently.
"I knew it, Han Li wouldn't be a cruel person," Ye Su Su said, her face relaxing into a smile.
Han Li's expression turned serious, and he said, "The Immortal Palace is being too cunning, and they're even using such a false charge against me."
Qiu Changlao saw Ye Susu's appearance and frowned, taking a step forward, wanting to say something.
In her view, their young master was not yet familiar with the world, and his trust in Han Qianbei, a human, was a bit excessive. Seeing that she couldn't speak, she had the intention to ask Han Li to leave.
"Ye Gongzhu, since the Xian Gong's wanted poster has already reached Jin Xi City, it's only a matter of time before they find the Qing Huo tribe's head. If I continue to stay in Qing Huo City, I'll only bring trouble to you. I'll pack up and leave immediately." Before Qiu Changlao could speak, Han Li said solemnly:
Qiu Changlao heard this and her expression changed slightly, the words she had prepared to say were swallowed back, and her previous intention to be firm was rendered useless. She didn't expect Han Li to say this.
"Han Qianbei, I believe you're not a bad person, but..." Ye Susu said, feeling guilty.
"You don't need to feel guilty, I've been a burden to the Qing Huo tribe for a long time, and it's time for me to leave. Ti Hu, go pack up, we'll leave soon." Han Li smiled and waved his hand, turning to Ti Hu.
Ti Hu responded and entered the main hall.
There wasn't much to pack up in the house, only the sealing array that Han Li had set up needed to be dismantled.
"Han Qianbei, the Qing Huo tribe is just a small tribe, we can't resist the Xian Gong, we can only trouble you, please forgive us. But rest assured, we won't reveal any information about your stay here." Ye Susu bowed to Han Li and said.
"No, after we leave, tomorrow morning, you'll go to Jin Xi City and find the Xian Gong's investigator, report to them that we stayed in the Qing Huo tribe. Make sure the time is accurate, don't leave out any details." Han Li said, astonishing Ye Susu.
"What...Han Qianbei, what are you saying?" Ye Susu asked, not believing her ears.
Qiu Changlao heard this and her expression changed again, thinking for a moment before understanding the situation. She looked at Han Li with a changed gaze.
"Ye Gongzhu, don't be surprised, my intention is to let you report my whereabouts to the Xian Gong." Han Li smiled and said.
"Are you saying, let us guide them to the wrong direction, lead them to chase after us?" Ye Susu asked, slightly stunned.
"After we leave Qing Huo City, we'll continue north to the Jin Yuan mountain range. You must tell them our direction, don't change it, or it will bring disaster to the Qing Huo tribe. Remember, remember." Han Li shook his head and said.
" Han Qianbei, the more you explain, the more I don't understand." Ye Susu said, puzzled.
"Shaozhu, whether we report or not, the Xian Gong will find out that Han Qianbei was in our Qing Huo City. Rather than waiting for them to come and threaten us, it's better to report it ourselves. Han Qianbei is doing this to protect our Qing Huo tribe." Qiu Changlao said, breaking her silence.
"If you report, the Xian Gong will definitely come to investigate, and only if they find some useful information will they not bother you. Han Qianbei nodded and said.
Ye Susu heard this and finally understood, not knowing what to say.
" Han Qianbei's benevolence is not only saving our tribe leader but also considering our tribe's well-being. I previously thought of you as a small-minded person, and I'm truly ashamed." Qiu Changlao stood up, bowed to Han Li, and said.
"Qiu Changlao, don't be like that, during my stay in Qing Huo City, I've enjoyed the peace and quiet, and I should be the one thanking you." Han Li raised his hand to help Qiu Changlao up and said.
As they spoke, Ti Hu returned to the courtyard, nodded to Han Li, and the two of them prepared to leave.
Seeing Han Li about to leave, Ye Susu felt a pang of reluctance and asked, "Han Qianbei, will we meet again in the future?"
"Han Mou is troubled, it's better not to meet again." Han Li said, his expression unchanged.
He and Ti Hu appeared in the courtyard, bid farewell, and their bodies were enveloped in a flash of light as they disappeared into the sky.
Ye Susu looked at the empty courtyard, feeling a sense of loss.
"Shaozhu, if fate allows it, we'll meet again." Qiu Changlao walked up to her and said softly.
Ye Susu heard this and nodded, a smile on her face.
...
The flash of light that tore through the sky headed north, but didn't fly far, stopping at a mountain peak a few thousand miles away.
Han Li and Ti Hu appeared from the flash of light, standing at the edge of a cliff, looking out into the distance.
"Master, isn't it a bit too close to stay here?" Ti Hu asked.
"It's not, after the Qing Huo tribe reports, the Xian Gong will definitely send people to investigate. If we're too far away, and the people they send don't arrive, they'll return and report that they didn't find our tracks, which will still bring trouble to the Qing Huo tribe." Han Li shook his head and said slowly.
"Master is indeed thoughtful." Ti Hu smiled.
Han Li smiled back and said, "Let's go, we'll continue north to the Jin Yuan mountain range." Han Li said, "The Qing Huo tribe may be weak, but their nature is simple and unassuming, and they do not contend with the world. They are completely different from the fox tribe I saw in the past..."
He suddenly stopped speaking, and a hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes.
He didn't know how the little fox he had shared joys and sorrows with was doing in the Barbarian Realm.
"Master, since you have a favorable impression of the Qing Huo tribe, why not help them a bit? It would be good to let them not be controlled by the likes of the Jin Ma Sect," Qī Hún said, looking at Han Li.
"We currently have too many troubles to deal with, and we can't get too entangled with the Qing Huo tribe. Whatever we leave behind could bring them disaster, so we must be cautious. Let's wait until the future when we don't have so many restrictions, and then we can visit the Qing Huo tribe again," Han Li said with a sigh.
The two of them stayed there until noon, and Han Li took out a bi yu flying car, bringing Qī Hún with him as they flew into the sky and continued fleeing north.
...
Two days later.
Above the Qing Huo City, dozens of giant golden spirit ships were floating in the air, their hulls covered in spirit lights and symbols.
From a distance, one could see the flags waving on the decks, and thousands of armored warriors standing at attention, their spears and halberds like a forest.
Half of the Qing Huo City was shrouded in the shadow of the ships, and the fox tribe people looked up at the sky, trembling with fear.
At this moment, in a remote courtyard within the city, a group of people were standing.
One of them was a middle-aged man wearing a white silk robe, with a hint of gray in his temples, sitting at a stone table in the courtyard, gazing at the flowers in the garden with a faintly melancholic expression.
Behind him stood a young man in a colorful robe, and a large man in a black robe with a ghost head knife on his back, who were Táo Jī and Hei Dāo.
"Was the thief living in this courtyard before?" Táo Jī asked, his brow furrowed.
The several Qing Huo tribe people standing behind him nodded.
"Report to the Immortal Messenger, that person was living in this courtyard, and had been in seclusion for a long time. He suddenly left two days ago, and we didn't know why. We only received the news from the Jin Xī City yesterday, and immediately reported it," a woman in a tight-fitting green silk dress said, stepping forward and bowing slightly.
Yè Suǒ was standing beside Qīu Zhǎnglǎo, her lips pursed, and said nothing.
"Was it you who brought the thief back to your Qing Huo City?" Táo Jī asked, his eyes shifting to Yè Suǒ.
Yè Suǒ's heart skipped a beat when she heard this, but her expression didn't change much, and she replied calmly:
"It was me who brought him back to our tribe. After he saved me, I invited him to stay in our tribe as a token of gratitude. I didn't know he was... a wanted fugitive..."
"That person left two days ago, but you only reported it yesterday. Are you intentionally covering for him?" Táo Jī suddenly sneered.
"The Immortal Messenger is joking, right? This is a grave crime that our Qing Huo tribe cannot afford to bear. We really only received the news from the Jin Xī City yesterday, and immediately reported it, without any delay," Yè Luó said, hastily bowing.
"We beg the Immortal Messenger to see the truth!" Qīu Zhǎnglǎo and the others also bowed, their faces pale.
Yè Suǒ bowed as well, but in her heart, she was secretly resentful, thinking that these people from the Immortal Palace were hypocritical, and not as kind as Hán Lǐ, who seemed aloof and distant, but actually had a warm heart.
"Hmph! Whether or not we're joking, we'll know when Lǚ Zhǎnglǎo returns. If he doesn't find any evidence of the thief's trail heading north, then you're lying, and we'll punish you as accomplices," Táo Jī sneered.
Qīu Zhǎnglǎo and the others heard this, and their hearts tightened.
After all, not all the Qing Huo tribe people were as trusting of Hán Lǐ as Yè Suǒ. They were worried that if Hán Lǐ didn't follow the route he said he would, or didn't leave any evidence, then their Qing Huo tribe would be in danger.
"Why did you report him, when he had helped your Qing Huo tribe? Isn't that forgetting gratitude and repaying kindness with enmity?" Dōng Fāng Bái suddenly turned around, his eyes fixed on Yè Suǒ.
Yè Suǒ felt a surge of fear when he looked at her like that, and her heart tightened.
"R-reporting to the Immortal Messenger... I, we..." she stuttered, unable to say a complete sentence.
At this moment, a white jade hand stretched out from behind her, grasping her slightly chilly hand, and tightening it gently.
Yè Suǒ didn't need to look to know it was her mother, and her heart calmed down a bit.
"Reporting to the Immortal Messenger, that person indeed had a connection with our Qing Huo tribe, but he had been hiding in our tribe for over a hundred years. We had already repaid the kindness he showed us, and had unknowingly broken the laws of the Immortal Realm. We had already done enough. As for the past, we won't mention it, but now that we know he's a wanted fugitive, we Qing Huo tribe must report it. How could we not? That would be disloyal and unrighteous," Yè Suǒ said, her voice steady, repeating the words she had prepared earlier.
Dōng Fāng Bái listened, his face expressionless, his eyes still fixed on Yè Suǒ, trying to read her emotions.
Ye Susu was no longer flustered, calmly meeting Dongfang Bai's gaze as he looked at her.
In her mind, she recalled the words Han Li had said to her when they parted ways, and she couldn't help but feel a deep sense of admiration. It seemed that everything that was happening today was within his expectations, and she only needed to follow his plan.
Just then, a burst of air-piercing sound echoed through the air, and a streak of light shot down from the sky, plummeting towards the courtyard.
The light dissipated, revealing a tall, thin old man with gray hair and a long nose.
"Lu Changlao, how was it?" Dongfang Bai asked calmly, his eyes fixed on the old man.
"I reported to the Palace Master, in a mountain peak several thousand miles north of here, I found some residual aura. It seemed that Han Li had stopped there for a while and switched to a flying vehicle, a type of spiritual artifact. After that, I tracked him to a place near the Jin Yuan mountain range, where I found some faint residual aura, but it was very weak. I suspect he used some method to conceal his tracks. I marked the location and didn't pursue further," the old man said, bowing deeply.
"You did well," Dongfang Bai nodded, his expression unchanging.
"So, it seems they didn't lie... This person is indeed cunning!" Tao Ji muttered to himself, his eyes narrowing.
"Let's go," Dongfang Bai said, turning to look at Ye Susu once more before disappearing into thin air.
Tao Ji and the others quickly followed suit, vanishing from sight.
The courtyard was left empty, with only the members of the Qing Huo tribe staring at each other in silence.
Ye Susu's palms were sweating, and she glanced at her mother before looking up at the warships hovering above the city, her mind filled with doubts. What kind of person was this Han Li, to warrant such a massive response from the Heavenly Palace?
On the deck of one of the warships, Tao Ji and the others reappeared, seeing Dongfang Bai standing at the ship's rail, gazing down at the city below.
As they approached, he suddenly spoke up, his voice cold and detached.
"Destroy the entire tribe."
"What? They..." Tao Ji's expression changed, and he hastily spoke up, but then stopped himself.
The Qing Huo tribe's involvement with Han Li was of no concern to Dongfang Bai; what mattered was Han Li's whereabouts, and he couldn't let anyone else find out. Otherwise, it would attract unwanted attention, and he wouldn't be able to claim the credit for retrieving the Heavenly Bottle.
"Understood!" Hei Dao replied, his voice firm.
"Make sure to leave no traces behind. If the Heavenly Prison finds out, it will be a hassle," Dongfang Bai added.
"Yes," Hei Dao replied, turning to leave.
"Tao Changlao, Lu Changlao, bring the army and speed up the pursuit. We can't let Han Li get away," Dongfang Bai ordered.
"Yes," Lu Yun replied, his voice respectful.
Tao Ji hesitated for a moment before speaking up, "Yes."
He had a deep understanding of Han Li's terrifying strength, and if possible, he would have liked to bring more people to aid in the pursuit. However, with Dongfang Bai leading the charge, he knew he wouldn't be able to intervene. At the very least, he could witness the battle firsthand.
Dongfang Bai raised his hand, and a wave of white light surged forth, revealing a ten-meter-long white flying vessel adorned with intricate symbols and glowing with a soft, ethereal light. It was undoubtedly a high-grade spiritual artifact.
He stepped onto the vessel, and Tao Ji and the others followed closely behind.
As Lu Yun pointed out the direction, the vessel burst into a brilliant white light, shooting off into the distance and disappearing from view.
Meanwhile, the golden warships hovering above the city began to stir, their symbols glowing with an intense, golden light. The ships slowly descended, their attack arrays opening up, unleashing a devastating aura that engulfed the city.
The city was soon engulfed in flames, and the destruction was said to have been caused by a heavenly calamity.
Time passed, and half a year went by. In the northern part of the Jinyuan Immortal Realm, there was a river system called the Longjiang River, which converged with the Yujiang River and the Shuiyang River to form a vast lake called the Sanjiang Lake, spanning thousands of miles, beneath the Shubi Mountain.
Legend had it that the Sanjiang Lake was originally a place with hundreds of peaks and hills, all connected to the Shubi Mountain, which was a branch of the Jinyuan Mountain Range stretching northwards. A large immortal sect had once been built here.
However, in an unknown era, a great war broke out, and the immortal sect was completely destroyed. The majority of the peaks and hills were also destroyed in the battle, and the land sank into the ground.
After countless years of transformation, the Longjiang River and the other two rivers changed their courses, converging at this place, and burying the remaining peaks and hills under the water.
Although the immortal sect had perished, the Shubi Mountain still had many remnants of its ancient buildings, most of which were occupied by the "Shuli Sect", which was built less than a hundred thousand years ago. After renovation and reconstruction, it had a fresh new atmosphere.
However, after being washed away by the tides of time, the Shuli Sect only obtained some remnants of the ancient buildings, and the remaining treasures of the immortal sect were also mere remnants.
Rumor had it that beneath the Sanjiang Lake, there were still some remnants of the ancient immortal sect, some of which still had arrays protecting them, and inside, there might be some undiscovered treasures.
After the Shuli Sect was built, it naturally included the Sanjiang Lake within its sphere of influence. However, due to its lack of strength, it did not dare to seal it off for exclusive use, but instead, after development, it renovated some of the remaining immortal sects and built them into dragon palaces and water residences, which were rented out to cultivators.
High-level cultivators naturally looked down on the residual spiritual energy in the water residences, but many true immortal cultivators, especially those who cultivated water attribute techniques or water attribute laws, liked to reside here.
Relying on the rent, the Shuli Sect lived a comfortable life.
One day, a young cultivator with a tall stature and ordinary appearance came to the Shuli Sect's welcoming hall, seeking to rent a water residence for cultivation.
This young cultivator was none other than Han Li.
The attendant elder was a slightly plump, round-faced old man with kind eyebrows and eyes. Seeing the young cultivator's ordinary appearance and attire, he secretly looked down on him.
"Guest, you want to rent a water residence? That's just in time, as there are only three remaining water residences in the Sanjiang Lake. I'll bring the map for you to choose."
Han Li stretched out his hand to stop the elder, smiling and saying, "No hurry, I heard there are over a dozen unopened water residences in the Sanjiang Lake. I'd like to choose one from those."
In fact, the Sanjiang Lake did have many water residences, but after thousands of years of development, most of them had been opened up, and only a few were still sealed off by powerful immortals, which the Shuli Sect could not open.
However, the Shuli Sect did not spend a lot of money to hire experts to break the seals, but instead announced that anyone who paid the same price as the other water residences could obtain the qualification to enter the unopened water residences.
Whether or not they could actually enter, depended on the cultivator's abilities.
As for the treasures obtained from the water residences, as long as they did not affect the continued existence of the water residences, they would belong to the cultivator who rented them.
In the beginning, many cultivators came to rent the unopened water residences, but most of them failed, and those who did enter were often killed inside. Only a few lucky ones managed to open the water residences and return with treasures.
However, as time passed, most cultivators realized the truth and lost interest in coming to the Sanjiang Lake to take risks. The attendant elder had not seen someone like Han Li, who came to rent an unopened water residence, in a long time.
"Ah, good, good! Guest, please sit down and wait for a moment. Even if you want to rent an unopened water residence, you'll need to look at the map and choose one. I'll go get it."
The round-faced old man led Han Li to a side hall and sat him down, then turned to leave.
As he turned, he asked, "By the way, may I ask your name, guest?"
"Han Li," Han Li replied casually without looking up.
"Ah, Han Li, nice to meet you," the old man said with a nod, before turning to leave.
A moment later, the old man returned with a map of the Sanjiang Lake's underwater layout, and gave Han Li a rough explanation of the distribution of the water residences and their current rental status.
Han Li listened to the old man's explanation while his eyes scanned the map, searching for the perfect water residence.
"This should be an unopened water government, right?" After a moment, Han Li suddenly pointed to the bottom of the map and asked.
"Not bad, this is indeed the case. However, I must advise you, esteemed guest, that even if you're interested in this place, it's not worth trying. It's pointless." The round-faced old man glanced at Han Li, smiling and waving his hand.
"Why is that?" Han Li asked curiously.
"Please don't be offended, I'm only warning you out of kindness. I don't want to see you end up empty-handed. This water government has been attempted by many, including True Immortal and Golden Immortal cultivators, but none have succeeded. The grand entrance's restrictive spell alone has deterred everyone, and two unfortunate souls tried to force their way through, triggering the spell's counterattack. One was severely injured, and the other lost his life, unable to even escape with his Nascent Soul." The round-faced old man shook his head, sighing.
"I see, thank you for the warning. I have some knowledge of restrictive spells, so I'm confident I can at least protect myself. Don't worry, I've made up my mind to choose this place." Han Li revealed a thoughtful expression, then said.
"Very well... I'll wish you good luck, esteemed guest. Once you've paid the fee, I'll send someone to escort you." The round-faced old man saw Han Li's determination and stopped trying to dissuade him, speaking instead.
After Han Li paid the fee, the round-faced old man no longer bothered with him, sending a young girl in a red dress with a gentle complexion to escort him to the Three Rivers Lake.
The girl had a round face with two shallow dimples, giving her a perpetually smiling appearance. She seemed friendly and approachable.
Han Li and the girl flew down from the Comb Mountains, following a small path along the lake's edge towards the shore.
"I don't think you're a foolish person, esteemed guest, so why did you choose this Ghostly Concerns Government?" The girl asked, leading the way.
"Ghostly Concerns Government? What do you mean by that?" Han Li asked, furrowing his brow.
"It's because since this water government was opened, no one has been able to open it. Instead, many people have been injured or lost their lives trying. It's as if the government is 'ghostly' and 'concerning'! We've given it the nickname 'Ghostly Concerns Government' in private. However, this isn't its official name. If you're able to open it, you can give it a more auspicious name."
"Oh, 'Ghostly Concerns Government' is a good name. Let's just call it that." Han Li thought for a moment before saying.
"This... isn't me being talkative, but perhaps we should wait until you've actually opened the water government before naming it. Ah... esteemed guest, if you're willing to listen, I advise you not to force it when you're underwater. If you can't handle the restrictive spell, please return immediately and don't be stubborn." The girl seemed to remember something and warned Han Li.
"By the way, what's your name?" Han Li asked, smiling.
The girl was taken aback, seemingly surprised that someone had asked her name. After a moment, she replied, "My name is Hu Xiaocheng."
"Xiaocheng... a name that implies stability and contentment. It's a good name." Han Li nodded thoughtfully.
After speaking, he fell silent, his mind wandering to another name: Ye Susu.
Just last month, he had heard a rumor that the city of Qinghu had been suddenly attacked by a divine calamity, burning the entire city to ashes and killing everyone. Han Li had only thought about it briefly before realizing what had happened, which was why he had come to the Three Rivers Lake.
The girl saw Han Li's expression change and wisely stopped talking, leading him in silence.
When they arrived at the lake's edge, the gentle breeze blowing from the lake's surface made Hu Xiaocheng feel comfortable, and she couldn't help but stretch and take a deep breath.
Han Li gazed out at the sparkling lake, feeling a sense of freedom and joy that he hadn't experienced in a long time. The shadows in his heart had faded slightly.
"We're here, esteemed guest. If you head down from the water's edge, you'll reach the Ghostly Concerns Government after a few hundred feet." Hu Xiaocheng pointed, looking at Han Li.
"Thank you. Please wait here, I'll be back soon." Han Li nodded, then suddenly dove into the water without waiting for Hu Xiaocheng's response.
Hu Xiaocheng's eyes widened as she tried to speak, but Han Li was already gone. She let out a soft sigh and muttered to herself, "Why is he in such a hurry? I didn't even get to warn him about the dangers... Ah, well, I suppose it's not my place to worry about him. He seems like a big shot, but he's probably just a True Immortal cultivator at best. How could he possibly open the Ghostly Concerns Government? It's just a pipe dream!"
Just as Hu Xiaocheng was about to continue, the water's surface erupted in a massive wave, and a figure appeared beside her. When she opened her eyes to see Han Li standing there, she was taken aback, then smiled and said... “So you're back already? I thought you'd at least try for a few hours before giving up, but I suppose it's good that you didn't get stuck in the restrictions. You're quite lucky, indeed.”
“You little girl, you're not even that old, but your mind is full of twists and turns. Go call your elder and tell them I want to pay the fee for opening this place.”
Han Li raised his hand and patted Hu Xiao Cheng's forehead, smiling as he said this.
“What...you mean you've already...” Hu Xiao Cheng's eyes widened in shock.
“Go ahead,” Han Li said with a smile, not confirming or denying anything.
Hu Xiao Cheng shook her head and turned to leave, flying towards the mountain.
Not long after, the round-faced elder returned with Hu Xiao Cheng, looking just as surprised.
After he personally checked the place, he finally believed that Han Li had indeed broken through the restrictions, his face filled with a mix of shock and amazement.
After Han Li paid the fee in spirit stones, the round-faced elder smiled and said, “This place will belong to you, Han Li, for the next three years. As we previously said, all the treasures produced here, as long as they don't affect the continuation of the water mansion, will belong to you alone.”
“Thank you,” Han Li said with a bow.
“By the way, now that this place is open, I hope you'll give it a name,” the round-faced elder added.
Han Li glanced at Hu Xiao Cheng and said, “Let's call it Gui Chou Fu.”
The round-faced elder's expression changed for a moment, but he didn't say anything else and simply nodded.
As he prepared to leave, he said, “Xiao Cheng, you'll stay with Han Li and attend to him. If you have any needs, report back to the sect immediately.”
Hu Xiao Cheng quickly bowed and said, “Yes, sir.”
Han Li nodded slightly, not refusing the offer.
“Want to take a look at Gui Chou Fu?” Han Li asked Hu Xiao Cheng after the round-faced elder left.
Hu Xiao Cheng nodded eagerly.
Han Li raised his hand and grasped Hu Xiao Cheng's shoulder, and a layer of blue light enveloped them both. They leaped forward, plunging into the lake.
The surface of the lake still had sunlight, but as they descended, it grew darker.
Hu Xiao Cheng had guided people to other water mansions before, but she had never been this deep. She kept her eyes wide open, looking around.
The lake was filled with broken mountain peaks, some still intact, others shattered into small mounds. The peaks had clusters of light on them, which upon closer inspection, revealed various colored screens covering the water mansions. These water mansions were far away, looking like stars in the night sky.
Han Li brought Hu Xiao Cheng to the bottom of the lake, stopping in front of a small mountain.
Hu Xiao Cheng looked up and saw a screen of light on top of the mountain, with a narrow, winding courtyard hidden inside.
Han Li pulled her arm, and they burst through the screen of light, entering the courtyard.
As they landed on the square, Han Li dispelled the light covering them.
“Ancestor's Hall...this is actually the Ancestor's Hall of that sect?” Hu Xiao Cheng exclaimed, looking at the inscription on the gate.
“Otherwise, why do you think no one has been able to break through the restrictions here for so many years?” Han Li smiled.
“Then, sir, how did you break through the restrictions?” Hu Xiao Cheng asked without thinking.
“I've read a lot of books,” Han Li replied with a smile.
He had actually seen the protective array of the Ancestor's Hall in an ancient text, and it wasn't a mountain-protecting array, so breaking it wasn't too difficult.
“Sir, you've really hit the jackpot this time! The Ancestor's Hall usually has the sect's secret classics and heavy treasures...” Hu Xiao Cheng said, her eyes gleaming with envy.
Han Li walked up the stairs and pushed open the two black doors, saying casually, "Maybe there's a secret manual, but don't expect to find any powerful artifacts. The sect was destroyed, and even the mountain peak where the ancestral hall was located was sliced off by a sword. If there were any powerful artifacts, they would have been taken out to defend against the enemy, not left in the ancestral hall."
The girl looked a bit disappointed, but soon regained her enthusiasm, saying, "But having a secret manual is still great, a high-level cultivation technique is just as valuable. If we can get a few, it won't be a wasted trip."
The doors creaked open, revealing a narrow corridor, and Han Li and the girl walked in. The corridor was empty, with only a large bronze cauldron in the center, covered in green copper rust. Han Li noticed that the cauldron had ancient symbols etched onto it, and the water inside was half full, with a black lotus flower floating on the surface, emitting a strong water attribute law.
"Wow, such a strong water aura..." Hu Xiao Cheng exclaimed, his eyes wide with wonder.
Han Li smiled and said, "Looks like there's still some good stuff here."
He waved his hand, and the cauldron disappeared in a flash of silver light, absorbed into the flower branch cave.
The corridor led to a large hall, which seemed to be a meeting hall, with only a few old and worn-out cushions inside. Han Li and the girl walked through the hall, and behind it was a small courtyard, paved with white stones, looking like a martial arts training ground.
At the end of the courtyard was the most important building in the ancestral hall, a large temple with a red plaque on the door, inscribed with the words "Source Far and Wide".
Inside the temple, Han Li saw a high nine-layer altar, with many wooden plaques on it, each with a golden pattern, and a list of names of the sect's leaders and elders. Han Li counted them and found that there were over 80 people.
At the bottom of the altar, there were two thick books, bound in gold and jade, with a golden glow surrounding them. Han Li opened them and found that they were not cultivation techniques, but rather a record of the sect's history and a genealogy of the sect's members.
"Originally, this sect was called Qing Jing Sect, and it has been passed down for so long, yet it still suffered from destruction..." Hu Xiao Cheng sighed.
Han Li thought of the Zhen Yan Sect and the Ming Han Xian Fu, and how they had also suffered from unexpected disasters.
He looked up at the highest layer of the altar and saw a plaque with the name "Chang Qing Liu" on it, which seemed unusual. He reached out and grabbed the plaque, and a small jade slip flew out from it.
Han Li took the jade slip and examined it, then put it back in its original place. "It's the sect's secret manual, called 'The Formless Record'."
Hu Xiao Cheng's eyes widened in surprise, and he asked, "Is that the sect's secret manual?"
Han Li nodded and said, "Yes, it's a cultivation technique for water attribute law. Although it's not very useful to me, my clone in the Black Wind Sea might be able to use it."
The two of them searched the ancestral hall again, but found nothing else. Han Li wasn't disappointed, as the jade slip and the bronze cauldron were already worth more than the spirit stones he had paid.
As they sat on the doorstep of the ancestral hall, Han Li asked Hu Xiao Cheng, "When the elder asked you to follow me, did he also ask you to report my movements?"
Hu Xiao Cheng looked surprised, then nodded, "How did you know?"
Han Li smiled and said, "I just guessed. It's not just you, all the guests who come to rent the ancestral hall are assigned someone to follow them, right?"
Hu Xiao Cheng nodded, "Yes, that's right. But usually, it's a beautiful female cultivator who is assigned to follow them. This time, I don't know why, but the elder assigned me to follow you." Han Li said, "That elder must have looked down on me and didn't believe I could break through the Water Manor's seal, that's why he sent you here."
Hu Xiaocheng's eyes widened in realization. "I see..."
Han Li's expression turned serious. "Remember, others can look down on you, even despise you, but you yourself must not look down on yourself. I've observed that your cultivation talent is not bad, but you're currently stuck at the Nascent Soul stage, likely due to a lack of resources."
Hu Xiaocheng didn't understand why Han Li mentioned this and nodded vaguely.
Han Li flipped his palm, producing a small, crimson ceramic bottle, which he handed to her. "I don't have any low-grade pills that would be suitable for you. The pills in this bottle can only be used when you reach the Congealing Period or later. You can keep it for now and take it when you've made progress in your cultivation."
Hu Xiaocheng was taken aback, hesitating to take the bottle.
Han Li saw her reaction and placed the bottle in her hand, then raised his finger to tap her forehead.
Hu Xiaocheng felt a jolt in her mind, and her body swayed slightly before stabilizing. When she looked up, she saw that Han Li's hand had already withdrawn.
She searched her mind, finding that many characters had appeared, which were none other than the 'Formless Record' cultivation technique.
"Respected guest, you..." Hu Xiaocheng's body shook, and she stood up, unable to speak.
Han Li's expression turned solemn, and he stood up from the doorway. "It won't be long before the Three Rivers Lake is turned upside down."
Hu Xiaocheng changed her tone, asking, "Are you planning to do something big, having rented this Water Manor?"
Han Li replied calmly, "It's not a big deal, just waiting for someone."
Hu Xiaocheng asked, "Is it a friend?"
Han Li's expression turned cold. "An enemy."
Hu Xiaocheng's brow furrowed. "What can I do to help you?"
Han Li shook his head. "I've already removed the mark left on you by the Comb Ridge Sect. You should leave the Comb Ridge Mountain immediately and go as far as you can. Don't come back here again."
Hu Xiaocheng looked puzzled, asking, "Why are you treating me so kindly?"
Han Li looked at her, sighed, and said, "Consider it a compensation for the guilt I feel towards another girl..."
Hu Xiaocheng saw Han Li's somber expression and felt a pang of sadness.
She thought for a moment before bowing deeply. "If I make progress in my cultivation, I'll come back to repay your kindness."
Han Li smiled. "Go."
Hu Xiaocheng bowed again before flying away.
After her figure disappeared, a ripple appeared beside Han Li, and the ghostly figure of Qiuhun emerged.
"Master, aren't you afraid she'll go back to the Comb Ridge Mountain and report you to get a reward?" Qiuhun asked anxiously.
Han Li chuckled. "When have I ever misjudged someone?"
Qiuhun smiled, saying nothing.
"Even if she truly disappoints me, it's not a big deal. I'm not hiding anything, and I'm using my true name, hoping the people from the Immortal Palace will know I'm here."
Qiuhun nodded. "This time, they'll definitely come and not leave."
Han Li patted his hands. "Since we've decided to welcome guests, we should prepare properly and not be rude."
He turned and entered the Ancestral Hall.
Half a month later.
On the Comb Ridge Mountain, a ten-meter-long white flying shuttle hovered in the air, radiating a brilliant light.
Four people stood on the shuttle: a middle-aged man in white robes, followed by an old man with a long nose, a young man in colorful robes, and a black-robed giant.
They were Dongfang Bai and his group.
Below them, on the mountain peak, stood a young man in a green, gauzy robe and a round-faced old man. The young man was the current master of the Comb Ridge Sect, while the old man was the same steward who had received Han Li.
The two men wore slightly obsequious smiles as they gazed up at the four people.
Dongfang Bai looked down at them and asked, "Besides reporting to the Immortal Palace, have you leaked any information about the person staying here?"
The steward and the young master exchanged a glance before responding.
Here is the translation of the chapter:
"Reporting to the heavenly messenger, after Elder Lu reported to me, I felt that the matter was extremely important, so I immediately sealed off the information. Now, only the two of us know about it within the entire sect, and to prevent any unexpected surprises, we have also kept it hidden from the other cultivators who are currently residing in the lake's water palace."
The young master of the Suo Liu Sect, a handsome and elegant youth, quickly spoke up.
"This is good, we won't have to waste our energy destroying the entire sect..." Dongfang Bai nodded, seemingly lost in thought.
The young master and the old man with a round face exchanged a glance, both of them furrowing their brows in suspicion, their eyes filled with doubt.
However, before they could think clearly, they suddenly found themselves frozen in place, unable to move even a single limb.
The only thing they could move was their eyeballs, which they used to look at each other in shock and horror. They discovered that a layer of green, slimy moss had grown on their bodies, and on top of the moss, a large, beautiful flower had bloomed.
"No..."
As the young master let out a pained cry, the flower burst into bloom, its color turning a deep red, and its surface even exuding a few drops of crystal clear dew. It looked incredibly beautiful and alluring.
In contrast, the two men wrapped in the moss seemed to have had their life force drained away, their skin dry and withered, like two ugly, mummified corpses.
Dongfang Bai glanced at them expressionlessly, then turned to ask, "Elder Lu, is that person's aura still present here?"
"It is still present," the old man, who looked like a rat spirit, replied, wrinkling his nose.
"As long as he is still here, that's good," Dongfang Bai said with a smile.
Tao Ji's gaze fell on the vast expanse of water in the distance, his eyes clouding over with uncertainty. However, he couldn't shake off the feeling of unease in his heart.
"Tao Ji, do you have something to say?" Dongfang Bai asked, noticing the change in Tao Ji's expression.
"Palace Master, considering Han Li's past behavior, he is not someone who would be careless. This time, he left behind such an obvious trail, allowing us to track him down. I think there might be something fishy going on," Tao Ji said.
"Is Tao Elder afraid because of what happened last time? How could he possibly escape with the Palace Master here?" the black-robed man sneered.
Dongfang Bai, however, waved his hand and said, "Tao Elder's words make sense, let's be cautious."
Tao Ji quickly bowed in response.
With a flick of his wrist, Dongfang Bai sent a white flying dart shooting out, which instantly arrived above the lake.
"It's that area of the lake," Lu Yun pointed out.
"Palace Master, please wait, let me split open the lake and force him to show himself," the black-robed man said, drawing his ghost-headed knife.
"There's no need, we're guests, we can't just start fighting before we've even entered the door," Dongfang Bai said, smiling faintly.
He raised his finger and pointed at the air, and a green light shot out, disappearing into the lake.
The lake's surface, which had been calm, suddenly erupted into a massive whirlpool, and a giant spiral-shaped hole appeared, leading down to the bottom of the lake where the Gui Qiu water palace was located.
At the same time, a green spiritual domain enveloped the area, trapping the turbulent water within, like a cage. The waves were confined to within the domain, and the outside remained calm and peaceful.
The green light, like a dragon bursting into the sea, crashed into the white light screen, causing a deafening explosion, and the screen shattered. The small hill where the Qing Jing Sect's ancestral temple was located was revealed.
At that moment, Han Li was sitting with Qi Hun in the courtyard, holding a wine cup that had been shaken slightly. However, the amber-colored wine inside didn't spill a drop.
"The array is quite impressive, it seems your previous guess was correct, and it's indeed the Palace Master who has arrived. However, with Taixu realm peak cultivation, he dares to be so arrogant?" Han Li said with a smile, glancing up at the sky.
He then poured out the wine in three gulps, put down the cup, and stood up from the stone stool.
At that moment, the surrounding lake water seemed to be trapped by a strange power, and a whirlpool appeared above the small hill, spinning around without falling.
Dongfang Bai and the others descended from the air, hovering above the courtyard, looking down at Han Li and Qi Hun.
"Brother Han, I've heard a lot about you, and it's an honor to finally meet you," Dongfang Bai said, smiling faintly as he looked Han Li up and down, seemingly unimpressed. "Tsk, tsk, when did I, Han Li, become so famous that the master of the Jin Yuan Xian Domain would chase after me for so long? It's truly an honor." Han Li said with a hint of sarcasm.
"How dare you, a mere thief, speak to the Eastern Palace Master in such a manner?" Black Knife, who was standing nearby, grew enraged.
"What's wrong? Did I say something incorrect? Then tell me, how should I speak to a madman like you who slaughters innocent people without reason?" Han Li replied coldly, glancing at Black Knife with a hint of disdain.
Black Knife's eyes flashed with anger, and he was about to charge forward, but Eastern White's warning glance stayed him.
Lü Yun, who was standing nearby, narrowed his eyes as he watched Han Li, a thoughtful expression on his face.
Han Li's gaze fell on the handsome young man standing beside him, and he said with a hint of surprise, "Tao Changlao, I didn't expect to see you again so soon. But since you managed to escape with your life, you should be grateful..."
Tao Changlao noticed Han Li's gaze and swallowed hard, feeling a dryness in his mouth. His eyes flashed with a fierce light, but he didn't say anything.
"Brother Han, considering our identities and positions, why should we care about the lives of mere ants? Let's get to the point. If you're willing to hand over that item, I can consider letting you off the hook, and even recommend you to join the Jiuyuan Observatory. What do you say?" Eastern White chuckled and revealed his true intentions.
As soon as Han Li heard the words "Jiuyuan Observatory", he immediately understood what Eastern White was referring to.
His pupils constricted slightly, and he didn't bother to hide the fact that he possessed the Palm of Heaven. After all, he had no intention of letting any of these people go, lest they spread the news and cause him endless trouble.
Previously, Han Li had been cautious due to various concerns and didn't want to directly confront the Xian Palace forces. However, that didn't mean he was afraid. Now that the other party had repeatedly crossed his bottom line and was still pursuing him, he decided it was time to settle the score.
"I advise you, Brother, not to go against the Heavenly Court. After all, it's better to drink the wine of respect than the wine of punishment. If you're willing to cooperate, you can rest assured and focus on your cultivation. With your talent, as long as you have sufficient resources, reaching the Great Luo Realm is only a matter of time..." Eastern White said, seeing Han Li's thoughtful expression.
"It seems that you not only like to chase after people's behinds, but also talk nonsense like a fart. I don't know what you want, and I don't care. Besides, I like wine, but I won't drink any that's offered by you," Han Li interrupted Eastern White's words, his tone lazy and dismissive.
"Ah, I see that Brother Han is determined to go against the Heavenly Court. What a pity... Since you don't like the wine of respect, I'll have to offer you a cup of punishment instead," Eastern White sighed, a hint of regret in his voice.
As soon as he finished speaking, Black Knife, who had been holding back his anger, suddenly charged forward, his body leaving a trail of residual images. His Ghost Headed Great Knife flashed out of its scabbard, and a dark, blood-red aura erupted from the blade.
A massive, dark cloud descended from the sky, and a giant, ghostly creature emerged from the shadows. Its eyes glowed with an otherworldly energy as it charged towards Han Li and his companion.
Han Li, however, didn't even flinch, his gaze fixed on the creature with a hint of amusement.
"Since I awoke, I've been feeling a bit empty inside. I didn't expect to find such a high-level ghost cultivator in the Xian Palace. This is indeed... a feast," the creature said, its voice dripping with excitement.
"Don't eat too quickly, and be mindful of your digestion," Han Li said with a chuckle.
The creature nodded, its body exploding with energy as it charged towards the dark cloud. It vanished into the shadows, leaving behind an eerie silence.
The dark cloud dissipated, and the ghostly creature reappeared, its body now transformed into a massive, ape-like creature with three glowing red eyes. Its skin was covered in black, razor-sharp fur, and its presence seemed to draw the very air out of the atmosphere.
Eastern White's eyes widened in shock as he realized what he was looking at. "This is... a Xing Beast!"
Black Knife's face turned pale, and he knew he was in trouble. He quickly tried to retract his knife, but it was too late. The Xing Beast had already sensed his presence and was now charging towards him.
The beast's eyes glowed with an intense, blood-red light as it unleashed a massive, blood-colored chain that bound the ghostly creatures, rendering them immobile.
Xing Shou was originally the bane of all evil spirits and ghosts in the world, let alone the current Qi Hun, who had undergone a series of trials and tribulations, and was now even more formidable.
The blood-red chain connected to his brow was like a giant steel whip, sweeping through the air, unstoppable and unrelenting. The ghostly creatures, no matter how ferocious they appeared, were pierced through the chest like rotten wood, strung together like a skewer of sugar gourds.
"Zzzip!"
A burst of electricity crackled through the air, and a series of blood-red electric arcs erupted from the chain, instantly shattering the thousands of ghostly creatures in the dark clouds, turning them into wisps of black smoke.
The next moment, Xing Shou's nose twitched, and a burst of xiaolongbao-like energy shot out, engulfing the black smoke, absorbing it all into his belly.
Hei Dao was shocked, his hand still holding the knife, but the blood-red chain caught up to him, wrapping around him like a snake.
The blood-red electric arcs crackled wildly, striking the knife body with a series of sharp, piercing sounds.
Hei Dao felt like he was being struck by lightning, his soul like it was being fried in a hot oil pan, his mouth emitting a series of pained screams.
Just then, a dark green light burst forth on his arm, and a series of clear, green vines sprouted out, spreading towards his hand, wrapping around the knife body.
The vines seemed to possess a strange, mystical power, and when struck by the blood-red electric arcs, they rapidly recovered, unaffected, and pierced the gaps between the chain and the knife body, slowly prying them apart.
Hei Dao felt the pressure suddenly ease, and he quickly regained his composure, sheathing the knife, the dark clouds around him dissipating by more than half.
"Thanks, Palace Master..."
Although he had suffered greatly, Hei Dao was already grateful to have escaped with his life, and he hastily thanked Dongfang Bai, who had come to his aid.
But before he could finish speaking, he felt a sudden gust of wind behind him, and his instincts told him something was wrong.
Lü Yun, who was not far away, was the first to notice, as Han Li's figure suddenly disappeared from his original position, only to reappear behind Hei Dao, his eyes wide with fear.
Han Li flashed behind Hei Dao, his hand shooting out to grab his neck, before Hei Dao could react.
Hei Dao's eyes widened, his mouth opening in a silent scream.
Han Li didn't give him a chance to speak, his eyes fixed on Dongfang Bai, his fingers tightening, "Crack"! Hei Dao's neck snapped.
Dongfang Bai was enraged by this action, his hand shooting out to slap Han Li.
The air was filled with the sound of electricity, as the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth was drawn towards Dongfang Bai, condensing into a multitude of wooden stakes, each as thick as a child's arm, shooting towards Han Li.
However, Han Li had already released his hand, his body glowing with a soft, white light, as he dodged the attack with ease, his eyes fixed on Dongfang Bai.
Hei Dao's body fell to the ground, his head striking the ground with a loud thud, his soul still trapped inside, as the Xing Shou's ghostly claws snatched him up, and tossed him into the blood-filled cauldron.
Tao Ji, who had witnessed the entire scene, was terrified, his fear growing exponentially, as he stumbled backwards, falling towards the sea below.
Lü Yun, on the other hand, flew towards Dongfang Bai, his eyes fixed intently on Han Li, his body surrounded by a gray, spiritual aura, as he prepared to defend against another sudden attack.
The loss of a major general had left Dongfang Bai reeling, both shocked and enraged.
He was shocked by Han Li's cultivation, and enraged by the affront to his dignity.
His five fingers curled into a claw, as he grasped the air in front of him, and the wooden stakes that had been scattered around him began to gather, forming a massive, wooden dragon, hundreds of feet long, which lunged towards Han Li, its jaws open wide.
"Wooden stakes? You think you can use them to kill me? This is nothing but a child's plaything!"
Han Li sneered, his fist clenched, as he prepared to strike.
The air was filled with the sound of crackling energy, as the power of the stars and the fist intent gathered in his palm.
"Boom!"
Han Li's fist shot out, the power of the stars exploding from his palm, as a blast of white light illuminated the air.
The wooden dragon struck the light, its body shattering, as it disintegrated into a cloud of dust.
The dust cloud obscured half the sky, but Dongfang Bai's figure suddenly emerged from the midst of it, his eyes fixed intently on Han Li.
He pointed a single finger at Han Li, as a small, green light flashed from his fingertip, forming a wooden stake, which shot towards Han Li's heart.
The wooden stake was surrounded by a faint, dragon-like aura, as it shot out, accompanied by a fierce gust of wind, which distorted the air around it. Han Li gazed at this scene without avoiding it, simply raising his hand to wave in the air.
A ripple of waves spread out from his side, and a green bamboo sword flashed out, its tip pointing directly at the Coiled Dragon Wooden Spear.
The two of them collided like the tip of a needle and a grain of rice, fiercely striking each other.
It could be seen that the green bamboo sword's talisman flashed, and a golden electric light suddenly burst out, "Zi la" exploding loudly!
Wood fears thunder, and the Coiled Dragon Wooden Spear was struck by this golden thunder, instantly erupting with a burst of black smoke, and shattering open.
"Your Excellency, as the master of a palace, is it that you only have this much ability? It's truly disappointing," Han Li said with a chuckle.
Dongfang Bai heard this and his face's enraged expression suddenly disappeared, instead becoming calm.
His figure leaped up, slowly descending onto the large square in front of the Ancestor's Hall.
"Enough, since I appeared, you've been speaking to provoke me, wasn't it just to lure me onto this square, to enter your pre-set formation. Although it's not as you calculated, entering in a state of fury, I've still entered, so let's see, what can you do to me?" Dongfang Bai looked at Han Li, smiling faintly, with a hint of arrogance.
"Ha ha... Dongfang Palace Master, Han Li didn't think you were unable to withstand ridicule, entering in a state of fury, but it's that you're arrogant and overconfident, entering in a state of self-importance. Since you've come, don't leave," Han Li said loudly.
He spoke, and his hands pinched a seal, the entire small mountain where the Ancestor's Hall was located shook, the surrounding lake's bottom rumbling, four small mountain-like statues of the Angry-Eyed Golden Mighty Ones slowly rose from the ground, each holding a treasure umbrella, a divine sword, a treasure mirror, and a fierce python.
The Angry-Eyed Golden Mighty Ones guarded the four directions, the one holding the umbrella was entirely purple, the treasure umbrella on his hand radiating seven-colored light, flying high into the air, and then having countless rays of light spread out, like a treasure-top light screen, covering the entire small mountain, the area covered by the light, the heaven and earth's primal energy flow suddenly stopped, all techniques and divine abilities were forbidden.
Dongfang Bai was in the midst of this, and suddenly felt the surrounding heaven and earth's spiritual energy tighten, unable to be called upon.
However, his expression didn't change, not being affected in the slightest, as a cultivator of the Wood attribute's laws, his body was like a miniature heaven and earth, his divine spirit power circulating endlessly, originally stronger than other cultivators, and not fearing this kind of method.
But just as he was about to speak, his gaze suddenly flashed, catching a glimpse of a light sphere flying towards him, his heart tightening, and he swiftly dodged to the side, moving over a hundred meters.
When he turned back, he saw that the area where the light sphere had shone was suddenly shattered, a black hole three meters in diameter appearing, the ground inside broken into powder.
He turned his gaze, and saw that it was the person holding the mirror, the treasure mirror's light radiating, like the sun hanging in the air, the light it reflected, causing the space to distort violently.
If he had been struck, his body as a deity would have been broken, his limbs severed.
Before he could think clearly, the person holding the sword and the person holding the python simultaneously attacked.
The treasure sword's talisman shone brightly, clusters of five-colored flames flying out, like a meteor shower, falling down, the python's scales bursting, its mouth spewing out blue lightning and purple electricity, like a waterfall pouring down.
If the treasure mirror's white light still had a chance to dodge, this fire rain and electric waterfall left no room for evasion.
"Such a petty trick, you dare to show off?" Dongfang Bai coldly snorted.
His hands rose, his mouth chanting unceasingly, taking on a posture of supporting the heavens.
His body burst with green light, like a volcano erupting, a giant, ancient tree's illusory image appearing, its canopy like a cover, shielding the fire rain and electric waterfall.
Although it was an illusion, the ancient tree's canopy, when struck by the flames and lightning, actually ignited, burning fiercely.
But as it burned, the tree's canopy seemed to be reborn, its speed seemingly faster than the flames.
Even the treasure mirror's white light couldn't break through the tree's canopy defense.
"Han fellow cultivator, is this your ultimate technique? If so, I'm truly disappointed," Dongfang Bai sneered.
His words had just fallen when he suddenly felt a dizziness, his brow seeming to have a crystal light flash, before he could see clearly, the crystal light had transformed into a small sword, piercing his brow, entering his brain.
Dongfang Bai felt a sharp pain in his brain, his sea of consciousness like a raging storm, his body shuddering violently, the green light bursting out from his back also shaking, and then stopping.
The giant green light tree's image also dissipated, the fire rain and electric waterfall pouring down, instantly engulfing him.
"Rumble rumble..."
A series of thunderous sounds echoed, the purple lightning and five-colored flames intersecting, illuminating the entire Ancestor's Hall square.
"Palace Master..." Tao Ji, who was working together with Lü Yun and the wailing soul-turned Executioner, saw this and couldn't help but cry out in shock.
"Tao Elder, do what you should do, the Palace Master's situation doesn't need you to worry about," Lü Yun said, his hands waving in the air, eighteen red iron flags flying around, surrounding the wailing soul.
Lü Yun's words had barely fallen when the flames and lightning on the square had gradually dissipated, and Dongfang Bai's figure reappeared.
However, at this moment, he no longer had the calm and collected demeanor of before. His entire body had turned into a charred, carbon-like state, with rolling black smoke emanating from his body. His chest area still had a flickering green glow, and thin, green lines spread out from it, like blood vessels, covering his entire body.
Wherever the green lines passed, a strong life force spread out, reviving his seemingly lifeless body, and slowly restoring it.
Just then, Han Li's figure flashed by, his palm and fingers forming a knife-like shape as he chopped horizontally.
Dongfang Bai's charred head immediately fell to the ground, and with a kick from Han Li, it turned into a pile of carbon dust.
At the same time, a green bamboo sword appeared, piercing through the charred remains of Dongfang Bai's chest, releasing a golden electric current that instantly shattered the green glow, dispersing it like fireflies.
Han Li stood holding his sword, his face expressionless, but his eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement as he looked towards the nearby stone floor.
A small, weak wild grass grew out of the crack in the stone, swaying gently in the wind. Suddenly, a green light burst forth, and the grass rapidly grew, its leaves spreading out, transforming into a human figure in the blink of an eye.
The figure was Dongfang Bai.
"The Wood Element's laws are quite interesting..." Han Li's eyes flickered, and he smiled.
"Enough of these petty tricks, Han Li. It's time to conclude this." Dongfang Bai said coldly.
As soon as he finished speaking, he lightly rubbed his palms together, and the blue spirit domain surrounding him burst into a brilliant light. In the void within, countless blue light points appeared, and a powerful Wood Element law force emanated from them, causing Han Li's heart to tremble.
Han Li saw this and his pupils constricted, as he instinctively retreated backwards.
"Forest... Thousand... Images!" Dongfang Bai shouted, his voice somewhat unsteady.
Suddenly, thick, sturdy branches and vines emerged from the blue light screen, stretching out into the void, and massive trees burst forth, instantly overturning the entire Qingjing Sect's ancestral hall.
This area, which was once at the bottom of a lake, was transformed into a lush forest landscape in an instant.
The four angry-looking golden giants guarding the small hill were entwined by the rapidly growing vines, covered in a layer of blue moss, and quickly buried, losing contact with Han Li.
Even the Xīnghuǒ, which had transformed into a demon, was entangled by the vines with golden patterns, and was unable to move.
Han Li, who had retreated several hundred meters, was still covered in the blue moss, and his entire body seemed to have transformed into a plant, rooted to the ground, unable to move.
"I've seen many spirit domains, but this is truly breathtaking." Han Li, trapped, glanced at Xīnghuǒ, seeing that she was unharmed but unable to move, and his heart relaxed slightly.
"If the Sect Master hadn't devoted himself to cultivating his spirit domain, he would have surpassed the Taiyi Peak realm by now. But who would dare to underestimate him as just a Taiyi Peak cultivator?" Lü Yun said with a smile.
Tao Ji's expression changed, and he felt even more reverence for Dongfang Bai.
"Whether you hand over the item or not, it makes no difference." Dongfang Bai walked towards Han Li, smiling.
"I already knew that." Han Li said calmly.
As he spoke, he secretly activated his celestial spirit energy, but it was instantly absorbed by the golden-patterned vines wrapped around his body.
At this moment, he couldn't even circulate his energy, let alone summon his true mantra wheel.
He clenched his fists, and discovered that his star energy was also being absorbed, although at a slower rate.
"Don't waste your energy. Trapped in my spirit domain, everything you have belongs to me. Once I've drained your celestial spirit energy, your powerful body will become nourishment for my domain, and your nascent soul will become my slave, serving me for all eternity." Dongfang Bai approached Han Li, his smile growing more intense.
His gaze fell on Han Li's neck, where a thin rope was wrapped, and he reached out to touch it.
But just then, Han Li's voice rang out:
"Don't touch my things!"
As soon as he spoke, his body was enveloped in a surge of bloody light, and the Tiānxiè Túyù Gong was activated, his body rapidly expanding, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed giant.
Dongfang Bai felt a strange energy emanating from Han Li's body, and his heart trembled slightly as he retreated.
As he created distance between himself and Han Li, he manipulated his spirit domain, and the countless vines within surged towards Han Li, engulfing his entire body.
Han Li took a step forward, and the vines wrapped around him snapped, unable to restrain him.
The vines continued to entwine him, but Han Li's body seemed to be able to break free from them with ease. Dongfang Bai saw the situation and swung his hands fiercely, causing the spiritual domain within him to shake violently. The ancient trees above surged with green light, transforming into eighteen giant wooden warriors, each over a hundred feet tall, holding massive dragon-shaped wooden spears. They charged towards Han Li.
The wooden warriors' bodies were filled with the dense power of wood-attribute laws. As they thrust their spears, the tips of the spears condensed into spiraling green lights that tore through the surrounding void, twisting towards the spear tips.
Han Li swung his six arms, either punching or clawing, showing no fear. Within a dozen breaths, he had destroyed eight of the wooden warriors and burst out of the encirclement, leaping high into the air and descending towards Dongfang Bai.
However, Dongfang Bai had already stood firm, his body shining with green light. Innumerable green vines wrapped around him, gathering on his body and submerging him. He transformed into a giant wooden warrior, over a hundred feet tall.
But unlike the previous warriors, his wooden armor was covered in golden patterns. Besides containing extremely dense wood-attribute laws, it also emanated a rich life aura.
As Han Li descended, Dongfang Bai raised his left hand, and a golden-patterned whip shot out, wrapping around Han Li's waist. With a fierce pull, he yanked Han Li downwards, while his other hand grasped a golden-patterned wooden spear, thrusting it towards Han Li's heart.
Han Li's waist was bound, and he felt his inner blood flow surging like a bursting river, crazily pouring outwards. If not for his incredibly strong physique, he would have collapsed already.
He extended his dragon claw-like hand, intending to grab the golden-patterned wooden spear. However, the spear tip suddenly erupted with a burst of green light, its power far exceeding his imagination, and it shattered his giant hand, piercing his chest.
A deafening "Boom" echoed through the air!
The golden-patterned wooden spear released a boundless, surging spiritual energy, bursting forth with a dazzling green-gold light. The energy exploded, sending a violent shockwave in all directions, causing the entire spiritual domain to tremble.
Lü Yun and Tao Ji watched from a distance, their hearts filled with shock and awe.
The imprisoned Ti Hu, whose spiritual energy had been mostly drained, had transformed back into her human form. Her small face was pale, and she gazed at Han Li with a concerned expression.
However, when the shockwave dissipated, Han Li's figure remained motionless, the golden-patterned wooden spear still lodged in his chest.
"This... how is this possible?" Dongfang Bai's heart tightened as he beheld the scene.
"You shouldn't have underestimated me," Han Li said with a ferocious grin, his voice like thunder. "Even if you have the power of the Taizong, you're no match for me."
His current body, when using both his bloodline and Heaven-Devouring Demon Domain, was far more powerful than an ordinary Da Luo cultivator. Dongfang Bai's spiritual domain was strong, but ultimately, he was no match for Han Li's might.
Han Li spoke, and then his body descended, forcing the golden-patterned wooden spear to bend. He grasped the golden-patterned whip wrapped around his waist and pulled Dongfang Bai towards him.
His six arms formed fists, raining down a barrage of punches on the wooden warrior's body.
A series of explosive sounds echoed through the air as the entire green spiritual domain shook violently.
Dongfang Bai's wooden warrior body glowed with green light, attempting to block Han Li's heavy punches, but it could only withstand half of them. Soon, it was battered to fragments, its body broken and tattered.
Lü Yun and Tao Ji exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with fear.
With their strength, they were no match for this battle. Even Han Li's physical strength, which was pouring out like a river, was something they couldn't withstand.
Before long, Dongfang Bai's figure emerged from the shattered wooden warrior, and he was grasped by Han Li.
"You should not have pushed things too far," Han Li said, his three true spirit heads speaking in unison, their voices like thunder. "Why did you not spare the Qinghu City, a small tribe's home?"
"Originally, it was because of those insects—"
"Ah—"
Dongfang Bai's words were cut short as Han Li clenched his fist, crushing him into a pulp.
After a moment, blood flowed from Han Li's fingers, but there was no sign of an escaping Nascent Soul.
He threw the distorted corpse to the ground, his body slowly returning to normal. His brow furrowed as he gazed towards Lü Yun and Tao Ji.
Near them, a green sprout on a nearby plant began to glow, growing larger and transforming into a human figure – another Dongfang Bai.
The previous Dongfang Bai's body, bound by green vines, had been absorbed into the ground, covered in green moss.
"It seems today's outcome is already decided," the newly appeared Dongfang Bai said, his face somewhat gloomy. "It seems I won't be able to claim all the credit. Han Daoist, we will meet again."
"You think you can leave?" Han Li sneered, his voice cold.
As soon as he spoke, a golden light screen expanded, and a more dazzling golden spiritual domain emerged within the green spiritual domain.
"Too late," Han Li said, his voice dripping with malice.
Time Domain!
Dongfang Bai's eyes swept around, and his heart trembled.
The next moment, he silently retracted the blue Time Domain, grabbed Tao Ji and Lü Yun, and their figures burst forth, shooting towards the high sky.
The lake water, now free from the Time Domain's constraints, immediately rolled back and surged towards the center.
Dongfang Bai and the other two were surrounded by a dazzling blue glow, which violently clashed with the golden Time Domain. Astonishingly, it neutralized most of the Time Domain's power, allowing them to escape at a speed that was hardly affected.
"You think you can escape today?" Han Li bellowed, his body's true wheel reversing instantly. His figure flashed, and he reappeared above the three.
Dongfang Bai saw this and a hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. He slapped Tao Ji and Lü Yun's backs, sending them flying towards Han Li above and Xiuhun below.
Tao Ji and Lü Yun were shocked, realizing they couldn't move or even speak.
Han Li saw Tao Ji hurtling towards him and raised his palm to strike. However, Tao Ji suddenly discovered his abdomen had rapidly inflated, and a small, green sprout had grown from his navel.
Before Han Li's palm could touch him, a deafening explosion occurred.
Tao Ji's abdomen had swollen to its limit and burst apart, releasing a massive amount of energy that sent Han Li flying backward, his outstretched hand now bloodied and mangled.
However, Han Li didn't have time to tend to his wounds, as Lü Yun was now hurtling towards Xiuhun.
Han Li reversed his true wheel, unleashing the power of the Lei Peng, and his figure shot into the lake like a bolt of lightning. He grabbed the exhausted Xiuhun and, before he could escape, heard a thunderous explosion behind him.
The sound of the explosion shook the three lakes, causing the underwater mountains and waterfalls to shatter and erupt in a massive wave that reached thousands of feet high, flooding the nearby Shuzi Mountain.
After a while, two figures emerged from the lake, hovering in mid-air.
"Master, Dongfang Bai is truly cunning and ruthless. To escape, he didn't hesitate to sacrifice his companions!" Xiuhun said, her face pale with anger.
"The fact that someone with such a wicked heart is in charge of a domain is a testament to the corruption within the Heavenly Court. However, it's of no consequence. You can't escape forever; debts will always be repaid." Han Li shook his head, speaking slowly.
"Master, what do you plan to do now?" Xiuhun asked, looking at Han Li.
"I'll take care of it. For now, rest and recover." Han Li waved his hand, opening the Huazhi Cave Heaven, and let Xiuhun return to rest.
Then, his figure vanished into the sky.
...
At the western end of the Jin Yuan mountain range, a series of palaces stretched across the mountains, peaks, and even floated in mid-air, as far as the eye could see.
Rainbow-colored bridges connected the various palaces, and the sky was filled with auspicious clouds and flying cranes, creating a breathtaking landscape.
This was the Jin Yuan Immortal Palace.
A green light appeared in the distance, shooting towards the palace at an incredible speed. In an instant, it arrived, and Dongfang Bai's figure emerged, continuing towards the palace's inner depths.
His face was gloomy, like a stormy sky, and his expression was unsightly. The palace's personnel bowed and greeted him, but dared not speak further.
Dongfang Bai soon arrived at the grand hall where the golden transmission circle was located. He took out the purple token, hesitated for a moment, and then placed it on the circle, pointing at it with his fingers.
A dazzling purple light emanated from the token, turning the surrounding golden array purple, and it began to flash rapidly.
A moment later, a figure appeared within the array – a woman with green hair, looking like a 16- or 17-year-old girl with a pale complexion, as if she were a frail, sheltered noblewoman. However, her eyes exuded boundless majesty. Dongfang Bai, what's the matter that you've used the Nine Yuan Command to activate the Tian Luo Formation and contact me? If those people from the Qing Tian Monitoring find out, it'll be another trouble.
Miao Fa Xian Zun, I've just received some news regarding the Chaos Crystal Grain, I didn't dare to delay even for a moment, so I used the Nine Yuan Command to report to you immediately, please forgive me.
What?! You've found a lead on the Chaos Crystal Grain?! Tell me everything, don't leave out a single word!
Dongfang Bai's clothes fluttered in the windless air, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly composed himself before reporting the matter of Han Li and the Palms of Heaven Bottle.
The origin of this matter was related to the Tao brothers, but in Dongfang Bai's words, it was as if he had discovered a clue beforehand and sent people to investigate. Anyway, the two brothers were already dead, and there was no evidence to prove otherwise.
The crystal grain is indeed likely to be the Chaos Crystal Grain! Good, great, the Palms of Heaven Bottle has finally reappeared in the True Immortal Realm!
Before Dongfang Bai could catch his breath, Miao Fa Xian Zun's eyes flashed with a cold light, and she said in a cold tone:
But you've already discovered this matter, why didn't you report it earlier?
I'm guilty! I was greedy for merit and wanted to capture Han Li, take the Palms of Heaven Bottle, and present it to you, but I didn't expect him to be so powerful. I gathered all the power of the Jinyuan Xian Palace, but we were still no match for him. Please punish me!
Dongfang Bai knelt down, his face filled with shock and fear, but his eyes revealed a hint of calmness.
He didn't try to cover up his mistakes, as the matter of Han Li had already spread, and it was better to admit his fault.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's expression turned displeased, and she asked:
Where is Han Li now?
Dongfang Bai quickly replied:
I've sent people to investigate his whereabouts, but we haven't received any news yet. However, I've already ordered the closure of all transmission formations in the Jinyuan Xian Domain, so he must still be in the Jinyuan Mountain Range.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's expression softened, and she said:
You've done well. You've discovered the lead on the Chaos Crystal Grain, and your merit is not small. However, you hid this matter and didn't report it in time, and you took action on your own, which led to Han Li being on guard. Your fault is not light. Now, your merit and fault cancel each other out, and your future performance will determine your punishment. If you can capture Han Li and retrieve the Palms of Heaven Bottle, your previous mistakes will be forgiven, and I will personally reward you. But if you let him escape the Jinyuan Xian Domain, the consequences will be severe.
Dongfang Bai's face tightened, and he said:
Yes, I understand. But with Han Li's strength, I'm afraid the Jinyuan Xian Palace alone is not enough...
Miao Fa Xian Zun's expression turned serious, and she said:
Don't worry, I'll send the Lan siblings from the Jinhuan Xian Palace to assist you. You must be more careful this time and not alarm Han Li.
Dongfang Bai's face lit up with joy, as he had heard of the Lan siblings' reputation.
Although they were only in the Taiyi Later Period, they had a secret technique that allowed them to merge their cultivation for a short time, reaching the Great Luo Realm. They had once fought a Great Luo from the Wheel of Reincarnation for three days and three nights without losing, and their reputation had spread far and wide.
Even if Han Li was powerful, with the Lan siblings' help, it would be like having two Great Luo Realm cultivators fighting against him, and he would not be a match.
Dongfang Bai's heart was filled with determination.
Miao Fa Xian Zun reminded him a few more times before ending the conversation, and her figure disappeared from the formation.
Dongfang Bai's face relaxed, and he let out a long sigh before stopping the formation and retrieving the purple command token. The formation returned to its original state.
In a pink palace within the Heavenly Court, a girl with green hair sat on a bed, surrounded by a soft, pink glow that gave off a gentle, feminine atmosphere.
A large, yellow toad sat beside the bed, its body covered in rough, hard bumps, and six copper bell-sized eyes on its face. Although it was motionless, its aura was extremely powerful, almost rivaling Miao Fa Xian Zun's.
The yellow toad spoke in a human-like voice:
Congratulations, Master, you've found a lead on the Chaos Crystal Grain. If you can retrieve the Palms of Heaven Bottle, the Nine Yuan Ancestor will surely look at you differently, and the position of Deputy Observer will be yours for the taking.
Miao Fa Xian Zun replied calmly:
I'm not interested in the position of Deputy Observer, I just hope to use this merit to ask the Observer for guidance and help me overcome the second corpse.
The yellow toad nodded and said:
You're right, Master, no matter what, strength is the most important thing.
Miao Fa Xian Zun ordered the yellow toad:
Pass on my orders to the Jinhuan Xian Palace, and you also go to the Jinyuan Xian Domain.
It's enough that the Blue siblings have taken action, why must I be sent to deal with Han Li, who is only a Taiyi realm cultivator?" Huang Zhanchu, the yellow toad, let out a disdainful snort.
"According to rumors, Han Li cultivates the Time Law, one of the three supreme laws, and has made significant progress. We must not underestimate him. Only the Blue siblings can be trusted, and I am not confident in anyone else. You must go to the location, keep your identity hidden, and act in secret. You must strike with one blow and ensure success." Miao Fa Xian Zun shook his head and said.
Chu Zhanchu's expression remained unchanged, but a hint of dissatisfaction flashed in his six eyes.
Is it really necessary to send me, a Da Luo cultivator, to deal with a mere Taiyi realm cultivator? And to make matters worse, I have to hide in the shadows and launch a sneak attack? It's an insult to my abilities.
"This is a matter of great importance, and we cannot afford to make any mistakes. If you fail, you will be held accountable!" Miao Fa Xian Zun's eyes turned cold.
"Yes, I will go and transmit the message." Chu Zhanchu stood up, and his body began to shrink rapidly, transforming into a fat, yellow-faced woman.
The woman's body flashed, and she transformed into a yellow shadow that merged with the ground, disappearing from sight.
Miao Fa Xian Zun gazed at the empty space in front of him before disappearing into thin air.
...
In the Golden Source Immortal Palace, Dongfang Bai walked out of the transmission hall, his anxious expression replaced by a calm demeanor.
As long as the people from the Golden Source Immortal Palace arrive, capturing Han Li will be a trivial matter. At that time, he will make Han Li pay for the humiliation he suffered.
Dongfang Bai thought of several cruel methods to torture Han Li, and his heart felt a sense of satisfaction.
"Someone, come here!" Dongfang Bai called out.
A beam of light shot towards him from a distance, and a young man with a cold, stern expression appeared before him.
"Palace Master, what are your orders?" the young man asked.
"Black Knife and Lü Yun were defeated and killed during our previous mission. From now on, you will be the leader of the 'Dark Sword' faction. Send out all the spies in the 'Dark Sword' faction and contact the hidden agents in various locations. You must find out Han Li's whereabouts." Dongfang Bai instructed.
"Yes!" The young man's eyes lit up with excitement, and he bowed to acknowledge the order.
Just then, a muffled sound came from a distance, and the ground shook violently. The nearby halls trembled, and a loud rumbling sound echoed through the air.
"What's going on?" Dongfang Bai's brow furrowed, and he looked outside.
"I'll go and take a look," the young man said, ready to fly out.
At that moment, a figure appeared before them, covered in blood and wearing a golden robe.
"Palace Master, it's not good! Someone has invaded the palace, and we can't hold them back!" the man exclaimed.
"What kind of person dares to cause trouble in the Golden Source Immortal Palace?" Dongfang Bai's eyes flashed with anger, and he was about to fly out, but his expression changed, and he stopped.
He expanded his divine sense, scanning the entrance of the palace, and his face changed.
...
The entrance of the palace, once grand and majestic, was now in shambles. Over a dozen halls had collapsed, reduced to rubble.
In the air, more than a hundred palace cultivators, led by five black-robed old men, formed a semicircular battle array.
The five old men were almost identical in height and appearance, as if they were brothers. They emitted a cold, sinister aura.
The palace cultivators were mostly in the True Immortal realm, while the five black-robed old men were Taiyi realm cultivators.
Various immortal artifacts and secret techniques rained down from the battle array, attacking the opponent.
However, the opponent was a single person.
He was a young man in a blue robe, surrounded by four or five dozen golden flying swords that swirled around him like fish, creating a dense, golden sword shadow that easily deflected the attacks.
At the same time, the young man's fingers flicked, and another dozen golden flying swords shot out from his sleeves, transforming into ten or more hundred-meter-long golden sword auras that descended like divine swords, emitting a thunderous roar.
The sword auras had not yet landed, but they created a long, white sword scar in the sky, as if the heavens themselves were being torn apart.
The five Taiyi realm old men's faces changed, and they immediately transformed into a cross shape, each spitting out a black flag with a ferocious black dragon pattern.
The five men made a series of hand seals, and the black flags expanded, growing several times larger, emitting a rustling sound.
A massive, sticky black cloud emerged from the flags, engulfing the sword auras. The air seemed to corrode, emitting a hissing sound.
The nearby Golden Immortal cultivators retreated in fear, avoiding the black cloud like a snake.
"Dark energy!" the young man's eyebrows rose, and he moved his fingers.
The golden sword auras on the surface of the black cloud emitted a hissing sound, as if they were being corroded. However, they also produced a series of thick, golden lightning arcs, releasing a powerful, righteous energy that clashed with the black cloud. Dark clouds churned violently, suddenly emitting a thunderous crash, as if encountering their arch-nemesis, transforming into countless wisps of black smoke that dispersed and vanished.
Those golden sword auras instantly tore through the dark clouds, striking towards the five Taizhen realm elders behind.
The five elders' faces changed drastically, their bodies flashing with black energy, their tall figures suddenly shrinking drastically in the explosion, instantly transforming into three-foot-tall dwarves, dodging to the side with incredible speed, barely avoiding the golden sword auras.
The golden sword auras did not pursue the five elders, instead falling upon the True Immortals and Golden Immortals behind them.
"Ahhh!"
Blood-curdling screams erupted as the sword auras swept through the crowd, creating waves of blood, severed limbs, and mangled bodies, with not a single True Immortal escaping unscathed. Moreover, a full third of the Golden Immortals fell, with the remaining Golden Immortals fleeing in terror, the Half-Month War Array instantly collapsing.
Han Li's cultivation had made great strides, and the power of the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword had increased accordingly.
The five Taizhen elders' bodies suddenly snapped back into their original form, their faces twisted in rage.
The surrounding Golden Immortals were all pillars of the Jinyuan Immortal Palace, and now they had been annihilated by the dozens.
"Who are you, sir? How dare you slaughter our people like this! You'll be pursued by the Heavenly Court's endless wanted notices!" one of the elders thundered.
The blue-robed man's face remained expressionless, as if he hadn't heard the elder's words, raising his hand to flick his fingers once more.
The dozen or so sword auras trembled, then shot out again, transforming into illusions that pursued the other Golden Immortals, with several more Golden Immortals being pierced and killed in an instant.
The five Taizhen realm elders' faces turned ashen, their eyes fixed on the depths of the palace, as if waiting for something to happen, but nothing did.
"Ahhh!" "Ahhh!" Two more Golden Immortals were pierced and killed.
The five elders' faces grew even more somber, and they were about to charge forward recklessly when a dozen or so dazzling green lights descended from the sky, transforming into a dozen green serpents.
These green serpents were incredibly fast and agile, their massive bodies wrapping around the golden sword auras.
Threads of green energy shot out from the serpents, entwining the fierce golden sword auras.
The golden sword auras trembled, electric arcs flashing, as the green threads instantly shattered, but more green energy shot out from the serpents, continuing to entwine the sword auras.
Breaking one thread, three more would grow; breaking ten threads, a hundred more would grow!
In the span of a few breaths, the golden sword auras' luster had dulled significantly, and their size had shrunk considerably.
Innumerable green threads entwined the sword auras, forming a massive cocoon that enveloped them.
The blue-robed man's eyes flickered, his hand weaving a seal.
The golden sword auras suddenly shrank, transforming into a small golden sword the size of a foot, which slashed through the air.
"Shh!" The green cocoon was instantly torn apart, the golden sword auras flying out, swirling around the blue-robed man.
A figure descended from the sky, none other than Dongfang Bai.
The dozen or so green serpents flew back, shrinking rapidly, and linking together, forming a dozen cyan rings that floated around him.
The palace's inhabitants were shocked to see Dongfang Bai's figure.
"The palace master has arrived!"
"This kid, our palace master is here, and your time is up!"
"Palace master, this person has committed atrocities, slaughtering many of our people, and today he will not be allowed to leave this place alive!"
The palace's inhabitants flew to Dongfang Bai's side, their faces twisted in anger.
Dongfang Bai ignored the crowd, his eyes fixed on the blue-robed man, a smile spreading across his face.
"Ah, Han Li, I admit your strength is formidable, but you dare to slaughter our people like this? You're bold, indeed!"
"East Bai, you've come out yourself, saving me the trouble! You slaughtered the Qinghuo tribe without reason, killing 57,300 people, your crimes are heinous, and today is your day of reckoning!" The blue-robed man, Han Li, looked up at Dongfang Bai, his voice dripping with malice.
The crowd's expressions changed, many looking at Dongfang Bai with suspicion.
The Heavenly Court had long since decreed that wanton slaughter of the weak was forbidden, and violators would be punished severely. Han Li's words seemed too certain to be mere rumors.
"The Qinghuo tribe sheltered you, a wanted man on the Immortal Execution List, and attacked my search party, they deserved to die!" Dongfang Bai's brow furrowed, responding immediately.
"Enough, today I've come to take your life, to offer sacrifice to the Qinghuo tribe's departed souls, come and meet your end!" Han Li didn't bother to argue further, his hands weaving a seal.
The dozens of Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords swirling around him trembled, shooting towards Dongfang Bai, emitting a piercing sword cry.
Dongfang Bai saw this and responded by weaving a seal.
A crisp sound erupted as the green rings around him flew out, transforming into a dozen green serpents, which shot out innumerable green threads that entwined the Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords.
"Get back!" Dongfang Bai shouted as he made a move.
The five old men in the Taiyi realm heard his words and immediately led the others to fly towards the inside.
Han Li didn't pay attention to the others and suddenly changed his sword technique.
More than sixty flying swords with golden lightning on their surface appeared, and a dense, cold glow filled the air, making the space around them tremble and become hazy.
This time, the sword energy was much stronger than before, and the green silk threads around the giant python couldn't even touch the flying swords. Instead, they were torn apart by the sound of ripping fabric.
The green giant pythons were also wrapped around by the sword energy and broken into several pieces.
"Boom!"
Dongfang Bai's eyes narrowed, and he shouted loudly.
The green giant pythons' bodies suddenly swelled and then exploded, turning into a green sun that filled half the sky and created a massive whirlwind that swept across the area.
The space shook, and the sword light was disrupted.
Dongfang Bai took the opportunity to turn around and wrap his body in a green cloud, flying towards the depths of the palace.
Han Li saw this and was shocked, but then his eyes narrowed, and he activated his true wheel technique.
A loud thunderclap sounded, and his figure disappeared, only to reappear in front of Dongfang Bai.
He disappeared and reappeared in an instant, leaving Dongfang Bai momentarily stunned.
Before Dongfang Bai could react, Han Li activated his true word technique, and countless golden waves spread out from his body, quickly covering Dongfang Bai.
This series of movements was like a flowing cloud, completed in an instant.
Dongfang Bai's body was frozen in mid-air, along with the green light around him, as if he was a fly trapped in amber.
Han Li's eyes flashed with a fierce killing intent, and he raised his hand to point.
A brilliant golden light shot out from his hand, "popping" through Dongfang Bai's abdomen and creating a blood-red hole.
But after the attack, Han Li's face changed, and he quickly withdrew his golden waves.
Dongfang Bai's body suddenly appeared with a layer of white light, quickly turning into a white puppet.
The puppet seemed to be made of white beast bones, with talismans attached to its body, and white patterns flashing on its surface, forming a mysterious human-shaped diagram.
"Replacement puppet?" Han Li's face turned ugly.
He had seen records of this white puppet in Crab Daoist's books, which said that it was a unique puppet created by a powerful being in the Heavenly Court. It could inject one's spiritual energy and law power into the puppet, creating a replacement that was identical to the original in appearance and aura.
Crab Daoist had wanted to obtain one of these puppets for research, but had never succeeded. He didn't expect to encounter one here.
At this moment, numerous green lights appeared, forming a green spiritual domain that enveloped Han Li.
Thick, gnarled branches suddenly appeared, wrapping around Han Li's body and devouring his spiritual energy.
At the same time, a massive golden mountain peak appeared in the sky, occupying half of the space, with giant symbols etched into its surface. It seemed to be a heavenly artifact, radiating a destructive aura, and was about to crush Han Li.
On the mountain peak, the figures of Dongfang Bai, the five old men in the Taiyi realm, and the other golden immortals were visible, all of whom were solemnly activating their techniques to control the golden mountain peak.
The mountain peak had yet to fall, but an immense, crushing force emanated from it.
A deafening "rumble" shook the air!
The golden mountain peak crashed down, causing the ground within a radius of tens of thousands of miles to tremble violently. The entire Golden Source Palace, along with the nearby mountains, sank three feet into the ground.
Dongfang Bai saw this and finally smiled.
This Mustard Gold Mountain was something he had spent countless years and resources creating, using the golden yuan stones from the Golden Source Mountains. He knew its power best.
Unfortunately, the mountain was too massive and heavy, and his own spiritual energy couldn't activate it. He had to rely on the palace's array to control it, which was why he hadn't brought it with him earlier.
The other cultivators, including the five old men in the Taiyi realm, were also secretly relieved and excited.
Being able to work together with the palace master to drive this powerful artifact and defeat the enemy was a rare opportunity for training.
But the next moment, Dongfang Bai's smile froze, and the others were also taken aback. Everyone's gaze fell upon the towering golden peak that exceeded a thousand meters in height, with many people displaying looks of incredulity, as if they had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
But then, the originally stable golden peak began to shake and tremble, and slowly rose into the air, as if being lifted from below.
It didn't take long for them to realize what was happening.
Underneath the massive mountain peak, a three-headed, six-armed giant stood up, in the same posture as when Han Li was practicing the "Tian Xia Zhen Yu Gong".
Two massive arms held up the golden mountain, as if lifting a common stone.
"It's impossible to lift the Xumi Golden Mountain with just physical strength!" Dong Fang Bai shouted in shock, but his voice was cut off in an instant.
A golden glow surrounded Han Li's giant form, and the trees that had taken root in his body suddenly disappeared.
A small golden tree floated in front of the giant, which was the Dong Yi Divine Tree that Han Li had painstakingly refined, radiating dazzling golden light.
The green plants in the nearby spiritual realm instantly transformed into a stream of yuan qi, recognizing their ancestor and merging into the Dong Yi Divine Tree, which then transmitted the energy into Han Li's body.
The spiritual energy that Han Li had absorbed earlier was rapidly restored.
Meanwhile, the green spiritual realm rapidly dimmed and thinned, as if withering away.
"This is impossible, my Wood Spirit Realm is a self-sustaining system, it should be everlasting, how could it be devoured..." Dong Fang Bai's face turned pale with terror, and he was about to do something, but Han Li's giant form took action first.
The giant's remaining four arms shot up into the air, with silver patterns appearing on his fists, each transforming into a dozen silver talismans.
With a loud "Boom!", four massive fists exploded with brilliant golden light, and under the giant's three heads, they simultaneously roared and struck the Xumi Golden Mountain.
A deafening explosion shook the air, even louder than the sound of the Xumi Golden Mountain landing earlier.
The golden mountain peak shot forward, knocking down over a dozen mountain peaks before finally coming to a stop.
The people on top of the mountain were already shaken off by the impact, with only a few powerful individuals managing to hold on, their faces filled with terror and unable to speak.
Dong Fang Bai's face was deathly pale, with cold sweat dripping down, and he immediately dispelled his spiritual realm, transforming into a green light that rapidly fled towards the depths of the Immortal Palace.
"Don't think you can escape!" Han Li's giant form shot forward, chasing after Dong Fang Bai.
Just then, a thick, dark cloud suddenly rolled in from the side, blocking Han Li's path, and from within the cloud, the five Taichi elders appeared.
Each of the five elders held a black flag, and with a fierce wave, the dark cloud expanded, enveloping Han Li, and eight massive, ferocious black dragon claws shot out, grabbing towards Han Li.
The eight claws emitted a different aura than before, without the corrosive feeling, but instead radiating a powerful, piercing force that seemed capable of tearing through the sky.
The five elders, despite intercepting Han Li, were secretly worried.
The brief exchange earlier had given them a deep understanding of Han Li's power, and as elders of the Golden Source Immortal Palace, they had to obey the Palace Master's orders, or risk being guilty of disobedience.
For now, they could only hope to use the Five Dragon Heavenly Flag to temporarily hold off Han Li, and then plan their next move.
"You're looking for death!" Han Li coldly snorted, and with a flick of his sleeve...
Seventy-two green bamboo swords shot out from his sleeve, transforming into seventy-two electric arcs of sword light, emitting a powerful thunderous law, and slashing towards the black dragon claws.
With a loud "Sizzle", the black dragon claws, which seemed invincible, were easily shattered by the electric sword light.
In the dark cloud, the five elders' black flags cracked, and the light on them dimmed. The five elders were shocked and quickly retreated.
But the seventy-two electric arcs of sword light were too fast, and with a few flashes, they caught up to the dark cloud, and mercilessly hacked down.
The five Taichi elders roared in anger, and the dark cloud violently churned, meeting the electric sword light head-on. The five elders' bodies glowed with treasure light as they summoned their protective treasures.
However, upon contact, the dark cloud seemed to evaporate like ice and snow in the face of the electric sword light, and the five elders' protective treasures were easily destroyed, shattering into pieces.
The five Taichi elders were terrified, finally realizing the vast difference in power between Han Li and themselves, and they were about to use their shrinking secret technique to escape.
But a flash of golden light appeared, and the five elders' necks were suddenly bound by an electric arc of golden light, with a fierce sword intent descending upon them. The five elders' hearts turned cold, and their spiritual energy slowed, making them dare not move.
The surrounding Golden Immortal cultivators saw Dong Fang Bai escape, and many of them had already lost their will to fight, fleeing in all directions. Only the five Taichi elders' direct disciples remained, who had been about to continue attacking Han Li.
Seeing the scene, they were filled with terror, and someone shouted, causing the scene to erupt into chaos. The remaining cultivators turned from their encirclement to a chaotic retreat, with a scene of trees falling and monkeys scattering.
The five Taichi elders, still bound by the electric arc of golden light, were unable to move, and their faces turned pale with fear.
Han Li's giant form stood tall, his three heads gazing at the fleeing cultivators, his eyes cold and unyielding.
With a wave of his hand, the electric arc of golden light dissipated, and the five Taichi elders collapsed to the ground, their bodies trembling with fear.
Han Li's giant form slowly began to shrink, returning to his normal size, and with a cold smile, he said, "You should have stayed out of this."
"You are the Tian Yin Five Sons? Each of you report your name." Han Li ignored the Golden Immortal cultivators and looked at the five old men, his voice cold and stern.
"I am Yin Tianhu, I hope Han Dao friend will spare my life, we really didn't know about the affair between you and the East Palace Master." The five men looked at each other, and the one on the far left, an old man with a flattering smile, bowed to Han Li.
Although the five men looked similar, they had some differences, and each of them wore a black jade ring on their hand, which seemed to be a storage ring. The ring on the old man's hand had a tiger character on it.
"I am Yin Tianlu, nice to meet you, Han Dao friend." The old man next to him, wearing a ring with a deer character, also showed a flattering smile.
"I am Yin Tianxiong." The old man next to Yin Tianlu, with a slightly square face, spoke calmly.
"Hmph! I am Yin Tianyuan, since I'm not as skilled as you, do as you please, kill or torture me." The old man on the far right, with a proud expression, sneered.
"Fourth brother, don't be reckless!" Yin Tianhu's face changed, and he scolded.
At this moment, the last person's body suddenly glowed with a bloody light, and his body shrunk rapidly, dodging the sword light that was about to behead him. He then transformed into a bloody shadow and escaped at an incredible speed.
However, he didn't escape far, and the sword light appeared beside him, striking him with a speed that was several times faster than his escape. With a loud "bang", his body exploded into a mess of blood.
"Fourth brother!"
"Han Dao friend, spare his life!"
The remaining four men were shocked, and they cried out in alarm.
Han Li remained still, and a silver light flashed behind him, revealing a black figure, which was Qiuhun.
She grasped at the air with her hands, and her palms glowed with a bloody light, forming two crimson rings that emitted a devouring force.
With a "whoosh", a ball of soul light shot out from the blood, and Qiuhun caught it.
Along with the soul, the storage ring on the deceased's hand also flew into Qiuhun's hand, with a eagle character on it.
The other four men saw this and changed their expressions, instinctively wanting to do something, but they saw the sword light on their necks and became obedient.
"We cultivators have taken many lives, this is nothing, but what I, Han Li, hate the most is those who slaughter the weak and innocent. Anyone who has done such a thing will not be spared today! You Tian Yin Five Sons are famous, and I made you report your names so that you can die with clarity!" Han Li said calmly.
The four men heard this and changed their expressions, wanting to escape, but Han Li's gaze made them freeze.
"The one who tried to escape was Yin Tianying, right? He slaughtered over a hundred mortal cities to refine a blood path immortal artifact, and killed countless innocent people. He is not worthy of sympathy." Han Li said slowly.
The four men heard this and were shocked, wondering how Han Li knew about Yin Tianying's secret.
"Yin Tianhu, you once cultivated in the Cangyun Mountains, using the yin energy to break through your bottleneck. You slaughtered a small sect, the Jinfeng Sect, which had over two thousand people, just to take their cultivation site. Is this true?" Han Li looked at Yin Tianhu.
"Dao friend, I think there's been a misunderstanding, I..." Yin Tianhu's face turned white, unable to speak.
"Yin Tianlu, you refined a demonic treasure, the Child Mother Pursuit Soul Banner, using the blood of pregnant women who were over six months pregnant. I'm not mistaken, am I?" Han Li ignored Yin Tianhu and looked at Yin Tianlu.
Yin Tianlu's face turned pale, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
"Yin Tianxiong, don't pretend to be a righteous person, I've already investigated, you have a sinister nature, and you cultivate the demonic technique, the Yin-Yang Harmony Sutra. In the past few years, many female disciples from the large sects in the Golden Source Domain have gone missing, and you've been secretly capturing them to absorb their yin energy." Han Li turned to Yin Tianxiong, his voice cold.
Yin Tianxiong's body shook, and his face lost all its color.
"And you, Yin Tianyuan, you may not have killed people for your own desires, but you're a loyal dog of Dongfang Bai, and you've slaughtered countless tribes and sects on his orders. You're not worthy of sympathy." Han Li finally looked at Yin Tianyuan.
"You've investigated thoroughly, but I've already made a profit, I've destroyed dozens of sects and tribes, and I'm not afraid of death. You can kill me if you want!" Yin Tianyuan sneered, his eyes gleaming with a fierce light.
Han Li sneered, about to strike down the four men.
Just then, a blood-red glow appeared on Yin Tianyuan's face, and his laughter became sharp and shrill, like a monkey's cry.
This laughter contained a strange power, and Han Li's eardrums felt like they were being pierced by a steel needle, causing him intense pain. Even with his current physical strength, he hesitated for a moment.
Yin Tianhu, Yin Tianlu, and Yin Tianxiong quickly retreated, escaping the sword light's restraint. Yin Tian Yuan suddenly broke free from the electric arc sword light, but instead of retreating, he charged towards Han Li.
"This person's strength is too great, I'll hold him back, you all quickly escape!" Yin Tian Yuan shouted, and his entire body turned blood red as he swelled up, transforming into a large blood-red ball that charged towards Han Li.
"Fourth brother!" Yin Tian Xiong's eyes turned red as he watched the scene, and he was about to turn back to help, but was held back by Yin Tian Hu.
"Fourth brother has used the Red Lotus Self-Destruction, he can't be saved, do you want his death to be in vain? Quickly leave!" Yin Tian Hu shouted, and pulled Yin Tian Xiong as they flew away.
At this moment, a loud muffled sound echoed, and a dazzling blood-red light mixed with a rolling storm burst forth.
Han Li silently retracted his fist, his face calm, as a layer of crystal membrane appeared on his body.
The flying blood storm that hit his body was easily blocked by the crystal membrane, and his clothes were not damaged in the slightest.
Yin Tian Hu and the others saw this scene, and their hearts were shocked, Yin Tian Xiong no longer mentioned going back to help, and the three of them immediately fled in different directions.
Yin Tian Hu's body suddenly ignited with a layer of black flames, and he transformed into a large black fireball, flying forward with incredible speed.
Yin Tian Lu swallowed a cyan-colored pill, and as soon as it entered his stomach, a cyan-colored giant deer's shadow appeared on his body, and he let out a loud cry, his four hooves flying as he transformed into a cyan rainbow, shooting forward with incredible speed.
Yin Tian Xiong reacted quickly, and a layer of black light like water waves appeared on his body, and he instantly became transparent, flashing into the ground and disappearing from sight.
Han Li saw this scene, and his left hand struck out with a fist, his right hand weaving a spell, and a crystal light flashed on his forehead, as a blurry sword shadow shot out, disappearing into the void in front of him.
Yin Tian Hu had just flown out a few thousand meters when the void behind him rippled, and a golden fist shadow the size of a house appeared, striking him with incredible speed.
A loud explosion echoed, and Yin Tian Hu's body, along with the black flames outside, burst apart, turning into a bloody rain.
Almost at the same time, a golden light flashed in front of Yin Tian Lu, and an electric arc sword light shot out, cutting towards him.
Yin Tian Lu was fleeing forward, and had not expected the sword light to appear in front of him, and the speed was too fast, he was unable to dodge.
With a soft "chi" sound, Yin Tian Lu's body was instantly cut in half.
In the underground, Yin Tian Xiong was fleeing with all his might, when a crystal light flashed beside him, and a crystal sword shadow appeared, striking down with incredible speed.
A scream echoed from the underground, and then there was silence.
Ti Hou saw this scene, and her hands moved, as a blood-red light appeared in her palms.
A soft "whoosh" sound echoed, and three soul lights flew out from different directions, falling into her hands.
Yin Tian Xiong's soul, which had entered the underground, was cut off by the soul-cutting sword, and completely disappeared.
She now held four soul lights in her hands, which were constantly changing in size, emitting strong soul fluctuations, struggling with all their might, but unable to leave her hands.
"Don't be in a hurry to eat, first check their memories," Han Li said calmly, looking at Ti Hou.
He had come to the Golden Source Immortal Palace to kill Dong Fang Bai and others, to avenge the Qing Huo tribe and others, and also because the Golden Source Immortal Palace had a cross-domain transmission array that connected to other immortal domains.
Now that he had completely exposed his tracks, continuing to stay in the Golden Source Immortal Domain would only lead to more pursuit, so he wanted to use the transmission array to quickly leave the Golden Source Immortal Domain.
"These four people have been rampaging in the Golden Source Immortal Domain, doing all sorts of evil, I won't eat their souls, after searching their souls, I'll refine them into soul vessels, and torment them for 10,000 years," Ti Hou said, her face cold and her voice icy.
As soon as she finished speaking, she began to chant, and a black mist appeared in her hands, wrapping around the four soul lights, as she began to search their souls.
Han Li saw this, and no longer paid attention to Ti Hou, as a golden thunder light enveloped her, and he transformed into a golden electric light, chasing after Dong Fang Bai.
He had captured the Yin Tian five brothers, and had clearly stated that they would be executed for their crimes, but in reality, it had only taken a short time, and Dong Fang Bai had not escaped his divine sense range.
Han Li had locked onto Dong Fang Bai's tracks with his divine sense, and was using his thunder escape technique to chase after him, and soon caught up to him from behind, a few hundred miles away.
"Hmph! You think you can escape?" Han Li coldly snorted, and swept his sleeve.
Seventy-two electric arc sword lights flashed and merged into one, transforming into a thick electric light, its speed increasing several times.
A loud thunderous sound echoed, and the thick electric light caught up to Dong Fang Bai, striking down with incredible force.
Dongfang Bai suddenly turned around and spat out a mouthful of air.
A large green banner flew out of his mouth, shook slightly, and suddenly countless green flowers appeared, forming a green flower cluster that rushed towards the incoming electric light.
A thick fragrance spread out, and the fragrance contained a special power that made people feel soft and weak, losing their strength.
The electric light was covered by the fragrance, and its sharp light weakened, striking the flower cluster.
The green flower cluster flashed wildly, and was broken by the attack, but still managed to block it.
At this time, Dongfang Bai's body became blurry and turned into a green shadow, shooting towards a tall golden palace below.
A loud thunderclap sounded, and Han Li suddenly appeared, rushing towards the palace.
At the same time, he pinched a seal.
The electric light suddenly intensified, and a burst of golden light exploded, tearing apart the remaining green flowers.
The green banner appeared, but it was already broken into two pieces, losing its spiritual energy and falling to the ground.
The electric light flew back and disappeared into Han Li's sleeve.
Han Li's figure appeared in front of the palace, just as he was about to enter.
Just then, a loud rumbling sound was heard.
The originally open palace door suddenly closed, and the door was several dozen feet high, with a black and shiny surface that exuded an unbreakable feeling.
Ancient golden patterns were engraved on the door, forming a sword shape, with some large and some small, emitting a fierce and sharp aura, indicating a powerful seal.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he stopped in front of the door, not forcing his way in. He looked around and asked, "Tixi, have you finished investigating? What is this place?"
"Master, wait a moment, the memories in these four people's souls are very vast, and it will take some time... Ah, this is the transmission hall of the Jin Yuan Sect's domain, and inside is the cross-domain transmission array!" Tixi's hands glowed with black light, wrapping around the four people's souls, using her soul-searching technique. Her face suddenly changed, and she exclaimed, "You want to leave? Humph!"
Han Li heard this and clenched his fists.
His three giant heads suddenly became clear, one transforming into a mountain giant ape, one into a true spirit dragon, and one into a heavenly whale, his body suddenly growing larger, and his skin glowing with over 900 spiritual light points.
Three true spirit bloodline powers burst out of his body, and a powerful and terrifying aura exploded from him.
Han Li shouted, and his two fists struck the black door.
"No, master, this hall is made of the legendary material god stone, which is one of the hardest materials in the world, and even a Mahārāja might not be able to break it. Moreover, the seal on the door is very powerful, and it cannot be broken by brute force. I have already found the opening method, let me try..." Tixi saw Han Li's actions and immediately spoke up.
But before she finished speaking, Han Li's fists had already struck the door.
With a loud crash, the palace shook violently, and the surrounding area within a hundred miles was torn apart, with smoke and dust flying everywhere.
The nearby air was filled with a loud rumbling sound, and a fierce storm was stirred up.
The door shook violently, and a dense network of cracks appeared.
Suddenly, thousands of golden sword lights erupted from the door, forming a massive sword array that attacked Han Li.
The fierce sword intent filled the air, surpassing Han Li's Blue Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword Array.
Han Li spat out a mouthful of air, and a green light flew out, wrapping around the sword lights.
The green light flashed, and all the sword lights disappeared, as if the previous sword array was just an illusion.
The green light flew back into Han Li's mouth, and his six giant fists glowed with silver light, striking the door again.
With a loud crash, the door finally collapsed, shattering into countless fragments.
"What were you just saying?" Han Li suddenly remembered that Tixi had said something earlier, and he turned to ask her.
"Uh..." Tixi stared blankly at the destroyed door, muttering.
Han Li's eyebrows moved slightly, and he ignored Tixi, rushing into the palace.
The palace was circular, with a diameter of several hundred feet, and the floor was supported by dozens of giant white stone pillars.
In the center of the palace, a golden transmission array was set up, with a diameter of over 60 feet, and countless mysterious symbols were engraved on it. The twelve silver pillars surrounding the golden array stood tall, each one several meters high, with a majestic silver dragon carving on top.
At this moment, Dongfang Bai was busy arranging the silver crystal stones around the golden array, inserting them into the grooves on the pillars.
Half of the pillars were already filled, and the silver light on the pillars grew brighter, with the silver dragon carvings spewing out silver light towards the center of the array.
Han Li's massive body crashed to the ground, creating two deep pits, and the entire hall shook violently.
"Impossible! There's a divine stone gate outside, and the Tianyi Sword Array is set up on it. How did you break through so quickly?" Dongfang Bai's face was filled with incredulity as he roared.
"Han Li, you shall die!" Dongfang Bai shouted.
Han Li ignored Dongfang Bai's question, his massive body emerging from the smoke, like a demon god from the chaos. The golden light on his body flashed, and the True Words Treasure Wheel appeared behind him.
Dongfang Bai's face changed, and he didn't bother to arrange the array anymore. His body flashed, and he disappeared from the spot.
Han Li smiled slightly, not paying attention, and activated the True Words Treasure Wheel.
A low hum sounded, and countless golden ripples spread out from the wheel, filling the entire hall.
The air near the door rippled, and Dongfang Bai reappeared, trapped by the True Words Treasure Wheel, unable to move.
Han Li's body flashed, and he returned to his human form. He flicked his finger, and a golden sword shot out, piercing Dongfang Bai's abdomen.
Dongfang Bai's abdomen was torn open, and his Yuan Ying was shattered, his true body destroyed.
Han Li's heart relaxed, and he changed his hand seal. The golden ripples from the True Words Treasure Wheel flashed once and disappeared.
As the ripples vanished, a green light ball shot out from Dongfang Bai's body, heading towards the outside of the hall.
"Ah, the soul!" Han Li said calmly.
A dark shadow flashed, and Ti Hou appeared, blocking the green light ball with a wave of his hand, unleashing a bloody light that wrapped around the ball.
The green light ball struggled fiercely, but it couldn't escape.
"Two friends, I was wrong in the past, and I offended you both. Please spare my life, and I'll give you all my collections and the wealth of the Golden Source Sect. The Golden Source Sect is a rich and prosperous realm, with countless resources and treasures. I won't disappoint you."
The green light ball revealed Dongfang Bai's face, speaking quickly.
Han Li smiled, not responding.
Ti Hou's eyes were filled with hatred as he looked at Dongfang Bai's soul.
"Han friend, I can convert to the ghost path, become a ghost servant, and serve you for life. With my current cultivation, I won't lose much strength. I can help you. Moreover, I know that the Nine Yuan Sect has sent experts to capture you. With my help, you can escape, but if you kill me, you'll soon fall into their hands."
Han Li's eyes moved slightly, hearing this.
"Master, this person is the main culprit behind Ye Su Su's death. We can't let him go! And with his soul in hand, we can search his memories." Ti Hou said urgently.
"Hmph! I have a secret technique to lock my soul, and your soul-searching technique won't work on me." Dongfang Bai sneered.
"Don't worry, master, my law is specifically designed to deal with souls. Ordinary people can't search his memories, but I can..." Ti Hou said quickly.
"Ti Hou, don't worry, I never intended to let him go. I came here today to avenge the Qing Huo clan. No matter what he says, I won't spare him. You can use the soul-searching technique, even if we don't find anything in his memories, it's fine." Han Li raised his hand, stopping Ti Hou's words.
"Thank you, master!" Ti Hou said, overjoyed.
As soon as he finished speaking, a dark light burst out from his palm, enveloping Dongfang Bai's soul.
Countless blood-red symbols jumped out from the dark light, penetrating Dongfang Bai's soul.
Dongfang Bai's mournful cry echoed from the dark light, but his soul didn't shatter.
Han Li's eyes lit up, pleased with Ti Hou's technique.
He walked to Dongfang Bai's corpse, taking a storage ring from his hand, and his divine sense entered the ring.
His face soon revealed a look of surprise, and he waved his hand.
The ground flashed, and a small pile of silver crystal stones appeared.
Han Li glanced at the half-arranged transmission array and pondered for a moment before picking up the crystal stones and continuing to insert them into the remaining pillars.
Although he didn't find any information about the transmission array in the storage ring, he was confident that Ti Hou would soon uncover the secrets.
It was better to prepare the transmission array first and wait for Ti Hou to gather the information before leaving.
It didn't take long for the remaining stone pillars inside the temple to be filled with silver crystals by Han Li.
Han Li swept his gaze around, confirming that everything was in order, and then waved his hand to activate the spell.
The next moment, a burst of silver light erupted from the spell array, and the entire temple began to hum with energy.
At the same time, the Wailing Soul's face lit up with joy, and the black light in its hand dissipated, revealing the divine soul of Dongfang Bai, who was extremely weak.
The divine soul's face was dull and expressionless, as if it had been severely damaged.
"Master, I've checked, this transmission array is connected to four places, one of which is the nearby Golden Han Celestial Palace, one is the Middle Earth Celestial Palace, and the other two..." the Wailing Soul began to say.
But at this moment, a massive silver light pillar erupted from the spell array, shooting up into the sky and illuminating the entire temple in a silver-white light.
Han Li's face changed, and he seemed to have realized something, dashing towards one of the stone pillars to grab the silver crystal.
However, just as he did, the spell array surrounding the temple flashed with a soft glow, and a crystal ball-like light shield appeared, enveloping the entire spell array and the twelve stone pillars.
Han Li's hand was too slow, and he crashed into the light shield, only to be bounced back like hitting a soft wall.
The silver light pillar inside the spell array began to glow, and two figures emerged.
The first person was tall and had fiery red hair, with skin that was also a deep red color. He had long arms and legs, and looked quite strange.
The second person was a young man wearing a golden robe, which Han Li recognized as the attire of a Celestial Inspector.
Han Li looked at the two people, and his face immediately changed, grabbing the Wailing Soul and flying out of the temple.
The person with the fiery red hair was none other than Qi Mozi, the traitorous disciple of the ancient sect that Han Li had encountered before.
Qi Mozi's aura was massive, and he was clearly a powerful cultivator in the Great Luo Realm. The young man in the golden robe, however, had a much lower cultivation level, only at the late stage of the Golden Immortal Realm.
If it were an ordinary Great Luo Realm cultivator, Han Li would have been confident in fighting him, but Qi Mozi cultivated the laws of time, and Han Li had no confidence in defeating him. Moreover, the situation was too unpredictable, and if he got stuck in a stalemate, the consequences would be dire.
Qi Mozi looked at the situation inside the temple, his face filled with surprise, and then immediately looked at Han Li, who was flying out of the temple, his brow furrowed.
But his gaze immediately flashed, and he looked at the young man in the golden robe.
"It's him!" the young man exclaimed, his eyes locking onto Han Li.
Qi Mozi's face lit up with joy, and his body began to glow with a golden light, as if he was about to fly out of the spell array.
But the crystal ball-like light shield surrounding the spell array began to fluctuate, and a powerful restrictive force burst out, freezing the space inside the spell array.
Even Qi Mozi, with his powerful cultivation, was unable to move.
Meanwhile, Han Li had already flown out of the temple with the Wailing Soul, looking back at the two people inside the spell array, especially the young man in the golden robe. He then swung his sleeve, and a burst of golden lightning erupted, enveloping the two people.
A loud crack of thunder sounded, and the two people disappeared from sight.
Qi Mozi snorted, and a golden light flashed on his body, as he took out a golden time candle, which was much larger than Han Li's. The candle's flame was also much more intense, and it seemed to be burning with a fierce energy.
The golden time candle had over 2,000 time law patterns flashing on its surface, emitting a powerful time law fluctuation that seemed to be shaking the surrounding space.
Qi Mozi pointed at the candle, and the flame erupted, releasing a wave of flame-like spiritual energy that enveloped the surrounding area.
The crystal ball-like light shield was immediately affected, its light stopping in place, as if it had been frozen. The spiritual energy inside the shield was also completely still, as if it had been petrified.
Qi Mozi, however, was not affected, and he waved his hand, releasing a golden light that struck the light shield.
The shield shattered, and Qi Mozi disappeared, leaving behind a trail of golden light.
The young man in the golden robe also flew out of the temple, but he was unable to find Han Li or Qi Mozi.
He looked around, his face filled with a mix of emotions, and then sighed, disappearing into a golden light that flew off in a different direction.
Qi Mozi reappeared outside the temple, his body glowing with a golden light, as he released a wave of golden light shadows that flew out in all directions.
His eyes flashed with excitement, and he formed a series of flame-like talismans that flew out of his body, forming a golden spell array around him.
A burst of golden flames erupted from the spell array, enveloping Qi Mozi's body, and his figure began to blur, before disappearing from sight. More than 100,000 miles away from the Golden Origin Immortal Palace, a mountain peak lit up with a flash of golden lightning, and the figures of Han Li and Ti Huo appeared from within.
"Master, who was that person just now?" Ti Huo asked, her eyes scanning the surroundings, her voice still trembling with fear.
"He is a person from the Heavenly Court's Immortal Prison, perhaps the Prison Master," Han Li replied calmly.
"Prison Master!" Ti Huo's face changed.
"Don't think about that now, this place is not safe, we need to leave immediately," Han Li said, his hands weaving a spell as he spoke.
A loud rumbling sound echoed out, and countless golden lightning arcs shot out from his body, rapidly condensing and changing to form a massive golden lightning array.
At the same time, a flash of golden light appeared in the distance, and a wave of spatial energy emanated from within.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he quickly pointed a finger.
The golden lightning array flared up, and Han Li and Ti Huo's figures blurred and disappeared, leaving behind only the faint remnants of the lightning array.
The golden light expanded, forming a massive golden fire array, and the figure of Qi Mozi appeared, his eyes fixed on the remnants of the lightning array as he let out a cold, mocking smile.
He closed his eyes, sensing the surroundings for a moment, before his hands weaved a spell and the golden fire array flared up.
Qi Mozi's figure disappeared, leaving behind only the faint remnants of the fire array.
In a distant location within the Golden Origin Mountains, a flash of golden lightning illuminated the air, and Han Li and Ti Huo's figures reappeared.
"Master, that Qi Mozi also knows the Spatial Transmission Technique, what should we do now?" Ti Huo asked anxiously.
Han Li's expression was not good, but his hands moved without hesitation, and he quickly cast another spell to form a lightning array.
But before he could activate the array, another flash of golden fire appeared in the distance, moving at an even faster speed than before.
"Quickly!" Han Li shouted, and he activated the lightning array to transmit himself and Ti Huo away.
As soon as they disappeared, Qi Mozi's figure reappeared, and he too activated his Spatial Transmission Technique.
The two of them continued to play a game of cat and mouse, with Han Li using his lightning array to transmit himself and Ti Huo away, while Qi Mozi used his Spatial Transmission Technique to pursue them.
Han Li was in control, but Qi Mozi seemed to be getting closer and closer, and Han Li knew that he couldn't keep this up for much longer.
In a location on the outskirts of the Golden Origin Mountains, a flash of golden lightning illuminated the air, and Han Li and Ti Huo's figures reappeared.
"Why didn't you put me in the Flower Branch Space?" Ti Huo asked, her voice low and serious.
"Because you're a living being, and you need to open the Spatial Door to enter the Flower Branch Space," Han Li replied, his eyes fixed on the surroundings.
"But Master, that person is getting closer and closer, I'm afraid we'll be caught soon," Ti Huo said, her voice trembling with fear.
"His Spatial Transmission Technique combines fire and spatial energy, similar to my lightning array," Han Li said, his eyes narrowing.
"Ah, you want to escape my pursuit? Unless you can transmit yourself over a billion miles away, you won't be able to escape me!" Qi Mozi's voice echoed out, and a flash of golden light illuminated the air.
A massive black whip shot out from the light, tearing through the air and destroying everything in its path.
The whip was incredibly fast, and it struck the lightning array with incredible force, causing it to shatter and disappear.
Han Li's eyes widened in shock, and he quickly grabbed Ti Huo and flew backward, avoiding the whip by a hair's breadth.
The whip continued to pursue them, and Han Li knew that he had to think fast if he wanted to escape.
He flew backward, using his internal energy to fuel his movements, and then punched out with his fist.
A massive golden fist shot out, striking the whip and causing it to shudder.
The whip was incredibly powerful, and it shattered the golden fist, but Han Li was not deterred.
He grabbed Ti Huo and flew backward, using his internal energy to fuel his movements, and then punched out with his fist again.
A massive golden fist shot out, striking the whip and causing it to shudder.
The whip was incredibly powerful, and it shattered the golden fist, but Han Li was not deterred.
He continued to punch out with his fists, each one striking the whip and causing it to shudder.
The whip was incredibly powerful, but Han Li's fists were relentless, and eventually, the whip began to weaken.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the whip disappeared, and Han Li and Ti Huo were left standing, panting heavily.
Han Li's body was exhausted, and he knew that he couldn't keep this up for much longer.
He looked at Ti Huo, and then nodded, making a decision.
"We need to find a way to get you into the Flower Branch Space," he said, his eyes fixed on the surroundings.
Ti Huo nodded, and Han Li knew that he had to think fast if he wanted to escape Qi Mozi's pursuit.
He looked around, his eyes scanning the surroundings, and then he spotted a location in the distance.
"Let's go," he said, and he grabbed Ti Huo's hand, flying off into the distance.
Tihu's eyes were closed, her arms tightly wrapped around Han Li, and only now did she barely open them.
"Master, are you okay?" Jintong saw Han Li panting, and his face changed.
"It's fine, just a bit of exhaustion... this guy has caught up." Han Li waved his hand, and then his expression changed as he looked in a certain direction.
"Indeed, he's got some skills, not disappointing me after waiting for so long."
The golden light in the distance flashed and disappeared, and Qimozu flew out, his eyes fixed on Han Li, rubbing his hands together, and laughing.
He held a short axe in his hand, emitting a dark light, and it seemed that the black streak of energy just now was cut out by this axe.
Han Li felt Qimozu's gaze, and for some reason, he had a feeling that his whole body was being seen through.
He hurriedly circulated the Time Laws, and in an instant, he barely managed to isolate the feeling of being seen through.
"Who are you, sir? I don't think we've met before!" Han Li took a deep breath and decided to probe Qimozu's bottom line, asking aloud.
"Ah, Huo Huo, Chi Rong, those two didn't show you my image? I am Qimozu, and I'm sure you've heard of this name. No need to say more, hand over the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Secret', and I'll spare your life." Qimozu's eyes flashed with a fiery light, and he stepped forward, saying.
"'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Secret'? What is that, a cultivation technique?" Han Li's heart shook, but his face remained expressionless.
"Hmph! You're just like Chi Rong said, a very dishonest little guy! But it's okay if you don't admit it, as long as I extract your divine soul, I'll know after searching your soul." Qimozu sneered, and his body flew out.
Han Li's feet flashed with golden light, and he quickly retreated.
"Master, don't bring me along, let me down, and use your full strength to deal with this guy, I can take care of myself." Tihu's beautiful eyes flashed, saying.
Han Li didn't move at all.
"Heh heh, sir, you're quite good at being gentle with a beauty, but don't worry, I'm not going to kill you, I just want your divine soul!" Qimozu laughed loudly, and a layer of black flame appeared on his short axe, slashing through the air.
A black streak of energy flew out, slashing towards Han Li, its speed almost twice as fast as before, and it reached Han Li's side in an instant.
The space around the black streak of energy, within a hundred feet, seemed to shatter like a mirror, and a series of spatial cracks appeared, spreading outward.
Han Li's face turned serious, and he let out a low roar, quickly casting the True Words Treasure Wheel.
Countless golden ripples expanded, instantly covering the surrounding area, and the black streak of energy was wrapped within.
The black streak of energy stopped, but the golden ripples region also shook violently, and it was only after a while that it stabilized.
"Ah, you've actually cultivated the 'True Words Transformation Wheel' to this extent." Qimozu's face showed surprise, but he didn't care, and his black short axe rose, ready to slash again.
Just then, Han Li's body flashed with golden light, and a golden spirit domain opened, covering the surrounding area.
Qimozu was enveloped by the golden spirit domain, and his movements slowed down by more than ten times.
Han Li simultaneously cast the True Words Treasure Wheel and the Time Spirit Domain, and his body's divine energy was consumed extremely quickly, but he didn't care, his hands waving continuously.
The next moment, a dozen golden lightning woods flew out of his sleeves, and after a brief condensation, they fell to the ground, forming a circle, which was the Lightning Wood Array.
Dazzling golden lightning flashed out from the dozen lightning woods, intertwining with each other.
Qimozu saw this scene, and it seemed that he had thought of something, and the golden flames on his body surged, and then "whoosh" expanded outward, instantly forming a golden flame spirit domain, covering the surrounding area.
Han Li was enveloped by the golden flame spirit domain, and his body immediately sank, his speed slowing down by ten times, but he still stubbornly circulated the Lightning Wood Array.
The array quickly charged, and it seemed that it was about to be complete.
Qimozu let out a loud shout, and a golden light flashed in front of him, and the golden fire stick appeared.
A series of flame spirit lights expanded from the golden fire stick, and everything in their path was frozen in place, the flame spirit lights expanding at an extremely fast speed, almost instantly covering Han Li and the surrounding area.
Han Li and the surrounding Lightning Wood Array immediately froze, stopped in place, and even the True Words Treasure Wheel and the surrounding golden ripples were frozen, completely suppressed.
Qimozu's face relaxed, and his black short axe flashed with dark light, and a dark streak of energy slashed towards Han Li's body.
Just as the dark streak of energy was about to hit, Han Li's body flashed with golden light, and a golden jade bottle appeared on his left side, containing half a bottle of half-transparent golden liquid, flashing with faint light, and on his right side, a golden hourglass appeared, with countless golden sand particles floating inside.
A golden fire stick appeared in front of him, burning with golden flames, and behind him, a small golden tree appeared.
The five Time Divine Arts released golden light, resonating with each other, and the time laws on them lit up, releasing a powerful and complete time law fluctuation.
Fifty time law crystals flew out from the True Words Treasure Wheel and other objects, forming a golden ring, rapidly rotating, and releasing a devouring force.
Qimozu's Broken Time Domain suddenly trembled, and a series of flame spirit lights flew out, entering the golden ring.
Han Li's body flashed with golden light, and he let out a loud roar, his body bursting with divine energy. What! Qimozi's face changed in shock.
Han Li immediately recovered, and the surrounding lightning array also regained its vitality.
He immediately pinched his fingers, and the golden lightning array flashed, instantly condensing into shape.
"Swift!" Han Li's hand gesture immediately accelerated.
Boom!
The dazzling golden lightning burst forth from the lightning array, enveloping Han Li and Ti Hu.
As the golden lightning flashed, the void also violently fluctuated, generating waves like ripples on the surface of water, spreading outward.
Qimozi sensed this, and his eyes widened in fury, his face revealing a crazed expression, as the black short axe in his hand burst forth with light.
Boom! The short axe suddenly grew ten times larger, transforming into a massive black axe.
A violent, law-defying energy burst forth from the axe, and the void nearby began to collapse as the black light flashed.
Qimozi grasped the axe with both hands and swung it down at the lightning array.
Boom! A massive, hundred-meter-wide, ten-li-long black energy blade slashed out, shattering the void wherever it passed, generating a series of spatial whirlpools that swept across the surrounding area.
The sky instantly turned dark, and black clouds emerged, as fierce winds howled.
But Qimozi's attack was slightly late!
The black axe's energy was immense, but the lightning array's movements were even faster.
Just as the sound of thunder boomed, Han Li and Ti Hu's figures vanished into the lightning.
The black energy blade swept in, instantly tearing apart the lightning array, and the ten or so Jumu trees were completely shattered.
Qimozi's face fell, and he coldly snorted before retracting his axe, closing his eyes to sense.
After a moment, he opened his eyes, his face dark and cold, but then returned to normal.
"Heh heh, the Great Five Elements Phantom Realm Technique is indeed in your hands... This technique, once mastered, can absorb the power of time itself, truly worthy of being the strongest time-based technique!" Qimozi's eyes gleamed with excitement as he chuckled.
As he spoke, he waved his sleeve, and his body transformed into a golden rainbow, flying towards the Golden Source Immortal Palace.
...
Deep within the Golden Source mountain range, countless miles away from the Golden Source Immortal Palace.
A massive, golden mountain peak had an internal chamber, a several-zhang-sized stone room.
The stone room's walls were inscribed with spiritual patterns, emitting various colors of light.
A golden lightning array was set up on the floor, with ten or so golden lightning trees inserted around it, flashing with golden lightning.
Suddenly, the golden lightning array flashed, and a massive, golden light pillar burst forth, shooting towards the sky.
The spiritual patterns on the stone room's walls immediately lit up, and multiple layers of restrictive light screens appeared, flashing with various symbols, emitting waves of law-defying energy, blocking the golden lightning pillar.
The golden light pillar persisted for a few breaths before dissipating, revealing three figures inside: Han Li and Ti Hu.
"Where is this?" Ti Hu, now recovered, looked around in surprise.
"I set up this Jumu lightning array here before heading to the Golden Source Immortal Palace, just in case. I didn't expect to actually use it. This place is extremely far from the Golden Source Immortal Palace, and Qimozi's teleportation technique won't be able to find it." Han Li pinched his fingers, retracting the five time-based divine abilities surrounding him, and slowly spoke.
As he finished speaking, his brow furrowed, and he stumbled, almost falling to the ground, with a trace of blood on his lips.
"Master, you're injured!" Ti Hu hastily supported Han Li, exclaiming.
"I was too focused on controlling the lightning array and didn't have time to defend myself, so I was hit by Qimozi's axe energy. It injured my internal organs." Han Li waved his hand, taking out a green pill and swallowing it.
"This Qimozi is indeed formidable. If not for Master's prior preparations, we would have been in big trouble... Your injury doesn't seem light, why don't we rest here for a while?" Ti Hu said.
"The lightning array's activation was quite loud, and although I set up restrictions around us, it's possible that someone with ill intentions might have noticed. Let's leave here first." Han Li waved his hand, emitting a green light, and the lightning array on the ground disappeared.
The stone room's surroundings also flew out, and Han Li collected the array flags.
Han Li waved his hand, putting the items away, and pinched his fingers.
A golden lightning array reappeared around the two, and with a thunderous boom, their figures vanished into the lightning once more.
The Jin Yuan mountain range, a remote mountain peak, was shrouded in dark clouds, with a steady drizzle falling from the sky.
A loud thunderclap echoed through the air!
In the midst of the dark clouds, a silver flash of lightning intertwined with the clouds, and a brilliant lightning array flashed into existence, only to disappear in an instant.
As the lightning faded, two figures fell from the sky, landing with a thud on the peak's dense forest.
The sound of impact echoed through the air, as ancient trees, thick as several men, snapped and broke, until the two figures finally stopped rolling and collapsed beside a massive boulder.
"Master!"
A urgent cry rang out, as a black-clad girl, ignoring her own injuries, quickly helped the battered blue-robed man to his feet.
"I'm fine, my injuries are under control, but this ordeal has left me exhausted, both physically and spiritually." The blue-robed man wiped the rain from his face, and smiled wryly.
The man was none other than Han Li, who had fled from the Jin Yuan Immortal Palace to this place.
"That Qi Mozi is truly despicable, taking advantage of Master's weakened state after his battle with Dong Fang Bai..." The black-clad girl, Ti Huan, complained, but was cut off by Han Li.
"As the saying goes, 'man plans, but heaven decides'. I didn't expect Qi Mozi to show up. We're not safe yet, we need to rest for a while, then continue on our way." Han Li took a deep breath, and said.
Ti Huan nodded silently, and remained quiet.
Han Li took out a medicinal pill, and swallowed it, then sat down cross-legged, and began to meditate.
A short while later, he opened his eyes, and stood up, his eyes gleaming with a hint of spiritual energy. Ti Huan, who had been sitting nearby, quickly stood up, and approached him.
"Master, this time, aside from Qi Mozi, we need to be prepared for more pursuers. Before we attacked the Jin Yuan Immortal Palace, Dong Fang Bai had contact with a powerful being from the Jiu Yuan Observatory, who said they would send the Lan siblings to capture us." Ti Huan spoke quickly.
"The Lan siblings..." Han Li murmured.
"They seem to be quite powerful, Dong Fang Bai's memories of them are limited, but he trusts them." Ti Huan added.
"Regardless, we've already killed Dong Fang Bai, and we don't need to entangle ourselves with them again. It's best to leave here as soon as possible. The Jin Yuan Immortal Palace's influence is mainly concentrated in the western part of the Jin Yuan mountain range, while the central and eastern parts are controlled by various immortal sects and aristocratic families. It's a complex web of power, and we can easily hide our tracks there. Let's head there first." Han Li shook his head, and said.
"Alright!" Ti Huan nodded, and replied.
"Ti Huan, to avoid being tracked, I'll temporarily seal my spiritual energy, and use my physical body to travel as quickly as possible, hiding my spiritual energy fluctuations. You should stay in the flower branch cave, and rest." Han Li said, and with a wave of his hand, a silver light door opened.
Ti Huan didn't say anything, and quickly entered the light door, returning to the bamboo pavilion.
Han Li closed the light door, and looked up at the sky, his body suddenly rising into the air, as he leapt into the clouds.
...
Two years passed.
In the central part of the Jin Yuan mountain range, a small, unassuming mountain valley, called Qing Si Valley, was nestled among the winding mountains.
In this valley, there was a small, secluded village, called Yu Liang Village, where several hundred villagers lived, rarely interacting with the outside world.
On this particular night, the village was bustling with activity, as all the villagers, dressed in their finest clothes, carried torches, and beat drums, as they made their way to the foot of a nearby mountain.
On the stretchers they carried, were old men with white hair, all of whom appeared to be on the brink of death.
Among the villagers, a tall, blue-robed man stood out, looking somewhat out of place.
He walked alongside the village head, and asked, "Village head, where are we going?"
The village head, who appeared to be a young man, but with eyes that seemed aged, hesitated, before responding, "We're going to the White Head Valley, behind the mountain."
The blue-robed man, who was addressed as Han Daifu, was none other than Han Li, who had been hiding in the village for the past half month.
He had arrived in the village by chance, and had helped to cure a plague that had been afflicting the villagers, earning their gratitude, and staying on as a traveling doctor. Han Li didn't want to linger here, but after staying in the village for two days, he discovered some unusual things, such as the village chief in front of him, who looked like he was only in his 40s, but was actually over 500 years old.
Even though the lifespan of ordinary people in the immortal realm was long, it was usually only around 200 years, and without a spiritual root, he shouldn't be able to live more than twice the lifespan of an ordinary person. This was clearly abnormal.
However, what was even more unusual was that there were more people like the village chief, who had lived for hundreds of years.
"White Haired Valley... what's going on there?" Han Li asked in confusion.
"Never mind, Doctor Han has helped us drive away the plague, and is considered a lifesaver for our village. I won't hide it from you. Look at the people being carried on the bamboo stretcher, how old do you think they are?" The village chief stopped and said.
"From their appearance, I'd say they're around 150 years old?" Han Li pretended to think and guessed.
"Not bad, they're indeed around 150 years old, but in reality, they're my juniors. I'm already 513 years old." The village chief nodded and said.
"What?" Han Li feigned shock and said.
"Doctor Han, don't be too surprised. There are people in the village like me, or even older than me." The village chief saw Han Li's expression and chuckled, patting his shoulder.
"Is it... did you all obtain some kind of spiritual medicine or immortal technique?" Han Li asked.
"Where did you get that idea? It's all thanks to the clear spring in White Haired Valley." The village chief shook his head and continued walking.
"Clear spring? What kind of spring water can make people live so long?" Han Li asked in surprise.
"I'm not too sure myself. This clear spring is very strange, it only appears once every hundred years. Every time it appears, we'll carry the villagers who are on the brink of death into the valley, and have them soak in the spring water for a day and a night, then bring them back." The village chief said.
"Is it... can you really regain your youth by soaking in the spring water?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.
"It's not that simple. This spiritual spring is also unpredictable, sometimes it can make people regain their youth, but sometimes it can also make them wither away. It all depends on luck." The village chief said.
"I see... " Han Li nodded, seeming to understand.
"Doctor Han, you're currently in your prime, don't try this. This spiritual spring can make people regain their youth, but it can't cure illnesses. If someone gets a serious disease, they'll still die. I'm telling you this because I want to keep you in our village, to help us treat various illnesses, and in the future, we can all enjoy a long lifespan together." The village chief said.
"Doctor Han is just a wandering doctor, it's an honor to receive the village chief's praise, but this is a big decision for me. Can I think about it for a day or two before giving an answer?" Han Li said with a difficult expression.
"Ha ha, no problem, Doctor Han can take his time." The village chief also laughed and said.
The two of them followed the crowd and continued walking, chatting about ordinary things. The village chief asked Han Li about his family, and if he had married.
As they spoke, he wanted to introduce a young girl from the village who was over 100 years old, but still looked like a maiden, to Han Li. Han Li was left speechless.
The crowd finally arrived at White Haired Valley, and it was already midnight. The valley was quiet and still, with only the sound of drums and cymbals. The villagers all looked solemn, their eyes filled with reverence.
As they entered the valley, Han Li saw two giant boulders, leaning against each other, forming a human-shaped space. Below it was a clear spring, about ten feet in diameter.
The water in the spring was crystal clear, and even in the moonlight and firelight, you could see the mud and leaves at the bottom, as well as the bubbling spring water.
The crowd gathered around the spring, clasping their hands together in prayer, while the village chief began to recite a ritual text.
Han Li took advantage of the distraction to quietly scoop up some water from the spring, and examined it carefully. He raised an eyebrow, seeming to notice something.
The village chief then ordered the villagers to carry the elderly people into the spring, and they were placed in the water with great care.
The elderly people all closed their eyes and sat cross-legged, as the water rippled around them. The village chief then led the crowd in bowing three times to the spring, and they all left the valley, waiting for the next day to see the results.
On the way back, the villagers were no longer solemn, and they quickly returned to the village. Han Li bid farewell to the village chief and returned to his hut.
However, just half an hour later, a figure flashed out of the hut and disappeared into the village.
Before long, a man in a green robe appeared in the White-Haired Valley. It was none other than Han Li.
When he had heard the village elder mention the Spring of Luminous Eyes earlier, he had felt that it was not ordinary, and that the power of the Time Laws it contained had changed the villagers' physical bodies to some extent, causing them to appear youthful or withered.
If he were to cultivate the Great Five Elements Illusory Realm Technique here, he might be able to break through in a shorter amount of time, and his chances of dealing with the Heavenly Court's pursuers, such as Qi Mozi, would increase.
However, the Time Laws in the spring water seemed to be unstable, and according to the village elder, they would only appear once every hundred years, and the time would not be long. If Han Li wanted to utilize them, he would have to find the source of the Time Laws' power.
After entering the valley, Han Li did not immediately head to the depths of the valley, but instead examined the rugged and rocky terrain on both sides.
After a moment, he discovered something strange. Many of the rocks scattered about had golden characters and talismans engraved on them.
Some of the talismans were still intact, while others were broken and worn, but none of them had any remaining spiritual energy.
"No wonder I sensed a faint fluctuation of the Time Laws earlier, but couldn't feel it when I arrived at the White-Haired Valley. The concealment effect of these talismans is quite good, and even though they're broken, they still have an effect."
Han Li's eyes lit up as he stroked a talisman on a large rock. He suddenly had an idea - since the concealment effect was so strong, why not hide here?
For the past two years, Han Li had been running from the Heavenly Court and the Jiuyuan Sect, leaving behind fake trails and decoys to confuse his pursuers. However, he had never been able to truly shake them off.
With his mind made up, Han Li began to carefully examine the valley, occasionally stretching out his hand to mimic the talismans on the rocks.
By the time the sky turned white, he had finished his work and sat down on a large rock, exhausted.
After a night of work, Han Li had restored most of the broken talismans and moved the rocks to their original positions, restoring the valley's original appearance.
As the array was completed, a mist began to rise from the valley, covering the entire area in a layer of white fog.
Han Li flew into the air and examined the valley with his spiritual sense, discovering that even the faint fluctuation of the Time Laws he had sensed earlier had disappeared.
If even his own spiritual sense couldn't detect anything unusual, then it was likely that no one else could either.
Han Li descended back into the valley and headed towards the depths of the valley, where the Spring of Luminous Eyes was located.
As he entered the valley once more, he saw the two large rocks that formed a human-like shape, and his eyes narrowed as he noticed that the spring water was also shrouded in a layer of white mist.
The mist was condensed and did not dissipate, and Han Li's spiritual sense detected that it was not just ordinary mist.
He flew forward, his eyes fixed on the spring water, and saw several old men lying on the ground, their bodies withered and gray.
Their clothes were quickly decaying, and their bodies were revealing their skeletal remains.
"Looks like they weren't lucky this time..." Han Li sighed.
He reached out a hand and stirred the water, feeling a refreshing sensation, but nothing else.
Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, he sensed a faint flow of warm water emerging from the depths of the spring, enveloping his hand.
The water felt smoother than the surrounding water, and Han Li detected a fluctuation of the Time Laws.
His hand began to grow and shed hair rapidly, and he smiled, "It seems that the Time Laws can accelerate the flow of time. There must be something extraordinary hidden here."
He gathered the seven or eight skeletons and placed them at the edge of the pool, then stepped into the pool himself. Han Li arrived at the spring's edge, bent down, and reached out with his hand to search around. After a moment, he moved the small stones aside, but all that was revealed was a small opening buried in the mud at the bottom of the pool, with nothing unusual about it.
"This doesn't seem right," Han Li said, his face full of doubt as he looked up at the two massive stones above. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the two stones, which were arranged in a human-like shape, had a circular symbol carved into each side, but there was no spiritual energy emanating from them.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and a purple light flashed in his eyes. When he looked at the symbols again, he noticed a change.
Inside the two circular symbols, a golden light seemed to be flowing, like two golden fish swimming in opposite directions. Han Li's heart stirred, and he rose into the air, placing his hands on the symbols.
His body began to glow with a soft, golden light as he activated the Five Elements Phantom World Technique. The golden light flowed from his hands, connecting with the symbols and causing them to rotate rapidly. The symbols' centers lit up, and a golden light burst forth, creating a golden screen that blocked the space between the two stones.
Han Li had already retreated to the outside of the stones, looking at the golden light screen that had appeared out of nowhere. He hesitated for a moment, then looked up at the sky, which was starting to brighten.
With a determined look, Han Li activated his protective aura and the True Extreme Membrane, and then flashed into the golden screen.
The screen vanished, and the pool returned to its calm state. After a while, the water began to seep into the ground, and the spring stopped flowing.
The pool eventually dried up, leaving behind only a few skeletons lying on the rocks.
...
In the western part of the Golden Source Mountains, a lone mountain peak stood tall.
A red-haired man with large hands and feet, and strange markings on his skin, stood on the mountain peak. He was gazing into the distance, with flames erupting from his head.
This was Qimozi, who had been tracking Han Li.
"This is the 136th puppet," Qimozi said, looking at the shattered puppet at his feet. "He's left behind a blood essence, but also set up a blood seal. Once the puppet is destroyed, the blood essence will be burned, leaving no trace behind. How can he be so cunning?"
Qimozi turned to a young man standing behind him, who was none other than Xiongshan, the former vice sect leader of the Zhulong Sect.
"Sir, I've had personal experience with Han Li's cunning," Xiongshan said, his face clouding over. "I never thought he would grow so quickly, becoming a major threat to the Heavenly Court."
Qimozi's eyes narrowed. "I was thinking of capturing him quietly, but he dared to attack the Golden Source Sect and kill Dongfang Bai. Now, the Heavenly Court will surely take notice of him."
Qimozi's expression turned cold. "I no longer need to hide my tracks. I can openly pursue him in the name of the Heavenly Court."
Xiongshan hesitated. "Sir, judging from his trail, he seems to be heading towards the central region of the Golden Source Sect. However, the forces there are complex, and it may be difficult to pursue him..."
Qimozi snorted. "The Heavenly Court has been dissatisfied with the Golden Source Sect for some time. If any of the sects dare to intervene, it will be a perfect opportunity to teach them a lesson. But those sect leaders are cunning, and they will likely avoid getting involved."
Qimozi paused, then nodded. "You're right. Han Li usually acts alone, so he won't be hiding in any of the sects. We should focus on searching for areas where the sects' influences intersect or are weak."
Qimozi fell silent, then nodded in agreement with Xiongshan's suggestion.
"Let's go," Qimozi said, his eyes gleaming with determination. "I want to see how far he can run!"
With a wave of his hand, a fiery red flying shuttle appeared, and Qimozi and Xiongshan leapt into the air, disappearing into the distance.
Han Li's body was instantly restrained by a powerful force of law as he crossed the golden light screen. His entire body was wrapped in golden threads, and he was suspended in mid-air, unable to move.
He glanced down and saw that he was above a lush and dense forest, which seemed to be only a few hundred miles wide. The edges were shrouded in a thick gray mist, and it was clear that this was a small, secret realm.
In the forest, the trees were dense, and he could see a winding path made of bluestone that led to a golden mansion in the distance.
"Such a dense temporal law!" Han Li exclaimed, looking at the golden threads wrapped around his body.
The feeling was as if he was being restrained by the True Speech Treasure Wheel, but his mind was not affected. Instead, his body was being cut by the sharp golden threads, although they had not broken through, they still felt extremely painful.
As he pondered, his expression suddenly changed, and he saw that two massive golden figures had appeared in the distance, charging towards him with a loud roar.
Han Li looked closely and saw that they were two giant tigers with golden fur, as if they had been cast in gold. They had two golden wings on their sides, but they were relatively small compared to their massive bodies and could not fly.
As they charged forward, their golden wings flapped continuously, and their bodies slowly rose into the air, charging towards Han Li.
"These are... metal beasts?" Han Li muttered to himself.
These strange beasts were not actually beasts, but were formed from the condensation of pure gold attribute primordial energy. In this golden source mountain range, they were extremely difficult to deal with.
As he thought, the True Speech Treasure Wheel in his body began to reverse, and the temporal law force began to fluctuate, trying to reach a balance with the golden threads wrapped around his body.
As the temporal law force in his body surged out, the golden threads wrapped around his body began to release themselves, but the speed was slow.
Only after a dozen breaths, Han Li still had hundreds of golden threads wrapped around his body, and the two metal beasts had already arrived in front of him.
The two metal beasts opened their mouths wide, revealing sharp golden teeth, and bit down on Han Li's head and waist.
Just as their mouths were about to bite down, a silver firebird suddenly burst out of Han Li's shoulder, transforming into a giant silver firebird with wings that blazed with fierce flames, striking the two metal beasts.
The two metal beasts were hit head-on, and their bodies were pressed down to the ground.
The metal beasts let out a loud roar, and their mouths opened wide, biting down on the silver firebird's wings.
The silver firebird let out a loud cry, and its wings were torn apart, with large pieces of flame being ripped off.
The metal beasts chewed on the flames, and their bodies seemed to be unaffected by the intense heat.
Han Li saw this and raised an eyebrow. The silver firebird's flames were extremely powerful, and he was surprised that the metal beasts could withstand them.
However, he did not look any further, and instead focused on using the True Speech Treasure Wheel to reverse the temporal law force, trying to balance it with the golden threads wrapped around his body.
The silver firebird, after being bitten by the metal beasts, did not retreat. Instead, it spread its wings and dived down, crashing into the metal beasts like a fireball.
The metal beasts were surrounded by a fierce silver flame, and the temperature inside the flame increased rapidly, causing the metal beasts' bodies to emit a faint golden mist.
Han Li saw this and remembered that the metal beasts were formed from the condensation of pure gold attribute primordial energy. The mist that was emitted was likely the same energy.
Just then, the two metal beasts let out a loud roar and charged towards each other, colliding head-on.
The sound of the collision was like thunder, and a blinding golden light flashed out, carrying an intense force that cut through the surrounding silver flames.
The two metal beasts broke free from the silver flames and escaped. The Yin Flame Bird was split in two, with the two flames rushing to recombine, but a layer of golden light prevented them from merging.
The metal beast, now out of control, ignored the Yin Flame Bird and charged towards Han Li, its four legs pounding the ground as it let out a deafening roar.
Han Li, however, had already broken free from the golden threads that bound him. With a single glance, he took a step forward, his arms vibrating as he activated the Great Strength Golden Ape technique.
A burst of starlight erupted from his arms, and two massive fists imbued with crystal energy crashed down onto the metal beasts' foreheads, producing a deafening "clang" sound.
The two metal beasts were sent crashing to the ground, their bodies trembling under the force of Han Li's blows. The earth shook beneath their impact, and the air was filled with the sound of their collapse.
Han Li descended from the sky, glancing at the Yin Flame Bird, which was still trying to recombine. He then chased after the metal beasts, delivering a flurry of punches that sent them tumbling to the ground.
The earth shook beneath the relentless barrage of punches, and the sound of Han Li's blows echoed through the air. After over a hundred punches, the ground was scarred and battered, and Han Li finally stopped, fearing that he would damage the secret realm's foundation.
However, when he stopped, he noticed that the metal beasts were nowhere to be seen. Han Li flew down into the crater, only to discover that the two metal beasts had escaped through a tunnel they had dug.
"Let's go and get revenge, then we'll find a way to remove the golden light and restore you to your original state," Han Li said, his mind connecting with the Yin Flame Bird.
The bird ceased its attempts to recombine and transformed into two small silver birds, which perched on Han Li's shoulders.
Han Li glanced at the tunnel entrance, his divine sense probing the interior before he flew in.
The tunnel was damp and musty, filled with the scent of damp earth. Han Li traversed the tunnel for over ten miles, his nose wrinkled in distaste, before coming across a fork in the road.
As he approached the fork, his brow furrowed in surprise. The tunnel he had been following intersected with a larger, smoother tunnel that seemed to have been excavated long ago.
A warm breeze emanated from the larger tunnel, and Han Li sensed that it was incredibly hot. A sly smile spread across his face as he said, "Ah, little one, you're in for a treat..."
With a flick of his body, Han Li entered the larger tunnel, his eyes scanning the area before he moved forward.
The tunnel twisted and turned, stretching for over ten miles before opening up into a vast underground chamber. Han Li emerged from the tunnel, his eyes widening as he took in the sight before him.
A massive, hundred-yard-wide pool of five-colored flames dominated the center of the chamber, its surface churning with waves of intense heat. The two metal beasts that had escaped earlier were now feasting on a massive golden mineral, their bodies glowing with a golden aura as they devoured the mineral.
The metal beasts' eyes locked onto Han Li, and they immediately became alert, their bodies tensing as they prepared to attack. However, they seemed to recall Han Li's previous display of strength and hesitated, choosing not to charge forward.
"Ah, I see," Han Li said, a smile spreading across his face. "No wonder they were able to withstand the flames. They must have been living near this five-colored flame pool and feeding on the golden minerals."
The two silver birds on Han Li's shoulders seemed to sense the power of the flame pool and began to flutter excitedly.
"Go ahead," Han Li said, his voice filled with amusement.
The two silver birds spread their wings and dived towards the flame pool, their forms blurring as they descended. The two metal beasts, sensing the birds' approach, immediately sprang into action, their bodies launching into the air as they prepared to attack.
"Get down!" Han Li bellowed, his eyes flashing with anger.
With a swift movement, Han Li appeared beneath the metal beasts, his hands grasping their tails as he yanked them back down to the ground.
The metal beasts crashed to the earth, their bodies rolling wildly as they struggled to free themselves. Han Li's body began to glow with a golden aura as his true spirit blood vessels activated, and he transformed into a massive golden ape.
The ape's massive hands pressed down on the metal beasts' heads, pinning them to the ground. The metal beasts' bodies thrashed about, their tails flailing wildly as they tried to break free, but Han Li's grip was unyielding.
Han Li's transformed golden fur giant ape's two massive palms pressed down on the two metal beasts, its eyes flickering slightly.
If he really wanted to kill the two beasts, he had plenty of ways to do so, but he was hesitant at the moment, and had the idea of taking in the two strange beasts as guardians of the Flower Branch Cave Heaven.
Just as he was hesitating, the two metal beasts' long tails suddenly connected, and two dazzling golden lights appeared at the same time. The two metal beasts' bodies suddenly liquefied and merged into one, and in the blink of an eye, they transformed into a massive golden tiger.
After merging, the golden wings on the metal beast's back grew several times larger, but compared to its body size, they still seemed a bit out of proportion.
"Still able to merge, worthy of being a true and pure gold-attributed yuan qi heavenly beast!" Han Li exclaimed, feeling the beast's aura surge.
The metal beast's aura surged, and its temper seemed to worsen, letting out a loud roar as it pounced towards Han Li.
But just as it did, a sudden change occurred!
The colorful flames in the pool behind it erupted violently, and a massive flame bird with wings spread wide flew out of the pool, its beak pointed downwards.
Han Li's words were cut off, and the flame bird's sharp beak had already bitten the metal beast in two, and then swallowed it whole.
"Pity..."
Han Li's hand was still raised in a stopping motion, but it was too late.
The flame bird looked at Han Li with a tilted head, seemingly not understanding his intentions.
"Never mind, never mind, since you've eaten it, it's fine. In the future, when I find Xiao Bai, I'll let him take care of the place, it's not bad," Han Li said with a forced smile, waving his hand.
As he spoke, he withdrew his True Spirit Bloodline power and returned to his human form.
The massive flame bird also shrunk down, and with the colorful flames, it came to the edge of the pool.
Han Li walked forward, and saw that the flame bird was holding a wing, and on it were four round beads the size of dragon eye nuclei, with colors of yellow, green, blue, and red, matching the colors of the pool's flames.
The four beads shone brightly, emitting waves of scorching heat.
"Seven-colored fire dan sand, there's so much of it?" Han Li exclaimed.
The flame bird opened and closed its beak several times, but made no sound, and Han Li understood its meaning:
"You're saying that there's still one red dan sand, which you've eaten?"
The flame bird nodded its head enthusiastically, and the flames in the pool also surged with excitement.
"Ha ha, that's good. If you can refine and absorb all of these seven-colored fire dan sand, your flame power will increase again, and even the legendary Heaven-burning Earth-refining won't be impossible," Han Li said with a laugh.
The flame bird was overjoyed, and its body fell backwards, lying down in the pool like a swimmer, and without moving its wings, it slid backwards with a contented expression.
"You refine those fire dan sand well, I'll go check if there are any other mechanisms, if anything unexpected happens, immediately contact me with your spirit, I'll come find you," Han Li said after a moment of thought.
The flame bird jumped out of the pool and dove back in, indicating that it understood.
Han Li checked the surroundings of the colorful flames pool for a while, and found nothing out of the ordinary, before turning to leave through the tunnel.
After passing through a hundred-meter-long underground tunnel, the terrain gradually rose, and Han Li walked out of the tunnel.
Outside the tunnel, Han Li walked out from behind a screen at the entrance, and entered a golden great hall.
The great hall was empty, with no decorations, only three round white jade cushions in the center, with ring-shaped patterns engraved on them, layered like a maze.
Han Li stared at it for a while, and felt a bit dizzy, before regaining his composure.
"Interesting..."
He smiled and said, walking forward to examine it closely, and found that the three white jade cushions were connected to the ground, and couldn't be moved.
However, apart from that, there was nothing unusual, and no matter how he used his spiritual sense or tried to probe with his immortal energy, the three white jade cushions remained still, without any changes.
Han Li looked at it for a while, and then lost interest, pushing open the door and leaving.
Outside the hall, he found himself in the golden buildings he had seen from afar.
The great hall was surrounded by a white stone plaza, with a stone sundial in the center, and nothing else. At the other end of the White Stone Square, there was a grand and majestic gate that led to a large mansion.
Han Li did not hurry to leave the mansion, instead, he walked along the road beside the grand hall, passed through a circular archway, and entered a garden filled with flowers and trees.
Inside the garden, there were many rare and exotic plants, including some that were in full bloom, emitting a gentle and ethereal glow. The flowers were a vibrant mix of colors, swaying gently in the breeze.
Han Li stepped into the garden, and his expression changed slightly, as if he had sensed something. He felt a hint of the Time Law's power, just like he had when he was by the spring earlier.
However, this power was dispersed and faint, and Han Li couldn't pinpoint its location, even with his full concentration. He could only sense that it was emanating from the flowers around him, but it was too subtle to grasp.
Han Li randomly plucked a nine-petaled purple flower and examined it carefully. He found that it only had a small amount of spiritual energy remaining, and no Time Law power.
"This is indeed strange," Han Li sighed, continuing on his way.
After passing through the garden, he came to a small, independent courtyard with three rooms: a left wing, a right wing, and a central main hall.
Han Li entered the left wing first, and found that the interior was simple, with only a few bookshelves against the walls, filled with stacks of books.
He randomly took down a book and flipped through it, only to find that it was not a profound or ancient text, but rather a collection of ordinary poetry and essays.
Han Li's curiosity was piqued, and he took down another book, only to find that it was a novel of romantic fiction.
"Ha ha, it seems that the master of this immortal mansion has a wide range of interests," Han Li said to himself, chuckling.
He spent a short time in the room, which seemed to be used as a study, before exiting and heading to the right wing.
The room was filled with various trinkets and ornaments, including gold and silver decorations, jade and porcelain vessels, but not a single magical artifact or immortal tool.
Han Li browsed through the room, and couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment at the master's taste in collecting such gaudy and ostentatious items.
Finally, he came to the central main hall, where he found a large, half-person-high furnace, with two wooden racks on either side, filled with various bottles and jars.
Han Li examined the furnace and found that the fire had long since gone out, but the bottles on the racks contained a variety of medicinal pills, including some of the highest quality.
"Finally, I've found something worthwhile," Han Li said, collecting all the pills.
As he was about to leave, he suddenly frowned, his eyes fixed on the furnace.
"What's this?"
Han Li's heart stirred, and he sensed a faint spiritual energy emanating from the furnace.
He walked over, lifted the furnace lid, and was met with a burst of golden light, which contained a strong Time Law energy.
Han Li's eyes widened, and he saw that the furnace contained ten golden pills, each the size of a dragon's eye.
He carefully picked up one of the pills and examined it, only to find that it was not yet fully formed, and its power was still dispersed.
"This is strange," Han Li thought to himself. "The master of this immortal mansion must have been interrupted or distracted, why didn't he finish refining these pills?"
Han Li hesitated for a moment, then put the pill back, and closed the furnace lid.
He then thought of summoning the Fire Bird to help him refine the pills, but remembered that it was currently busy refining the Seven-Color Fire Sand.
Han Li smiled wryly, and instead used his own internal fire to ignite the furnace.
The flames burned brightly, and after 49 days, the furnace finally produced a golden mist that condensed into a spirit fungus-like shape.
Han Li sat cross-legged beside the furnace, watching the scene unfold, and couldn't help but exclaim:
"Ah, it's a Flowing Fire Spirit Fungus! No wonder the Time Law energy is so dense. It's been left here for who knows how many years, and yet it still has such a strong potential for refinement."
Han Li then waved his hand, and the flames died down, before opening the furnace lid to reveal the results.
Seven of the pills had been successfully refined, each with four Dao patterns on its surface, emitting a strong Time Law energy.
Han Li's eyes shone with excitement, knowing that with these pills, he could make great progress in his cultivation of the Five Elements Fantasy Realm Technique.
Han Li was overjoyed, and with a wave of his hand, the seven golden pills flew out of the furnace, forming a string that he caught in a small, palm-sized sheep fat jade bottle.
After storing the bottle, he took a deep breath and turned to leave the hall.
As he walked out of the hall, Han Li's eyes scanned the surroundings, and with a flick of his wrist, a silver light flashed beside him, and a silver door slowly opened, revealing a figure walking out.
"Master, this is..." the figure said, looking around.
"We are currently in an unknown xianfu secret realm, and for the time being, it's relatively safe," Han Li said. "I plan to close my doors for a while, and if I can make some progress in my cultivation, I'll have more ways to protect myself when facing the pursuit of the xian palace."
"As we caused a great disturbance in the Jin Yuan Xian Palace and killed the palace master, I'm afraid the news has already spread throughout the xian domain," Han Li said. "The heavenly court will not let us off easily, and they will definitely send out powerful cultivators like Qi Mo. Staying here is the most stable option. Master, you can rest assured and close your doors, and I will protect you."
Han Li pointed to a distant, high-altitude location, where a faint crack was visible in the clouds. "The entrance to this secret realm is over there, and the surrounding area is filled with the original xianfu's restrictions. You only need to pay attention to that area, and you don't need to guard it all the time."
"Okay, I'll guard the front square and cultivate while protecting you," the figure replied.
"By the way, your aura seems to have increased significantly," Han Li said, noticing the change in the figure.
"Master's keen eyes," the figure said with a smile. "Since I woke up earlier, I've felt a strand of faint, yet growing, law energy within me. However, it's accompanied by a constant, unfulfilled hunger."
"Hunger?" Han Li asked, puzzled.
"I'm not sure, but I feel a emptiness in my abdomen, and it only improved slightly after devouring those ghostly creatures," the figure said. "If we encounter more ghost cultivators in the future, we can try again."
"Alright, I'll go to the front hall to close my doors, and the rest is up to you," Han Li said with a smile.
The two of them walked through the garden and arrived at the front hall.
The figure went straight to the sundial in the center of the square and sat down, while Han Li turned and entered the hall.
The hall's furnishings were the same as before, except for the screen that blocked the entrance to the five-colored fire pool. Han Li sat down on the middle white jade cushion.
After a moment of quiet breathing, he opened his eyes, and with a flick of his wrist, he took out the sheep fat jade bottle and poured out a golden pill, which he swallowed.
The pill entered his abdomen, and a rich, law energy immediately emerged, spreading throughout his body.
Han Li closed his eyes and focused his mind, quickly activating the Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue cultivation technique to guide the law energy into his body.
A moment later, he opened his eyes, and a look of surprise flashed across his face.
The white jade cushion beneath him began to glow with a golden light, and the other two cushions also began to shine.
The entire hall was filled with a golden light, as if it had been poured with a layer of golden liquid.
Han Li felt himself being enveloped by a special, time-related law energy, and he was trapped in a strange, indescribable realm.
He was delighted and quickly focused his mind, using his cultivation technique to activate the five types of time law manifestations.
The five manifestations, including the Zhen Yan Bao Lun, the Guang Yin Jing Ping, and the Dong Yi Shen Mu, appeared around him, each with over 1,600 Dao patterns flashing on their surface.
The powerful, time-related law energy emanating from the manifestations made Han Li's heart tremble with excitement.
As the manifestations appeared, the golden light surrounding the hall began to close in, forming a large, golden flower bud that enveloped Han Li.
Han Li felt the time law energy entering his body, and his heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of joy.
He knew that this secret realm must hold more secrets, but for now, his cultivation was the most important thing.
...
Two hundred years passed.
In the white jade square of the xianfu secret realm, a black-clad girl sat cross-legged beside a sundial, her eyes fixed on the distant, high-altitude crack in the clouds.
On her shoulder, a small, silver figure sat with its legs crossed, its body surrounded by silver flames, and seven colorful flames rising from its head.
The girl was Ti Huan, and the small figure was the refined, human-shaped Jing Yan Huo Niao.
After Ti Huan had fully refined the seven-colored fire dan sand, the Jing Yan Huo Niao had grown significantly, and its head was now adorned with seven colorful flames.
Unlike Ti Huan, who was facing the distant crack, the silver figure was facing the golden hall behind her, its legs dangling lazily, and its expression seemed somewhat listless. "Little Jing, you're also waiting for Master to hurry up and exit seclusion, aren't you?" Qiuhun asked with a smile, noticing Jingyan Huo Niao's emotions.
Jingyan Huo Niao nodded heavily, and the seven-colored flames on its head jumped up and down in response.
Qiuhun knew that Jingyan Huo Niao was eager to show Han Li the power it had gained after absorbing the seven-colored fire sand, and Qiuhun couldn't help but shake its head.
When Qiuhun had first exited seclusion, its body was surrounded by a vortex of silver flames and seven-colored fire, which had almost gotten out of control and burned down the entire secret realm.
Luckily, Qiuhun had intervened in time to control the flames, preventing them from spreading to the buildings. However, the forest in front of them had already been burned to ashes, and even the white jade square had turned a dark, charred color.
Just then, the entire square shook violently, and the entire secret realm began to tremble.
Qiuhun's eyes narrowed, and it suddenly leaped into the air, flying high above the ground.
Jingyan Huo Niao, perched on Qiuhun's shoulder, seemed to have been startled as well, stumbling and almost falling off.
After Qiuhun flew into the air, it looked down and saw that the gray mist surrounding the secret realm was churning violently, as if it was retreating.
As the gray mist retreated, the area of the secret realm began to expand.
"This is the third time since the beginning of the month..." Qiuhun muttered to itself.
Qiuhun had seen this scene before, but each time the mist churned with increasing intensity, and the area of the secret realm that was revealed grew larger.
After about ten breaths, the ground stopped shaking, and the gray mist ceased its churning.
Qiuhun looked at the golden great hall where Han Li was in seclusion, a hint of concern in its eyes.
Eighty years ago, Han Li had already broken through to the late stage of the Taiyi Realm, causing a stir in the secret realm. However, he had not chosen to exit seclusion at that time, instead continuing to cultivate until now.
...
That night.
Inside the golden great hall, a half-transparent golden flower bud stood upright, with Han Li sitting cross-legged inside.
Han Li's skin was translucent like beautiful jade, and his internal organs and meridians could be seen through his skin. On his body, 359 acupoints shone with golden light.
Han Li's cultivation had reached the peak of the Taiyi Realm!
Underneath him, the ring-shaped patterns on the three white jade cushions had dimmed, and the golden light had stopped rippling. It was clear that the time law contained within had been almost depleted.
Just then, Han Li's tightly closed eyes suddenly trembled, and he slowly opened them. A golden light seemed to emanate from his eyes, shining three inches long.
"Ah..."
He opened his mouth, and a wisp of white mist escaped.
After a moment, Han Li's expression calmed, and he slowly blinked his eyes. The strange phenomena surrounding him began to dissipate like mist, and even the golden light in his eyes disappeared.
At this moment, Han Li's body was full of vital energy, and his internal energy was perfectly balanced, without any sharp edges or rough spots.
At first glance, one might not notice anything unusual about him, but if one looked closely, they would sense a faint, intangible aura surrounding him, which was a sign of the Taiyi Jade Immortal body reaching complete transparency.
"It seems that's all for now. Breaking through to the Daluo Realm in one go is impossible..." Han Li said to himself.
He chuckled, feeling a bit greedy.
In just over two hundred years, he had gone from the mid-stage of the Taiyi Realm to the peak, and was now just one step away from achieving the Daluo Realm.
Although he had the support of the strange environment, the seven time law pills, and the 900+ acupoints he had opened, his breakthrough speed was still astonishing.
If he were to reveal this to others, most cultivators would probably not believe him.
Han Li couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and accomplishment.
After sitting for a while, he slowly stood up, stretched his body, and a series of "cracking" sounds echoed from his joints.
Just as he was about to leave the great hall, a faint "click" sound echoed in his ears.
Han Li looked in the direction of the sound, his brow furrowed.
He saw that the white jade cushion he had been sitting on had suddenly developed a crack, and then shattered with a loud "crack" sound.
However, what was strange was that the cushion did not break into pieces, but instead turned into a layer of white powder that scattered in all directions.
At the same time, the entire golden hall began to shake violently, and a strange vibration spread out from it.
Han Li felt a slight anomaly in his heart, and then thought of something and quickly retreated, flying out to the white stone square.
As a result, when he got outside, he found that the shaking outside was even more intense than inside.
"Master, what's happening..." Ti Hu cried out, flying over with the Jing Yan Firebird.
"I don't know, it seems I triggered some kind of mechanism in this immortal's secret realm, and this realm is about to undergo a change." Han Li said thoughtfully.
"Then we should leave quickly." Ti Hu said hastily.
"What a pity..." Han Li sighed.
There were obviously many secrets hidden in this immortal's secret realm, but they had no time to explore them now.
As they turned to leave, they suddenly stopped in their tracks.
The void crack that connected the inside and outside of the secret realm had disappeared!
"How is this possible? The crack was just there a moment ago, don't you believe me, ask Xiao Jing?" Ti Hu exclaimed.
The Silver Flame Child, who was still sitting on her shoulder, nodded vigorously, and the seven-colored flames on his head shook violently.
"I believe it, this secret realm's space must have undergone some kind of change." Han Li said.
He had noticed the changes in the Jing Yan Firebird's body earlier, but had no time to ask about it now.
"By the way, during Master's closed-door cultivation, this secret realm has experienced over ten shocks, the most intense one being when you broke through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul. And this month, including this time, there have been four shocks. Each time the shock occurs, the mist around the secret realm will retreat a bit, and some new regions will be revealed." Ti Hu said.
"Have you gone to investigate those places, and found anything unusual?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed.
"I only went close to one of them, and didn't find anything unusual. But since the shocks have become more frequent, I didn't dare to leave, and have been waiting here." Ti Hu shook her head.
Han Li listened, his brow furrowed, and was thinking about what was going on when the great hall in front of him suddenly shook violently, and a hundred-zhang-thick golden light burst out from the hall, shooting straight into the nine heavens.
After that, the shaking of the great hall suddenly subsided.
Han Li saw this, and his heart was filled with doubt, and he flew forward to take a closer look, but was blocked by an invisible force, and couldn't get close to the hall door.
"Master, do you feel like the earth is slowly rising?" Ti Hu asked suddenly.
Han Li had been paying attention to the golden light earlier, and only now reacted to her words.
He flew up to take a look around, and saw that the gray mist at the edge of the secret realm was surging violently, and a new piece of land was slowly emerging from the mist.
...
Outside the immortal's secret realm, in the middle of the Jin Yuan Mountain Range, Qing Si Valley.
The ground was shaking violently, making a huge noise, like an earthquake.
"This is the earth dragon turning over!" The villagers of Yu Liang Village exclaimed, running out of their homes to the open area.
At this moment, a loud thunderous sound came from underground, and a huge golden light pillar suddenly shot up from the ground, piercing the sky, and entering the clouds.
The light pillar was enormous, and the nearby mountains seemed tiny in comparison.
With the golden light pillar as the center, the surrounding heaven and earth energy was violently fluctuating, and the golden clouds in the sky were rolling and tumbling, making a loud rumbling sound like a thousand horses galloping.
The villagers of Yu Liang Village stared at the scene in shock.
"This is a divine sign, a divine manifestation!" Someone shouted, and the villagers of Yu Liang Village knelt down to worship the golden light pillar.
Not to mention the ignorant villagers of Yu Liang Village, seven or eight streaks of light flew in from the east-southeast direction, and in an instant, they arrived at the nearby area, stopping in mid-air about ten li away from the mountain valley.
The light dissipated, revealing a group of cultivators.
The leader was an old woman with gray hair, who was at the Golden Immortal level, holding a yellow snake staff, and the others were young men and women who were only at the True Immortal level.
All of them wore the same earth-yellow feathered robes, and seemed to be from the same sect. As they gazed at the extraordinary phenomenon before them, the young men and women all revealed excited expressions.
"Uncle Lin, this phenomenon seems to be a sign of a treasure emerging, a secret realm appearing in the mortal world! Let's hurry down and take a look, if we wait any longer, it will be troublesome," a young male disciple with a pale complexion exclaimed to the gray-haired old woman.
The others also nodded in agreement, eager to take action.
"Don't be rash, this phenomenon is indeed a sign of a treasure emerging, but it has not fully appeared yet. Going down now would be pointless. Moreover, this phenomenon is not trivial, it's not something we can control. Quickly send a message back to the sect and inform the Sect Master of the situation," the gray-haired old woman said, her expression also somewhat excited, but still calm.
The young men and women behind her immediately took action, taking out their transmission arrays to contact the sect.
At this moment, two more streaks of light flew in from the distance, arriving near the mountain valley, revealing two black-robed cultivators with sinister faces, both of whom were Golden Immortal cultivators.
"They're from the Black Fiend Sect," a young man behind the old woman whispered.
"Don't mind them, come over here," the gray-haired old woman glanced at the two black-robed cultivators and led the group to the top of a nearby mountain peak.
The two black-robed cultivators looked at the group, then turned away, flying to a nearby mountain peak and taking out their transmission devices to contact others.
In the central part of the Golden Source Mountain Range, the extraordinary phenomenon of a massive pillar of light shooting into the sky spread rapidly, and soon, the various factions within the Golden Source Mountain Range were aware of the situation. More and more people arrived at the scene.
In the blink of an eye, half a month passed, and the golden pillar of light not only didn't weaken, but instead showed a trend of growing stronger.
Inside the secret realm, Han Li stood within, his eyes shining brightly.
As the secret realm shook, the gray mist at the edge rapidly dissipated.
At this moment, the space within the secret realm had expanded several times, gradually revealing its true appearance.
On either side of the dense forest, two massive golden mountain peaks emerged, stretching into the sky, resembling two heavenly walls that sandwiched the forest, forming a massive canyon.
The golden mountain peaks on either side were shrouded in thick gray clouds from the middle up, making it impossible to see the true appearance of the mountains.
The most peculiar thing was that thick gray chains, each as thick as a water jug, hung down from the gray mist, all the way to the foot of the mountain, resembling a waterfall.
The chains flashed with gray lightning, crackling with energy, and looked quite intimidating.
Han Li flew down to the foot of a mountain peak, looking at the gray chains, hesitating for a moment before reaching out to touch one.
A gray lightning bolt shot out from the chain, striking him.
Han Li grunted, his body retreating a step, the area struck by the lightning bolt turning dark.
He circulated his spiritual energy, and his body quickly recovered, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. The gray lightning bolt's power was enormous, and even with his robust physical body, he couldn't withstand it.
And this was just one lightning bolt; if more lightning bolts were to strike, he wouldn't be able to guarantee his safety.
Han Li withdrew his gaze from the mountain peak, the entrance to the space behind him a stable void. He looked towards the depths of the canyon formed by the two mountain peaks, where the gray mist was rapidly dissipating, revealing a path leading deeper into the secret realm.
He moved, flying towards the path.
...
Meanwhile, the area around the Qing Silk Valley was filled with cultivators, with tens of thousands of people gathering within a radius of a thousand miles.
The various factions began to divide the area into their own territories, with some solitary cultivators finding a place to stand. However, the larger factions needed more space. The area closest to the pillar of light was occupied by seven or eight factions.
The gray-haired old woman's group had been forced to retreat, and they were now accompanied by three more people: a middle-aged man with a yellow complexion, a seductive young woman, and a white-haired old man.
The three newcomers were all Golden Immortal cultivators, with the yellow-faced man having reached the late Golden Immortal stage. He stood at the front of the group, looking like the leader.
"The Ling Xiao Sect, the Wang You Pavilion, the Lie Guang City, the Mo Xiang Lou, the Qing Su Valley, the Ling Yue Guan, and the Bai Yun Mountain Villa! The top factions in the Golden Source Mountain Range have all arrived, and they've taken our territory!" the gray-haired old woman exclaimed, her eyes fixed on the Ling Yue Guan faction.
The territory they had previously occupied had been taken by the Ling Yue Guan faction.
"There's nothing we can do, we're not as powerful as they are. Those factions all have Taiyi Realm cultivators, our small Huang Feng Sect can't compete with them," the yellow-faced man sighed.
"According to our investigations, this phenomenon should be a secret realm or a heavenly palace emerging. When it comes to treasure hunting, it's not just about who has the strongest power, luck is also important," the middle-aged woman said with a snort.
The others nodded in agreement, although they knew that her words were mostly self-consoling.
"It's strange, the Tong Tian Sword Sect and the Tian Shui Sect aren't in the Golden Source Mountain Range, and they're too far away, so it's not surprising they haven't arrived yet. But why haven't we seen anyone from the Xian Gong?" the white-haired old man asked, frowning.
“Stone Brother, you just came out of seclusion, you don't know that the Golden Source Immortal Palace has encountered a great calamity. It's said that over a hundred years ago, someone single-handedly killed their way into the Golden Source Immortal Palace, slaughtering the palace master, Dongfang Bai, and his five Tian Yin disciples, as well as other powerful experts. The current Golden Source Immortal Palace's power has greatly decreased, and the Heavenly Court doesn't know why, but they still haven't sent anyone to take charge of the situation. So, they probably won't come this time.” The grey-haired old woman looked at the white-haired old man and slowly said.
“Such a thing has happened! Dongfang Bai was a peak existence in the Tai Yi realm, his true strength was almost equal to the Da Luo realm. Who could have done such a thing? Could it be the Wheel of Reincarnation Temple?" The white-haired old man's body shook, and his eyes revealed an expression of disbelief.
“According to rumors, it was done by someone named Han Li on the Extermination List. I don't know if this person is a member of the Wheel of Reincarnation Temple, but the Heavenly Court has never encountered such a... absurd thing. Now, the Heavenly Court has issued a pursuit order, offering a heavy reward for capturing this person, but there's been no news of him. I don't know if he's already left the Golden Source Immortal Domain.” The grey-haired old woman chuckled and said.
The white-haired old man nodded thoughtfully, his expression returning to calmness, but his eyes still flickered with a hint of excitement.
At this moment, near the group of people from the Huang Feng Gate, two figures stood nearby.
The two figures were both wearing black robes, the woman was a young girl with a beautiful face, and the man was slender with a slightly pale complexion.
After hearing the conversation between the Huang Feng Gate group, the two figures looked over, their expressions somewhat unusual.
“So many years have passed, and Han Li, you've given me more and more surprises.” The young girl's mouth curved upwards, and she whispered to herself in a barely audible voice.
“What's wrong, do you want to go find that person? Don't forget our mission.” The black-robed young man looked at the young girl, his brow furrowed as he transmitted his voice.
“You can rest assured, I know what's important.” The young girl waved her hand and said lightly.
At this moment, several majestic blue lights flew over from the distance, carrying an extremely dense water aura, and quickly arrived nearby.
As the lights flashed, four blue-robed cultivators appeared, directly descending towards the ground.
The four cultivators emitted extremely powerful auras, all of them being Tai Yi realm existences. The people in front hastily made way.
“They're from the Tian Shui Sect! I didn't expect them to come too.” The Huang Feng Gate's yellow-faced man's expression changed, and he whispered.
The Huang Feng Gate's other members also changed expressions, and the people nearby all did the same.
The Tian Shui Sect's four cultivators ignored the surrounding people, quickly arriving near the golden light pillar.
Two of the four cultivators walked in front, one was a twenty-one or twenty-two-year-old woman with beautiful features, her face cold and detached, as if she was a goddess from the moon palace, always emitting a feeling of rejection.
The other person was a middle-aged man with long, narrow eyes and a hooked nose, his entire body radiating a fierce aura, making people shiver.
The two cultivators behind were a sturdy, tall man with a dense brow, and a refined, elegant young man holding a folding fan, resembling a worldly, elegant gentleman.
The Ling Xiao Gate and other sects stood up, hastily making way to the side, clearing a space.
“Su Xianzi, Jing Liu Daoist, it's been many years since we parted ways at the Lake of Suspension. I didn't expect you two to come here too.” A broad-faced, large man from the Ling Xiao Gate walked out, smiling as he spoke to the cold-faced woman and the middle-aged man, but with a hint of probing.
“Are you saying this place is your Ling Xiao Gate's territory, and we can't come here?" Jing Liu glanced at the broad-faced man, his expression cold.
“I wouldn't dare, but the Tian Shui Sect is quite far from here, and you two are important figures within the Tian Shui Sect. Now, you've come here together, and we're all curious – do you know something about this anomaly?" The broad-faced man shook his head, his eyes flashing with a hint of inquiry.
The people from the Wang You Pavilion, Lie Guang City, and other forces also looked over.
Being stared at by so many people, Jing Liu's eyebrows furrowed.
“We were handling some matters near the Golden Source Mountain Range, and we heard about this anomaly, so we came to investigate. As for the situation here, we know nothing. But the Qing Su Valley is closest to this place, they should have some information.” Su Xianzi interrupted, her voice clear and cold, yet lively, and then looked at the group of blue-robed cultivators nearby.
“I, Qing Su Valley, although we're closest to this place, it's quite desolate, and people rarely come here. But I've already sent people to investigate, and this mountain valley is called Qing Si Gou. It's indeed strange, and within Qing Si Gou, there's a place called White Hair Valley. According to the nearby mortals, there's a clear spring in the valley, which can make old and dying people regain their youth. However, that clear spring is currently enveloped by the light pillar, and we can't investigate.” A blue-robed cultivator from the Qing Su Valley walked out, hastily explaining, as if afraid of being targeted.
“Making people regain their youth... that's quite unusual. Could it be related to the time laws? Is that clear spring the legendary Guang Yin water?" Su Xianzi's face showed a hint of surprise, and she guessed.
“Guang Yin water is extremely precious, how could it appear in such a remote place? Mortals are foolish, maybe that clear spring has nothing to do with this light pillar anomaly.” Jing Liu shook his head.
Su Xianzi glanced at Jing Liu, but didn't speak.
“Haha! Fellow cultivators, you've arrived quickly, but I, Lei, have come too late.” A loud voice suddenly echoed through the mountain valley, reverberating through the air. Everyone heard the sound, and their expressions changed as they looked up.
Jin Liu's eyebrows furrowed as he gazed into the distance.
Su Zhang's face turned cold, and her entire body suddenly radiated a chill, icy aura.
A golden light appeared on the horizon, and in the next moment, it rapidly expanded and brightened, transforming into a golden sun-like light that illuminated the valley, making it impossible for anyone to open their eyes.
"Lei Yu Ce, you're quite bold," Jin Liu sneered, waving his sleeve.
A layer of blue light, like a wave, shot out from his hand and rapidly spread out.
Wherever it passed, the dazzling blue light seemed to be absorbed, disappearing from sight.
"Ah, Fellow Daoist Jin's 'Cang Hai Shen Jue' is even more exquisite, I must admit," a voice said as the golden light flashed and disappeared, revealing two figures descending from the sky.
The first person was a sturdy man in his thirties, wearing a golden robe, with a robust physique and visible muscle lines, like a majestic lion.
The other person was a handsome young man with a gentle, ethereal aura, and a calm demeanor.
"Originally, it was Fellow Daoist Lei and Fellow Daoist Wen from the Tong Tian Sword Sect, I didn't expect you two to be here as well, what a fortunate encounter," the burly man from the Ling Xiao Sect and the green-robed man from the Qing Su Valley said, greeting them with even more respect than they had shown the Tian Shui Sect's four cultivators.
"We two were also handling matters in the Jin Yuan Mountain Range, and we happened to hear about the events here, so we came to take a look. The treasure within the secret realm is naturally meant for those with the right fate, our Tong Tian Sword Sect doesn't intend to monopolize it, so please don't worry," the handsome young man said with a smile.
"We're willing to follow Fellow Daoist Lei and Fellow Daoist Wen," the burly man and the others said, relieved.
The four Tian Shui Sect cultivators looked on, their expressions not very pleasant, but they didn't say much.
"Su Xianzi, it's been many years since we last met, you've been closed off, cultivating the 'Tai Yin Bing Po Dao', I've visited you many times, but never managed to see you, I didn't expect to run into you here today. It seems you've broken through the bottleneck of the Tai Yi Later Period, I'm truly happy for you," Lei Yu Ce said, ignoring the others and gazing at Su Zhang with a deep, affectionate look in his eyes.
Su Zhang snorted, turning her head away, her expression annoyed.
Lei Yu Ce didn't seem to mind, continuing to gaze at Su Zhang with a lovesick expression.
The surrounding crowd didn't react with surprise, as if they were accustomed to this scene.
The Tong Tian Sword Sect's Lei Yu Ce had been pursuing the Tian Shui Sect's Su Zhang for tens of thousands of years, and this was a well-known fact throughout the Jin Yuan Continent.
"These two are quite strong, what is the Tong Tian Sword Sect?" a young girl from the Huang Feng Sect asked, her brow furrowed, in a whispered transmission.
"The Tong Tian Sword Sect is considered the number one sect in the Jin Yuan Xian Domain, its strength is comparable to the Jin Yuan Xian Palace, and this Lei Yu Ce is the Tong Tian Sword Sect's Vice-Sect Leader, his strength has reached the Tai Yi Later Period, making him one of the top experts in the Jin Yuan Xian Domain. As for the handsome young man, his surname is Wen, and he's probably the Tong Tian Sword Sect's Sword-Bearing Elder, Wen Zhong, his strength is also not to be underestimated. These two, along with the Tian Shui Sect's Su Zhang and Jin Liu, are the main enemies we'll be facing on this journey. Didn't you read the documents before we set out? I'm starting to doubt whether it's suitable for you to be in charge of this matter," a black-robed youth said, his brow furrowed, in a whispered transmission.
"You're getting things backwards, they're just a few local tyrants in the Jin Yuan Xian Domain, they're not that powerful, our true enemies are them," the young girl said, her eyes glinting, as she nodded towards the distance.
The black-robed youth looked over, and saw two blue-green lights flying towards the valley.
These two lights weren't very bright, and the valley was filled with lights, so they didn't stand out.
The blue-green lights quickly arrived, and transformed into a male and female cultivator, the man with a thick beard, and the woman with a round face and a cherry blossom mouth, both of them looked ordinary, the kind of people who would blend into the crowd.
"Who are they?" the black-robed youth asked, his expression puzzled.
The young girl flipped her hand, and a white pearl the size of a chicken egg appeared in her palm, with a ring of white light flashing within.
The light flashed, and the images of the two cultivators appeared, but their faces had changed to new ones.
The man was in his thirties, with a white face and a short beard, giving off a scholarly aura, while the woman was only seventeen or eighteen, with a pale, oval face, and a lively, mischievous expression, with big, round eyes that seemed to be constantly moving.
"Are they the Blue siblings from the Jin Han Xian Palace, Blue Yuan and Blue Yan? How did they end up here? Has our presence been discovered?" the black-robed youth's eyes widened in surprise.
I don't see any text to translate. Please provide the text you'd like me to translate, and I'll be happy to assist you. The stone gate was adorned with ancient, simple patterns, exuding a sense of age and antiquity, making it clear that it was something from tens of thousands of years ago.
On the top of the stone gate, the words "Taisheng Xianfu" were written in ancient script, possibly because of the passage of time, the characters were no longer clear, but could still be made out.
...
Inside the secret realm, within the canyon.
The gray mist in front of him churned and rolled, rapidly retreating backwards.
Han Li's face lit up with joy, and he swiftly flew towards the front, closely pursuing the gray mist.
A few days ago, the gray mist had been slowly dissipating, revealing new areas of the secret realm, but the speed of its dissipation was not fast, and he could only follow slowly behind. Now, he felt a sense of exhilaration.
After flying for a moment, the scenery in front of him suddenly opened up, and he finally reached the end of the canyon.
Han Li's figure flashed, and he stopped in mid-air.
The gray mist quickly dispersed, revealing a vast area.
The sky was a brilliant blue, with white clouds floating lazily, and the ground below was a boundless plain, covered in green grass. A gentle breeze blew from afar, carrying a refreshing and clean air that made one's heart feel at ease.
In the distance, he could see some mountain peaks and rugged ridges, dotting the landscape.
The scenery before him was like a beautiful painting, unfolding before his eyes.
He took a deep breath, and his tense heart relaxed slightly.
However, Han Li soon regained his composure.
This was not the time to appreciate the scenery, as he could feel the entrance to the secret realm's space at the bottom of the canyon fluctuating wildly, and the fluctuations were growing stronger, as if it was about to open again.
Han Li didn't know that outside, a large crowd had already gathered, but he could guess that if the entrance opened again, it would attract people.
He lightly exhaled, and then fully opened his divine sense, spreading it outwards.
The next moment, his eyes lit up, and a golden light appeared on his body.
A loud clap of thunder boomed, and his figure disappeared, reappearing on a mountain peak.
On the mountain peak stood a white, jade-like building, emitting a gentle, white glow.
However, the building was surrounded by a white, shimmering light screen, which seemed extraordinary.
Han Li raised his arm, and a finger drew a line in the air.
With a "whooshing" sound, a hundred-meter-long golden sword light shot out from his sleeve, slashing towards the white light screen surrounding the building. The sword light cut through the air, causing the surrounding space to vibrate and emit a sharp, piercing sound, as if it was about to be split open.
Han Li's cultivation had broken through to the peak of the Taiyi Realm, and the power of the Qingtian Cloud Sword had increased again.
However, the golden sword light slashed against the white light screen, which vibrated and resisted, but ultimately held firm.
"What a sturdy restriction..." Han Li's eyebrows rose, and he appeared in front of the building, punching the white light screen.
With a "popping" sound, the white light screen shattered, and Han Li's figure fell into the building. A moment later, he flew out, his face filled with excitement.
Han Li didn't linger, and his body's golden light flashed, disappearing once again.
...
At this moment, outside the secret realm.
"Taisheng Fu!" The crowd saw the stone gate rising from the ground, and most people looked puzzled, clearly having never heard of this name.
However, Su Zhi, Jing Liu, and Lei Yuze's faces lit up with excitement.
In the corner of the crowd, Qimozi's body shook, and his face revealed a look of shock.
Xiong Shan saw Qimozi's expression and wanted to ask, but didn't.
"Taisheng, your cave is here! Good, good, coming to the Jinyuan Xian Domain this time was indeed the right decision!" Qimozi's eyes flashed with excitement.
Not long after, the golden light column that shot up into the sky suddenly began to flash violently, and the ancient stone gate appeared somewhat blurry under the flickering light.
Upon seeing this, the scene immediately fell silent, with everyone's eyes fixed on the golden light column.
Everyone held their breath, seemingly waiting for something.
The light column's flashing continued for only a short while, and then it suddenly brightened, becoming dazzlingly bright, but the next moment it quickly shrunk, disappearing in an instant, leaving the stone gate exposed in the air.
Almost at the same time the light column disappeared, Su Cai, Lei Yu Ce, and others immediately shot out, rushing towards the golden stone gate.
A loud, muffled sound echoed, and transparent ripples appeared on the stone gate, causing several people to be bounced back.
Jin Liu, who was the most impatient, even broke through the air, his forehead cracking open, and he couldn't help but curse loudly.
Others who were about to rush forward stopped in their tracks, seeing this scene.
It was only then that they noticed that the stone gate still had a transparent light screen, which was difficult to see if one didn't look carefully.
"It's a seal!" Su Cai and others, although not injured, frowned.
Lei Yu Ce's pupils constricted, and his left hand lifted, his five fingers swiping at the stone gate's empty space.
Five golden sword lights, each ten meters long, suddenly appeared in front of the stone gate, shining brightly like the sun, and striking the stone gate with lightning speed.
The five sword lights shattered, but the transparent light screen on the stone gate also slightly rippled, before returning to normal.
"This light screen is sturdy, but it's not unbreakable. With so many people here, as long as we work together, I believe we can break it with some effort." Lei Yu Ce withdrew his hand, saying loudly.
"What are you waiting for? Quickly break through this last seal. Qing Suo Valley, you have a Qing Suo Great Array, its power is decent, quickly deploy it. Ling Xiao Men, your Ling Xiao Lying Yang technique is also passable, quickly use it, and also Ling Yue Guan..." Jin Liu heard this, and roared at the eight sects, his tone harsh, as if he was scolding his own grandson.
The people of Qing Suo Valley and the other sects were secretly angry, but didn't say anything, as they were currently in front of the secret realm, so they each deployed their techniques, attacking the stone gate's seal.
Su Cai, Lei Yu Ce, and others also didn't idle, and they all took action.
In an instant, a multitude of divine artifacts and secret techniques' light struck the stone gate's seal, producing a dense, thunderous sound.
The stone gate's light screen flickered, appearing thin, but was actually extremely sturdy, firmly resisting the crowd's frenzied attack, without weakening in the slightest.
Everyone saw this, and their hearts were shocked.
"Don't stop, continue to attack with all your might!" Lei Yu Ce stared at the light screen, his eyes flashing, and he shouted.
Qi Mo Zi stood at the back of the crowd, not taking action, silently watching the scene before him.
He currently displayed a Golden Immortal-level aura, standing among the crowd, not drawing attention to himself, and the ones taking action were only the Tian Tian Sword Sect, Tian Shui Sect, the seven great sects, and a few other forces.
After all, the stone gate was only a small area, and with too many people, it was actually counterproductive.
"Sir, do you think they can break through the seal like this? Shouldn't you lend a hand?" Xiong Shan asked quietly.
"The method is a bit dull, but it should be fine, it's just a matter of time. Now is not the time to reveal our identity." Qi Mo Zi shook his head.
Xiong Shan nodded upon hearing this.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, a day and night went by.
The Tian Tian Sword Sect, Tian Shui Sect, and others took turns attacking, and the stone gate's seal withstood a day and night's attack, finally starting to weaken.
"The seal is starting to loosen, add a bit more force!" Lei Yu Ce's eyes lit up, and he shouted.
The crowd's spirits were shaken, and they once again increased their attack.
In the blink of an eye, half a day passed, and the stone gate's seal was finally broken, shattering with a loud "bang".
A large amount of golden light surged out from the stone gate, forming a golden whirlpool, with countless golden light points jumping about, resembling the starry sky's whirlpool, mysterious and unfathomable.
...
Deep within the secret realm, Han Li was breaking through a palace's seal, his face suddenly changing, and he looked towards the secret realm's entrance.
He could sense a powerful spatial fluctuation, coming from there.
"The secret realm's entrance will eventually be discovered...I wonder how many people will rush in?" He furrowed his brows, and muttered to himself, before his eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he shouted.
Han Li's body was enveloped in a golden light, and he transformed into a mountainous giant ape, punching the palace's seal.
The air directly collapsed where his fist struck, and the palace's seal violently fluctuated, before being torn apart. Not only that, but Han Li's fist's residual energy also caused some damage to the palace within the seal. Han Li couldn't be bothered with these things, and immediately flew into the palace.
Since he knew that an outsider had entered, his time was limited.
……
In the valley of the blue silk.
"Go!"
Lei Yu Ce's face lit up with joy, and he flew into the golden whirlpool first, disappearing without a trace.
Although there were many Taiyi realm cultivators present, with over a dozen, Lei Yu Ce was undoubtedly the strongest, so no one had any objections, and they all followed him into the whirlpool.
After the people from the major sects entered, the others also entered the whirlpool one after another.
Lan Shi siblings, Qi Mozi, and others all hid among the crowd, entering the golden whirlpool and arriving at the secret realm.
Everyone appeared in the same place, which was the same valley where Han Li had entered the secret realm earlier.
Behind them, a golden whirlpool slowly rotated in mid-air, and the outside situation could be vaguely seen.
Qi Mozi's gaze swept around, and a flash of light appeared in his eyes.
"Xiong Shan, you follow these people and take advantage of the opportunities here. I'll go ahead." Qi Mozi said to Xiong Shan, and before he could respond, he disappeared without a sound.
Xiong Shan saw Qi Mozi disappear, and his face didn't show any emotion, but he was secretly happy.
After all, he could finally make his own decisions without having to ask Qi Mozi for permission. However, without Qi Mozi by his side, he was just a small Jin Xian, and he felt a bit lonely and worried.
She Qian, Lan Shi siblings, and others didn't stay long, and they quietly used their techniques to hide their bodies and head towards the depths of the valley.
In another corner of the crowd, two black-robed men and women stood.
"Lan Yuanzi and the others have gone towards the depths of the secret realm. Let's go, or we'll be left behind." The black-robed girl transmitted a message, and the black-robed youth nodded.
Then, the two of them disappeared without a trace.
Everyone's techniques were more and more ingenious, and even Lei Yu Ce didn't notice anything.
They were all marveling at the environment of the secret realm, and after a while, they finally calmed down and were about to explore the depths of the valley.
Just then, the sky of the secret realm suddenly shook violently, and the air was filled with the sound of thunder. The sky was covered with white lightning-like light, and the sound was deafening.
Everyone's faces changed, and they looked up at the sky. Lei Yu Ce and the others were no exception.
Rumble!
The entire secret realm shook like an earthquake, and then the sound of thunder echoed through the sky. The sky was filled with black cracks, and it was a shocking sight.
Next, a scene that shocked everyone appeared!
The golden whirlpool in mid-air suddenly expanded and contracted several times, and then exploded with a loud bang, disappearing without a trace.
The shaking of the ground and the trembling of the sky finally subsided.
"What's going on?" Han Li flew out of the palace, saw the strange phenomenon in the sky, and his face changed.
Behind him, the palace was in shambles, and the roof was torn off. The inside was a mess.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he quickly looked away, continuing to fly towards the depths of the secret realm.
At the same time, Lei Yu Ce and the others were also shocked, especially since the entrance to the outside world had been closed, making many people uneasy.
"Lei Dao friend, Su Dao friend, I think you two seem to know something about this cave. Do you know what's going on?" A burly man from the Ling Xiao Sect looked at Lei Yu Ce and Su Qian, and asked.
Everyone else looked over, waiting for their response.
"Regarding this cave, I know something. A thousand years ago, there was a great expert named Tai Sui Xian Zun, who cultivated the Time Law, one of the three great supreme laws. His power was naturally not to be underestimated. However, he disappeared without a trace, and no one knows what happened to him. I only know this because I read it in our sect's ancient texts. I think this cave is probably the one he left behind." Lei Yu Ce and Su Qian exchanged a glance, and then Lei Yu Ce spoke up.
Everyone's faces lit up with joy, and their earlier unease due to the entrance disappearing was alleviated.
A great expert, a Tai Sui Xian Zun, had left behind a cave, and it was likely to contain many treasures. Moreover, if what Lei Yu Ce said was true, the cave had been hidden for a thousand years, and the age of the treasures inside was unimaginable.
Lei Yu Ce's eyes moved, and he looked at Su Qian again. He sent a message to her, and she responded with a slight nod.
"That's the situation. Do you two have any idea what's going on?" The burly man asked again.
"I only know this much, but I think the secret realm's space is collapsing. We forced our way into the entrance, and the space is starting to break down. It won't last much longer." Lei Yu Ce thought for a moment before speaking, and his words made everyone's hearts tighten.
Among the crowd, there were many who were experienced and knowledgeable, and they all had similar guesses about the current situation. However, they had not dared to confirm it before, and now that they had heard Lei Yu Ce's words, they naturally believed it to be true, and their faces turned somewhat ugly.
Now that the entrance was gone, the entire secret realm space was on the verge of collapse. Were so many people going to be trapped here for no reason?
"Gentlemen, there's no need to worry. Since this is the Da Luo Cave, there must be a way out. Although the secret realm space is weak, I think it will last for at least a month, which is enough time for us to find a way out." Lei Yu Ce said, seeing the situation.
The cultivators heard his words and, after a moment of commotion, their emotions calmed down slightly. However, many people still looked terrified.
"Gentlemen, please listen to me for a moment." Wen Zhong, who was standing beside Lei Yu Ce, stepped forward and said in a loud voice.
His voice was not loud, but it was clear to everyone's ears, as if he was speaking directly to them.
The crowd was currently in a state of confusion, and when they heard his words, they all looked over.
"This cave's secret realm is indeed strange, not only is time pressing, but the front is also full of unknown dangers. If we all act separately, I'm afraid we'll not only fail to obtain the treasures, but also increase the risk of injury and death. In my opinion, we might as well work together and form an alliance. Although the front is full of dangers, if we combine our strength, we can surely overcome them. What do you think, gentlemen?" Wen Zhong said with a smile.
"Not bad, it's better to work together. We're all influential figures, and it's not easy to have reached our current level. There's no need to risk our lives for some unheard-of legends." Tian Shui Zong's Jin Liu also spoke up.
The others heard their words and looked at each other, but no one spoke up for a moment.
As for Wen Zhong's suggestion, most people's initial reaction was to refuse. Working together would require following orders, and they were all powerful figures from different factions, each seeking to gain an advantage.
However, the current situation was indeed strange, and who knew what dangers lay ahead? Working together also had its benefits.
Moreover, the proposal was made by the Tong Tian Sword Sect, and Tian Shui Zong had also agreed to it.
Furthermore, the Tong Tian Sword Sect, Tian Shui Zong, and Jin Yuan Xian Palace were the three major powers in the Jin Yuan Xian Domain. Now that Jin Yuan Xian Palace was weak, the Tong Tian Sword Sect and Tian Shui Zong had become even more powerful, and their influence was greater than before. The others present were all from smaller factions, and they dared not openly refuse.
"Gentlemen, there's no need to worry too much. Our alliance is only temporary, and there won't be many rules. Whatever treasures we find in the secret realm will belong to each of us. We just need to follow the alliance's arrangements when it comes to how to proceed in the secret realm, and we must not act on our own." Wen Zhong said again.
The cultivators heard his words and most of them let out a sigh of relief.
The alliance's rules were not many, and the treasures they found would belong to each of them. That was acceptable, and they all nodded in agreement.
"Since everyone has agreed, the alliance is now officially formed." Lei Yu Ce said loudly, scanning the crowd with his eyes.
The crowd was scanned by Lei Yu Ce's gaze, and they all felt a chill run down their spines. They unconsciously looked away, not daring to meet his eyes.
"Now that the alliance is formed, we should also decide on a leader. Lei Yu Ce's strength is unparalleled, and he is the most suitable person to be the leader. Su Xian Zi's strength is second only to Lei Yu Ce, and she can be the deputy leader. What do you think, gentlemen?" Wen Zhong said.
The people from Tian Shui Zong looked at each other, but no one spoke up. They were all tacitly consenting.
This alliance was formed by the Tong Tian Sword Sect's efforts, and Tian Shui Zong had also agreed to it. As for the arrangement, the others had already guessed it and did not object.
"Since everyone has shown their appreciation, I, Lei Yu Ce, will not decline. I will set one rule: no one is allowed to harm their companions. Can you all agree to this?" Lei Yu Ce said in a deep voice.
"We will follow the leader's orders!" The crowd heard that there was only one rule, and no one objected.
"Good, then let's set off and explore this Ta Sui Fu!" Lei Yu Ce waved his hand, leading the way forward.
The others followed closely, and soon they arrived at the palace where Han Li had been meditating.
The golden light pillar that had risen from the palace had already disappeared.
The crowd saw the palace and was overjoyed. Some impatient people were about to fly down and search the palace.
"Don't be reckless, listen to the leader's orders!" Wen Zhong shouted, stopping them.
The others heard his words and remembered that they were now under the alliance's jurisdiction. They reluctantly restrained themselves.
"Wen Zhong, Jin Liu, Qing Suo Valley Master, Mo Xiang Lou Master, take a team of people and go into the palace to take a look." Lei Yu Ce said.
Wen Zhong and the others heard his words and nodded. They quickly led their teams into the palace.
The others were envious, but they could not do anything.
However, in a short while, Wen Zhong and the others returned, their faces looking somewhat ugly.
"Leader, we've found that the things in the palace have all been taken away, and there are signs of a recent battle. It seems that someone has entered the secret realm before us." Wen Zhong said, his face stern. Everyone was shocked upon hearing this, and a commotion broke out.
"Are you certain?" Lei Yu Ce asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
"I'm absolutely sure," Wen Zhong replied confidently.
"Could it be that someone has already been here before us? Whatever the case, let's continue forward for now." Lei Yu Ce's brow was furrowed, and after a moment of contemplation, he gave the order.
The alliance members continued forward, soon exiting the valley and entering a vast, open area. The sudden change in scenery lifted everyone's spirits.
Lei Yu Ce's heart also relaxed slightly, as the vastness of the secret realm made it unlikely that anyone could have searched the entire area thoroughly.
Moreover, it was clear that the other party had not yet left, and if they had made any discoveries, Lei Yu Ce would not hesitate to use force to make them comply.
"Wen Zhong, Jing Liu, divide the people into twenty teams and have them search in different directions. Don't go too far, and return after half a day," Lei Yu Ce instructed.
Wen Zhong and the others quickly divided the teams and assigned them to different areas to search.
During the division of the search areas, the Qing Su Valley and Mo Xiang Lou factions were assigned to remote areas, while the Tong Tian Sword Sect and Tian Shui Sect members were sent to the deeper parts of the secret realm.
The Qing Su Valley and other factions were dissatisfied with the arrangement, but they did not dare to speak out.
Meanwhile, in a different part of the secret realm, a vast, misty hillside area was filled with the faint scent of medicinal herbs.
The hillside was divided into three layers, covering an area of several hundred meters, and was home to a vast array of medicinal herbs, each with an age of at least tens of thousands of years.
At present, over a hundred giant ape puppets were busy digging up various medicinal herbs, working tirelessly to transport them to the outside of the hillside.
Outside the hillside, a massive silver gate stood in the void, leading to another medicinal herb garden.
Han Li stood at the entrance of the silver gate, directing the giant ape puppets to transplant the medicinal herbs into the garden, categorizing them by their properties.
At this moment, Qi Huan emerged from the side of the hillside and reported, "Master, the medicinal herbs with an age of over a million years have already been transplanted. Those that are not suitable for transplantation have been harvested and stored in the pharmacy."
Han Li furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment before asking, "Our medicinal herb garden has limited space, and I'm afraid there's not much room left."
Qi Huan shook her head, "There's no more space left."
Han Li nodded, "The medicinal herbs we transplanted earlier were done so at the minimum interval ratio. If we want to open up new medicinal herb fields, we'll need to transplant them again, or else it will affect the growth of the medicinal herbs."
Han Li paused, looking up at the sky in the distance, and his expression changed slightly.
"What's wrong?" Qi Huan asked, noticing the change.
"The secret realm has been breached, and outsiders have entered... We can't continue like this, it seems we'll have to resort to old tricks again." Han Li said, deep in thought.
"Old tricks? Master, what do you mean?" Qi Huan asked, slightly perplexed.
"These medicinal herbs don't need to be taken care of by the puppets for now. Just have them transplant all the nine-leaf ice grass, Tian Yang Tong Hua, and Zhong Ling Cao into the cave's medicinal herb field. Even if they're not yet ten thousand years old, transplant them all. As for the other medicinal herbs that are not yet mature, don't bother transplanting them."
Qi Huan was puzzled, "Master, nine-leaf ice grass and Tian Yang Tong Hua are both necessary for the preparation of various elixirs. I understand why you want to transplant them, even if they're not yet ten thousand years old. But why do you want to transplant the Zhong Ling Cao as well? It's not a rare herb."
Han Li smiled, "You don't know the secret, do you? The Zhong Ling Cao has auxiliary catalytic properties. If we transplant it together with the nine-leaf ice grass and Tian Yang Tong Hua, and they're mature enough, the nine-leaf ice grass may produce a variant, the nine-leaf ice flame grass, and the Tian Yang Tong Hua may produce a variant, the Tian Yang fire Tong Hua."
Qi Huan's eyes widened in understanding, "I see, I didn't know that."
Han Li continued, "And what about the Jing Yan Huo Niao?"
Qi Huan replied, "It obtained a nine-yang fire gall from the Zhi Yang Lou the other day. After eating it, it seemed to be uncomfortable and has been hiding in the Lian Tang Zhu Lou ever since."
Han Li couldn't help but feel a mixture of emotions. The Jing Yan Huo Niao had only just eaten the seven-colored fire sand, and now it had swallowed the nine-yang fire gall, which was second only to the fire sand in terms of its fire properties. Would it really cause any problems?
But thinking about the Jing Yan Huo Niao's proud expression earlier, Han Li felt a bit more at ease. The Jing Yan Huo Niao was no longer the same as it was before, and if it were to unleash its true flames, Han Li would have a headache dealing with it.
After Ti Hu left, Han Li didn't delay and flew up to the spiritual field.
He stood suspended in mid-air, gazing down at the earth.
Below, he saw that half of the spiritual herbs in the spiritual field had been harvested, and most of the remaining ones were over a hundred thousand years old, but not yet a million years old.
Han Li's eyes swept over the area, and he chose a spot with a dense concentration of spiritual herbs and a rich spiritual energy. He flew down to the edge of the field and walked quickly around it, stomping his foot on the ground as he went. The force of his stomp was not visible, but the ground would sink slightly, revealing a fissure like a knife cut.
After he finished walking around the field, the area of about ten mu was completely sunken, looking like it had been separated from the surrounding land.
Han Li then squatted down, rolled up his sleeves, and inserted his hands into the fissure along the edge of the field. A patch of blue light emerged from his palms, extending underground and enveloping the entire field.
He then let out a low shout: "Rise!"
The field responded to his voice, and he lifted it up with his hands, holding it like a large piece of cloth, and carried it towards the silver light gate.
Not far away, Ti Hu was directing the giant ape puppets to gather the spiritual herbs. Seeing Han Li lift the field with such ease, she couldn't help but laugh.
"If I had known, I would have just moved the whole thing!" she sighed.
Han Li arrived at the silver light gate, and with a slight hook of his finger, the gate expanded, swallowing him and the field whole.
Inside the gate, the field was connected to the cave heaven spiritual field. Han Li walked to the edge of the field and found a spacious area to place the field.
He had considered moving all the fields inside, but the cave heaven's space was limited, and he couldn't use it all for the fields. Besides, he had already searched the entire secret realm and collected all the spiritual treasures and artifacts from the buildings.
To store these treasures, Han Li had even dismantled a three-story pavilion in the secret realm and rebuilt it in his own cave heaven, near the spiritual field, and named it "Cang Yao Lou".
After placing the field, Han Li immediately left the cave heaven and saw Ti Hu and the other giant ape puppets entering the silver light gate.
"Ti Hu, I've only placed the field there, but it still needs to be embedded in the cave heaven's spiritual veins and irrigated with spiritual liquid to take root," Han Li said as he passed by Ti Hu.
"Don't worry, Master, I'll take care of it!"
Ti Hu took her orders and left, and Han Li closed the silver light gate.
After finishing, he looked towards the deeper part of the secret realm.
The area was still heavily restricted, and it was clear that it would be difficult to pass through.
Han Li looked for a moment, and his brow furrowed slightly. He suppressed his spiritual energy and ran towards the restricted area, quickly disappearing into the hills.
He had only just left when several figures flew towards the area from the high skies, including the Ling Xiao Gate, Lie Guang City, and Qing Su Valley.
The people from the three sects landed and argued among themselves. The burly man from the Ling Xiao Gate, Zhang Kai, opened his arms to stop the crowd and reminded them loudly:
"Everyone, this time the Tian Shui Sect and the Tong Tian Sword Sect have also intervened, we must unite and work together to gain benefits from this secret realm. We can't let our greed get the better of us."
"Zhang Kai, stop your nonsense, what do you propose?" a Lie Guang City elder asked.
"Yang Chang, everyone, let's calm down and discuss this. I suggest we work together to harvest the spiritual herbs in this garden, and if other sects want to intervene, we'll resist together," Zhang Kai said.
"This proposal is not bad, but the secret realm has been sealed for many years, and the harvest from the spiritual herb garden will be plentiful. How will we divide it?" a Qing Su Valley elder asked.
"We'll each choose one of the three layers," Zhang Kai said.
"Alright, let's agree on that," Yang Chang said.
The three sects agreed and entered the spiritual herb garden.
But soon, a series of angry shouts came from the garden.
"What's going on..." Yang Chang shouted.
Immediately after, the Qing Su Valley elder, Fu Gu, roared: "Who was the first to harvest the herbs..."
Before the commotion died down, another voice, full of rage, shouted: "Who is the scoundrel who even dug up the spirit field?" Yu Kuohai's angry roar echoed through the air, causing the other two sects to pause, then glance at their own spirit fields. Although the older and more valuable spirit medicines had already been harvested, there were still some tens of thousands of years' worth of spirit medicines left. It was unthinkable that the entire spirit field would be dug up.
The air was filled with curses and shouts as the three sects gathered in the spirit medicine garden.
Yu Kuohai's face turned iron-gray as he gazed at the devastated landscape. The deep pit, which seemed to have been excavated recently, still had damp soil.
He leapt into the air, scanning his surroundings from above, trying to find the person responsible for the destruction. However, he found nothing.
After the three sects finished gathering the remaining spirit medicines, they reunited and began cursing the person who had harvested the spirit medicines first.
"Now, continuing to curse that scoundrel is pointless. When we arrived, the people from Huang Feng Men and Mo Xiang Lou had already gone to a nearby building, not far from here. If we hurry, we might still be able to catch up," Yu Kuohai said, suppressing his anger.
"This might lead to conflict with the two sects..." Fu Gu Zhu hesitated.
"What's to fear? They're just Huang Feng Men and Mo Xiang Lou, not the mighty Tian Shui Sect," Yang Changlao sneered.
"If they're willing to give up some of their treasures, we might let them off. But if they refuse, don't blame us for being ruthless," Yu Kuohai said with a cold smile.
The three sects agreed and immediately flew off towards the building.
However, they had only flown halfway when they saw the people from Huang Feng Men and Mo Xiang Lou flying towards them. The group had also been joined by people from Bai Yun Shan Zhuang and Wang You Ge.
The two groups met in mid-air, stopping at a distance of several hundred meters. They stared at each other, their faces unpleasant, and a sense of foreboding settled in.
"Did you... did you also get robbed?" Yu Kuohai asked hesitantly.
"Did you... did you also get robbed?" the gray-haired old woman from Huang Feng Men asked, raising an eyebrow.
"They even dug up a part of our spirit field," Yu Kuohai gritted his teeth.
"We were almost completely cleaned out."
The old woman's words were interrupted by someone behind her, "And our tower was also destroyed!"
The two groups compared notes and simultaneously cursed, "Who is this heaven-sent scoundrel?"
Meanwhile, in a nearby forest, Han Li suddenly sneezed and rubbed his nose, feeling the dry air.
His expression was slightly hesitant, and he seemed unsure of what to do.
Earlier, when the secret realm appeared, there had been a clear disturbance in the outside world, indicating that someone had entered. However, to avoid detection, Han Li had not used his divine sense to investigate, so he did not know how many people had entered or what kind of people they were.
At the moment, he was still some distance from the core of the secret realm. He wanted to break through the restrictions and arrive at the core before the others, but time was not on his side. Moreover, he did not want to conflict with these people, as it would expose his identity and attract the attention of the Xian Gong and the treasure hunters.
However, based on his experiences in the secret realm, he knew that it was not simple, and the treasures hidden within were not ordinary. Most importantly, he had sensed a hint of temporal law energy emanating from the core, which made him extremely eager to obtain it.
After some deliberation, Han Li decided on a compromise. He released a small amount of divine sense energy, scanning the surrounding area.
A moment later, he took out a crimson mask from the Wheel of Rebirth and put it on.
A burst of light enveloped him, and his face changed, becoming that of a middle-aged man with a wide nose and drooping eyelids, looking somewhat dull.
Without using his divine sense, his body suddenly shrunk, becoming shorter and more robust, like a farmer who had spent years working in the fields.
Han Li released a small amount of divine sense energy, controlling it to mimic the aura of a Golden Immortal at the early stage.
He created a water mirror in his palm and examined his reflection, nodding in satisfaction.
After putting away the mirror, Han Li disappeared into the forest, his figure flashing out of sight.
About half a quarter of an hour later, a group of people came rushing up the mountain path, making a ruckus.
Among them, the one leading the way was none other than Yu Kuohai of the Ling Xiao Sect, with Yang Zonglao of Lieyang City and Fu Gu Zhu of Qing Su Valley following closely behind. The rest of the people from the three sects trailed behind them.
"Hmph, I'd better not run into that scoundrel who stole the treasure! If I do, I'll skin him alive and pound his bones to dust. I've never met anyone as ruthless as him in all my years," Yang Zonglao said, still seething with anger, as he walked and blew his nose.
"Yang Zonglao, calm down first. We all entered the secret realm together, and we were all searching in the areas designated by the Tian Shui Sect and the Tong Tian Sword Sect. It shouldn't be possible for someone to have gotten there first," Yu Kuohai said, deep in thought.
"What do you mean... are you saying it was those two sects playing tricks on us?" Yang Zonglao asked, taken aback.
"With the treasure at stake, people's hearts are hard to fathom, and anything can happen. Maybe they sent someone to secretly collect the treasure while we were being held back by the rules," Fu Gu Zhu said, after a moment's contemplation.
As soon as he spoke, the three of them started to murmur among themselves. If it was indeed those two sects playing tricks on them, did they have the strength to confront them?
"What's our plan going forward? We can't just keep being manipulated by them," Yu Kuohai asked, after a moment's silence.
Yang Zonglao and Fu Gu Zhu exchanged a look, but neither of them spoke up.
"It's true what they say, 'a powerful dragon doesn't press down on the local snake.' We're the local sects, and we can't just be pushed around by them. If word gets out, it'll be embarrassing," Yu Kuohai sighed.
"For now, we can only take it one step at a time. When we get to the other side, we'll have to be more careful. If we can grab an opportunity, we'll take it. If not, we'll just have to make sure we're not being used as pawns," Yang Zonglao said, shaking his head.
"You're right, we can only work together to compete with them," Fu Gu Zhu said, with a sigh.
Just as they were talking, they heard a commotion coming from the front of the mountain path.
Suddenly, a stout and burly middle-aged man, with tattered clothes, came running out of the forest, looking frantic. Behind him, a massive metal beast, shaped like a wild boar, was chasing after him.
The beast was over ten meters tall, with golden fur that stood on end like steel needles, and two sharp, golden tusks protruding from its mouth. It was chasing after the middle-aged man, who was running for his life.
When the man saw the group of people in front of him, he grabbed onto them like a lifeline, shouting, "Save me, save me!"
Before anyone could react, the middle-aged man ran up to them, leapt over their heads, and landed on a nearby tree, where he collapsed.
The metal beast chased after him, and the group of people from the Ling Xiao Sect, Lieyang City, and Qing Su Valley drew their magical tools, attacking the beast.
The beast was not very strong, and it was quickly defeated by the combined efforts of the group. Yang Zonglao delivered the final blow, striking the beast's head with a flame knife, and claiming its beast nucleus.
The metal beast's body was divided among the group, as it was a valuable material for crafting magical tools.
Once the dust had settled, the group turned to the middle-aged man, who was trying to escape. Yu Kuohai shouted, "Where do you think you're going?"
The man's hand jerked, and a black whip shot out, binding him. Yu Kuohai pulled him back, and the man fell to the ground.
"This guy looks familiar, but I've never seen him before," Fu Gu Zhu said, eyeing the man suspiciously.
"I don't recognize him either," Yang Zonglao said, shaking his head.
"We can search his soul to find out what's going on," Yu Kuohai said, with a sly smile. "Fellow Daoist, let's talk this out, let's talk this out..." a middle-aged man hastily called out.
"Cut the nonsense, it's possible that this guy is that shameless tomb raider!" another person from the Ling Xiao Sect shouted.
"This person's background is unclear, it's not impossible..." Yang Lao said after a moment of contemplation.
The crowd heard this and began to agree, shouting for a soul search.
Yu Kuohai glanced at the man's somewhat wide eyebrow spacing and felt that this person looked a bit dull, not like a cunning individual. However, to be cautious, he still intended to perform a soul search on him.
This person's appearance was none other than Han Li, who had donned a mask and changed his appearance.
Earlier, he had sensed that this group was approaching, so he had a sudden idea to blend in with them and gather some useful information. Therefore, he had specifically gone to find the metal beast and lured it to chase him to this place.
However, just as he was about to make a move, he saw that the person's body suddenly flashed with golden light, and the black whip that was wrapped around him suddenly loosened, and he had already gotten up.
"Fellow Daoists, please don't be offended, I am Shi Mu," Han Li said with a bow, smiling foolishly.
The crowd saw that he had easily escaped from Yu Kuohai's restraints, and their expressions were all surprised. One by one, they drew their weapons and surrounded Han Li.
Han Li saw this and quickly used a spell to break free, explaining, "I'm not skilled in the great Dao, I only know some minor techniques. I hope you won't be offended, may I ask where this place is?"
Yu Kuohai and the others were confused by his question.
"You don't know where this is?" Yu Kuohai asked, his eyes slightly sinking.
"To be honest, I was previously in the mountains chasing after a strange beast. I don't know how I ended up in a strange mountain valley, and no matter how I looked around, I couldn't find a way out. Luckily, I know some techniques to break through obstacles, and I finally managed to break through the illusion. I ended up here, and before I could even take a few steps, I encountered that metal beast and was chased here," Han Li explained, feigning a terrified expression.
"Empty words are useless, we can't believe you. Previously, there was a thief who robbed us of many treasures and spiritual medicines before we could even get to them. We suspect that you are that person. If you want to prove your innocence, hand over your storage device, and we'll verify it," Yu Kuohai said with a cold smile.
"It's not that I'm not willing to cooperate, but my storage device is not something that can be shown to just anyone..." Han Li seemed to shrink his neck, arguing.
"Perhaps you have no choice, Fellow Daoist," Yang Lao said with a cold tone.
Han Li looked at the crowd surrounding him, his expression changing between hesitation and fear.
After a long time, he finally sighed and said, "Fine, I'll hand it over. Please take a look and let me go."
As he spoke, he removed a storage ring from his hand and handed it over.
Yu Kuohai took it and examined it with his divine sense, his eyebrows furrowing slightly as he handed it to Yang Lao.
Yang Lao also examined it and handed it to Fu Gu Zhu.
"You're a Golden Immortal, albeit only at the initial stage, how can you be so poor?" Fu Gu Zhu asked, unable to help but laugh.
"It's laughable, really... I'm just a lowly mountain hermit, I don't have the support of a sect like you all do. It's not easy to get resources for cultivation, and I don't have any savings," Han Li said with a bitter smile.
"It seems that you're indeed a careless hermit who stumbled into this..." Fu Gu Zhu said, handing the storage ring back.
Han Li quickly took it and put it back on his hand, smiling foolishly.
"Since you all have important matters to attend to, I won't bother you anymore. I'll take my leave," Han Li said, bowing and backing away.
"Wait, Shi Daoist..." Yu Kuohai suddenly said.
"Is there something else you'd like to say, Fellow Daoist?" Han Li asked, feigning confusion.
"Earlier, you said you know some techniques to break through obstacles and illusions. Is that true?" Yu Kuohai asked with a smile.
Han Li heard this and immediately put on a self-satisfied expression, replying, "I'm not bragging, but although my cultivation level is ordinary, I do have some skills in breaking through obstacles and illusions..."
"Of course, it's not comparable to your abilities, not at all..." Han Li said, seeming to realize his mistake and quickly adding.
"Yu Daoist, what's the meaning behind your question?" Yang Lao asked, transmitting his voice.
"Since the Tian Shui Sect and the Tong Tian Sword Sect want to use us as cannon fodder, why don't we find a cannon fodder to take the lead? This person has arrived, and he claims to be skilled in breaking through obstacles. Isn't that convenient?" Yu Kuohai replied, his expression unchanging as he transmitted his voice.
Han Li couldn't hear the whispers exchanged between Yu Kuohai and the others, but with his years of experience in navigating the complexities of human relationships, he could roughly guess the content of their conversation.
He thought to himself for a moment, his face expressionless, as he glanced around, seemingly pondering something.
This scene naturally caught the attention of Yang Zong and Yu Kuohai, who exchanged a knowing glance, their eyes returning to Han Li.
"Friends, could you point me in the right direction, so I can leave? I have urgent matters to attend to," Han Li said with a deliberate tone.
Yu Kuohai's face was filled with a rich smile as he replied, "Ah, Brother Shi, why the haste? Let me tell you, your luck has arrived. You've stumbled into a sacred realm, where opportunities and treasures abound. As long as you follow us, you'll surely gain something."
Han Li's voice rose in excitement, "What, a sacred realm? You mean this place? I said it looked unusual."
Yu Kuohai continued, "Yes, this is the sacred realm of the Tai Sui Immortal, a true immortal of the Great Luo Realm. Brother Shi, you've stumbled into this place by chance, and who knows, it might be a great opportunity destined for you. Don't miss it!"
Fu Guzhu also chimed in, "That's right! We come from all over, and we're all fellow practitioners of renowned sects. Since we've met, why not explore this sacred realm together? We might find a great opportunity!"
Han Li listened to their words, his heart coldly amused. If he hadn't already seen through their intentions, he feared that other unsuspecting cultivators might be swayed by their flattery.
The others around him seemed to be standing randomly, but they had subtly formed a circle around Han Li, their faces mostly smiling, but it was clear they wouldn't let him slip away easily.
Han Li pretended to be hesitant, rubbing his chin, and muttered, "This..."
Yu Kuohai saw this and thought he had Han Li in the bag, so he made a gesture to Yang Zong.
Yang Zong understood and spoke up, "Brother Shi, since you're stuck here anyway, why not join us? We're stronger together, and it's safer that way."
Han Li seemed to be wavering, and Fu Guzhu's face turned serious, "Brother Shi, don't you look down on the Ling Xiao Sect, Lie Guang City, and our Qing Su Valley?"
Han Li quickly bowed his head, "I wouldn't dare. Thank you for your kindness. I'll follow you, and I won't seek any great rewards, just the chance to serve you."
Fu Guzhu was surprised by Han Li's words, and he whispered to the others, "This guy's not bad, if he can take care of himself later, we can spare his life."
Yu Kuohai laughed, "Don't worry, Brother Shi, as long as you help us, we won't let you lose out."
Han Li nodded enthusiastically, his face filled with a mixture of fear and gratitude.
After some small talk, the group set off again, heading deeper into the sacred realm.
Yang Zong suddenly asked, "Brother Shi, didn't you find anything on your way here?"
Han Li looked embarrassed, "I didn't know I was in a sacred realm until you told me. I wasn't looking for treasures, and soon I encountered that metal beast. I was chased and didn't even remember how I got here."
Yu Kuohai waved his hand, "It's okay, now that we're together, we'll take care of each other."
Han Li bowed his head, "Thank you, everyone."
Yu Kuohai and the others exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with a hint of disdain, thinking that Han Li was a timid and foolish middle-aged man who would be easy to manipulate.
As they continued on their journey, they introduced themselves, and Han Li learned that they were all from different sects.
The group followed a winding mountain path, and Han Li remained silent, listening to their conversation. He discovered that eight out of ten sentences were curses directed at those who had previously stolen treasures.
The remaining two sentences were also not kind, but they were directed at the Tian Shui Sect and the Tong Tian Sword Sect.
Han Li waited for an opportunity to ask, "Brother Yu, are there people from the Tian Shui Sect and the Tong Tian Sword Sect in this sacred realm?"
Yu Kuohai didn't want to answer, but seeing Han Li's fearful expression, he replied, "Don't worry, Brother Shi, this sacred realm is vast, and they can't monopolize it. We'll have our own opportunities."
Fu Guzhu added, "If we encounter any problems, we can always join forces with the Huang Feng Sect and the Mo Xiang Lou. United, we'll be a force to be reckoned with, and those two sects will have to be cautious."
Han Li nodded quickly, relieved, "That's good, that's good..."
Fu Guzhu saw Han Li's reaction and couldn't help but smile mockingly, but he quickly suppressed it.
He didn't know that Han Li wasn't concerned about the Tian Shui Sect and the Tong Tian Sword Sect, but rather about the Qi Mozi and the Xian Gong.
Han Li asked again, "Are there any other sects or forces that I should be aware of?"
Fu Guzhu was slightly annoyed, "Brother Shi, why are you so concerned about this? What's the point of knowing?" Fu Dao You, I'm not afraid of not recognizing the true person, but what if I accidentally provoke someone I shouldn't, wouldn't that be causing trouble for all of you?" Han Li said with a hint of displeasure.
"Stone Dao You is right to consider this, it's worth paying attention to. However, aside from the Tian Shui Sect and the Tong Tian Sword Sect, others will leave us alone as long as they don't provoke us." Yang Lao pointed his head in agreement.
Han Li listened to this and sighed inwardly, thinking that this was just empty words.
However, from their conversation, it could be seen that whether Qi Mo Zi and the Xian Gong people came or not, at least they didn't show up in their true form. If they had, with their Da Luo realm cultivation, these people wouldn't be so calm and composed.
The specific situation could only be observed by following them.
Han Li didn't ask any more questions, and the rest of the people seemed to be preoccupied with their own thoughts, so the group fell silent.
The crowd walked quietly in the forest for several hours, until finally, a magnificent crimson-colored grand hall appeared in front of them.
Upon seeing the grand hall, Yu Kuo Hai and the others didn't show any excitement, instead, they looked worried, fearing that it was another useless grand hall that had been plundered.
The crowd arrived at the grand hall, and Yu Kuo Hai went forward to examine it for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief, saying:
"Fortunately, the seal is still intact..."
"Stone Dao You, you're skilled at breaking seals, why don't you take a look at this seal?" Yang Lao said with a smile, glancing at Han Li.
"Alright, I'll give it a try!"
Han Li knew that this was another test, so he pretended to be confident and made a show of his abilities.
He walked to the entrance of the grand hall, looked it up and down, and saw that the door was adorned with a circular iron plate engraved with two beasts biting each other's tails, surrounded by eight lightning symbols.
Han Li recognized the eight symbols, which represented the legendary Eight Lightning Gods, and the two beasts in the center were the Yin and Yang Lightning Beasts.
However, he didn't immediately speak up, instead, he stood to the side, scratching his ear and deep in thought, looking puzzled.
Yu Kuo Hai looked at him impatiently and asked: "Stone Dao You, do you recognize this seal or not? If you can't break it, I'll use force to break it open."
"Yu Dao You, this... the two beasts on the iron plate I recognize, but the surrounding symbols are only half-understood. I only know that this seal is related to lightning, and if we force it open, we might trigger the seal and cause the entire grand hall to be destroyed by lightning, and we won't get anything." Han Li said with a hesitant expression.
"Oh, is that so?" Yu Kuo Hai asked, sounding uncertain.
"Yu Dao You, if you don't believe me, you can try using a little force to test it, and you'll see if it's really related to lightning." Han Li said with a wry smile.
Yu Kuo Hai's expression changed, and he suddenly smiled, saying:
"Stone Dao You's words, I naturally believe. But how do you plan to break this seal, do you have a good method?"
"We need to try it out first, I wonder which Dao You can help me with?" Han Li looked at the crowd, saying.
The crowd looked at each other, and then turned their gaze to Han Li.
"Everyone..." Han Li said with a bitter smile.
"Stone Dao You, since you're the one who breaks seals, it's only natural that you try it yourself." Yang Lao said with a chuckle.
The rest of the people nodded in agreement.
"Since that's the case, then please, everyone, take a step back. After all, this is a Xian family's seal, and its power is hard to say..." Han Li said with a helpless expression.
The crowd retreated over a hundred feet, and Han Li turned his back to them, a smile appearing on his face as he began to break the seal.
For Han Li, breaking the seal wasn't difficult, and after a few dozen breaths, he used the Xie Ye Shen Lei in his body to connect with the seal and break it open.
However, he didn't make a sound, instead, he used his heart to contact the Jing Yan Huo Niao, and quietly released it from the gap in the door.
After a few dozen breaths, Han Li's hands suddenly flashed with silver lightning, and a loud "boom" sound was heard as he flew backward.
The crowd was shocked, and no one noticed a flash of silver fire that flew out from the lightning and disappeared into Han Li's sleeve.
Han Li flew out over a hundred feet before landing heavily on the ground, his clothes torn and tattered, looking like he had suffered a great loss.
Yang Lao and the others glanced at him, saw that the grand hall's entrance was open, and rushed inside.
However, after a short while, the sound of shouting and cursing came from inside the grand hall.
"I didn't tell you to take everything, leave some for them, did I?" Han Li was slightly taken aback, and he communicated with the Jingyan Firebird through his divine sense.
However, the Jingyan Firebird didn't respond, and it had been in a daze since it swallowed the Jiu Yang Fire Gallbladder. It seemed that it still hadn't woken up.
Han Li saw this and could only shake his head helplessly. He found a place to sit down.
A moment later, the others reluctantly came out of the temple, their faces filled with disappointment.
"Stone friend, are you okay?" Yang Lao asked, walking forward a few steps.
"I'm fine, just some minor injuries," Han Li replied, opening his dark and dusty palms.
"Damn it, even the well-sealed temple had nothing. What bad luck!" Fu Gu Zhu scowled, muttering to himself.
"Thanks to Stone friend, this time we didn't gain anything, but we'll definitely find something good inside. Let's go deeper," Yu Kuohai said, helping Han Li up.
"Thank you," Han Li replied gratefully.
The group rested for a moment before continuing on their way. Along the way, they encountered several more buildings, all of which Han Li opened the seals for. The others went inside to search for treasure, but they didn't find anything valuable. However, they did manage to find some minor treasures.
Time passed quickly, and several days went by.
Han Li and his group finally emerged from the mountains and arrived at the entrance of a gray canyon.
Inside the canyon, mist swirled, and in the distance, a massive gray tower stood, its peak piercing the clouds.
"This tower looks extraordinary! Let's go take a look!" Yu Kuohai exclaimed, his face filled with excitement. He quickly led the group forward, and soon they arrived at the tower.
The gray tower was ancient and majestic, with a diameter of dozens of miles. Its height surpassed the surrounding mountains, and its peak seemed to touch the clouds.
The tower's surface was covered in gray lightning patterns, and from time to time, gray-black lightning bolts shot out, dancing around the tower like snakes. The air around the tower seemed to tremble, as if it might be torn apart at any moment.
At the top of the tower, a massive golden flame burned, its light shining brightly like the sun.
However, despite its brilliance, the flame seemed to exist in a different space, and it was impossible to reach.
As the group approached the tower, Yu Kuohai's excitement turned to disappointment.
The ground in front of the tower was crowded with people.
"Hmph, it seems everyone's here!" Yu Kuohai grumbled.
Han Li ignored the crowd and looked up at the golden flame on the tower's peak.
Within the flame, he could sense the fluctuations of the time law, which seemed to be restrained by some unknown force.
Although it was only a faint echo, Han Li could feel the profound power of the time law, and his eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Let's go down! Stone friend, remember to be careful and watch your words," Yu Kuohai said, turning to Han Li.
Han Li nodded hastily.
The group gathered in front of the gray tower, and the leaders of the various factions, including Lei Yuze, Su Ci, and others, stood at the entrance of a massive stone door at the base of the tower. The door was adorned with the words "Sui Yue Tower" in large characters.
The door was gray-black in color, with intricate lightning patterns and a gray lightning screen that emitted a frightening hissing sound.
Lei Yuze, Su Ci, and the others seemed to be discussing something.
Han Li had gathered information about the various factions along the way, and he had a good understanding of their leaders.
He glanced at the group before looking away.
The people from Ling Xiao Men, Qing Su Valley, and Lie Guang City arrived, but they didn't attract much attention from the crowd. Most people glanced at them before turning back to the tower, excitedly discussing the possibilities.
At this moment, in a corner of the crowd, the blue-robed siblings, Lan Yuanzi and Lan Cai, stood together.
"I didn't expect to find such a massive tower in the depths of the secret realm. The treasure left behind by the Tai Sui Immortal is probably here," Lan Yuanzi said, his eyes shining with excitement.
The siblings had come to the Jin Yuan Xian Domain to capture Han Li, but they didn't want to miss this opportunity.
"This tower's lightning power is incredibly strong. Do you recognize what kind of lightning this is?" Lan Cai asked, looking at the tower with curiosity.
"It's probably some kind of yin lightning. I don't know much about lightning, though..." Lan Yuanzi replied, his expression changing suddenly.
"Wait, what's that?" Lan Yuanzi's eyes widened as he stared at Han Li, who was standing not far away. Han Li's palm flashed with a blue light, and a blue circular mirror appeared, with layers of blue light rippling on its surface like water waves.
"Brother..." said a voice beside him, with a brightening of the eyes.
"It's Han Li!" Lan Yuanzi's face lit up with joy, and he immediately began to manipulate the mirror with his fingers.
At the same time, as soon as Han Li landed, the time laws within his body suddenly fluctuated, as if something had triggered them.
"Someone is using a sensing divine artifact to sense me!" he thought to himself, immediately understanding what was happening.
He quickly activated the "Wan Qiao Kong Ji Technique", closing all of his divine orifices, and simultaneously activated the "Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue", intertwining the five time laws to form a seal-like existence that hid in the depths of his body.
Han Li's divine spirit energy also withdrew, not emitting a single thread of energy.
The "Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue" was the most superior time cultivation technique, not only powerful, but also extremely skilled in concealing one's aura.
Han Li's current cultivation had reached the peak of the Tai Yi stage, and the various uses of the "Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue" were gradually unfolding.
On the other side, Lan Yuanzi was frantically manipulating the blue mirror, but the ripples on its surface suddenly disappeared, returning to its original state.
Lan Yuanzi was shocked, but eventually accepted reality, stopping his actions.
"What's wrong? Did we sense incorrectly?" Lan Yan asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"The sensing mirror suddenly lost the sense of Han Li's aura, it seems he detected someone sensing him and hid his aura. This person is quite cautious," Lan Yuanzi said, his face looking unpleasant.
"How could this be? The sensing mirror is a precious treasure given by our master, even a Da Luo existence might not be able to evade its sensing," Lan Yan said, surprised.
"It seems Han Li is not simple, but this time, we didn't gain nothing, at least we can confirm that Han Li is in the vicinity," Lan Yuanzi said, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the surrounding crowd.
"That's right! And the group of people who just arrived are suspicious, as soon as they got here, the sensing mirror reacted, Han Li might be hiding among them," Lan Yan said, looking at the disciples of the Ling Xiao Gate and the other two great sects.
"Very likely, but we can't completely ignore the others," Lan Yuanzi said, nodding thoughtfully.
Lan Yan nodded, about to continue investigating.
"Don't act rashly, we currently can't confirm Han Li's identity, and he probably hasn't discovered us yet. Now, we need to compete with him in endurance and observation, to see who finds the other first, I don't believe he can keep his aura hidden forever," Lan Yuanzi immediately stopped Lan Yan's actions, smiling coldly and revealing his white teeth.
"With brother you taking action, Han Li will soon be caught, and now he's even sent himself to our doorstep, how convenient!" Lan Yan said, her face filled with admiration.
...
"Who could be sensing me... Qi Mozi? It doesn't feel like him, if Qi Mozi had such a sensing technique, he would have used it earlier. Or maybe it's someone else, like the Lan siblings from the Jiu Yuan Guan?" Han Li thought to himself, his mind racing as he looked at the surrounding crowd.
"It's him!" his eyes suddenly stopped on a young man, but quickly moved away, not wanting to draw attention.
That person was Xiong Shan, currently standing at the edge of the crowd with a group of loose cultivators.
Han Li had only met him briefly at the Jin Yuan Xian Gong, but his impression was deep, and he wouldn't mistake him.
"This person's appearance is unfamiliar, but gives me a familiar feeling, who is he? And since he's here, Qi Mozi must also be here, maybe the person from earlier was really Qi Mozi..." Han Li thought, his mind racing with possibilities.
He didn't dare to act rashly, knowing that he couldn't guarantee his safety against Qi Mozi, a Da Luo of time.
Moreover, if the Lan siblings from the Jiu Yuan Guan were also here, it would be a troublesome matter.
Just as Han Li was thinking, Yu Kuo Hai and the others arrived at the giant stone door, having arranged their teams.
" Alliance leader!" Yu Kuo Hai said.
"Ah, Yu Dao friend, Yang Chang Lao, Fu Gu Zhu, how were your gains?" Lei Yu Ce asked, looking at the three.
"Don't mention it, almost everything has been taken by others! How infuriating!" Yu Kuo Hai said, annoyed.
"Yu Dao friend, don't worry, the age-restricting formation of the tower is still intact, and the treasures inside should still be there. However, the thousand-zi-yin thunder formation on the door is difficult to break, we're discussing countermeasures. The three of you are experienced, since you've arrived, let's discuss it together," Lei Yu Ce said, his tone neutral.
Yu Kuo Hai and the others looked at each other.
"If we're talking about breaking formations, with Lei Dao friend here, what can we say? Lei Dao friend has already recognized the formation on the door, you must have a plan to break it," Fu Gu Zhu said, flattering.
"I wouldn't say that, but I do have a plan to break it, however, I need everyone's help," Lei Yu Ce said, smiling.
"No problem, Lei Dao friend, just give the orders," Yu Kuo Hai and the others said, thumping their chests.
"Very well, I'll explain the plan...," Lei Yu Ce said, his eyes flashing with satisfaction.
The group discussed for half an hour, then dispersed, each person gathering their teams, and eventually gathering nearly a hundred people to draw formation patterns on the ground, setting up formation tools, and so on.
Near the tower, Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong stood side by side, quietly watching the scene before them.
"Lei Dao You, how confident are you in this method?" Wen Zhong asked in a low voice.
"Even if it's not 90% certain, 67% is still possible. Besides, to obtain the Years Lamp, even if there's only a 10% chance, I'd still want to try. Isn't that what you're thinking, Wen Dao You?" Lei Yu Ce's eyes flashed with a hint of sharpness as he replied.
"According to rumors, the Years Lamp is a divine artifact forged by the Ta Sui Celestial after a lifetime of effort. Who knows what kind of treasure it is?" Wen Zhong's face showed a hint of expectation.
"Speaking of which, Lei Vice Master, your affection for Su Wan is your personal matter, but the Years Lamp concerns the future development of the Tong Tian Sword Sect. You mustn't let personal feelings get in the way of important matters," Wen Zhong said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"Don't worry, as Vice Master, I naturally understand what to do," Lei Yu Ce replied, his brow furrowed.
"Good," Wen Zhong's expression relaxed.
Under the busy hands of nearly a hundred people, the array patterns on the ground were quickly etched. In just half a day, the area in front of the gray tower was filled with two enormous black and white arrays.
The two arrays complemented each other, forming a yin-yang pattern.
"This is..." Han Li, mixed in with the crowd, looked at the arrays before him, his eyes flashing with insight. He quickly connected with Ti Huo and Jing Yan Tong Zi.
After a few breaths, he emitted a hot and cold aura mixed together.
"Everyone, this is the dual-array design created by the Alliance Master to break the tower's seal. Each array requires fifty cultivators to activate. I'll now select the participants," Wen Zhong announced, hovering in mid-air.
The crowd of cultivators gathered before the tower, numbering over a thousand, stirred with unease. No one dared to speak out, only praying silently that they wouldn't be chosen.
Anyone could see the terror of the tower's seal, and breaking it would undoubtedly be perilous.
Wen Zhong saw the crowd's expressions and knew their thoughts. He smiled coldly and began to directly select the participants.
"You, you, you..."
Each person he pointed out was shot with a beam of white light, which lingered on their body.
In a short time, the Alliance cultivators had selected a hundred people, although they weren't very willing. These people, however, stepped forward.
The selected hundred cultivators had varying levels of cultivation, from Tai Yi to Golden Immortal, and even True Immortal. However, they all shared one characteristic: they cultivated either extreme yang or yin techniques, each accounting for half.
"Indeed, it's a yin-yang dual-array..." Han Li's eyes flashed with insight as he muttered to himself.
If it were an ordinary day, taking some risks to activate the array for treasure would be acceptable. But he was currently being secretly watched, and he couldn't afford to enter the array. So, he used his secret technique to transfer some of the essence of Ti Huo and Jing Yan Tong Zi into his body, creating a mixed aura.
Han Li had previously traveled with Yu Kuo Hai and the others for a few days, but he hadn't openly revealed his cultivation technique. His aura changed slightly, but it didn't arouse the suspicions of the three.
On the other side, the Lan siblings cultivated techniques with yin-cold attributes. Although they used secret techniques to conceal their true cultivation, their aura itself couldn't be changed, and they were selected into the yin-attribute group of fifty.
Perhaps to avoid complications, they reluctantly followed orders.
"This is terrible luck..." Lan Yan sat at a node within the black array, complaining in a low voice.
"Just endure it for now, and be careful not to reveal your true cultivation," Lan Yuan Zi replied.
"I know, brother. Don't worry, this level of array is nothing to worry about," Lan Yan guaranteed.
"Excuse me, Wen Senior, is there any danger in activating this dual-array to break the seal?" a black-robed middle-aged man asked, his voice trembling.
"Exploring the treasure realm's secrets, how could there be no danger? If you're so afraid of death, why did you come here in the first place?" Wen Zhong glanced at the man, his expression cold.
The black-robed man's face turned bright red, and he quickly lowered his head, not daring to speak again.
"You don't need to worry too much. This time, breaking the tower's seal is a matter of using an array to break an array. Although there's some danger, it should be manageable. Besides, all participants will be rewarded by the Alliance afterward. You won't be working for nothing," Wen Zhong said, his voice carrying as he tried to reassure the crowd.
Upon hearing this, the cultivators' expressions slightly improved.
"Let's begin!" Lei Yu Ce said, hovering above the two arrays.
The arrays on the ground began to rotate, emitting bright black and white light.
The cultivators within the arrays were restricted by a powerful seal, unable to move. At the same time, the arrays emitted a devouring force, rapidly absorbing their spiritual energy.
The cultivators' hearts skipped a beat, but they soon realized that aside from the absorption of spiritual energy, there were no other abnormalities. They gradually calmed down.
Lei Yu Ce carefully observed the operation of the two arrays, seeing that everything was proceeding smoothly. He nodded slightly and then joined his hands together before separating them again.
The arrays continued to rotate, emitting even more intense black and white light. The black and white spell arrays each shone brightly, and immediately, a hundred or so thick black and white light bands flew out from the two arrays, rushing towards the gray stone gate of the giant tower.
The lightning seal on the stone gate seemed to sense the threat, and suddenly brightened, with thick gray and black lightning bolts appearing, each emitting a wave of law power, cutting through the black and white light bands.
The black and white light bands were like paper, instantly torn apart and scattered.
"What a powerful yin lightning!" Han Li exclaimed, his pupils shrinking as he spoke.
The law power emitted by this yin lightning was completely opposite to the thunder law power born from the Qingzhu Fengyun sword.
The thunder law power within the Qingzhu Fengyun sword had inherited the characteristics of the evil-warding divine thunder, being strong and masculine, while these black lightning bolts were the opposite, emitting a strong yin evil aura.
If possible, he would like to study these yin lightning bolts.
Lei Yu Ce, however, did not react, seemingly having anticipated this, and he muttered to himself, his hands flying quickly to form a seal.
The black and white spell arrays on the ground suddenly burst with light, increasing in brightness by more than tenfold, forming a hundred giant black and white light columns.
A surging yin-yang energy was emitted from the two giant light columns.
Lei Yu Ce formed a seal, and a black and white flag flew out from his body, floating above his head.
The white flag had a sun pattern embroidered on it, while the black flag had a moon pattern, both emitting a shocking spiritual power wave, as well as law power waves, clearly being high-quality immortal artifacts.
He raised his hands, and the black and white flags rotated rapidly in the air.
The black and white light columns were affected by the black and white flags, and they began to entwine and rotate together, faster and faster, forming a massive black and white dual-colored whirlwind.
The whirlwind emitted a dazzling black and white light, and a strong law power wave.
"Go!" Lei Yu Ce shouted, pushing his hands forward.
The black and white whirlwind immediately rushed forward, sweeping towards the base of the gray giant tower, rapidly rotating.
A loud rumbling sound echoed out.
The gray and black lightning around the gray giant tower surged again, even more violently than before, with countless gray and black lightning bolts appearing, striking the black and white whirlwind, emitting a sound like iron sheets rubbing against each other.
Especially on the stone gate, even more gray and black lightning bolts appeared, like giant dragons, extremely frightening, and the void around them shattered.
However, the black and white whirlwind did not shatter like the previous black and white light bands, but instead, as it rotated rapidly, it sucked in the gray and black lightning bolts.
The gray and black lightning bolts were like fish caught in a net, unable to escape no matter how hard they struggled.
The cultivators around them cheered at the sight.
The black and white spell arrays suddenly erupted, and the immortal spiritual energy within the people inside the arrays surged out like a tide, and a wave of yin evil lightning power was transmitted through the air, causing the people inside the arrays to reveal painful expressions.
Lan Yan's eyebrows furrowed, feeling a wave of yin evil lightning power transmitted into her body, like countless small insects biting her meridians, extremely painful.
However, she had deep cultivation, and could still withstand it, but her heart was secretly complaining.
Among the crowd, Han Li gazed at the hundred cultivators inside the arrays, his eyes flashing with a hint of light, and his divine sense quietly spread out.
Although it was not good to suspect that the person controlling the arrays was working hard, the opportunity was too good to pass up, and if the person being tracked was inside the arrays, now was the best time to investigate.
In mid-air, Lei Yu Ce's hands flew quickly to form a seal, and the black and white whirlwind rotated rapidly, slowly rising upwards.
The lightning bolts that were sucked in were also brought upwards, and the lightning flower patterns on the tower's surface dimmed, no longer emitting gray and black lightning bolts, as if the yin lightning power above had also been taken away.
After a short while, the black and white whirlwind had risen over ten zhang, and stopped.
Although it was only a short while, to the hundred people inside the arrays, it seemed like an eternity, and some people with shallow cultivation had their internal energy drained, and they fell to the ground, bleeding from their seven orifices.
At this moment, the people around them were all struggling to withstand the pain, and naturally, they didn't care about the lives of those around them, and the people outside were all changing color, with some people secretly rejoicing that they hadn't been chosen to enter the arrays, but more people's gazes were fixed on the gray giant tower.
As more and more gray and black lightning bolts appeared from the gray giant tower's seal, striking the black and white whirlwind, it seemed that the actions of the crowd had completely enraged the seal.
The black and white whirlwind was still rotating rapidly, blocking all the lightning bolts, but it was clearly slower than before.
Below the whirlwind, the stone gate of the giant tower appeared, and the gray and black lightning bolts on it had disappeared, leaving only a thin layer of crystal clear light, covering the stone gate.
This layer of crystal clear light was similar to the transparent seal at the entrance of the secret realm, and it looked even thicker.
Chapter:
Lei Yu Ce's eyes saw this scene, his face slightly sank, and then he gritted his teeth, his body immediately shot out, and in an instant, he appeared in front of the stone door, his hands pressing on the light screen.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
108 golden flying needles shot out from his body, each with a lifelike golden dragon carved on the end, encircling the needle, with clear scales and claws, and a clear head and tail, as if they wanted to ride the clouds and drive the fog, and were crafted with exceptional skill.
In the blink of an eye, the 108 flying needles all pierced into the crystal light screen, embedding nearly half of them.
"Golden Light Absolute Immortal Needle!" someone in the distant crowd shouted.
Lei Yu Ce muttered to himself, and the golden flying needles burst forth with dazzling golden light, and rapidly vibrated.
The crystal light screen shook and trembled, and burst forth with dazzling crystal light, and emitted a piercing shriek, like the sound of thousands of swords clashing.
"Break!"
Lei Yu Ce's eyes flashed with a hint of pain, and the next moment, he suddenly became resolute, his hand grasping the incantation gesture, and his mouth loudly shouted!
The 108 golden needles' light burst forth again, and in an instant, they all disappeared into the crystal light screen, and then exploded inside.
A series of massive explosions shook the air!
The crystal light screen instantly appeared with countless cracks, and then shattered with a loud crash, turning into countless streams of light that scattered, revealing the dark green stone door inside, with no longer any obstruction.
Lei Yu Ce's face relaxed, and the distant crowd of cultivators cheered again, and the cultivators inside the array on the ground also let out a long sigh.
But at this moment, the thunder patterns on the giant tower above suddenly lit up, and flashed wildly, and countless thick gray-black lightning bolts shot out from them, with power and quantity far surpassing before, sweeping out in a fan shape in all directions.
The black and white whirlwind was already weak, and was easily torn apart by the gray lightning.
The black and white double flags fell from the scattered whirlwind, already shattered into several pieces, and no longer had any spiritual energy.
Countless gray lightning bolts broke through the black and white whirlwind, and continued to pour down, covering the ground.
Lei Yu Ce's face changed greatly, and his body flashed, instantly shooting out dozens of miles away, avoiding the danger.
The crowd of cultivators in front of the tower also retreated in shock, and Han Li also retreated with them, floating backward.
He had actually discovered the giant tower's restriction was abnormal earlier than others, but he didn't immediately retreat, and instead waited for a moment, to avoid drawing attention.
The crowd of cultivators in front of the tower were still some distance away, and their reaction was quick, but some people were too close and didn't react in time, and were affected, their bodies directly exploding, and their Nascent Souls couldn't escape.
As for the hundred people inside the array on the ground, they were still bound by the large array, and couldn't escape, and were engulfed by the countless gray-black lightning bolts.
Dazzling electric arcs flashed and danced, forming a gray-black lightning sea, and the terrifying lightning laws churned within, and everything that touched the gray-black lightning was instantly reduced to ashes.
Pitiful screams echoed from the lightning sea, and then immediately disappeared.
Han Li saw this scene, and silently sighed, and then felt a deep sense of wariness towards the ancient tower.
Just the outside restrictions were this dangerous, and the inside situation was naturally even more so.
But at this moment, his eyes suddenly focused, and he vaguely saw a blue light flash in the lightning sea.
Immediately, the lightning sea transmitted a shocking explosion, and a large burst of dazzling white light erupted from within, forming a crescent shape, and the light was dazzling and piercing, tearing apart the gray-black lightning sea.
"Whoosh" "Whoosh" sounds echoed, and over a dozen escape lights shot out from the lightning sea, flying like meteors to the safe area outside, revealing the figures of over a dozen cultivators.
These people were the strongest cultivators from before, with three Taiyi Realm cultivators, and the rest were Golden Immortal peak and Golden Immortal late-stage cultivators.
None of them were unscathed, their clothes were tattered, and their bodies were covered in wounds, and some people were missing hands or feet, looking pitiful and disheveled.
The gray-black lightning sea flashed a few times, and then dissipated, and the ground was scorched black, and a layer of earth was scraped away, and the people inside had all disappeared, leaving only some scattered fragments of immortal artifacts.
Seeing this scene, the crowd's faces were difficult to look at.
"Lei Yu Ce, Wen Zhong, didn't you two say that breaking the restriction wouldn't be too dangerous? What's going on now?" a middle-aged man in a white Daoist robe stepped forward, his face pale, and coldly questioned Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong.
The middle-aged man had a white moon wheel immortal artifact floating in front of him, but its light was dim, and its spiritual energy was greatly lost. The master of the Ling Yue Pavilion, Tian Yue Dao Ren, had reached the mid-stage of the Tai Yi Realm, making him one of the strongest among the group. He had also been selected to join the top 100.
Not only was Tian Yue Dao Ren affected, but the Ling Yue Pavilion's expertise in the extreme yin technique had also led to many of their members entering the double-life formation. Now, they had all been wiped out, and Tian Yue Dao Ren was furious.
The other survivors glared at Lei Yu Ce and his companions.
Many members of the Alliance's large group also looked at Lei Yu Ce with anger in their eyes.
Tian Shui Zong had also had someone enter the double-life formation, but they had not fallen. Therefore, Su Xun and Jin Liu did not ask any questions, instead standing quietly to the side.
"Everyone, please calm down. This was unexpected, even for me," Lei Yu Ce said, his face slightly pale. "I originally thought that if we broke the seal on the stone door, the thousand-needle yin thunder formation on the tower would also disperse. But I didn't expect this to happen."
Tian Yue Dao Ren listened to Lei Yu Ce's words, but his expression did not change, and his anger only intensified.
"Everyone, this is a tragic event, and I and the Alliance leader are also deeply saddened. However, as I said before, we are taking a great risk by exploring the immortal's mansion and the mysterious realm. Who knows when we will die? Life and death are determined by fate. Moreover, the Alliance leader broke two of his precious treasures to break the seal on the tower, which was a huge loss."
Wen Zhong, who was standing next to Lei Yu Ce, stepped forward and said, "This is an unexpected disaster, and it's not right to blame it on one person. The Alliance leader did it for the sake of all of us, so that we could enter the Years Tower and explore its treasures. If not, the casualties would be even greater. Everyone, please calm down."
Jin Liu also spoke up, "For those who unfortunately died, the Alliance will provide some compensation after we finish exploring the immortal's mansion. Everyone, please don't worry."
Tian Shui Zong and Tong Tian Jian Pai both said this, but Tian Yue Dao Ren's expression was still uncertain, and he coldly snorted before turning to leave.
The others were intimidated by the two sects' power and did not dare to say anything else.
Han Li stood in the crowd, but he did not pay attention to the argument. Instead, he glanced at the ten or so people who had just flown out, and behind them, he saw two people, a man and a woman, standing quietly. They were the Lan siblings.
Han Li's divine sense was extremely strong, and he had clearly sensed a powerful spiritual pressure in the thunder sea, which seemed to be a water attribute technique. It was not inferior to his own abilities.
It was this spiritual pressure that had actually opened the thunder sea, not Tian Yue Dao Ren's moon wheel immortal tool.
"From the aura of that spiritual pressure, it seems that it was these two people. They are hiding their true identities, and their clothing and attire suggest that they are cultivators of the water attribute. And they are two people... Could they be the Lan siblings from the Jin Han Xian Palace?" Han Li quickly withdrew his gaze, and his mind began to spin with thoughts.
"Brother, I'm sorry. Earlier, I was in a hurry and accidentally broke through the thunder sea. Will we be discovered?" Lan Yan's eyes flashed with a hint of guilt as she whispered to her brother.
"It's okay, Lan Yan. Even if you didn't act, I would have. And the thunder sea's power was enough to conceal your aura. With the divine sense of the people here, it's impossible for them to detect anything," Lan Yuan Zi reassured her.
Lan Yan listened to her brother's words and felt a slight sense of relief.
Tian Shui Zong and Tong Tian Jian Pai walked together, discussing something in hushed tones.
"Now that the seal on the Years Tower has been broken, we shouldn't waste any more time. Let's enter the tower quickly, or we might be surpassed by others. However, the seal on the tower was so powerful, and the inside will surely be even more dangerous. The Alliance leader and I have discussed this, and we've decided that those with lower cultivation should not enter the tower. It's better to avoid any more casualties and grievances."
Jin Liu stepped forward and said, "Those with cultivation below the Gold Immortal Realm should not enter the tower. The risk is too great, and the survival rate is low. It's better for them to stay outside and keep watch."
This statement caused a stir among the crowd.
"Jin Liu, what do you mean by 'lower cultivation'?" a Gold Immortal Realm cultivator asked immediately.
"Those below the Gold Immortal Realm are too weak and should stay outside," Jin Liu replied.
"This is unfair! We were all called to participate in the formation earlier, and now that the seal has been broken, you're not letting us enter the tower. What's the logic behind this?"
Many of the cultivators from the sects and the scattered immortals began to argue and protest.
"Silence!" Lei Yu Ce's voice was not loud, but the air around him seemed to vibrate with a powerful aura.
The cultivators who had been arguing were immediately silenced, their faces pale.
"This decision is for everyone's safety. However, the Alliance will give 30% of the treasures we find inside the tower to those who stay outside as compensation. You can also choose to leave and explore other areas. This secret realm is vast, and time is limited. There's no need for everyone to gather here."
Lei Yu Ce's words calmed the crowd, and many of the cultivators began to nod in agreement.
The sects and the scattered immortals both felt that this was a fair decision, and they began to make arrangements for their members to stay outside and keep watch.
"Time is of the essence, let's enter the tower!"
Lei Yu Ce's voice was low and urgent, and his body swayed slightly as he moved to the entrance of the tower.
The others followed closely behind him.
Without the True Immortal realm cultivators, there were now fewer than five hundred people, and Han Li blended in with the crowd, following at a relatively safe distance.
At the same time, his eyes occasionally swept towards another direction, where two cultivators who seemed unremarkable were standing. The man had thick eyebrows, and the woman had a round face and cherry lips.
They were the ones Han Li had suspected of being the "Lan siblings".
Although he still couldn't confirm their true identities, he felt that even if they weren't the Lan siblings, they were still worth paying attention to.
Since the Taishu Fu secret realm had opened, the Golden Source Immortal Palace still didn't have a leader, but Han Li didn't think the Heavenly Court would really sit idly by. Since no one from the Heavenly Court had appeared yet, it was even more reason to be vigilant.
Lei Yu Ce stood at the base of the tower, his eyes scanning the surroundings before confirming that it was safe. He then raised his hand and pressed it against the stone door.
Before he could even use his energy to push the door open, the stone door emitted a low rumbling sound and automatically swung open, revealing a dark entrance. The light inside was dim, but there were faint flashes of firelight.
Lei Yu Ce was slightly surprised, but he quickly regained his composure and didn't rush in. Instead, he stood at the entrance and examined it carefully.
The others followed his lead, holding their breath as they gazed into the entrance. They also tried to send out their divine sense to investigate, but to no avail.
The tower's interior had a formless restrictive energy that could block all divine sense.
"This place is indeed a bit strange," Wen Zhong said with a chuckle. "Everyone should be careful. If anyone doesn't want to go in, it's still not too late."
However, since they had come this far, no one was willing to give up. Everyone's eyes turned back to Lei Yu Ce.
"Let's go!"
Lei Yu Ce said, taking a step forward into the tower.
The others followed, led by the Tongtian Sword Sect and the Tian Shui Sect.
As they entered the tower, they saw that the walls were adorned with fire lanterns, burning a type of oil that emitted a faint, pungent smell. The air was dimly lit, but there was no sign of smoke.
The tower's interior was empty, except for a massive, ten-meter-tall statue of a double-headed figure standing in front of them.
The statue was strange, with a smiling face on one side and a ferocious, evil face on the other. Its body was adorned with intricate carvings and lock-like armor, and it had two golden wings on its back. One hand held a golden ruyi, and the other held a massive axe, each pointing towards a different direction.
Below the ruyi and axe, two dark passageways led deeper into the tower. The light from the lanterns couldn't illuminate the inside of the passageways, making it impossible to see what lay within.
"Look, there are words on the ruyi and axe!" someone exclaimed.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he saw that the ruyi and axe each had a line of vertical text. He murmured, "Choose the path without regret, different roads lead to the same destination."
Lei Yu Ce also spoke up, repeating the words. He turned to ask, "What does this mean? What's the choice we're supposed to make?"
"It seems that choosing different paths will lead to different encounters," Jing Liu said, pausing for a moment. "Perhaps one path is treacherous, and the other is... even more treacherous."
"Dividing into two groups is actually a good idea," Su Zhenzi said, her eyes fixed on the statue. "Our Tian Shui Sect and your Tongtian Sword Sect can each lead a group, taking a different path."
Lei Yu Ce's eyes flashed, and he said, "Su Xianzi, this is the core of the immortal palace, and there are bound to be dangers inside. I think it's better if we don't split up."
Jing Liu hesitated, then transmitted a message to Su Zhenzi. "I know you don't want to travel with him, but what he said is true. If the statue says 'different roads lead to the same destination', then doesn't it mean that both paths are the same?"
Su Zhenzi's expression turned cold, and she replied, "Jing Shixiong, when did you become so naive? Just because the statue says so doesn't mean it's true. Maybe the Taishu Xianzi set up a trap, creating a dead end for intruders."
Jing Liu was taken aback, and he transmitted a message back. "You're right, but how do we choose which path to take? Do you see any clues?"
Su Zhenzi replied, "Both passageways have restrictions, and our divine sense can't penetrate them. We can only find out what's inside after we enter."
Lei Yu Ce asked again, "Su Xianzi, what do you think we should do?"
Su Zhenzi's expression was cold, and she said, "We can't just focus on our own sects. If we travel together, what about the other cultivators? Should we let them explore one of the passageways on their own?"
Lei Yu Ce hesitated, unsure of what to do. Jin Liang smiled and said, "Lai Dao's good intentions, I'll take it for my junior sister. However, what my junior sister said is also reasonable. Since we've been made the leaders of the same path, we should take on the responsibility of leading."
Lei Yu Ce listened and said, "In that case, please let Su Xianzi choose a path first."
Tian Guan was on the left, and evil spirits were on the right... I'll choose the right path." Su Zhen Cai didn't hesitate and said.
"Good! Then our Tong Tian Sword Sect will take the left path. Ling Xiao Men, Qing Su Gu, Lie Guang Cheng, Mo Xiang Lou, and Wang You Ge's fellow practitioners, follow Su Xianzi to explore, and the rest will follow me." Lei Yu Ce said loudly.
The people behind him were also pondering the meaning of the statue, and they were hesitant about which path to take. However, since the leader of the alliance had spoken, and there were two major sects leading the way, no one had any objections.
Before long, the hundreds of people split into two groups and headed towards the two different paths indicated by the statue.
As they parted ways, Lei Yu Ce reminded Su Zhen Cai to be careful, but the latter didn't respond and led her group away.
Among the people from Wang You Ge, Lanyi and her brother were hidden in the crowd, their faces calm, but they were secretly transmitting sound.
"Little sister, this Lei Yu Ce is quite majestic, his boundary is comparable to Su Zhen Cai's, why is he always so cold and distant?" Lanyi asked in a transmission.
"What's strange about that? Whether it's a mortal or an immortal, as long as it's a man, isn't it all the same? The more unattainable, the more willing to pay with their heart, the colder Su Xianzi is, the more Lei Yu Ce will be willing to seek and be devoted." Lanyi smiled and replied.
"There's such a principle... it's like a clever move to entice and then let go." Lanyi's brother seemed to understand and nodded.
"How is that? Brother, you seem to have a taste for this." Lanyi's tone changed, and she asked.
"Ah... let's focus on the task at hand. What's to come is uncertain, so stick close to me." Lanyi's brother changed the subject.
At the end of the group, Han Li passed by the giant axe and looked up to see the words "Fallen Axe, Severing Long Life" written on the axe handle. He couldn't help but furrow his brow.
Almost at the same time, a young girl in black robes on the other path also looked up and saw the words "Like or Dislike" written on the Ruyi.
Both groups had entered the passageway for hundreds of meters when a loud "boom" sound suddenly came from behind.
It was the giant axe and Ruyi in the hands of the two-headed statue, which had fallen down and blocked the two paths, cutting off their return route.
The two groups heard the sound and stopped, and Wen Zhong and Jin Liang returned to investigate before returning to the group, saying that the retreat route was blocked and they had to press on.
The crowd was initially noisy, but since they had come to explore the treasure, they soon quieted down and continued on their way.
Han Li, who was at the back of the group, listened to the sound and a thoughtful expression flashed across his face.
As they continued on their way, the group led by Tian Shui Zong walked along the passageway for over ten miles, and the stone walls on either side were filled with intricate carvings of various symbols. However, they were too chaotic and disorganized, and Han Li couldn't make sense of them.
As they walked further in, the passageway began to narrow, from several hundred meters wide to several dozen meters wide.
Initially, the crowd was cautious, expecting sudden changes or mechanisms, but as they walked, the passageway seemed to be getting narrower, and there were no other changes, not even a single mechanism.
However, the more they walked, the more uneasy they felt, and the atmosphere became tense.
As they reached the end of the passageway, a gigantic golden gate appeared before them, with two statues of gods holding spears on either side, their faces stern and imposing.
The crowd's attention was drawn to the statues, but only a few people noticed the door nails on the gate.
"Yin and Yang, ten returns nine exits... it seems to be a Yin-Yang lock array." Jin Liang, who was at the front, pointed to the gate and said.
Han Li listened and couldn't help but sneer.
The door nails on the gate did have a Yin-Yang pattern, with some protruding outward and others inward, forming a complex pattern. However, it wasn't referring to Yin-Yang, but rather the stars.
The protruding nails represented the Taiyang Palace, and the inward-facing nails represented the Taiyin Palace. Therefore, the true name of this mechanism was the Star Palace Confrontation Array, and the Yin-Yang lock array was just a superficial name.
"Brother, since you recognize it, can you unlock it?" Su Zhen Cai asked.
"I can try." Jin Liang nodded after a moment of thought.
He turned to the crowd and said loudly, "Everyone, please be quiet, I have something to announce."
The passageway fell silent, and all eyes were on him.
Jin Dao, I don't know what you want to announce?" Yu Kuohai raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Everyone, if you want to enter the treasure tower and search for treasure, you must break open the stone door in front of you. To open the seal here, if I do it alone, it will take at least two days of effort. But if you all help me, we can break it in an instant." Jin Liu's eyes scanned the crowd, and he began to speak.
The crowd heard this and nodded in unison, glancing at each other, clearly remembering the scene when they collectively broke the formation earlier. They were afraid that they would become the sacrificial offerings to open the door.
Seeing that no one responded, Jin Liu's expression sank slightly, and he said slowly, "If you all want to reap the benefits without putting in any effort, I'm afraid there's no such good thing in this world?"
"Jin Dao, it's not that we're afraid of death, but please explain in detail how to break the formation, so that everyone can prepare mentally. Even if something happens, we can handle it ourselves." Yang Lao stepped forward and said.
"This formation is called the Yin-Yang Locking Formation. As long as you all use your spiritual energy on the door at the same time, making the originally balanced door hinges change, you can open the seal and enter." Jin Liu thought for a moment before explaining.
"Jin Dao, you make it sound easy, but isn't there any counter-seal or taboo on this door? What if we just make a move, and the formation counterattacks, resulting in a tragic outcome?" Yu Kuohai hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"I've checked, and this formation is different from the previous one. There's no unexpected situation. If you're still not at ease, I can break the formation with you all at the same time. If there's a change, I'll also suffer the counterattack." Jin Liu forced a smile onto his face.
"My brother has already explained everything, who is willing to take the initiative to break the formation?" Su Xi saw that no one responded, and she frowned.
The passageway was still silent, and Yu Kuohai and the others were all pretending to be deaf and dumb.
Jin Liu's smile slowly faded, and he said, "Since that's the case, I'll trouble you, Yu Dao, Yang Lao, Fu Gu Zhu, Zhao Fu Ge, and Qin Lou Zhu, to take the lead and have your respective sects send out some people to help me break the formation."
"Jin Dao..."
Yu Kuohai's words were cut off by Jin Liu's stern voice, "Since you've all joined the alliance, it's best to follow orders. Otherwise, once we leave this secret realm, the consequences will not be limited to just yourselves."
Yu Kuohai and the others understood the implication, that they would be seeking trouble for their entire sect in the future. Each of them had a slight change in expression.
"Qing Suo Valley is willing to follow orders." Fu Gu Zhu bowed his fist and said.
After that, he pointed and chose people from his sect.
The others looked at each other and also chose people.
"Also, each sect must choose someone who understands the art of breaking formations to listen to my instructions." Jin Liu's expression relaxed slightly as he reminded them.
Yu Kuohai heard this and his eyes shifted to Han Li.
"Shi Dao, my Ling Xian Men lacks people who understand formations, so I'll trouble you to take the lead for my Ling Xian Men." Yu Kuohai's face had a warm smile.
Yang Lao and Fu Gu Zhu exchanged a glance, and they both regretted not speaking earlier, allowing Yu Kuohai to take advantage of the situation and use "Shi Mu" as a scapegoat.
"This... isn't good, is it?" Han Li cursed inwardly, but his face showed a hesitant expression.
"Shi Dao, don't worry, after this is over, you can enter our Ling Xian Men and become an inner sect elder. You'll no longer be a wandering cultivator without a sect." Yu Kuohai patted Han Li's shoulder.
"Yu Dao, is this true?" Han Li pretended to be surprised.
"My words are not false, and there are all of you present as witnesses. Is there any reason for me to deceive you?" Yu Kuohai smiled.
"Then I'll take care of it this time." Han Li nodded.
A dozen steps away, the people from the Wang You Lou were watching. Blue Yan, who had transformed into a ordinary appearance, was looking at them.
"Brother, look at that poor guy, he's being lured by a small benefit and is willing to take the risk. It's really pitiful." Blue Yan's eyes flashed with a hint of mockery and pity as she transmitted her voice to Blue Yuanzi.
"A wandering cultivator's life is difficult, you don't understand. Becoming a Ling Xian Men elder is not a small benefit to him." Blue Yuanzi glanced at them and responded casually.
Blue Yan wanted to say something, but she heard the Wang You Lou's Zhao Fu Ge say, "You two, also participate in breaking the formation."
After a moment, each sect had chosen their people, and Jin Liu selected those who understood the art of breaking formations to explain the key points to them.
Han Li listened and sighed inwardly. If he followed Jin Liu's method, he would be walking into a trap, and it was likely to trigger the formation's counterattack.
However, with his current identity, he couldn't say anything.
When he returned to the Ling Xian Men group, Han Li reminded the people who were chosen to participate in breaking the formation, and the content was similar to what Jin Liu said. However, the details were slightly different, and ordinary people wouldn't notice. About half a quarter of an hour later, the dozens of people who had been chosen to participate in breaking the array were already lined up on either side of the stone gate.
"Gentlemen, when breaking the array, you must use all your strength to urge on your spiritual energy, don't be lazy, or else if there's a mistake, don't blame me, Jin Liang, for punishing you." Jin Liang's face turned serious, and he spoke loudly.
"Yes." The crowd quickly responded.
"Alright, let's begin as I said before." Jin Liang ordered, and he took the lead in using his hand seals to send a water-blue light towards the stone gate.
The others followed closely behind, also using their hand seals to mobilize their spiritual energy and strike the stone gate.
Only to see the various colored lights, like a rainbow, gathering on the gate's different areas, the sunken gate nails began to shine, rising upwards, while the originally raised gate nails began to sink downwards.
The entire stone gate, with the gathered lights, gradually split into a yin-yang fish pattern that was constantly changing.
As the fish turned, the stone gate seemed to start loosening, with a fierce vibration, emitting a hissing sound.
"Gentlemen, add a bit more strength, the gate is about to open!" Jin Liang exclaimed with joy, shouting loudly.
The others, hearing his words, also became spirited, using all their strength to urge on their spiritual energy.
Han Li had been paying attention to the changes in the gate's restrictions, knowing that the current situation was just a precursor to the activation of the gate's restrictions. If they didn't do anything, within a few breaths, the crowd would be hit with a backlash.
As for the lives and deaths of these people, who were unrelated to him, he didn't have any particular concern.
The secret realm's treasure hunt was a situation where one's life was their own responsibility, and he had seen too many examples of this on his journey. No matter who it was, they had to be responsible for their own choices, and while seeking opportunities and good fortune, they also had to bear the risk of death.
However, the lives and deaths of these people were now connected to his own, and on another path, there was another team advancing. If they were blocked, and the other team got the treasure first, it wouldn't be a good situation.
As the yin-yang fish pattern spun faster and faster, the people participating in breaking the array suddenly had a change of heart. A few of them didn't follow Jin Liang's instructions, instead, they poured their spiritual energy into a few gate nails that he hadn't mentioned.
This caused the originally spinning fish pattern to suddenly jam, and it directly dispersed.
Jin Liang saw this, and his face turned red with anger. Just as he was about to scold them, his eyes suddenly flashed.
Only to see that the dispersed fish pattern, under the colorful light, had actually revealed a starry night sky.
His expression changed slightly, and he immediately understood that he had misjudged the array. He opened his mouth, shouting loudly: "The array has changed, listen to my commands, re-break the array..."
After that, he began to give step-by-step instructions, ordering the crowd to pour their spiritual energy into the gate nails once again.
"You're not stupid, otherwise, I wouldn't have to personally take action..." Han Li nodded to himself, thinking.
As the new instructions were given, the stone gate was filled with starlight, and the two statues of the divine soldiers holding the halberds suddenly changed, their halberds rising high, and the stone gate slowly opened.
"Rumble..."
A heavy friction sound slowly echoed, and the two thick stone gates gradually opened, revealing a golden light that shone from within, accompanied by a strange fluctuation.
The crowd's eyes were all drawn to the scene inside the gate, but they could only see a dazzling golden light, and even when using their spiritual eyes, they couldn't see what was inside.
"Is this golden light the treasure's aura...?" Yu Kuohai muttered.
As soon as he spoke, the crowd felt a surge of excitement, and their eyes all showed a hint of greed.
"It's not the treasure's aura, but rather the fluctuation of the Golden Force Field." Su Xi coldly laughed, speaking up.
"Su Xi, the Golden Force Field in the Golden Source Mountain Range is not uncommon, and its aura is something we can distinguish. The golden light inside the gate is so strong, it's clearly a treasure with a golden attribute." Yang Lao's eyebrows rose, saying.
Su Xi didn't explain, only smiling lightly.
Yang Lao saw this and felt a bit puzzled, wondering if he was really wrong.
Han Li's eyes scanned the inside of the gate, and he immediately understood.
The Golden Force Fields in the Golden Source Mountain Range were mostly naturally formed, without the addition of magical arrays, and the golden spiritual energy they emitted was strong, but not pure enough.
The golden light inside the gate, which seemed to be the treasure's aura, was actually because the golden energy within was concentrated and pure enough, which was why it was able to confuse the crowd.
The crowd stood at the gate, their hearts burning with desire to seize the treasure, but they didn't dare to directly charge in, partly because they feared the Tian Shui Sect's control, and partly because they were afraid of more mechanisms and restrictions inside.
Everyone, regardless of whether there is a Golden Power Field inside, we should be cautious. So why don't we split into two teams and enter the great hall one after another?
Jin Liu hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"But how do we determine the order of entry?" Yu Kuohai raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Those who cultivate Golden Attribute techniques and those who are skilled in sealing arrays will form the vanguard team, entering the hall first. If there is indeed a sealing array within, those skilled in breaking seals will remove the restriction, and the second team will follow," Jin Liu said.
"Jin Liu, this method may be good, but it's unfair. Our Sect Master has cultivated Golden Attribute techniques, so wouldn't we be making them go first to test the waters?" Zhao Vice-Sect Master stepped forward and said.
"Zhao, don't worry, the vanguard team will receive any benefits, regardless of whether there is a sealing array inside. As for the second team, we will provide support from outside and aid you if anything goes wrong," Jin Liu replied.
"If that's the case, then it's reasonable," Zhao Vice-Sect Master thought for a moment before saying.
"This time, the vanguard team will be composed of those who cultivate Golden Attribute techniques from Lietu City, our Sect, and Tian Shui Sect. As for Ling Xiao Gate, Mo Xiang Lou, and Qing Su Valley, you can choose a few skilled in breaking seals to join us," Jin Liu said after a moment of consideration.
Everyone nodded in agreement, finding the plan reasonable.
Han Li watched as Yu Kuohai walked towards him, knowing he would be asked to join the vanguard team. Han Li didn't refuse, but he was surprised when Yu Kuohai also decided to join.
After each faction selected their representatives, a team of less than a hundred people was formed.
"I originally thought we should choose a leader for the vanguard team, but I didn't expect Yu, Yang, and Zhao to volunteer. It's a pleasant surprise," Jin Liu said with a smile.
"Hmph, how could I, as the leader of this expedition, wait outside while my Sect members enter?" Zhao Vice-Sect Master said with a sense of righteousness.
The people from his Sect looked at him with admiration in their eyes.
"I, too, will enter the hall with my Sect members. We will advance and retreat together," Yang Long said, stepping forward.
"We, Ling Xiao Gate, don't primarily cultivate Golden Attribute techniques, but I, Yu Kuohai, will join the vanguard team with Shi," Yu Kuohai added.
Han Li listened to their words, smiling inwardly.
In the end, these people were all trying to enter the hall first to gain an advantage in obtaining the treasure. As for whether it was a Golden Power Field inside, they either thought they could handle it or were being reckless.
Han Li didn't care about this, but what caught his attention was the "Lan siblings" who were also part of the vanguard team.
Earlier, when they broke the array, they didn't reveal anything. Han Li wondered what would happen once they entered the hall.
Lan Yuanshi was talking to Lan Yan when he suddenly sensed someone's gaze on him. He frowned and turned around, but the gaze had already moved away.
"What's wrong, brother?" Lan Yan asked, puzzled.
"Nothing, it was just my imagination," Lan Yuanshi replied with a smile.
"What if there's treasure inside?" Lan Yan asked, switching to a transmission.
"If there is, I'll take it and give it to you," Lan Yuanshi replied.
"I'll take care of those annoying people, and you can take care of obtaining the treasure. I'll kill them all," Lan Yan said, her face still smiling.
"They're not worth killing yet. We can use them as cannon fodder," Lan Yuanshi transmitted.
Lan Yan's face scrunched up in distaste, and she replied, "But I don't want to keep pretending to be this ugly girl. I want to kill them all."
"Even if you kill them, you'll still have to maintain your disguise. Who else would you show your true self to?" Lan Yuanshi asked.
"Only you, brother. You're the only one worthy of seeing me," Lan Yan replied, smiling.
"Besides, in my eyes, you're the most beautiful woman in the world. Whether you're in disguise or not, it doesn't matter," Lan Yuanshi said, his eyes warm with affection.
Lan Yan's face turned red, and she looked at him with admiration.
After a brief adjustment, the two teams approached the entrance to the hall, where golden light was emanating from within. The group of cultivators walked forward, their movements swift and silent. Jing Liu nodded and said, "Don't worry, we've got your backs. We won't let anything happen to you."
Su Zhenzi's eyes were cold and expressionless, her face a mask of calmness. She seemed to be thinking deeply, but her thoughts were impossible to discern.
Yu Kuohai exchanged a glance with Yang Lao, and they both nodded in unison. With a wave of his hand, he led the group, including Han Li, towards the entrance.
The group from Wangyou Pavilion followed closely behind, entering the doorway in a swift and orderly manner.
As soon as they crossed the threshold, they were enveloped by a blinding golden light. Their figures disappeared from view, and even their auras became difficult to detect.
Han Li walked behind Yu Kuohai, and as soon as he stepped into the new space, he felt a sudden constriction around him. A powerful binding force emanated from all directions, restricting his movements.
This binding force was different from the heavy pressure of the earth element or the sticky sensation of the water element. It was as if he was being wrapped in a multitude of thin, yet incredibly resilient metal threads.
Accompanying this force was a series of sharp, bone-cutting golden winds that blew towards him, making his skin prickle with pain.
The golden light that permeated the air made it difficult for anyone to see clearly, and even the cultivators' vision was affected. The view became hazy and indistinct, as if shrouded in a layer of golden mist.
"What's going on? This feeling... Could it be..." Zhao Fuyuan's voice trembled as he exclaimed.
Yang Lao's face turned pale, and he let out a bitter laugh. "It seems that Su Xianzi was right. This is indeed a Golden Force Field."
With a flick of his wrist, he produced a golden orb and placed it on his chest. A golden arc of light burst forth, protecting him from the Golden Force Field's influence.
Even with his cultivation level, Yang Lao still needed to rely on a treasure to withstand the effects of the Golden Force Field. The others were not as fortunate, and their faces contorted in pain as they struggled to resist the force.
Yu Kuohai formed a hand seal, and a series of golden patterns emerged on his body, shielding him from the Golden Force Field's influence. However, his internal spiritual energy was being depleted at an alarming rate.
"This Golden Force Field is incredibly powerful. I've never seen anything like it before. It must be reinforced by a powerful formation. Quickly, go and find the formation's eye and foot, and destroy it!" Yu Kuohai's expression turned grave as he pointed at Han Li and the others.
Han Li, although affected by the Golden Force Field, did not feel as much pain as the others. His physical body was far more resilient, and he only pretended to be in discomfort to maintain his cover.
"We can't even take a step forward in this Golden Force Field... Brother Yu, it's not that I'm unwilling to help, but..." Han Li's words were cut off by Yu Kuohai's brusque interruption.
"Enough! Hurry up and go! If we don't destroy this formation, we'll never be able to obtain the treasure. We'll all be trapped here and eventually die!" Yu Kuohai's anger was palpable.
Han Li let out a forced sigh and pretended to be reluctant. "Fine... I'll go and take a look."
As he walked forward, he discovered that his spiritual sense was severely limited, unable to perceive the surroundings beyond a hundred paces. Even his Nine Underworlds Devil Eyes were restricted, unable to see the full extent of the space.
He proceeded forward, his footsteps echoing in the silence, until he came across a massive golden stone pillar. The pillar was adorned with intricate symbols that flashed with golden light, emitting a strange, pulsating energy.
"Could this be one of the Golden Force Field's formation feet?" Han Li muttered to himself.
He reached out and touched the pillar, feeling a surge of sharp energy flow into his fingertips.
As he looked up, he saw that the pillar was embedded in the golden light, making it impossible to discern its full extent. However, he could see that the top of the pillar seemed to be adorned with a pair of wings, belonging to a strange, two-winged beast. The wings' sharp tips protruded from the golden light, gleaming with an otherworldly aura.
Just as Han Li was about to examine the symbols on the pillar more closely, a sudden, piercing cry echoed above him. The two-winged beast, which had seemed like a mere carving, suddenly came to life and swooped down towards him.
Han Li dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the beast's attack. The beast's wings sliced through the air, leaving a trail of glittering golden light in its wake. The air itself seemed to be torn apart, revealing a glimpse of the void beyond.
As Han Li retreated, he caught a glimpse of the beast's true form – a magnificent, golden bird with wings as sharp as knives. Its body seemed to be made of a metallic material, and its aura was even more powerful than the two metal beasts Han Li had encountered earlier.
The golden bird's wings beat the air once, and it launched itself at Han Li, its talons extended. A blast of golden energy shot towards him, threatening to tear him apart.
Han Li's hand flashed, and a golden sword appeared in his grasp. The sword, adorned with golden threads, blocked the bird's attack, but the force of the blow sent it trembling.
The golden bird's wings beat the air once more, and it launched itself at Han Li, its beak snapping wildly.
Han Li's hand grasped the sword hilt, and with a swift motion, he sheathed the sword by his side. At the same time, his other hand formed a sword seal, and with a fierce swing, he unleashed a powerful strike.
"Zhilak..." A burst of electricity flashed, and a series of golden lightning bolts shot out from the sword, coalescing into a golden electric blade that sliced through the air.
The golden light in the void was like a knife cutting through tofu, splitting apart with ease, and the two sides of the golden light churned and surged, dispersing in all directions, revealing a clear and empty space in the middle.
The golden bird seemed to be wary of the golden electric blade's ferocity, and with a swift flap of its wings, it shot upwards, fleeing towards the upper reaches.
Han Li followed the sword light's trajectory, his eyes fixed on the opening, and his expression changed slightly.
In the distance, he saw over a hundred golden stone pillars, each one adorned with intricate symbols, and on top of each pillar, a metal beast with a different shape and form lay motionless.
As the golden light passed by, the metal beasts' eyes snapped open, and they jumped down from the pillars, their bodies low to the ground, like predators stalking their prey, and began to move towards Han Li.
The sword light from the Qing Zhu Xi Yun Sword gradually dissipated, and the golden light in the surroundings began to spread, covering Han Li's figure.
"What's going on?" Yu Kuohai and the others noticed something amiss and shouted loudly.
There was silence in the golden light, and no one responded.
Except for the few people who had been sent out to search for the array's core, the rest of the group felt a strange sensation, and they couldn't help but gather together.
"Is there something inside this golden light?" Yang Lao looked at the golden light and hesitated.
The others heard his words and felt even more uneasy, their faces tense with anxiety.
Just then, a sudden burst of footsteps echoed from the front, and the group quickly grasped their weapons, on high alert.
A figure suddenly emerged from the golden light, shouting, "Ah, it's me, don't attack!"
"Shi Dao friend..." Yu Kuohai quickly stopped the others and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Yu Dao friend, there are metal beasts here, many, many metal beasts..." Han Li's figure appeared, his expression tense.
"I thought it was something else, but it's just metal beasts..." Yu Kuohai's expression relaxed slightly, and he said.
As soon as he finished speaking, several broken and battered corpses flew in from different directions, landing at the group's feet.
Han Li looked closely and saw that they were the people who had been sent out to search for the array's core.
Before the group could react, more bursts of footsteps echoed from the surroundings.
"They're coming..." Han Li whispered.
As he spoke, his eyes fell on the Lan siblings.
The two of them seemed to have already discovered the anomaly, and not only did they not gather with the others, but they also kept a distance, standing back-to-back, their faces expressionless.
"This is a good opportunity to test your skills..." Han Li's eyes flashed with a hint of a smile.
A fierce gust of wind swept in, and a series of golden wind blades swirled towards the group, forming a massive golden dragon that surrounded them.
The golden light in the surroundings dissipated, and the group's vision cleared slightly.
However, what they saw made their hearts tremble with fear – over a hundred massive golden figures had appeared, each one a different shape and form, including tigers, leopards, wolves, snakes, eagles, and mice.
Each of the metal beasts emitted an aura of immense power.
Yu Kuohai looked on, his face filled with regret, wishing he could take back his previous words.
In all his years of exploring the Golden Source Mountains, he had never seen such metal beasts, nor had he ever seen such a formation.
"Wangyou Pavilion disciples, quickly form an array!" Zhao Vice Pavilion Master shouted.
"Yes!"
The Wangyou Pavilion disciples quickly gathered around Zhao Vice Pavilion Master, their hands moving in unison as they conjured up golden wheels that hovered above their heads, forming a massive golden wheel array.
As they chanted and the golden wheels vibrated, the array began to take shape, with golden light circles spreading outwards, like a blooming flower.
"Let's form a joint array!" Yu Kuohai exclaimed.
The Ling Xiao Sect and Lie Guang City didn't have enough people to form a strong array, so they decided to join forces with the Wangyou Pavilion.
"We can't form a joint array," Zhao Vice Pavilion Master said, his eyes flashing with cunning. "Our cultivation methods are different, and our arrays won't be compatible. It's better for your sect to form its own array."
Yu Kuohai glared at him, then turned to Yang Lao, and the two sects began to set up their own arrays.
In reality, they were just setting up their own individual arrays, hoping to combine them to increase their strength.
"Shi Dao friend, what's wrong? Why are you still standing there? Come and join the array!" Yu Kuohai shouted, noticing Han Li still standing in the distance, looking at the Lan siblings.
Han Li's eyes seemed to be fixed on the Lan siblings, and his expression was unreadable. Han Li turned his head to glance at the two factions, seeing the two layers of light screens above their heads, one red and one blue. A hint of pity flashed in his eyes, and he lazily opened his mouth to say:
"I specially came back to warn you, meaning to let you prepare to escape. How can you not understand, with such a formation, what can you defend against?"
"You scoundrel, what nonsense are you talking about?" Yu Kuohai's eyes flashed with a hint of doubt, and he shouted in anger.
"Never mind, life and death are predestined, you all take care of yourselves." Han Li smiled indifferently, no longer looking at them.
As soon as his words fell, the metal beasts surrounding them began to attack. A golden giant wolf took the lead, lifting a front paw, its claws like golden knife blades slashing through the air, directly striking the golden wheel formation above the Wuyou Pavilion disciples' heads.
"Full power, activate the formation!" Zhao, the deputy pavilion master, roared.
All the Wuyou Pavilion cultivators followed with a loud shout, crazily activating their spiritual energy. The golden light above the golden wheel formation burst forth, its radiance surpassing even the golden force field itself.
As the wolf's claws touched the formation, a sharp, ear-piercing sound echoed out. The seemingly indestructible golden wheel formation was torn open, revealing three massive gashes, and golden blades shot out from the openings, followed by a cacophony of shattering sounds.
The formation, set up by the combined efforts of many golden immortals, was not weak, but under the metal beast's attack, it was like mud being squeezed, without any resistance.
The Wuyou Pavilion cultivators' golden wheels shattered, exploding into countless golden fragments. The space was filled with the sounds of screams and wailing, as the cultivators were killed or injured.
Yu Kuohai's expression finally turned to terror as he witnessed the scene.
The Wuyou Pavilion's formation was unable to withstand the attack, and their hastily assembled formation was of no use.
"Disperse and break through, find a chance to escape..." Yu Kuohai shouted.
The Ling Xiao Sect and Lie Guang City cultivators had already been on edge, and upon hearing his words, they immediately activated their strongest survival techniques, scattering in all directions.
The space was filled with a kaleidoscope of lights, but all were suppressed by the golden force field, their effects greatly diminished.
Their actions seemed to provoke the metal beasts, which simultaneously attacked, biting and tearing at the cultivators. The space descended into chaos, with wailing sounds echoing everywhere.
Yu Kuohai's robes glowed with a blue light, and his body was covered in a layer of golden scales, which shone with an extraordinary radiance. He seemed to be able to move freely, unaffected by the golden force field.
If not for the metal beasts surrounding him, he would have already escaped a dozen miles away.
Yang, the elder of Lie Guang City, had changed into a crimson robe, transforming into a giant crimson fire python, also moving freely through the crowd.
Wherever he passed, flames burned, scorching many of his fellow cultivators, but he didn't have time to care, only trying to avoid the metal beasts' attacks and find a way to escape.
Just then, a clear, ringing sound echoed from above, and a golden eagle swooped down, its talons swiping at the fire python's body.
Yang felt the terrifying golden energy emanating from the eagle and barely avoided its attack, only to collide with Han Li.
"Get out of my way..." Yang shouted, his anger burning brighter.
Han Li slightly furrowed his brow, turned his head, and slapped Yang with a palm.
Yang's anger intensified, and he spat out a stream of intense flames, engulfing Han Li.
"You're looking for death..." Yang sneered.
But then, he saw a thick hand emerge from the flames, drawing a circular arc in the air, before slapping Yang's head with a loud "pap".
Yang felt a massive force crash down on him, and his consciousness began to blur. When he regained his senses, he found himself trapped in the eagle's talons.
"No..."
His voice was cut off as the eagle tore his body into three pieces, which were then swallowed by three metal beasts.
Han Li turned his head, no longer paying attention to Yang, and this scene was witnessed by the fleeing Yu Kuohai. His heart felt as if it had been struck by lightning, and his mind went blank.
When he regained his senses, a bitter taste filled his mouth, and he cursed Han Li for being a heartless actor, while praying that he wouldn't settle the score with him later.
Han Li didn't even notice them, and if Yang hadn't provoked him, he wouldn't have bothered with him.
At this moment, Han Li's gaze fell upon the "Lan siblings" in the distance.
Lan Yan's hand grasped a weapon resembling a long-handled curved sickle, its blade tip embedded with three blocks of water-blue crystals that flashed with clear light.
The man standing behind her, Lan Yuanzi, held a slender long sword with three blocks of water-blue crystals, its movements creating layer upon layer of water-blue light waves.
Together, they calmly faced the two metal beasts resembling ferocious lions.
"These metal beasts are of a high grade, and their cores must contain the power of the golden law. Let's kill a few more, shall we?" Lan Yan's body flowed with water-like movements as she smiled.
"Compared to the treasure in the Years Tower, these metal beasts are nothing to worry about. We should focus on finding a way out, wasting time here is meaningless." Lan Yuanzi shook his head, saying.
"This is also good, there are so many metal beasts, killing them would be a bother. Let's go deeper and take a look." Lan Yan's excitement grew.
"You shouldn't be too careless, these things have strong attacks, if you're not careful, you'll get hurt." Lan Yuanzi's voice was more serious, warning.
As they spoke, the two metal beasts charged again.
Lan Yan's foot lightly touched the ground, and she floated up, jumping into the air.
She raised one hand, and a point of empty space appeared, with a sheet of blue light rippling out from her fingertips, condensing into a water-blue light screen.
The light screen displayed a series of ring-shaped symbols, emitting a strong water-attribute aura.
The metal beast that charged towards her crashed into the light screen, causing a massive shockwave.
The water-blue light screen was like a stormy rain, with countless blue water droplets swirling on its surface, but it remained solid and unbroken, firmly resisting the metal beast's attack.
Almost simultaneously, Lan Yan's other hand grasped a blue curved sickle, which drew a blue light arc in the air, resembling a blue crescent moon.
With a sharp cry, Lan Yan's water-blue light screen split open, and the metal beast behind it was sliced in two by the blue crescent moon.
On the other side, Lan Yuanzi was more direct, without any defensive movements, and instead charged forward, his water-blue slender sword slicing through the air, creating a spiral water light that shot towards the metal beast's forehead.
A soft "puff" sound was heard.
The metal beast's head, which should have been incredibly hard, was pierced by the water light, creating a massive hole.
Yu Kuo Hai, who was fleeing in panic, saw this scene and was shocked.
It turned out that there were more people like "Stone Daoist" who were pretending to be weak. From now on, he wouldn't dare to underestimate those who seemed unremarkable.
At this moment, he noticed that "Stone Daoist" glanced at him, and his heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, he only looked at him briefly and didn't take any action.
Despite this, Yu Kuo Hai's heart was still racing, and he subconsciously distanced himself from the three, fleeing towards the other side, afraid of being killed by them.
Han Li, however, was too busy to deal with Yu Kuo Hai, and his gaze had turned towards the other side because his divine sense had detected something. It seemed that there was an even stronger metal beast approaching.
He turned his gaze back to the Lan siblings, his brow furrowed in concern, but their figures had already disappeared.
Han Li was puzzled, and just as he was about to investigate, a loud cry echoed from above.
The golden eagle that had attacked him earlier had returned, and it was now targeting him again.
"Shut up!" Han Li's brow furrowed, and he raised a fist, striking upwards.
The golden eagle was about to land when it was hit by Han Li's fist, causing a burst of golden light.
A loud explosion was heard, and the golden eagle's steel claws were shattered by the incoming starlight.
Its broken body flew to the side, where it was swallowed by a metal beast resembling a qilin.
The qilin let out a deafening roar, its back glowing with golden light, and two golden wings sprouted from its back.
Han Li saw the qilin's appearance and sensed that it was the source of the powerful aura he had detected earlier.
The qilin metal beast charged towards Han Li, its four legs pounding the ground.
Its massive mouth opened, and a stream of golden liquid shot out, pouring down towards Han Li.
Han Li's wrist turned, and the Qingtong Huo Yun sword appeared, which he grasped firmly, swinging it with a powerful motion.
The Qingtong Huo Yun sword's golden light and blue sword energy merged, creating a blue light screen that surged upwards, clashing with the golden liquid.
The two forces collided, and the golden liquid was cut into thin strands by the golden light, which then split into fine threads.
However, the golden liquid had also weakened the golden light, and it was subsequently torn apart by the blue sword energy. Han Li flew up from the opening torn open by the sword energy, and charged straight at the Qilin metal beast.
The Qilin saw this and flapped its newly grown wings, creating a whirlwind of golden wind that blew out from beneath its wings, like a series of golden blades that sliced through the air, cutting through the void and causing it to shatter.
Han Li's path was blocked by the golden wind, and his footstep echoed with a loud "thud".
He stepped on the void, his body rising step by step, crossing over the golden wind area and arriving at the Qilin's head. He suddenly raised his fist and struck downwards.
"Boom boom boom..."
The void shook violently, and a powerful pressure emanated from Han Li's fist, suppressing the golden light that filled the surrounding void. His fist struck the Qilin's head with a loud "boom".
The Qilin's massive body collapsed, its four legs splayed out, and it fell to the ground.
Although its massive head had not split open, it swayed back and forth, as if it was struggling to maintain its balance.
Han Li landed on the Qilin's head, his face filled with hesitation.
After a moment, he raised his fingers to his brow and pressed down, then pulled outwards.
A thin, white crystal thread emerged from his fingers, like a floating spirit snake that danced at his fingertips.
"Go!"
Han Li pointed his fingers, and the crystal thread shot out, striking the Qilin's head and disappearing into it.
The crystal thread vanished, and the Qilin's head, which had been swaying, suddenly drooped downwards, as if it had fallen asleep.
Han Li's right hand flashed with light, and a massive silver light gate appeared in front of the Qilin.
"Enter, and from now on, take care of the household and protect the courtyard." Han Li said, his body flashing backwards as he kicked the Qilin's buttocks, sending it tumbling into the light gate.
He then closed the flower branch cave, his gaze turning towards a direction in the distance.
A blue-green light curtain appeared, rippling out from the golden light. A pair of handsome young men, resembling a pair of divine lovers, walked out from the light.
Han Li looked closely, and it was indeed the Lan siblings.
"This is indeed a treasure of the cave, no wonder it could plunder such a large area of the secret realm. But to do something like scraping the ground, Han Li, your methods are really too unbecoming." Lan Yan said with a smile, covering her mouth.
"When did you discover my identity?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed.
"We've been watching you, Han Li, and we wouldn't have noticed you if you hadn't been so careful." Lan Yuanzi said calmly.
" Lan siblings... you..." Han Li looked at the intimate appearance of the two, and felt a bit uncomfortable.
Lan Yan saw this, and her expression became slightly unnatural, her voice rising in anger.
"I and my brother are fellow disciples, we were both taken in by our master and followed his surname. Only someone as rude as you would think such impure thoughts."
Lan Yuanzi, however, remained calm and natural.
"What's between you two is none of my concern. I had hoped that you wouldn't cause any trouble, and we could avoid a fight. But now it seems... that's not possible?" Han Li's gaze turned, and he said.
"We don't want to fight, Han Li. If you surrender now, we can take you back to the Jiuyuan Observatory and let the old ancestor deal with you." Lan Yuanzi said with a light smile.
"How is it that people from the Jiuyuan Observatory like to joke around like this? The last person who spoke like this was Dongfang Bai, I don't know if you know him." Han Li smiled wryly, and asked.
Lan Yan heard this, and her face turned red with anger.
Her hand grasped the sickle, and she was about to strike Han Li, but was stopped by Lan Yuanzi.
"Don't be provoked, this person is not simple. He can kill a palace lord, kill Dongfang Bai, and must be dealt with carefully." Lan Yuanzi said.
Lan Yan's expression eased slightly, and she gazed at Han Li, her hand gripping the sickle tightly.
"Since Han Li wants to fight, let's see who's stronger." Lan Yuanzi's expression turned serious, and he drew his sword, making a light slash in front of him.
As he spoke, a blue-green light enveloped him, and a spherical light curtain expanded, covering an area of several hundred meters around him.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he sensed that the golden energy in the surrounding void had become much weaker, and the metal beasts seemed to have been driven away by this spiritual domain.
As for the cultivators from the Wangyou Pavilion and the Lingxiao Sect, they had already been killed or injured, with very few remaining.
"This spiritual domain is quite special, but it doesn't seem to have any killing power, and yet it can drive away the metal beasts." Han Li said in surprise.
...
Here is the translated text:
"There's nothing strange about it, the five elements have a natural relationship of mutual generation and restraint. Metal can generate water, and in this metal force field, my water attribute spiritual domain is naturally stronger by three parts. Those metal beasts, if they stay in my spiritual domain, will be absorbed of their metal attribute force, and naturally will be unable to resist me," Lan Yuansu said calmly.
"I see, thank you for the lesson," Han Li nodded and said.
"In this metal force field, I have the advantage of the terrain, and I have an unbeatable position from the start. Han Dao friend, are you really not willing to surrender?" Lan Yuansu looked at Han Li's fearless expression and couldn't help but ask.
"If you were a Daluo realm cultivator, relying on this terrain advantage, you might have the qualifications to speak like that," Han Li sneered and said.
As soon as he finished speaking, he took a step forward, and without using his spiritual energy, he charged forward with his physical strength.
Han Li didn't move, but as soon as he did, he felt like he was facing a vast ocean, with waves crashing against him, pushing him back and preventing him from advancing.
He coldly snorted, and quietly activated the Tianxia Zhenyu technique, his body's xuanqiao lit up one after another, and his star power surged out, suddenly breaking through the water attribute law's obstruction, and the distance between him and the Lan siblings narrowed instantly.
"His physical body is incredibly strong, this is not something a Taiyi cultivator should possess," Lan Yuansu's expression changed, and he exclaimed in surprise.
"What's the use of having a strong physical body, let's see how you handle my Water Yuan Slash," Lan Yan had been holding back her anger, and now she coldly snorted, her body glowing with a blue-green light as she charged towards Han Li.
Her body moved within Lan Yuansu's spiritual domain, and was completely unaffected, instantly flashing in front of Han Li.
She twisted her wrist, and the three crystal stones on her curved scythe lit up, a powerful water attribute law's force surged out, the scythe's blade suddenly grew larger, and in mid-air, it drew a circular arc, slashing towards Han Li.
"No, retreat quickly..." Lan Yuansu suddenly remembered something, and cried out in alarm.
But it was too late, Han Li's true word treasure wheel reversed, and the flow of time accelerated, his speed surpassing Lan Yan's by a large margin.
His body brushed past the edge of Lan Yan's scythe, and he reached out with his hand, aiming for her throat.
Lan Yan had no chance to resist, and was caught by Han Li's hand.
"Ha ha ha..." a series of clear and crisp laughter came from Lan Yan's throat.
Han Li immediately felt something was off, and when he tried to release his hand, it was too late.
His palm felt a cold and icy sensation, a blue-green light burst out from Lan Yan's body, instantly covering Han Li, and turning him into a crystal blue ice sculpture.
And the "Lan Yan" he was holding onto also turned into an ice sculpture.
On the other side, Lan Yuansu's body glowed with a light, and Lan Yan's figure reappeared.
"Brother, I knew he cultivated the time law, I wouldn't have been so reckless," Lan Yan smiled and said.
"I didn't expect you to hide it from me, and even made me worry," Lan Yuansu sighed and said.
"It's good that we caught him, brother, hurry up and seal him completely, my Extreme Cold Ice Crystal can only hold him for a short time," Lan Yan's smile disappeared, and she urged.
As soon as she finished speaking, a somewhat muffled voice came from outside: "A short time, Lan Dao friend, you're overestimating yourself."
Immediately after, a loud "bang" sound was heard.
Han Li's body erupted with countless golden electric lights, the blue ice crystal exploded, and his figure reappeared.
"How is this possible?" Lan Yan exclaimed in surprise.
Ordinary Taiyi cultivators, if sealed in this Extreme Cold Ice Crystal, would have their spiritual energy frozen, and would be unable to move, even if they were at the peak of the Taiyi realm, they could only struggle a bit, but Han Li was different.
She didn't know that Han Li had opened up over 900 xuanqiao, even if his spiritual energy was frozen, his physical strength and star power were enough to break through the seal.
Han Li coldly smiled, and without saying a word, he turned his wrist, and a layer of pale golden spiritual domain expanded, just enough to envelop Lan Yuansu's spiritual domain.
Lan Yan and Lan Yuansu felt the pressure of the time spiritual domain, and their expressions changed.
"This person is more troublesome than we imagined, don't have any illusions, only by using that technique can we have a chance to win," Lan Yuansu said gravely.
Lan Yan's eyes narrowed, and she nodded.
Then, she saw her hand collect the curved scythe, and she snapped her fingers.
A spiritual domain with a slightly lighter color, and a bit of white, expanded, and when it approached Lan Yuansu's spiritual domain, a strange attractive force appeared, and finally, with a flash of light, they merged.
After the two spiritual domains merged, a cold and strange feeling came from within.
Han Li, who was inside, felt like he was being pressed down by a huge weight, and couldn't breathe.
"Spiritual domain fusion..."
He swallowed his saliva, and his eyebrows furrowed in surprise. Only the blue-colored ice sculpture stood in front of Han Li, its facial features ambiguous, resembling both Lan Yuan and Lan Cai.
Han Li hesitated, and suddenly the wind howled, and a loud crashing sound erupted.
Outside his body, four beams of cold light rose from the ground, condensing into four blue-colored ice sculptures identical to the first one.
The five ice sculptures stood expressionless, their mouths open, emitting a low growl.
As they opened their mouths, the surrounding space temperature plummeted, and visible white cold air surged out, rushing towards Han Li from all directions.
The air was filled with cracking sounds, and crystal lights began to refract through the space.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and a layer of white frost instantly formed on his eyebrows.
His expression changed slightly, and he raised his hand, summoning eighteen Qingtong Huicong swords that floated in front of him. The swords' surfaces crackled with energy, emitting golden lightning that formed into golden lightning balls, which seemed to be on the verge of exploding.
However, a whirlwind swept past, and the white cold air rushed in, freezing Han Li and his Qingtong Huicong swords in place.
The golden lightning balls still crackled with energy, but they were also frozen in place.
Han Li's heart sank, and he was surprised to find that his spiritual sea seemed to be infiltrated by cold air, making his divine sense feel numb.
"Brother, we can only capture him with the power of the Ling domain fusion, but we can't maintain it for long. What should we do to bring him back to the Jiuyuan Pavilion?" one of the ice sculptures asked, its voice devoid of emotion.
"The sect didn't say we had to bring him back alive. Finding the Palms of Heaven is the priority. Since he's so difficult to deal with, let's just kill him and take his divine soul back," another ice sculpture replied, its voice equally cold and inhuman.
"Should we use the Xuanbing Zhanyuan sword?" another ice sculpture asked.
"Kill!" the remaining two ice sculptures chimed in unison.
The five ice sculptures began to form a formation, their hands weaving intricate patterns.
A blue light surged above Han Li's head, and a circular symbol appeared, emitting a powerful cold energy. A blue ice sword protruded from the symbol, its blade half-exposed.
The cold energy in the space increased exponentially, and a terrifying pressure descended from above.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
The battle inside the stone door was intense, but the people outside could only hear the sounds of fighting and feel the occasional powerful shockwaves. They couldn't see the situation inside.
"When should we go in?" Su Cai asked via transmission.
"There's no need to rush. Let's wait and see. A battle of this scale is not something we can intervene in. We might get caught in the crossfire. It's better to wait until the fighting stops, and then we can go in," Jing Liu replied via transmission.
Just then, a powerful cold energy burst through the seal, shattering the golden energy barrier and spreading outside the stone door.
The several Wu You Pavilion cultivators who were too close were instantly frozen, turning into ice sculptures. They didn't even have time to react before they were killed.
"What's going on?" the crowd was shocked and retreated from the stone door.
Su Cai and Jing Liu exchanged a glance, their expressions also changing.
"Jing Dao friend, how come there's no news from the people who went in, even after so long? Could something have happened?" Fu Gu Zhu, the master of Qing Su Valley, asked, his expression changing.
"I don't know what's going on inside," Jing Liu replied, his brow furrowed.
As he spoke, another explosion rocked the stone door, and a wave of intense heat surged out, forcing the crowd to retreat dozens of feet.
"What's happening?"
At that moment, Han Li, still frozen in place, was surrounded by silver flames that seemed to be a fire dragon. The flames emitted a terrifying heat that seemed to be on the verge of explosion.
A sharp whistling sound pierced the air, and a silver flame bird with seven-colored flames on its head burst out of the flames, flying straight towards the Xuanbing Zhanyuan sword.
A massive explosion rocked the space, and the blue cold lights on the sword transformed into countless thin threads that merged with the flames, creating a massive snow-white mist that obscured the entire space.
"Is this... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy was almost completely frozen, and even his starlight energy was unable to circulate. The Qingtong Huicong swords were also sealed, and he was unable to break free from the extreme cold.
"This is... a high-grade immortal artifact?" Han Li felt the power and his heart skipped a beat.
The sword hadn't fully emerged, and yet it already possessed such immense power. If it were to be fully unleashed, even a Da Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand it. No wonder it required Lan Yuan and Lan Cai to join forces and summon it with a formation.
Han Li's internal immortal energy
The Ice Sculpture's words had barely faded away when the Pure Flame Firebird let out another clear cry, its wings spreading wide as it charged upwards.
The already fallen Profound Ice Slash Sword was immediately struck with great force, all the blue light threads being repelled back, and the sword body once again disappeared into the circular symbol.
The Pure Flame Firebird's divine might was fully displayed, but it didn't stop, its body behind it radiating flames that surged out like a peacock's tail, shooting out numerous silver fireballs that continuously struck the blue light barrier of the Ling Domain that the Blue siblings had merged into.
The Ling Domain barrier immediately became unstable, and with a great tremor, cracks began to appear.
A moment later, the sound of shattering ice crystals rang out, and the five statues of indeterminate sex on the ice sculptures all appeared with cracks, suddenly shattering with a loud cracking sound.
Immediately after, the Ling Domain barrier also dissipated, but the Blue siblings' auras had also disappeared.
Han Li, who had escaped, still felt the chill in his body, his limbs somewhat numb.
He stretched out his hand, and the Pure Flame Firebird immediately flew back, landing on his shoulder.
Han Li only felt a warmth on his shoulder, a warm flow spreading throughout his body, the chill on his skin slowly seeping out and disappearing.
He swept his gaze around, only to see that all the metal beasts had hidden themselves, the advance team members who had entered with him had all been annihilated, not a single one surviving.
The Vice Pavilion Master Zhao had been torn into two pieces by the metal beasts, and Yu Kuohai had been affected by the cold aura, leaning against a golden stone pillar, already frozen to death.
Han Li's face sank, and he patted the Pure Flame Firebird on the shoulder, putting it away, before striding towards the depths of the space.
Since the other party was truly the Blue siblings sent by the Heavenly Court, and had discovered his tracks here, he had to quickly get rid of them, if he let them return to the Heavenly Court, his situation would become even more troublesome.
…
Outside the stone gate, the crowd waited for a long time, seeing that there was no movement inside, each person's expression was strange, as they looked inside.
"We can't wait any longer, we'll go in too." Jin Liucheng said after a long time.
The other sect members heard this and looked at each other, no one moving.
After all, the commotion inside earlier was too terrifying, making them still a bit apprehensive.
"Inside, the movement has stopped for a long time, the advance team probably passed through on their own, if we don't hurry, we'll be left with nothing but dust." Jin Liucheng's face turned cold, saying.
The crowd heard this, their expressions changing, revealing a bit of hesitation.
Jin Liucheng looked at Su Zhenzhen, and the two of them took the lead, stepping over the stone gate and entering.
The rest of the people followed.
Everyone felt the influence of the Golden Force Field as they entered, each person's expression twisting in discomfort.
But when they walked a short distance, their expressions all changed to shock and terror, seeing that the surroundings were a mess, with corpses and debris everywhere, looking like a hellish scene.
"What happened here..." Fu Guizhu's face turned pale, muttering to himself.
His words had barely faded away when he suddenly looked up, his eyes fixed on a golden stone pillar above him in shock.
A metal beast, shaped like a wolf, suddenly pounced down from above, its speed like lightning, pressing him down.
Immediately, metal beasts appeared one after another, a fierce battle cry ringing out...
At the same time, Han Li had already arrived at a stone gate in the depths of the space.
The gate was half-open, clearly the Blue siblings had escaped inside.
Han Li's divine sense swept the surroundings, and he also flashed inside.
Only to see that outside the gate was a spacious hall, with no decorations, only a wide black stone staircase that spiralled upwards.
Han Li followed the staircase, the staircase ending at a dark red light gate, which seemed to be a space transmission gate, unknown where it led.
He carefully probed with his divine sense, but his divine sense couldn't penetrate, nor could he sense the situation inside.
He hesitated for a moment, then flashed inside.
Han Li only felt a flash of light, and appeared in a scarlet world.
This place was completely different from the first layer, a vast open space, with a dark red sky floating with red clouds, the surroundings an endless scarlet desert, filled with an intense heat.
Behind him, a tall stone gate stood, with a black light screen in the middle, slightly undulating.
Next to the stone gate stood a stone stele, with a giant "2" character written on it, the font majestic and powerful.
Han Li instinctively swept his divine sense around, finding that this place was different from the first layer, his divine sense restricted, but able to barely expand.
The Blue siblings were still nowhere to be seen, but the remnants of their auras still lingered in the air, fleeing into the distance.
Han Li confirmed that there was nothing unusual in the surroundings, and immediately flew out, transforming into a golden rainbow, chasing after the two.
"Ah!"
He flashed out, immediately feeling a special restriction in the air, emitting a time force fluctuation, limiting his speed to only half of his normal speed.
"This restriction is similar to my Time Domain, but my domain doesn't restrict the range of my divine sense..." Han Li thought in surprise, but quickly didn't think about it, reversing his True Wheel divine ability.
Since this restriction was related to time laws, reversing the True Wheel should be effective. Whoosh!
As expected, once he activated the Inverted True Wheel, the golden rainbow's speed suddenly increased, almost restoring it to its original speed, and shot forward in pursuit.
However, just a moment later, the escaping lights of Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan appeared within Han Li's spiritual sense range.
The two of them were dressed in tattered and charred clothing, their auras weakened compared to before, as if they had been burned by intense flames.
Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan were currently fleeing towards the distance, but their speed was also slower than usual, as if they had been slowed down by about half.
Han Li's golden rainbow surged once more, chasing after the two of them like lightning, and the distance between them rapidly closed.
"No, that Han kid is catching up!" Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan sensed the situation behind them and were shocked.
"Brother!" Lan Yan immediately looked at Lan Yuanzi.
Lan Yuanzi didn't hesitate, and the two of them clasped their hands together, chanting in unison.
A stream of law energy burst out from their bodies, merging together.
Their escaping lights also intertwined and surged, forming a massive blue bird-like shape, hundreds of meters in size, with rapidly flapping wings, increasing their speed by about half.
Although Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan had used their secret technique to increase their speed, they were still far inferior to Han Li.
The distance between them rapidly closed, and soon they were only a dozen or so miles apart.
"This guy's speed is too fast!" Lan Yan looked at Han Li, who was rapidly approaching, and turned to Lan Yuanzi with a panicked expression.
"I'll hold him back, you go first!" Lan Yuanzi's eyes flashed, and with a sudden determination, he pushed Lan Yan forward, sending him flying towards the distance, while he turned to face Han Li.
"Brother!" Lan Yan cried out, his body flashing with light, and he immediately stabilized his form, intending to turn back.
"Idiot, do you want to waste all our hard work? Hurry up and go! Don't worry about me, I have my own way to survive!" Lan Yuanzi transmitted a furious roar.
As he spoke, he raised his hands, and a white, dragon-embroidered flag appeared in one hand, while a blue, flame-filled cauldron appeared in the other.
He swung his hands, and the two objects shot out.
The white flag flashed with blue light, transforming into a hundred-meter-long, blue and white dragon, which spat out a blast of blue energy that enveloped Han Li.
The energy was mixed with chunks of white ice crystals, which collided with each other, producing a deafening roar, and the air trembled with the force of the attack.
The cauldron spun around, releasing a wave of blue ice flames that engulfed Han Li, freezing the air around him.
The range of the attack was enormous, almost blocking off the entire sky.
The originally dry and scorching environment was suddenly transformed into a frozen wasteland, with the temperature plummeting.
Lan Yan stood still, his eyes welling up with tears, his lips trembling, but he eventually turned to flee.
Han Li's fleeing form stopped, and he raised his hand.
A green light shot out from his sleeve, rapidly expanding and splitting into two massive, green hands that inserted themselves into the dragon's energy blast and the blue ice flames.
The energy blast and ice flames halted just ten meters in front of Han Li, then dissipated like bubbles.
Han Li stood, his hands grasping the white flag and blue cauldron, which were still struggling to break free.
But Lan Yuanzi's figure had disappeared.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he formed a hand seal.
The green light flashed, and the two artifacts flew back into his sleeve, and he shot forward, chasing after Lan Yan, who was still visible in the distance.
Just then, the air in front of him began to distort, producing a rumbling sound like thunder.
A series of blue, crack-like markings appeared, filling the air with a dense, blue glow that surged towards Han Li.
Han Li was engulfed by the blue light, as if he were in a raging storm.
His fleeing form halted, and he was sent flying backward, his brow furrowed in concern, as a brilliant, golden light erupted from his body, stabilizing him.
But before Han Li could react, the blue light around him rapidly coalesced into a massive, blue sphere, hundreds of meters in size.
The sphere's interior was filled with churning, blue energy, which was exerting a powerful, law-based pressure on Han Li from all sides.
The surrounding space energy was also being compressed, making it difficult for Han Li to move.
However, Han Li's physical body was incredibly resilient, and he adapted to the pressure in just a few breaths, regaining his mobility.
A purple light flashed in his eyes, and he formed a hand seal.
He shot out a crystal-like, chain-like energy that was unaffected by the surrounding pressure, rapidly disappearing into the distance.
"Whoosh!"
A figure was dragged out of the void, bound by the crystal chain, and it was Lan Yuanzi.
His body was radiating an intense, blue light, as if it were burning, and it was filled with powerful, law-based energy.
(Hey, fellow cultivators, sorry about this! I've got some stuff to take care of, so I'll only be updating once a day for the next two days.
Han Li saw the situation and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
It turned out that Lan Yuanzi was using some secret technique to burn the power of the laws within his body, no wonder he could suddenly burst out with such powerful strength.
He thought to himself, his hands didn't hesitate for a moment, and he immediately made a hand seal and swung his arm.
In the flash of golden light, the True Speech Treasure Wheel appeared behind him, spinning rapidly.
Countless golden ripples burst forth from the True Speech Treasure Wheel, instantly enveloping a range of thousands of feet.
The blue light balls around him immediately stopped, and Lan Yuanzi was about to break free from the divine sense chain and escape, but the golden ripples were too fast, and he was trapped before he could escape.
The blue light that had surged out of the void nearby suddenly stopped, and everything around him quickly returned to calm.
Han Li, on the other hand, moved his body and easily flew out of the blue light ball, and with a flicker, he appeared in front of Lan Yuanzi, his five fingers pressed against Lan Yuanzi's forehead, ready to crush him.
However, he stopped and looked in the direction Lan Cai had escaped, then looked at Lan Yuanzi in his hand, and a figure appeared in his mind - his little sister. He sighed softly and raised his hand to slap Lan Yuanzi's lower abdomen.
Instantly, five streams of time law power burst forth from his palm, spinning rapidly and condensing into a five-element seal, which sank into Lan Yuanzi's body.
The sealing technique of the "Great Five Elements Illusory World" could also seal others.
Han Li then took Lan Yuanzi's storage ring and checked his body with his divine sense, finding nothing hidden, before putting away the True Speech Treasure Wheel and the golden ripples around him.
The blue light and law power on Lan Yuanzi's body dissipated rapidly, like ice and snow in the scorching sun, and he fell to the ground, devoid of any spiritual energy.
Han Li reached out and caught Lan Yuanzi, and they landed on the ground.
At this moment, Lan Cai had already escaped from Han Li's divine sense range, and although there were still some residual auras, the hope of catching up was slim.
Moreover, this place seemed to be safe, but Han Li's heart was still filled with a sense of unease, and he didn't dare to continue chasing after Lan Cai.
"Such a powerful sealing technique, no wonder you were able to escape the Golden Source Heavenly Palace's pursuit three times. I, Lan Yuanzi, admit defeat," Lan Yuanzi said with a smile.
"You're quite bold, still able to laugh in this situation," Han Li said, looking at Lan Yuanzi.
"My life is now in your hands, friend. Whether I laugh or cry, I believe it won't affect your judgment. So, I'd rather make the most of it," Lan Yuanzi said nonchalantly.
"Since you have self-awareness, I have a few questions to ask you. If you don't want me to search your soul, just answer honestly," Han Li said, his expression cold and detached.
"Please ask, friend Han," Lan Yuanzi replied immediately.
"You and your sister came to the Golden Source Heavenly Domain to capture me, right?" Han Li asked, his face revealing a hint of coldness.
"We were ordered by the Miao Fa Heavenly Lord to capture you, friend Han, and to take a treasure from you that originally belonged to the Jiuyuan Observatory - a time treasure shaped like a small, dark green bottle," Lan Yuanzi replied without hesitation.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat when he heard this.
The Pantian Bottle had always been his deepest secret, unknown to outsiders except for a few close friends. Now, it seemed that this secret could no longer be hidden.
"How did the Jiuyuan Observatory know that the treasure was with me?" Han Li asked, his voice calm.
"I'm not entirely sure, but I heard it was inferred from a Causal Crystal, which was obtained from you, friend Han," Lan Yuanzi replied.
"Causal Crystal!" Han Li's eyes flashed, and he thought of the time crystal.
"Did the Golden Source Heavenly Palace send anyone else besides you two to capture me?" he asked.
"No, the Miao Fa Heavenly Lord only sent us two. We thought that our combined strength would be enough to defeat you, but it seems that your strength is far greater than we anticipated," Lan Yuanzi said with a bitter smile.
Han Li's heart relaxed slightly when he heard this, and he asked Lan Yuanzi a few more questions, which Lan Yuanzi answered honestly without hesitation.
After finishing his questions, Han Li stood silently, his eyes gazing into the distance, contemplating something.
Lan Yuanzi stood quietly beside him, not interrupting.
Han Li gazed into the distance for a moment, then suddenly raised his hand and pointed at Lan Yuanzi's forehead.
Lan Yuanzi's eyes widened in shock, but he was unable to react, and his eyes rolled back as he fell into a coma.
Han Li made a hand seal and pointed at Lan Yuanzi's brain, casting a sealing technique to restrict his divine sense.
"Qi Hun, was what this person just said true?" he asked, his eyes flashing with cold light. There was no deceit or concealment in his words, they were all true," said Ti Huang's voice in the void.
Han Li heard this and nodded slowly.
Although he had some appreciation for this Lan Yuanzi, if he had uttered even half a sentence of falsehood, he would have killed him without hesitation and searched his soul.
"Why bother asking him questions? It would be more convenient to just kill him and search his soul directly," Han Li said, his voice low.
Behind him, the void rippled, and a silver light gate appeared, with Ti Huang's figure emerging from it.
"That Lan Cai escaped, but it seems they have a deep relationship. Lan Cai might still come looking for him, and this Lan Yuanzi might still be useful," Han Li said, waving his hand to throw the unconscious Lan Yuanzi into the Flower Branch Space.
"That Lan Cai? They're not even a match for you, Master. Now that Lan Cai is alone, what's there to worry about? If she dares to come, it's even better, we can catch her in one net," Ti Huang said, waving his small fist nonchalantly.
"Don't be careless, I'm not worried about Lan Cai alone, but Qi Mozi is also in this immortal mansion, and they're both from the Heavenly Court. If they join forces, it'll be troublesome. Let's be cautious," Han Li said, shaking his head.
Ti Huang hesitated for a moment before nodding.
Han Li didn't continue to focus on the Lan siblings, instead looking around.
As he chased after Lan Yuanzi, he had arrived at the depths of the Red Sand Desert.
At this moment, the sand sea had changed, with towering sand dunes rising up like small mountains. The sand dunes were no longer barren, with red thorny vines growing on them.
In the depths of the sand dunes, there were also some sand lizards, sand scorpions, and other small creatures, but they were all ordinary living beings, not demonic beasts.
Ti Huang also looked around, his eyes suddenly widening as he let out a soft exclamation.
"What did you notice?" Han Li asked, his eyes lighting up.
Ti Huang's body was special, and his perspective on things was different from Han Li's. He often had unique discoveries.
"This place has a strong death aura, and the resentment is heavy. It seems this isn't a good place. Master, you need to be careful," Ti Huang said, his expression serious.
"I also sense that this place is dangerous. That stone stele at the entrance had a 'two' character written on it. Could this be the second layer of the Years Tower?" Han Li asked, his expression also serious.
"It's very likely. Although the Years Tower appears to be a single, rounded structure, it's actually divided into layers. I've observed that it has seven layers, and this seems to be the second layer. I wonder what that Taishang Xianzun built this tower for," Ti Huang said.
"Whatever the reason, let's investigate first," Han Li said, shaking his head. He waved his hand, and a blue light emerged, smoothing out the battle scars around them. Then, he chose a direction and flew off.
As for Ti Huang, he didn't let him return to the Flower Branch Space, instead bringing him along.
In the blink of an eye, half a day had passed.
The surroundings were still the same, with the endless red sand sea stretching out. This sand sea was enormous, and there was no sign of anything unusual.
Just as Han Li was starting to get confused, Ti Huang suddenly let out a soft exclamation and flew downwards.
Han Li's eyebrows twitched, and he followed after him. The two of them quickly landed in front of a sand dune.
Ti Huang waved his hand, and a black light emerged, splitting the sand dune in two.
A massive, gray-white skeleton was revealed, resembling a giant lizard's skeleton. It was covered in wind-eroded cracks, and it seemed like it could shatter at any moment.
"What's special about this skeleton?" Han Li asked, his divine sense having already detected the skeleton, but he hadn't noticed anything unusual.
"Master, how many years do you think this skeleton has been here?" Ti Huang asked, his pale fingers lightly touching the wind-eroded skeleton.
"This sand lizard is quite sturdy, and its skeleton is even more so. For it to erode to this state, it must have been here for at least a few hundred years. Why are you asking this?" Han Li replied, curious.
"This sand lizard died less than ten years ago," Ti Huang said, shaking his head.
"What? How do you know?" Han Li asked, his entire body trembling with surprise.
"Any living being has a soul, and when they die, their soul disperses, leaving behind some residual soul energy fragments on the corpse. These fragments take years to dissipate completely, allowing us to determine the time of death. This skeleton still has very dense residual soul energy fragments, indicating that it died less than ten years ago," Ti Huang explained.
"Amazing, I didn't know there was a way to determine the time of death like that," Han Li said, impressed.
Only someone with extremely strong divine sense could detect the residual soul energy fragments on a corpse, and even Han Li's powerful divine sense couldn't do it. It seemed that Ti Huang's divine sense was getting stronger and stronger.
"But if this sand lizard died less than ten years ago, why has its skeleton eroded to this state?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
“Then I don't know, I just think this skeleton is a bit strange, so I'll let Master take a look.” Qiuhun shook her head and said.
Han Li nodded, looking at the skeleton, and fell into a thoughtful silence.
At this moment, he suddenly turned his head and looked back.
“Su Zhongyan, Jing Liu, they're here, Qiuhun, hide in the flower branch space, don't let them discover you.” Han Li's eyes flashed, and he immediately waved his hand to open the entrance to the flower branch space.
Qiuhun responded with a sound, turned around and flew inside.
As for Han Li, he immediately rose into the air and flew in a certain direction.
A moment later, the horizon behind him revealed a series of colorful escape lights, their direction slightly deviating from Han Li's.
Han Li looked at the escape lights and immediately went to meet them.
The escape lights also immediately changed direction, flying towards him, and the two sides quickly met.
Han Li stopped in mid-air, and the escape lights landed nearby, their colors flashing before revealing Su Zhongyan, Jing Liu, and others, only thirty or forty people, fewer than before.
However, the likes of Fu Gu and other Taiyi realm existences were still present, but these people were almost all injured, looking quite disheveled.
Han Li's mind moved, and he immediately guessed some of their experiences.
"I remember you're the stone friend by Yu's side, you're actually still alive? How come you're the only one, what about the others?" Su Zhongyan looked at Han Li and asked.
"We encountered many metal beasts behind the Golden Gate, Yu and the others all died at the mouths of those metal beasts, I and a few other friends escaped by chance, but later got separated. Su friend, Jing friend, it's great to have met you." Han Li looked like he was still shaken.
The others, although they had some premonitions, heard this and still looked solemn.
"You're really lucky." Jing Liu saw Han Li's timid appearance and a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes, coldly mocking him.
"Friend, you're absolutely right, I'm lucky, otherwise I would have died at the mouths of those metal beasts too." Han Li seemed to not have noticed Jing Liu's mockery, and nodded in agreement.
Jing Liu was taken aback, glared at Han Li, and didn't continue with the mocking words, instead asking: "Shi Mu, your group entered the Golden Gate first, there should be some treasures inside, what kind of treasures were they? Who do they belong to now?"
As he spoke, a hot light flashed in his eyes.
"Ah, the Golden Gate was empty, there were no treasures. And as soon as we entered, we were attacked by metal beasts, we barely escaped, and didn't get anything." Han Li was taken aback, and immediately shook his head.
"Is that so?" Jing Liu's eyebrows rose, clearly doubting Han Li's words.
"Jing friend, we previously agreed that the treasures obtained inside the Golden Gate would belong to each individual, you're pressuring him, isn't that unfair?" Fu Gu suddenly spoke up.
"Fu Gu, don't misunderstand, Jing isn't trying to rob others of their treasures, I just want to make a deal with this stone friend, since there's nothing inside, then forget it." Jing Liu laughed.
"If you want to make a deal, let's talk about it after we leave this Years Tower. Stone friend, you arrived at the second layer before us, have you discovered anything?" Su Zhongyan looked at Jing Liu, then asked Han Li.
"Nothing, I've been wandering around here for half a day, and only found sand." Han Li shook his head.
"Since that's the case, let's continue to explore." Su Zhongyan furrowed her brows, then said.
The others didn't have any objections, and the group didn't linger, continuing to fly forward.
In the blink of an eye, half a day had passed.
The desert below finally showed some changes, with large stone blocks emerging, and a series of short mountains appeared in the distance.
As they flew forward, the more they went, the more of those strange, weathered skeletons appeared on the ground.
Han Li trailed behind the group, his eyes flashing, and his heart growing increasingly uneasy.
Su Zhongyan and the others also noticed the skeletons on the ground, but they thought they were just ordinary corpses, and didn't pay much attention.
As they flew, a loud rumbling sound came from the front, at first very faint, but after a few breaths, it became deafening.
"What's going on!"
Su Zhongyan and the others stopped in mid-air, their divine senses probing forward, and their faces turned pale.
Just now, they had sensed a massive, dark red cloud appearing in the distance, rapidly pressing down on them.
The dark red cloud was filled with countless, grain-sized, dark red insects, their bodies burning with tiny, red flames, densely packed, and unknown in number.
"This is the fire years cicada!" Han Li quickly recognized the true form of the red cloud, the same fire years cicada he had encountered in the True Speech Sect's forbidden land, and was greatly shocked. Han Li finally understood the origin of the skeletal remains, which were killed by the fire-age glowworms, explaining why the erosion was so severe.
Without hesitation, Han Li turned into a golden rainbow and flew away in the distance.
During the day at the True Speech Sect, Chi Rong released nearly ten thousand fire-age glowworms, which had already caused chaos among them. The number of glowworms present was unknown, but it was clear that they were vastly outnumbered.
Others, although unfamiliar with the fire-age glowworms, were shocked by the massive red cloud of worms and immediately turned to flee.
Among them was Jin Liu, who sneered at Han Li's cowardice, fleeing in the rear.
The fire-age glowworms seemed to sense the presence of Han Li and the others, emitting a deafening hum and excited chirping, like sharks smelling blood, as they chased after the group.
The worm cloud moved at an incredible speed, unaffected by the time restrictions of the area. Despite the group's full-speed retreat, they were slowly closing in.
The few scattered Golden Immortals flying in the rear were quickly caught up by the worm cloud.
"What kind of ghostly insects are these? I don't believe they're that powerful!" a red-faced man shouted, stopping in his tracks.
His body flashed with a crimson glow as he ignited a massive flame, covering a radius of several hundred meters, forming a sea of red golden fire.
A wave of intense heat emanated from the flames, causing the surrounding air to violently tremble, as if it were about to be ignited.
The red-faced man spat out a mouthful of fire, which expanded into a massive wave, engulfing thousands of fire-age glowworms.
The flames rolled, causing the engulfed worms to writhe and sizzle, while the surrounding worms were thrown into chaos.
The red-faced man's face lit up with a hint of joy, but it was short-lived, disappearing in an instant.
The worms, despite being engulfed by the flames, quickly regained their composure, spreading their wings and flying towards the red-faced man, unharmed.
The man's face contorted in shock and anger, shouting as he summoned a fiery red scroll, emitting a powerful flame aura.
He rapidly incanted a series of spells, imbuing the scroll with his energy.
The scroll burst into a brilliant flame, shielding the red-faced man's body.
The next moment, the worms swarmed, covering the man and the flame shield, forming a massive cocoon.
The worms then flew down, striking the flame shield, their dark red flames burning fiercely, merging with the shield.
The shield flashed brightly, then rapidly shrunk, disappearing in an instant, leaving behind the scroll, now worn and cracked, devoid of its former spiritual energy.
The worms then swarmed, covering the red-faced man, who was now helpless, his protective flames ineffective against the worms.
The man's face, once radiant, rapidly aged, his skin wrinkling, his hair turning white.
In an instant, the man transformed into a desiccated corpse, his clothes rotting, as he fell to the ground.
The worms lost interest in him, focusing on the others, who were soon caught up in the swarm.
The few remaining people were quickly overwhelmed, their screams silenced.
"Fire-age glowworms! I remember now, those worms possess time law, spewing out flames that burn the lifespan of other living beings! Wherever they pass, nothing remains, they're incredibly terrifying, and there are so many here!" Jin Liu exclaimed, his body trembling.
The others, hearing this, turned pale, each using their speed-boosting techniques, increasing their velocity by two or three times, fleeing forward, keeping pace with the swarm.
"Fire-age glowworms are extremely sensitive to blood and flesh auras, conceal your bodies and fly to the side, avoiding the swarm's front!" Su Zhenqi advised.
The others quickly hid their auras, flying to the left, trying to evade the swarm.
Han Li, hearing this, revealed a hint of surprise, immediately using the "Wan Kong Xu Ji" technique to conceal his aura.
The worms, momentarily confused, lost their sense of direction, failing to pursue Han Li and the others.
The group breathed a sigh of relief, but the memory of the red-faced man's fate kept them vigilant, continuing to flee with all their might.
After nearly half a day of fleeing, Su Zhongyan and the others finally managed to shake off the Fire Age Worms and reappeared near a small hill.
During this time, although Su Zhongyan had reminded them, most people had managed to conceal their auras, and there were no unexpected incidents. However, some people were still caught by the Fire Age Worms.
The others saw this and, even if they wanted to help, were unable to do so, and could only watch as those people were burned to ashes by the flames of the Fire Age Worms.
At this moment, although they had escaped the danger, many people still looked uneasy, with a lingering sense of fear.
Han Li found a secluded spot and sat down, taking a moment to catch his breath.
Su Zhongyan stood on a high ground, looking back at the distant horizon, where a massive dark red cloud of Fire Age Worms was slowly disappearing. Her expression finally relaxed slightly.
"I didn't expect there to be so many Fire Age Worms here," Fu Gu said, taking a deep breath. "Luckily, Su Xianzi understood the characteristics of these worms, otherwise we might not have been able to escape."
Su Zhongyan smiled faintly. "Fu Gu, you're being too polite. I only happened to read about these worms in some ancient texts."
"This tower is full of mysteries," Fu Gu sighed. "Who knows what other traps and mechanisms are waiting for us?"
Su Zhongyan suddenly looked at Han Li and asked, "Stone, you were the first to retreat when you saw the Fire Age Worms. Have you encountered them before?"
The others remembered this and turned to look at Han Li, their expressions filled with suspicion.
"Stone, why didn't you tell us about this?" Jing Liu asked, his voice cold. "Did you want to get us killed?"
The others' gazes turned unfriendly.
"No, no, I just encountered them before in another secret realm," Han Li hastily explained. "I recognized them because I had a bad experience with them."
Jing Liu snorted. "Is that so?"
Fu Gu intervened, saying, "Stone is skilled in escape techniques, and he was at the back of the group. When he saw the situation was bad, he naturally retreated faster."
Su Zhongyan looked at Han Li deeply, but then turned away, seemingly uninterested in pursuing the matter further.
Han Li didn't care about the others' opinions. He just smiled to himself.
Although this incident with the Fire Age Worms was a good opportunity for him to act alone, he didn't plan to do so yet. He still didn't understand the situation in the tower and wanted to continue observing the group for a while.
"Let's discuss what to do next," a hunchbacked old man said, his cultivation at the early stage of the Taiyi Realm. "Should we continue forward?"
After the intense battles, only a few Taiyi Realm cultivators remained in the group.
Originally, the Tian Shui Sect had four Taiyi Realm cultivators, but one had followed Han Li into the Golden Gate and died inside. Now, only three remained.
The other Taiyi Realm cultivators were the Qing Suo Sect's leader, the Mo Xiang Sect's leader, the hunchbacked old man, and a man with a thick beard, totaling seven people.
"This tower is full of mysteries," the Mo Xiang Sect's leader, Yan Yin, said, her expression uneasy. "We've been walking for a long time, and we haven't gained anything. We've only encountered danger and suffered heavy losses. I think it's unwise to continue advancing."
Many people nodded in agreement, including the hunchbacked old man.
"Su Xianzi, do you think we should retreat?" Yan Yin asked.
Su Zhongyan looked at Yan Yin and the hunchbacked old man. "Are you saying we should give up halfway?"
The hunchbacked old man shook his head. "Su Xianzi, we're not afraid. It's just that this tower is too dangerous. Those metal beasts almost wiped us out, and now we've encountered so many Fire Age Worms. Who knows what other dangers lie ahead?"
Su Zhongyan fell silent.
Jing Liu spoke up, "We can't give up now. This is the secret realm of the Tai Sui Immortal, and there must be treasures hidden within. We just need to be careful and avoid those Fire Age Worms. We can't let our fears hold us back."
The others looked at each other, seemingly hesitant.
Su Zhongyan added, "If we encounter those worms again, I might have a way to help everyone avoid them."
Yan Yin and the hunchbacked old man exchanged a glance, then nodded. "Alright, let's continue forward for a while and see what happens."
Jing Liu smiled. "Fate is often found in the midst of danger. This tower has been sealed for so long, I'm sure it won't disappoint us."
Su Zhongyan nodded. "Since everyone agrees, let's continue forward."
The group quickly set off again, flying towards the unknown.
Han Li didn't have any objections. If the majority of the group had decided to retreat, he would have considered acting alone. He patted his buttocks and stood up, continuing to float at the end of the entire team, neither too close nor too far away.
Most of the people present snickered at Han Li's behavior, but no one said anything, and almost everyone had made a mental note that even if they gained something good in the tower, they would not easily benefit Han Li.
The journey that followed was more cautious, and the team's speed slowed down significantly.
The team had been moving forward for less than half an hour when Han Li's eyes flickered, and he glanced to the right front without saying a word.
Just then, Su Zhan Ci, who was at the front of the team, suddenly stopped and said, "Be careful, another fire age glowworm has appeared! Follow me!"
She quickly turned around and flew towards the left front of the ground.
Han Li was slightly surprised that Su Zhan Ci could also detect the glowworms in advance.
It seemed that her divine sense was not much weaker than his own.
The others quickly followed, using their techniques to hide their physical auras and followed Su Zhan Ci.
The team quickly landed on the ground and hid behind a small hill.
Su Zhan Ci raised her hand and released a small yellow flag from her sleeve, which turned into a large patch of yellow mist, enveloping the team.
The yellow mist fluctuated and quickly disappeared into thin air.
Just as the team had hidden, a buzzing sound came from the sky again, and a large red glowworm cloud appeared in the distance, flying quickly towards them.
The team held their breath, hiding behind the hill, and fortunately, Su Zhan Ci's magical artifact was effective, and the glowworms did not discover them.
The team let out a sigh of relief and waited for the glowworms to fly away before continuing on their journey.
Han Li looked at the glowworms in the distance and had a slight reaction.
This time, the glowworms seemed to be patrolling.
After confirming that the glowworms had left, the team quickly set off again.
The journey continued, and the team encountered several more groups of fire age glowworms, but they were all detected in advance and avoided.
After advancing for more than half a day, the terrain changed again, and a range of continuous red mountains appeared.
The mountains were densely packed, with countless volcanoes, some towering high into the sky, while others were only a few dozen feet tall.
Most of the volcanoes were still active, with loud rumbling sounds and continuous eruptions of hot lava.
The sky was filled with a thick layer of black-red fire clouds, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of sulfur. The temperature was even more scorching than before, and the fire attribute energy in the air was extremely dense.
The team's spirits were shaken, and they quickly accelerated, flying into the mountains.
"Ah! This is the Golden Flame Sacred Stone!" a loose cultivator exclaimed, flying down to a nearby volcano and using a large red hand to grab a golden stone from the wall, which flashed with flame-like golden light.
"Xuan Yan Ling Yu!" another person exclaimed, finding a red spirit jade.
"Long Yan Cao!"
"Tian Huo Jing!"
...
The team discovered various precious fire-attribute materials in the volcanic region, and they quickly began to collect them.
Han Li was not particularly interested in these materials, but he also collected a few.
After a round of searching, the team had a small harvest, and their confidence increased. Under Su Zhan Ci's leadership, they continued to venture deeper into the volcanic region.
"Be careful, another fire age glowworm has appeared!" Su Zhan Ci suddenly warned again.
The team was no longer as panicked as before, and under Su Zhan Ci's arrangement, they gathered together in an orderly manner, hiding their tracks.
Before long, a massive red glowworm cloud appeared in the distance, its scale more than ten times larger than the previous ones. It was like a dark cloud covering the sky, blocking out the sun.
The team's faces turned pale, and they were shocked, even though they were under Su Zhan Ci's magical artifact's protection.
The swarm of insects flew swiftly towards them, but suddenly stopped and began to circle around when they were above Su Zhongxi and the others. The crowd's hearts were filled with shock, and even Han Li's brow furrowed in concern.
Fortunately, the swarm split apart after a short while, breaking into smaller groups that flew off in different directions. Some of the fireflies flew into the volcanic lava, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves, chirping happily as they disappeared into the distance.
The crowd breathed a sigh of relief.
"It seems that the source of those fireflies is deep within the volcanic region," Su Zhongxi said. "It's no wonder, considering their bodies contain the flames of time, which are a type of fire-attribute spirit insect. They seem to thrive in this scorching environment."
"Let's go take a look," Su Zhongxi said, leading the way.
The others followed, with Mo Xiang Louzhu's brow furrowed in concern. They flew for about half an hour before arriving at a massive mountain range, with two gigantic peaks that seemed to pierce the clouds. The valley between the peaks was filled with a swarm of fireflies, blocking out the sun.
The swarm they had encountered earlier was nothing compared to this. The stone walls of the peaks had numerous small holes, like a beehive, with countless fireflies flying in and out. The peaks seemed to be two giant beehives.
In the depths of the valley, there was a black cave that seemed to be bottomless. The cave was filled with a strange energy, similar to a seal, that prevented spiritual awareness from penetrating too deeply. However, they could still sense the strong time laws emanating from within, along with spatial fluctuations.
The group hid behind a small hill, using their abilities to conceal their tracks.
"It seems that the cave contains a treasure that holds the power of time laws," Su Zhongxi said, her eyes shining with excitement. "There are quite a few of them, and it's not a wasted trip. The spatial fluctuations within the cave are similar to the spatial gates we encountered earlier, so the entrance to the third layer must be inside."
Han Li's eyes gleamed with excitement as he gazed at the valley.
Although his cultivation was high, he lacked sufficient time law crystals within his body. If he could obtain some treasures that held the power of time, it would be extremely beneficial to him.
However, Mo Xiang Louzhu and the others seemed to be hesitant, their faces pale.
"Don't worry, Mo Xiang Louzhu, I have a way to deal with these fireflies," Su Zhongxi said, noticing their concern.
Mo Xiang Louzhu shook his head firmly. "Su Daozhu, you and your friends are skilled and bold, but my Mo Xiang Lou is just a small sect with limited abilities. This is too dangerous for us. I'm afraid we cannot accompany you further."
The group decided to leave, with Mo Xiang Louzhu and the others choosing to search for treasures in the volcanic region instead of risking their lives to explore the cave.
Su Zhongxi and Jin Liu's faces fell, and they were about to speak when the old man with the hunched back suddenly said, "I also don't have the confidence to break through this place. I'll bid you farewell, and I wish you good luck."
The others followed his lead, and soon over twenty people stood beside Mo Xiang Louzhu and the old man.
Only a dozen people remained, including Han Li, the three from the Tian Shui Sect, the master of the Qing Suo Valley, the burly man, and a few other lone cultivators.
"Ha! I didn't expect that you, who are considered to be prominent figures in the outside world, would retreat at the first sign of difficulty," Jin Liu sneered.
Mo Xiang Louzhu and the others didn't respond, instead choosing to leave. Han Li watched them with a cold gaze.
Although Mo Xiang Louzhu and the others seemed timid, they were actually being cautious. The number of fireflies was staggering, and the risk of breaking through was too great. If Han Li didn't have the time law crystals within his body, he wouldn't have chosen to take this risk either.
"Wait, please don't leave," Su Zhongxi said, standing in front of them with a blue glow surrounding her.
Mo Xiang Louzhu's face darkened. "What do you mean, Su Daozhu? Are you trying to detain us?"
The others also looked displeased.
"I apologize if I've caused any misunderstanding," Su Zhongxi said calmly. "I won't stop you from leaving, but I have a favor to ask of you before you go." "What's the matter, Su Xianzi, please tell us," Mo Xiang Louzhu asked, his expression slightly relaxed.
"As you said, Louzhu, there are many fire years of fireflies here, and it's very difficult to sneak into the mountain cave. So, I'd like to ask you all to help us divert the fireflies when you leave," Su Xianzi said with a faint smile.
"Let us show ourselves to divert the fireflies? This is no different from playing with fire, Su Xianzi, are you joking?" the hunchbacked old man sneered.
"Don't worry, I have a few flying shadow symbols here that can increase your speed by at least 30% for a short time and help conceal your aura, so you can definitely escape the fireflies' pursuit," Su Xianzi said, flipping out five blue talismans with intricate wind and cloud patterns, emitting a strong wind attribute law fluctuation.
The hunchbacked old man raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything, still standing there.
"Of course, I won't let you do this for nothing. These few magical instruments are my treasured possessions, and whoever is willing to help can choose one," Su Xianzi said, waving her hand again, and five or six magical instruments, including a jade ruler and a water-attribute bowl, appeared in front of her, emitting strong law fluctuations, clearly of high quality.
"Since Su Xianzi is so sincere, we naturally want to help. What do you need us to do?" the hunchbacked old man asked, his eyes flashing with a hint of joy, as he took a water-blue bowl and a flying shadow symbol.
Mo Xiang Louzhu and the others also showed some interest.
"I have five blood cloud beads here, which can explode and create a large amount of blood cloud. Fireflies are sensitive to blood energy, so if we explode them one after another, we should be able to attract most of the fireflies in the valley. I need five fellow daoists to help me," Su Xianzi said, waving her hand, and five egg-sized blood-colored beads appeared in her palm, emitting a bright blood light.
Han Li looked at the blood-colored beads, and his eyes flashed with interest.
The beads contained a very rich blood energy, and a hint of blood law, which was a kind of blood lightning.
"Su Xianzi has thought this through, and these blood cloud beads are indeed the best way to attract the fireflies. I'll take care of this, don't worry," the hunchbacked old man said, taking a blood cloud bead and patting his chest, his attitude completely opposite to his previous cold demeanor.
Seeing the hunchbacked old man's sudden change in attitude, the others felt a bit disdainful.
Mo Xiang Louzhu hesitated for a moment, then stepped forward and took a blood cloud bead, a magical instrument, and a flying shadow symbol.
Three other scattered golden immortals, who thought they were fast enough, stepped forward and each took a blood cloud bead, a magical instrument, and a flying shadow symbol.
Except for the hunchbacked old man and the other four, the others who were planning to leave immediately flew away, disappearing into the distance.
"Then, I'll trouble the five of you," Su Xianzi said, after the others had left.
"Don't worry, Su fellow daoist, I'll take care of it," the hunchbacked old man said, flying out first, heading towards the distant mountain valley.
A few breaths later, a loud muffled sound came from the mountain valley, followed by a large amount of sticky blood cloud, which spread out like a sea wave.
The fireflies in the valley immediately became chaotic, spewing out flames of years, and the blood cloud disappeared in a few breaths.
The hunchbacked old man's figure appeared near the mountain valley, and then turned into a bright escape light, with a layer of special green light on top, flying rapidly towards the distance.
The insect swarm near the mountain valley let out a shrill cry, and a large group of fireflies chased after him, making up about 10% of the total swarm.
In the distance, behind the short mountain, Su Xianzi's face showed a hint of joy, and she immediately looked at the other four.
Mo Xiang Louzhu didn't say anything, and flew out, releasing a layer of spiritual light that wrapped around his body, concealing his aura, and approached the mountain valley from another direction.
Then, he released a blood cloud bead, attracting the attention of many fireflies, and immediately revealed his figure, escaping rapidly.
A large group of fireflies chased after him, similar in number to the hunchbacked old man's.
"Quick! Next one!" Su Xianzi urged.
The five people's plan to attract the fireflies had to be fast, or else the swarm would return and cause trouble.
"Take care, everyone!"
A scattered golden immortal flew out, releasing a blood cloud bead, and attracting a group of fireflies, before escaping rapidly.
The remaining two also followed the same plan, using blood cloud beads to attract a group of fireflies.
At this point, the swarm in the mountain valley had decreased significantly, leaving only less than half.
"Now, let's go!"
Su Xianzi shouted, and took out the yellow small flag, waving it once, and turning it into a yellow cloud that enveloped the group of over ten people, including Han Li, and flew rapidly towards the mountain valley.
In an instant, they merged into the ground, and flew underground, approaching the mountain valley.
After a few breaths, the group arrived at the front of the valley and stopped.
Below the valley, there were also many fireflies nesting, even more than on the ground, making it difficult to approach.
"I'm grateful that you all chose to stay, but I can only help you this far. The road ahead, you'll have to rely on yourselves," Su Zhan Cai said, retrieving the yellow small banner.
The others, having chosen to stay, naturally had their own methods and didn't rely on the Tian Shui Sect's intentions, nodding in agreement.
"I wish you all good luck."
Su Zhan Cai, as the leader of the Tian Shui Sect's three, began to chant a spell, and their bodies flashed with blue light, transforming into three water-blue light shadows that flew out of the ground and shot towards the valley.
Qing Suo Valley Master flipped his hand and stuck a green talisman on his body, then chanted a spell, and the talisman immediately merged into his body.
Numerous green talismans appeared around him, and his body became semi-transparent, then flew out, closely following the Tian Shui Sect's three.
The burly man's body flashed with yellow light, and a thick layer of earth-yellow stone armor covered his entire body.
As the armor appeared, the man seemed to have truly transformed into a stone statue, without any signs of life.
He didn't fly out of the ground, instead continuing to hide underground, using a divine ability similar to earth evasion, advancing towards the valley.
The remaining seven or eight scattered Golden Immortals seemed to be a familiar small group, and they stood in a circle, with a young man with golden hair waving his hand.
A golden light flew out of his hand, transforming into a golden wooden tablet.
The tablet was over ten feet in size, with a golden beast's head pattern engraved on it, emitting a bright golden light, and within the light, a time law fluctuation rippled.
The seven or eight scattered Golden Immortals placed their hands on the golden tablet, and the tablet's golden light immediately intensified, enveloping the scattered Golden Immortals.
However, the golden tablet quickly rotated, and the giant tablet, along with the scattered Golden Immortals, suddenly disappeared into the void, then transformed into a golden shadow, flying towards the valley's depths.
"This is... the Bao Yang Divine Wood!" Han Li exclaimed, his eyes flashing with surprise.
The Bao Yang Divine Wood was a type of divine wood that contained time law power, and its quantity was extremely rare, unexpected to be encountered here.
Han Li didn't continue to linger, and a golden light flashed on his body, transforming into a faint golden shadow, following the scattered Golden Immortals.
As the group flew out of the ground, although they each used their divine abilities to conceal their aura, the valley's fireflies were too numerous, and it was impossible to avoid them entirely.
The fireflies immediately grabbed onto the group's transformed lights, shadows, and other objects, and simultaneously let out a chorus of chirping sounds.
With a loud "boom", the other fireflies flew out, raining down on the group like raindrops.
These fireflies were truly formidable, and no matter what secret techniques Han Li and the others used, or what forms they transformed into, they were all tightly grabbed by the fireflies, quickly forming a dark red insect ball around each person, rolling and biting, and spewing out flames of time.
Han Li's transformed golden shadow was also grabbed by the numerous insects, and the flames of time rained down on him, his body's protective light circle rapidly weakening.
He immediately raised his hands, and a golden lightning light burst forth from his palms, shooting out golden lightning arcs that formed a thick golden lightning net around him.
A powerful lightning law fluctuation rippled within the net, and the surrounding void trembled.
However, under the fireflies' flames of time, the powerful lightning law fluctuations had no effect, and the golden lightning net rapidly dissipated.
Han Li's face sank, and he raised his hands again.
Two thick golden lightning bolts shot out of his palms, merging into the golden lightning net, which immediately brightened, restoring its original thickness.
Han Li continued to release golden lightning from his palms, maintaining the net, and simultaneously released a time law fluctuation mixed within.
With the time law fluctuation's assistance, the golden lightning net's dissipation speed slowed, barely resisting the flames of time's erosion.
Han Li let out a sigh of relief, not trying to shake off the fireflies, but instead, directly carrying the surrounding insects, he flew towards the valley's depths.
The others did the same, carrying the large insect balls, flying towards the valley's depths, and soon arrived at the front of the black cave.
In a short distance, the insect balls around them had accumulated to over ten feet in size, and under their influence, their speed was greatly reduced.
And within the insect balls, numerous flames of time shot out from all directions, more intense than before, almost forming a sea of flames, engulfing the group and burning fiercely.
Han Li and the others used all their strength to defend against the flames of time, and their internal immortal energy surged out, soon exhausting over half of their energy, but they had already reached the cave's entrance.
Han Li let out a low shout, and his hands flashed with golden lightning, suddenly producing four golden lightning dragons that flashed with dazzling lightning light.
Each dragon was not too large, but emitted a powerful lightning law fluctuation, far surpassing the golden lightning net, and wherever they passed, the void shattered.
Besides the lightning law fluctuation, he also mixed in time law power, just like before.
The four dragons shot out, striking the insect balls around them.
The dragons' "boom" shook the air, and the insect balls... The scorching golden lightning burst forth, and the surrounding insect balls were torn apart in an instant.
Han Li's figure moved like lightning, and with a "whoosh," he shot out from the scattered insect swarm and entered the black cave.
The walls of the cave also had countless small holes, and although many fireflies flew out of them, they continued to pounce on him.
However, the number of fireflies in the cave was much fewer than outside, and Han Li easily fended them off with a wave of his hand, his body once again covered in a layer of golden lightning net.
Han Li had previously used the "Myriad Silence Technique" and the Time Law to isolate his aura, so the fireflies that attacked him were the fewest, and he was the first to enter the black cave.
However, he did not proceed alone, and instead stopped to look back outside.
A burst of extremely cold air exploded from outside the cave, and the insect balls surrounding the three people from the Tian Shui Sect were frozen into blue ice crystals, which then shattered and fell to the ground.
The blue ice crystals emitted an astonishing cold air and law fluctuations, clearly a special kind of cold ice divine ability, and the fireflies' flames on their bodies were also frozen in place.
However, the fireflies did not die, and the flames on their bodies fluctuated, causing the blue ice crystals to slowly melt.
But the blue ice crystal divine ability was not small, and it would not be completely melted for a while.
The three people from the Tian Shui Sect took advantage of the opportunity to fly out and enter the cave, but they did not immediately proceed deeper, and instead stopped.
"Stone friend, how did you...?" Su Zhongzi saw Han Li already inside the cave, and her face showed surprise.
Jin Liu and another elegant young man also looked surprised.
The fireflies that were originally in the cave sensed Su Zhongzi's aura and flew towards her.
The three of them did not have time to care about Han Li, and they quickly used their abilities to defend themselves.
At the same time, about a hundred meters in front of the cave, another insect ball suddenly expanded and burst open, and a rapidly rotating green dragon vortex column appeared, sweeping away the surrounding fireflies and preventing them from approaching.
The green vortex column seemed to come alive, and it inserted itself into the black cave.
"Whoosh!"
Fu Gu Zhu flew out of the vortex column, and in an instant, he also entered the cave, followed by another insect ball that burst open, revealing a blinding golden light that shot into the cave.
Seven or eight scattered Golden Immortals appeared, their faces pale and their aura weak.
These Golden Immortals had just entered the cave when the entrance was suddenly frozen shut with a thick layer of blue ice crystals.
Su Zhongzi withdrew her hand, and a blue ice sphere the size of a fist hovered above her head, emitting a fierce cold air and law fluctuations.
The fireflies outside saw that everyone had entered the cave, and they suddenly became enraged, emitting high-pitched screams and spewing out flames that attacked the blue ice crystals.
More and more fireflies flew in, forming a dark red rainbow that crashed into the blue ice crystals.
The blue ice crystals shook violently, melting rapidly, and cracks appeared on their surface, as if they were about to collapse.
Su Zhongzi's face changed, and she bit her lip, using her divine ability to send the blue ice sphere flying into the blue ice crystals.
The blue ice crystals immediately emitted a brilliant blue light, and the cracks on their surface began to heal, emitting a cold air that was ten times stronger, and stabilizing the situation.
However, the flames' erosion of the blue ice crystals continued, and they melted rapidly.
Su Zhongzi's eyebrows furrowed, but she had no solution.
At this moment, a figure appeared, and Han Li's shadow loomed before the blue ice crystals, his hand pressed against them.
A dazzling golden light burst forth from his palm, merging with the blue ice crystals.
The blue ice crystals' surface immediately emitted a golden glow, and the rate at which they melted slowed down.
"Time Law power!" Su Zhongzi exclaimed, looking at Han Li in surprise.
The others also looked at Han Li with incredulous gazes.
Han Li's expression remained calm, but he secretly sighed.
He didn't want to reveal his true strength, but the situation was critical, and he couldn't afford to hesitate, or he would also be in trouble.
As for how he possessed the Time Law power, and how he was the first to enter the cave, he naturally wouldn't explain, and let them continue to guess.
At this moment, the ground suddenly flashed yellow, and a yellow figure emerged from the ground with a loud whoosh. It was the burly man with the beard.
His stone armor was now riddled with holes, but he was unharmed, only panting heavily, clearly having had a difficult time navigating the underground tunnels.
"This place is not suitable for a long stay, the ice wall I and Shi Dao set up to block the fire sprites outside won't last long, let's head deeper!" Su Zi gave Han Li a deep look before turning to head into the cave.
The others quickly followed, with Han Li close behind, his eyes fixed on the outside. A strange glint flickered in his eyes.
The sudden agitation of the fire sprites outside was certainly due to some reason, but Han Li's knowledge of them was limited, and he couldn't guess what it was.
The cave was filled with a strange restrictive power that limited the spread of divine sense, and the darkness made it impossible to see very far.
However, the fire sprite army outside could catch up at any moment, so the group didn't dare to linger, moving forward in silence, with Su Zi and Han Li leading the way, casting spells to defend against the small groups of fire sprites that appeared from time to time.
Fortunately, as they went deeper, the number of bug holes on the walls decreased, and the fire sprites became fewer, making it easier for the group to proceed.
After a while, they arrived at a massive cavern.
The fire sprites that had been chasing them stopped at the entrance, circling around but not daring to enter.
Seeing this, the group was initially shocked, then let out a collective sigh of relief.
Han Li glanced at the fire sprites outside, then quickly looked around the cavern.
The cavern was enormous, with an area of several thousand zhang. Half of it was a lake of red-hot magma, with bubbles of fiery red liquid constantly rising and falling, filling the air with a terrifying heat.
The magma emitted a fierce red glow, illuminating the entire cavern.
Above the lake, a red platform connected to another passageway, which was also pitch black, with faint dark red glows emanating from within.
The other half of the cavern was empty, with a series of sharp red stone pillars rising from the ground, like a forest of stone.
The group's eyes scanned the cavern, then simultaneously fixed on the stone pillars.
Because on the three largest pillars, three massive dark red beehives hung, each emitting a fiery glow, and a powerful time law fluctuation.
These three time law fluctuations were enormous, but not concentrated, instead scattered and chaotic, filling the cavern.
The red flames in the magma lake fluctuated with the time law fluctuations, rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern, causing the air to vibrate with a humming sound.
Han Li gazed at the three beehives from a distance, his pupils constricting.
If he wasn't mistaken, these three beehives were the birthplace of the fire sprites outside, and the reason they didn't dare approach was likely due to some sort of rule or restriction, treating this place as a sacred site.
This "sacred site" seemed peaceful, but was certainly not without defenses.
Moreover, the time law fluctuations emanating from the three beehives, combined with their long dormancy, had transformed them into a rare and precious time spirit object.
As Han Li observed the beehives, Su Zi, Jin Liu, and the others were also cautiously observing the surroundings, their eyes filled with a mix of greed and caution.
But there was no lack of people who were eager to take risks for treasure.
Three figures suddenly flew out, each targeting one of the beehives.
One was a gray-haired youth, another a black-robed woman, both from the scattered cultivator group, and the third was the burly man with the beard.
"Lu brother, Qi Dao friend, don't be rash!" The blond youth from the scattered cultivator group shouted, but it was too late.
The gray-haired youth and the black-robed woman had already flown to the beehives, each emitting a beam of light that enveloped the beehive, lifting it up.
The burly man with the beard also flew to the third beehive, landing about ten zhang away, his foot stomping on the ground.
The ground around the beehive flashed yellow, and a massive stone figure emerged, several zhang tall, its stone hand grasping the beehive and pulling it up.
Unexpectedly, the three beehives were lifted with ease, without any difficulty.
The three individuals were initially stunned, then overjoyed, their hands forming seals as they prepared to retrieve the beehives.
But just as they did, a sudden change occurred!
The dark red glow on the beehives suddenly intensified, and the time law fluctuations that had been scattered throughout the cavern suddenly converged on the beehives.
In an instant, a dark red vortex appeared around the beehives, enveloping the three individuals.
The three individuals were clearly prepared, but their movements slowed down, as if trapped in a swamp, their actions slowed by more than tenfold. At this moment, the three people in the dark red light vortex seemed to be moving in slow motion, giving off an inexplicable sense of eeriness.
Just then, a flash of light appeared on the stone wall above, outlining a shape the size of a millstone.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he saw this, and Su Cai and the others also gasped in unison.
The object, which was the size of a millstone, was a giant firefly, its body structure and outer appearance similar to that of the fireflies outside, except for a flame-shaped pattern on its shell.
The firefly had blended into the surroundings so seamlessly that no one, including Han Li, had noticed it.
The giant firefly's mouth opened, and three streaks of red fire shot out, leaving behind a trail of residual images as they struck the three people with incredible speed.
The gray-haired youth and the black-robed woman were too slow to react, and their bodies were pierced by the red fire, turning them into two human torches that were engulfed in flames.
Their bodies melted away in an instant, leaving behind only ashes.
The burly man's strength was superior to that of the gray-haired youth, and he managed to conjure up a small spiritual domain, barely avoiding the flames that were rushing towards him.
However, the red fire was too fast, and he was unable to dodge it completely, his left arm being pierced by the flames.
A ball of red fire appeared on his arm, burning fiercely, and his arm was reduced to ashes.
The red flames continued to spread, threatening to engulf his entire body.
The burly man's face turned pale, and he retreated, his other hand forming a knife-like shape as he slashed at his shoulder.
But he was still within the dark red light vortex, and his movements were slowed down, making him a step too slow.
Just then, a golden sword shadow flashed towards him, striking his shoulder and severing his left arm.
The arm was immediately engulfed by the red flames, reducing it to ashes.
Han Li, who was hundreds of feet away, silently retracted his finger.
The burly man let out a sigh of relief, and his body glowed with a yellow light as he retreated, his speed increasing rapidly as he flew out of the dark red light vortex.
He turned to Han Li and nodded in gratitude before taking out a yellow and red pill and swallowing it.
In an instant, his severed arm began to heal, and a new arm grew out.
The giant firefly turned towards Han Li, its mouth opening in anger, and it fell from the ceiling, landing on the stone head that the burly man had summoned.
Its claws flashed with red light, and it swiped at the stone head, releasing a half-moon-shaped blade of light that was imbued with the power of time.
The stone head was easily sliced into several pieces, and its body crumbled, turning into a pile of rubble.
The three people who had been attacked earlier were now dead, and the giant firefly's gaze turned towards Han Li and the others.
Su Cai's eyes narrowed as she said, "This should be the Firefly King, capable of manipulating time itself, its power is unimaginably greater than that of ordinary fireflies!"
The Firefly King turned towards Su Cai, its eyes flashing with anger, and it transformed into a red shadow, charging towards her with incredible speed.
It swiped at Su Cai with its claws, releasing two half-moon-shaped blades of light that shot towards her and Han Li.
The blades were incredibly fast, and they appeared in front of the two in an instant.
Han Li's body flickered, and he disappeared from his original position, reappearing hundreds of feet away, leaving the Firefly King stunned.
Su Cai's cultivation was high, but she didn't have Han Li's speed, and she was forced to retreat, her footwork swift as she created some distance between herself and the Firefly King.
She raised her hand, and a blue water light appeared in front of her, transforming into a blue vortex that rotated rapidly, creating a whirlpool that affected the surrounding air.
The red blade of light struck the blue vortex, but it was only slowed down for a moment before breaking through, slicing through the vortex and continuing towards Su Cai.
However, the blade was also deflected by the vortex, and it grazed Su Cai's body, striking the ground and creating a black hole.
The others who had been watching the scene unfold turned pale, and they scattered in all directions, trying to get away from the Firefly King.
"We must work together and not give it any chance to breathe!" Su Cai's forehead was slick with sweat as she shouted.
The others, who were all highly skilled cultivators, knew that they had to act quickly, and they launched a barrage of attacks at the Firefly King.
(Translator's note: The author has apologized for the delay in uploading the chapter, and has promised to upload two chapters at once tonight.)
At this moment, Han Li also brought out twelve blue flying knives, which transformed into twelve giant knife auras in mid-air, emitting a strong yin-killer aura.
The air where the flying knives passed through was filled with a layer of frost, and a heart-piercing whistling sound was heard, slashing towards the Fire Age Worm King.
These twelve blue evil flying knives were found in Dongfang Bai's storage artifact, with extraordinary power, and Han Li had been refining them for years, incorporating them into his body.
The Fire Age Worm King's eyes flashed with a hint of ridicule, and the red flames on its body flashed, and a large piece of red flames shot out from its body, which was the flames of the ages. With a flick, a red fire sea formed around its body in an instant.
As everyone saw this scene, their faces changed, and they pinched their fingers to retrieve their artifacts, but it was too late.
The colorful artifacts slashed into the red fire sea, and they disappeared like a mud cow entering the sea, without any unusual movements.
The next moment, the connection between the people and the artifacts was severed, and their faces changed.
Su Zhongxi and Jin Liu looked at each other, and both saw the color of retreat in each other's eyes.
Although the three beehives were extremely valuable, they were useless to their own cultivation, and even if they were obtained, they would be sold to others to exchange for a large amount of resources and wealth.
It was not a wise move to fight to the death with the extremely powerful Fire Age Worm King for this, even if they could win, they would have to pay a huge price, and may even lose their lives.
The others thought the same, and only Han Li and the loose cultivator with the golden hair, who held the Bao Yang Shen Mu tablet, seemed to have a hint of determination in their expressions.
Just as they were about to make a move, the red fire sea suddenly churned violently, and quickly shrunk into a house-sized red fireball, which shot out like a meteor.
Han Li saw this scene, and his eyes flashed with understanding, but he did nothing.
The others were stunned, and some didn't understand.
The people in front of the fireball quickly dodged, and the red fireball flashed and fell on the entrance of the tunnel above the lava.
"No! It's going to seal the tunnel!" Su Zhongxi's face changed, and she cried out in surprise.
Before she finished speaking, the red fireball flashed and turned into a red fire curtain, sealing the tunnel entrance.
Although there was another tunnel behind the cave, it was also a dead end, as countless Fire Age fireflies were flying inside.
The Fire Age Worm King's eyes flickered, and it seemed to be looking at everyone with a hint of mockery, like a cat playing with a mouse.
The people present changed their faces, and some of the timid ones turned pale.
"Humph! You think you can trap us here? Let's see if you have the ability! We have so many people, are we afraid of this insignificant worm?" Lian Dahan shouted, his body glowing with yellow light, and then he stomped his foot heavily.
A yellow spirit domain burst out from his body, covering the entire cave space.
A huge gravitational force emanated from the spirit domain, pulling towards the Fire Age Worm King, and the worm king's body immediately sank, its claws curved downwards.
"Not bad, with so many people, the law of superposition, we don't believe we can't kill this time worm king!" Jin Liu also shouted.
As he spoke, his body glowed with blue light, and he opened a blue spirit domain, covering the Fire Age Worm King.
The flames of the ages around the Fire Age Worm King's body immediately fluctuated, and it seemed that Jin Liu's spirit domain had an effect on it.
The others saw this scene, and their spirits were shocked, and they each deployed their spirit domains.
In an instant, more than a dozen spirit domains covered the Fire Age fireflies.
The Fire Age fireflies' eyes, which had been filled with mockery, had disappeared, replaced by a fierce light.
The red flames on its body flashed, and it shot out like a red shadow, pouncing on Lian Dahan.
With the influence of so many spirit domains, the Fire Age fireflies' speed, although still extremely fast, had slowed down compared to before, and no longer had that kind of ghostly might.
"Sand cage!" Lian Dahan quickly retreated, and at the same time, he grasped at the air with both hands.
The ground in the cave suddenly cracked, and countless stones and gravel flew out, rapidly entwining the Fire Age fireflies, forming a sand cage that trapped it.
Almost at the same time, in a series of sharp whistling sounds, several artifacts flew out, passing through the gaps in the sand cage, and hitting the Fire Age fireflies.
"Clang" "Clang" several crisp sounds, several artifacts were bounced back, and the Fire Age worm king's body didn't leave any marks, shocking everyone again.
Just as they were about to make a move, a blue light flashed, and a blue paper crane the size of a person's head appeared in front of the sand cage, its beak piercing through the cage, and striking the Fire Age worm king's body.
In the distance, Su Zhongxi muttered to herself, her hands forming a strange hand seal, and several blue paper cranes flew out, circling around her.
With a "puff" sound, a blood hole was immediately pecked out on the Fire Age worm king's body, and red blood gushed out.
The Fire Age worm king let out a furious scream, its eyes glowing with blood-red light, and its body also grew larger.
It swung its claws, and several half-moon-shaped lights shot out, larger than before, slashing in all directions. The sand and dust around him seemed to shatter like tofu, easily broken.
The Fire Age Worm King immediately broke free, its dual wings spread wide, and in an instant, it transformed into a bloody, residual shadow, its speed faster than before, as if the surrounding spiritual realm's influence on it had suddenly disappeared. It shot towards Su Zhuo like lightning.
Su Zhuo's face changed, and she hastily retreated, simultaneously releasing the blue paper cranes around her, which transformed into blue shadows, pouncing on the Fire Age Worm King.
Although the blue paper cranes were fast, they were still far slower than the Fire Age Worm King. The worm king's body flashed, easily dodging the paper cranes, and with one swift motion, it appeared in front of Su Zhuo, its two front claws about to strike.
In that instant, the air beside the Fire Age Worm King rippled, and a golden fist shadow appeared, striking it with the force of a meteor.
The Fire Age Worm King's body was instantly knocked flying, rolling and tumbling forward.
Not far away, Han Li silently retracted his fist.
"Thanks!" Su Zhuo's face was pale, and she sent a voice transmission to Han Li, thanking him. Then, she hastily retreated, recalling the blue paper cranes, which circled around her.
The Fire Age Worm King stabilized its body, its body flashing with blood light. It glared at Han Li with extreme anger, its dual wings spread wide, and its body transformed into a bloody shadow, flying towards him.
Han Li didn't use his spiritual realm, nor did he dodge or retreat. His body surface erupted with dense, mysterious, and uncountable golden lights, and his fists shone with golden light, ready to face the worm king.
But at that moment, the Fire Age Worm King let out an angry, sharp cry, and its direction suddenly changed, flying towards the three beehives.
Two cultivators, taking advantage of the Fire Age Worm King being entangled by Han Li and the others, sneaked to the beehives, trying to collect them. They were the young man with the golden hair, holding the Bao Yang Divine Wood Stele, and another loose cultivator, a Golden Immortal.
Seeing the Fire Age Worm King flying towards them, the two cultivators' faces changed, and they hastily retreated.
But the Fire Age Worm King seemed to have been thoroughly enraged by the two cultivators' actions, its entire body's armor instantly turning blood red, and the flames of time on its body also turning blood red.
Its speed increased once again, and with one swift motion, it flew between the two cultivators, its two front claws flashing.
Two blood-red lights flashed, and the other loose cultivator, the Golden Immortal, was cut in half from head to toe, his divine soul and nascent soul unable to escape.
The young man with the golden hair used the Bao Yang Divine Wood Stele to block the attack, but the stele was cut in half with a "pu" sound.
The young man's heart ached, but he took advantage of the brief moment to retreat, avoiding being cut in half. However, his chest was still struck by the residual force, and a large wound appeared, with blood gushing out. His retreating figure stumbled.
The Fire Age Worm King spat out a blood-red flame, taking advantage of the momentary delay to pierce the young man's chest.
The young man's body "exploded" with a loud sound, immediately transforming into a blood-red fireball, burning fiercely, and turning into ashes in an instant.
Just as the Fire Age Worm King killed the young man and the other cultivator, a dazzling blue light suddenly appeared in the air above, taking advantage of the momentary delay to descend, enveloping the Fire Age Worm King.
Three thick, blue chains extended from the blue light, binding the Fire Age Worm King.
The three chains, although blue, emitted different laws of power, yet they complemented each other seamlessly. Even the Fire Age Worm King's abilities couldn't break free from the chains.
In the distance, the three people from the Tian Shui Sect stood in a triangular formation, forming a three-attribute formation. They simultaneously chanted, remotely controlling the three blue chains.
The Fire Age Worm King let out an angry, sharp cry, its body's flames of time burning fiercely, intensely striking the chains.
The chains quickly showed signs of burning, but the surrounding blue spiritual realm flashed, and a surge of laws of power transmitted from within, causing the chains to rapidly recover, maintaining a balance with the flames of time.
"Quickly kill it, we can't hold on for much longer!" Su Zhuo and the others, although they had suppressed the Fire Age Worm King, were trembling with exhaustion, their hands quivering as they spoke.
The others, hearing this, hastily took out various attacks, launching a barrage of strikes at the Fire Age Worm King.
The Fire Age Worm King's eyes flashed with a hint of panic, its body's flames of time burning fiercely, enveloping its entire body. At the same time, it let out a sharp cry.
The Fire Age Worms outside the cave seemed to have received an order, flying towards the cave.
But at that moment, a figure appeared at the entrance of the cave, Han Li's silhouette emerging. He waved his hands.
A blue light shot out from his hands, but it was a blue jade plate, rapidly expanding, transforming into a blue stone door, blocking the entrance.
This was a divine artifact refined from the Kunlan Crystal Jade, obtained from the storage artifact of the East White. Its quality was extraordinary.
The Fire Age Worms outside crashed into the blue stone door, causing it to vibrate intensely.
Han Li's expression turned solemn, and he pressed his hands on the stone door, causing a layer of golden light to appear.
However, even so, the blue stone door still vibrated intensely, and the Fire Age Worms' impact was like a tidal wave, crashing against the door. If Han Li's hands relaxed even slightly, the door would immediately show signs of being shaken open.
A figure flew in, landing beside Han Li, and it was Fu Gu Zhu, who placed his hands on the stone door and said to Han Li, "Leave this to me, Stone Brother, you go help Su Xianzi and the others."
"That's fine, I'll leave it to you, Fu Gu Zhu," Han Li replied.
Han Li glanced at Fu Gu Zhu, then turned and flew towards the Flame Age Worm King.
The battle against the Flame Age Worm King was not going well, as the attacks from Lian Dui Da Han and the others were almost all blocked by the Flame Age Worm King's Age Flames.
Han Li's body flashed, and he appeared above the Flame Age Worm King, his hand forming a seal as he prepared to do something.
"Stone Brother, I'll help you!" Lian Dui Da Han shouted, also flying towards the Worm King.
"Don't come over!" Han Li shouted, but it was too late.
The Flame Age Worm King's body erupted in a burst of flames, which formed a blazing sun that shot out countless flames that enveloped Han Li and Lian Dui Da Han.
Lian Dui Da Han tried to retreat, but it was too late, and his body was pierced by the flames, turning into a ball of fire.
Han Li's eyes flashed with a cold light, and his body glowed with a golden light, his speed suddenly increasing several times over, and his body undergoing an impossible twisting and deformation, as if it was not a physical body at all. He dodged the flames and appeared in front of the Flame Age Worm King.
The Flame Age Worm King's eyes widened in surprise, and it tried to do something, but its brain suddenly felt a sharp pain, and its body curled up.
At this moment, a golden light appeared in Han Li's hand, and it was a golden sword with Time Law crystals wrapped around it, emitting a powerful Time Law energy.
The nearby heaven and earth energy trembled, and a golden thread shot out, instantly tearing apart the Flame Age Worm King's Age Flames and sweeping across its neck.
The Flame Age Worm King's head fell off with a "plop" sound.
Jin Liu's face relaxed, and he immediately stopped his Three Cauldron Formation, then flew out and shot towards the three beehives on the ground.
Han Li's heart also relaxed, and he put away the golden sword, but seeing Jin Liu's actions, he also flew towards the beehives.
He appeared in front of one of the beehives, waved his hand, and a golden light enveloped it, collecting it.
Jin Liu also flew to another beehive and collected one.
Then, the two of them simultaneously flew towards the third beehive, but they hesitated, fearing they might damage it.
"Stone Brother, you've already collected one beehive, do you still want the second one? Isn't that too greedy?" Jin Liu said, his eyes flashing with cold light.
"I'll say the same to you, Jin Liu. You didn't contribute much to the battle, but you want to monopolize two beehives. Isn't that too shameless?" Han Li replied, his face expressionless.
"If not for our Tian Shui Sect's secret technique, which restrained the Flame Age Worm King, could you have killed it? I'm collecting the second beehive for Su Dao, with her contributions, it's not a problem for her to have one," Jin Liu said, his face red with anger.
"Then let Su Dao come and collect it herself. Who knows what you'll do with it afterwards?" Han Li said, not giving Jin Liu any face.
"You're talking nonsense! You're not giving me any face!" Jin Liu's face turned red with rage.
"Jin Liu, let Stone Brother have the beehive," Su Zhuo Xian's voice came from afar.
She appeared at the entrance of the stone door, waving her hand and sending out a blue light that merged with Han Li's blue stone door, firmly attaching it to the entrance and blocking the outside insect swarm.
"Su Dao, what are you saying? This is...?" Jin Liu's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and he was very dissatisfied.
"In this battle, Stone Brother made great contributions, and it's only natural that he should have two beehives. Moreover, he just saved my life, so I'm just returning the favor," Su Zhuo Xian continued.
Han Li heard this and raised an eyebrow, looking at Su Zhuo Xian in surprise.
"Fine, you've got it!" Jin Liu's face changed, and he angrily retracted his hand.
Han Li didn't hesitate, waving his hand and collecting the third beehive, then flying to the entrance of the cave, where he formed a seal with his hands.
A golden light entered the blue stone door, forming a thick golden light screen, which had a seal pattern that emitted a powerful Time Law energy. With Su Zhuo Xian's secret technique, the stone door was stabilized and no longer trembled.
"Let's go!" Su Zhuo Xian said, looking at Han Li and flying towards the lava lake's passageway.
Without the Flame Age Worm King's blessing, the passageway's flame barrier disappeared, and Su Zhuo Xian flew into it.
The others also flew into the passageway.
Su Zhuo Xian waited until everyone had entered, then turned around and waved her hand.
A blue light shot out from her palm, forming a thick blue ice crystal that blocked the passageway's entrance.
The others saw this and also cast their secret techniques or used their magical tools, adding several layers of restrictions to the passageway, sealing it tightly before continuing on. The passageway was not long, and the group soon arrived at the end.
At the end of the passageway was a small stone chamber, and in the center stood a dark red light gate, identical to the transmission light gate they had seen before.
Next to the light gate was a stone stele, with a line of ancient text written on it.
"Prison Gate" "Forbidden Entry"
Han Li and the others saw the text on the stele, and their faces changed. They looked at each other.
"Prison Gate? Could it be that this Years Tower is actually a prison tower?" Fu Gu Zhu said, muttering to himself.
"If that's the case, the metal beasts on the first floor and the fire years worm on the second floor were actually the guards? Now that I think about it, it's not impossible." Han Li said, deep in thought.
He had seen the fire years worm earlier, and it had looked like a patrolling army. If it was said that the Years Immortal had set up the guards, many things would make sense.
"Rather than guessing here, let's just go to the third floor and take a look. We'll know everything then." Su Zhen Cai said.
The others heard her words, and their eyes all turned to the dark red light gate.
The gate was surrounded by a layer of dark red evil light, and it looked no different from an ordinary barrier. However, on the surface, there were ripples of golden light.
Han Li's eyes fell on the light gate, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly. He felt a strange and inexplicable feeling, and the light gate barrier in front of him seemed unusual.
Jin Liu's eyes also fell on the light gate, but he seemed to have not noticed anything unusual. He was about to start breaking the seal.
Han Li opened his mouth, wanting to stop him, but he thought better of it.
"Stone friend, what's wrong?" Fu Gu Zhu seemed to have noticed Han Li's abnormal behavior, and he asked in a low voice.
"I don't know, I just feel a chill down my spine... " Han Li didn't want to explain, so he just brushed it off.
When the others heard this, their faces all changed, and they became tense. Even Jin Liu stopped in his tracks, turned around, and looked at Han Li.
Han Li's face was expressionless, and he didn't react.
"Fake!"
Jin Liu cursed in a low voice, and then turned back to the stone gate. He hesitated for a moment before starting to break the seal.
Not long after, a red light flashed on the stone gate, and the golden ripples on the light gate disappeared.
"It's done, the seal is open. You can all go in now." Jin Liu said, glancing at Fu Gu Zhu and the others.
But these people just looked at each other, and no one took a step forward.
"Have you all come this far, only to retreat now? Fu Gu Zhu, why don't you set an example?" Jin Liu asked.
Fu Gu Zhu heard his words, and his face tightened. He didn't immediately respond.
Su Zhen Cai coldly laughed, and without Jin Liu's permission, she took the lead and stepped into the light gate.
Jin Liu didn't have time to react, and he quickly followed her in. The others looked at Fu Gu Zhu.
Fu Gu Zhu's face changed several times, and finally, he clapped his hands and said, "Wealth and honor are found in danger. Let's go."
After saying that, he took the lead and stepped through the light gate, disappearing into the stone gate.
Han Li didn't wait long, and he followed closely behind, stepping into the light gate. His figure disappeared from view.
As soon as he entered the light gate, Han Li felt a wave of dizziness, and his heart tightened. Fortunately, there was nothing else unusual, and when he regained his footing, he found himself in a vast, black stone-paved square.
The square was filled with leaden clouds, and the wind howled. The sky was dark, and the air was filled with a putrid and evil aura.
Han Li saw that the others who had entered before him were all standing still, their eyebrows furrowed as they looked at something behind him. Their faces changed, and their eyebrows twisted.
"Indeed... " Han Li slowly turned around, and sighed.
Behind him stood a massive stone gate, over a hundred feet tall. The gate pillars were carved with two golden armored warriors, holding axes and glaring angrily. The gate was covered in intricate, strange symbols.
"What is this? Why are there so many complex seals?" Su Zhen Cai asked, her face full of doubt.
"This stone gate has thirty-six different types of symbols, and seventy-two lines of text. It seems to match the number of heavenly stems and earthly branches, used to enhance the sealing and suppression power." Jin Liu said, his brow furrowed.
"The seal we encountered when we entered was not this strict. Why is the seal for leaving so complex? Is it trying to trap us inside?" Fu Gu Zhu asked, shocked.
Han Li looked far into the distance, and said, "The seal on this stone gate is not meant to block us, but perhaps something else."
Fu Gu Zhu followed Han Li's gaze, and in the distance, he saw a black building, surrounded by black mist. It was hard to make out.
...
Hehe, who knows, our arrival here is a blessing or a curse!" Jin Liu said with a self-deprecating smile.
"Whether it's good or bad, this place seems to have a stronger suppressive force on one's spiritual sense as we ascend, making it quite uncomfortable." Fu Gu Zhu said with a furrowed brow.
"Let's go. We can't turn back now, since we've arrived, let's explore the tower together and see what's at the top, it's not a waste of a trip." Su Xian Ci said calmly.
With that, she led the way forward, Jin Liu followed closely behind, his eyes slightly sunken.
Fu Gu Zhu and the others looked at each other with complex expressions, gazing at the massive stone gate behind them, seemingly still hesitant.
"The seal on this stone gate is no weaker than a large sect's protective array, breaking it won't be easy, let's find another way out." Han Li said as he walked past Fu Gu Zhu, reminding him.
As he spoke, he also hurried towards the black building.
Fu Gu Zhu and the others saw this and changed their expressions, hesitating for a moment before following him.
As they walked, the air grew thick with an eerie, malevolent energy, and the temperature dropped, causing the noses and mouths of the Golden Immortal cultivators to emit wisps of white mist.
When they arrived at the black building, they found it was an ancient, overgrown temple.
The temple's entrance was in disrepair, with weeds growing in the cracks between the bricks, and the wooden doors were covered in moss, with rusty door rings hanging crookedly.
Han Li stood outside the entrance, gazing up at the sign above the door, murmuring, "Eighteen Layers..."
The others looked at the sign and their faces turned strange.
"How can it be eighteen layers? We just entered the third layer, how did we get here?" Fu Gu Zhu asked in surprise.
"Don't be alarmed, perhaps it's just the name of the temple, 'Eighteen Layers'." Jin Liu said dismissively.
"This place is eerie and foreboding, I think we shouldn't go in." A Golden Immortal cultivator said fearfully.
Just then, the creaking sound of the temple doors opening echoed through the air, and the doors swung open by themselves.
The group waited for a moment, seeing no movement inside, they looked at each other in confusion.
Jin Liu and Su Xian Ci exchanged a glance, nodded, and led the way inside.
Han Li raised an eyebrow, feeling a sense of curiosity, and followed them in.
Fu Gu Zhu and the others hesitated, but eventually followed, their hearts heavy with foreboding.
As they entered the temple, the doors creaked shut behind them, and two green ghostly flames emerged from the darkness, floating before them like lanterns, guiding them deeper into the temple.
The group was shocked by this eerie scene, and after a moment of hesitation, they followed the ghostly flames, venturing deeper into the temple.
Beyond the entrance lay a small, white plaza, which Han Li found was not paved with white stone, but rather with broken, white bones, the ground uneven and emitting faint, creaking sounds.
As they walked, the group arrived at the Heavenly King's Hall.
Inside, two massive, dozens of feet tall statues of the Heavenly Kings stood, their faces twisted into malevolent grins, their hands grasping a demonic mallet and a bloody human head.
The group passed through the hall and entered a larger plaza, where nine high platforms stood on either side, with figures looming in the shadows, and the sound of mournful wails echoed through the air.
Han Li's brow furrowed as he gazed up at the first platform, where a green-skinned demon was using a black iron pincer to extract the tongue of an elderly woman, her face contorted in agony.
On the opposite platform, a beautiful woman was bound to a stone bed, her body exposed, as two green-haired demons used giant scissors to cut at her flesh, her cries echoing through the air.
Han Li's gaze swept across the platforms, each one displaying a different, gruesome scene.
On one platform, a massive stone mill was being pushed by a powerful demon, grinding human limbs and bones, the victim's head still intact, screaming in agony. In another place, a giant iron cauldron was set up, with flames swirling beneath it, and boiling oil inside. Several evil spirits were seen carrying a terrified person, who was about to be thrown into the cauldron, causing a massive explosion of black smoke and a foul stench.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed tightly as he finally understood why this place was called the "Eighteen Layers".
In the mortal realm and the spiritual realm, there were rumors that the Underworld had eighteen layers of purgatory. Han Li had heard many stories about it since he was young, so seeing this scene before him didn't feel strange, but rather more puzzling.
"What kind of place is this?" Fu Gu Zhu asked with a serious expression, his voice loud and questioning.
As soon as his words fell, a red light appeared in the high sky in front of the square, and ten figures slowly descended from the air.
Han Li took a closer look and saw that they were ten ghostly figures wearing crimson official robes, with golden jade belts around their waists. Those ghostly figures were born with different features, some with cow heads, some with horse faces, and some with monkey-like features... each one was terrifying and strange, without any human form, except for one who had a pale face and no beard, with a red flower on his chest, looking like a scholar who had just passed the imperial examination.
"You dare to pretend to be gods and demons, and deceive people with your tricks?" Jing Liu's eyes turned cold, and he shouted angrily.
"You dare to not kneel down and confess your crimes when you see the Ten Judges of the Underworld?" The pale-faced man with the red flower on his chest pointed at the crowd, scolding.
His voice was sharp and thin, and with his somewhat feminine movements, he broke the image of a scholar, looking more like a eunuch.
"Ten lowly ghost generals dare to call themselves the Judges of the Underworld? Laughable!" Su Zhen Cai sneered, saying.
"Today, you have entered the Eighteen Layers of Purgatory, and you will be sentenced to the punishment of no reincarnation. Do not think of escaping!" The pale-faced ghost general shouted, flying up into the air.
The other nine ghost generals followed him, their crimson robes fluttering without wind, making a loud "whooshing" sound.
As they rose into the air, the surrounding area was filled with wailing winds, and a large amount of dark mist burst forth from the ground, with countless evil spirits wielding white bone swords, rushing towards the center of the square.
Due to the sheer number of evil spirits, they were already crowded together, colliding with each other, trampling and pushing, their wailing and screaming voices shaking the heavens.
"This... how can there be so many ghostly creatures?" Fu Gu Zhu frowned.
"They are just ordinary yin creatures, and can be easily defeated. Do not panic, and do not disrupt the formation. First, let us clear away these miscellaneous soldiers, and then we will deal with the ten ghost generals above." Jing Liu's expression remained calm, and he said loudly.
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a Linglong Pagoda appeared in the air, emitting a silver light.
Han Li took a closer look and saw that the pagoda was surrounded by a spatial aura, and he thought to himself:
"A spatial treasure... it's not bad, but the quality is not high."
Just then, the doors of the pagoda opened, and over a dozen figures flew out, their bodies rotating as they landed, and they turned out to be over a dozen elders of the Tian Shui Sect.
Among them was the leader, a Tai Yi initial-stage cultivator, and the rest were mostly Golden Immortal late-stage and Golden Immortal peak-stage cultivators.
"Ru Qiu Elder, there are many ghost generals here, and we need your help." Jing Liu bowed to the group, saying.
"No need to be polite, we volunteered to enter the Shedding Body Pagoda, in order to assist you at the critical moment, so there is no need to be polite." The leader, a white-haired and thin elder, waved his hand, saying.
Fu Gu Zhu and the others saw this, and their hearts slightly calmed down. They held their magical tools, preparing to defend themselves.
After that, Jing Liu and Su Zhen Cai exchanged a glance, and led the dozen Tian Shui Sect elders to fly up and attack the ghost generals who claimed to be the Ten Judges of the Underworld.
"Friends, these yin creatures are not powerful, but there are too many of them. If we split up and fight, we will eventually exhaust ourselves. Why don't we work together to set up the Qinglong Hunyuan Formation, and perhaps we can hold on until the Tian Shui Sect wins?" Fu Gu Zhu said, his expression serious.
"This Qinglong Hunyuan Formation is a secret array of the Qing Su Valley, and we are not familiar with it, so how can we set it up together?" A Golden Immortal loose cultivator looked worried, asking.
"The key to setting up this formation is a treasure, and you only need to follow my instructions to do it. The formation is very simple." Fu Gu Zhu said, and then quickly transmitted the method of setting up the Qinglong Hunyuan Formation to the group through voice transmission.
Immediately after, he raised his hand, and a dragon-shaped jade pendant flew out, saying:
"Set up the formation!"
As soon as his words fell, the group immediately acted, following his instructions to set up the formation. They surrounded a circle, stepped on the footwork, and chanted incantations.
Han Li, however, did not move, standing still beside the group.
As the evil spirits rushed towards them like a tide, the group did not have time to care about him, but they all had a bit of resentment in their hearts.
The group continued to set up the formation, and the sound of their incantations grew louder.
As the ghostly creatures approached within a hundred feet of the group, a loud dragon's roar suddenly resounded, and a layer of blue light burst forth from their bodies, expanding outward.
The blue light on the surface of the light curtain flowed and swirled, forming a series of blue dragon silhouettes that twisted and turned, flowing and changing without cease. Within the light curtain, a burst of auspicious and precious light shot upward, piercing through the dark clouds.
The ghostly creatures that collided with the blue light curtain let out a series of heart-wrenching cries.
The light curtain's blue light flickered rapidly, and the evil spirits that collided with it were like snow meeting the scorching sun, emitting a series of "hiss" sounds as they dissipated into nothingness, leaving behind only a trail of dark smoke.
However, the evil spirits that were trapped here had not tasted the flesh of the living for who knows how many years, and had long since lost all sense of reason, madly rushing forward without any regard for life or death. Even as they were continuously dissipated, they still continued to press forward, wave after wave.
Han Li's gaze swept around him, his expression unchanging as he beheld the endless tide of ghostly creatures.
"What are you doing? If you're not going to contribute, then don't expect us to help you!" Jing Liu shouted in anger.
Han Li ignored Jing Liu's words, standing upright and motionless at the center of the group, neither lending his assistance to the formation nor engaging in combat. Instead, he gazed upward, his eyes fixed intently on the dark, foreboding sky, lost in thought.
In the high air, the cultivators of the Tian Shui Sect were also engaged in a fierce battle with the ten red-robed ghostly generals.
These ghostly generals were different from the countless ghostly creatures below, each one possessing an astonishing level of cultivation, with most of them rivaling the peak of the Golden Immortal realm. Their cultivation methods were mysterious and unpredictable, and their techniques were endless.
The ghostly general who appeared to be a scholar possessed the highest level of cultivation, rivaling that of a mid-stage Tai Yi cultivator. His crimson official robes were the most sinister, with two wide sleeves that seemed to be like the vast expanse of the universe.
As he swept his left sleeve downward, a torrent of dark energy burst forth, enveloping Su Zhongling's head.
Su Zhongling's hand already grasped a water fan surrounded by a blue glow, and as she waved it back and forth, the fan's surface emitted a burst of light that tore through the void, creating a massive gash that stretched across the sky.
At the same time, the nine-bend river diagram on the water fan's surface flashed with light, and then disappeared.
The sound of rushing water filled the air as a massive river burst forth from the gash, surging upward and crashing against the scholar.
The scholar's face revealed a mocking smile as his sleeves fluttered, and a massive black whirlpool formed, swallowing the river water.
The river water seemed to be endless, and the scholar's sleeves were like a bottomless abyss, absorbing the water without any limit.
After the river water was absorbed into the scholar's left sleeve, a loud rumbling sound echoed, and his right sleeve shook, releasing a torrent of murky water that crashed against Su Zhongling.
However, the water that flowed from the scholar's right sleeve was now turbid, filled with floating corpses and blood.
Su Zhongling's expression changed as she beheld the scene, and with a flick of her wrist, the water fan's surface flashed with light, sealing the gash in the void and absorbing the scholar's counterattack.
A moment later, the river water dissipated, and the gash in the void closed, disappearing from sight.
On the surface of Su Zhongling's water fan, the blue light reappeared, and the nine-bend river diagram reformed, but the river water was now murky and impure.
At the same time, the fan's surface was shrouded in a faint, black mist that seemed to be difficult to dispel.
Su Zhongling's expression changed slightly as she beheld the scene, and with a flick of her wrist, the fan's surface emitted a burst of cold energy, sealing the river diagram in a layer of white light, as if it had been frozen in ice.
"You have a decent treasure, I'll take it for myself," the scholar said with a sinister laugh. "In the future, I'll cast ten million yin souls into that river, and refine it into a river of the underworld. As for you, little girl, you'll make a good concubine for me..."
Su Zhongling's eyes narrowed, and a cold, fierce light flashed within them. With a flick of her wrist, a wave of water flowed from her palm, coalescing into a clear, blue longsword.
"I'll fulfill your wish, and trap you beneath the ice of my fan, where you'll be unable to escape for eternity," she said, her voice cold and menacing. With a sudden burst of speed, she charged toward the scholar, engaging him in close combat.
The scholar laughed wildly, his sleeves fluttering as he welcomed the attack, and the two of them clashed in a fierce battle.
On the other side, Jing Liu wielded a pair of dragon-headed spears, engaging in a fierce battle with two of the red-robed ghostly generals.
One of the generals had the body of a human and the head of a cow, wielding a blood-red banner that seemed to be able to control the spirits of the dead. The other general had the body of a human and the face of a horse, wielding a set of black chains that seemed to be able to corrode the flesh and bones of his enemies.
The two ghostly generals were both at the early stage of the Tai Yi realm, and were extremely difficult to deal with. Jing Liu was able to barely suppress them, but was unable to gain the upper hand.
As for Han Li, he stood at the center of the group, his expression uncertain. Although the current war situation is still unclear, he knew that if it dragged on, it would inevitably lead to a situation where one side would weaken and the other would gain the upper hand, making things increasingly unfavorable for them.
Moreover, from the moment he entered this place, he had sensed that in the dark clouds above, a pair of eyes seemed to be watching their every move.
The ten red-robed ghost generals in front of him, who claimed to be the Ten Yama Kings, were not the strongest existence in this space. The truly terrifying being, who was hiding in the dark clouds above, had not yet appeared.
Since he didn't make a move, Han Li didn't intend to make the first move either. He was just being cautious and observing the situation.
But just then, a loud "rumbling" sound came from the Tianwang Temple on the other side of the mountain, causing the entire earth to shake violently.
Han Li concentrated his gaze in that direction and saw that the roof of the Tianwang Temple had been blown open, and the two giant statues of the Heavenly Kings inside had come to life. They were tearing open the walls and taking large strides towards them.
"Boom", "boom", "boom"
The two Heavenly King statues, with their armor broken and worn, were marching towards them, carrying two human head statues in their hands. They were thrown like sandbags, flying towards the Qīnglóng Huì Yuán Array.
Two blood-red human head statues flew through the air, hitting the Qīnglóng Huì Yuán Array with a force that shook the entire formation.
The people maintaining the array suddenly felt a heavy pressure, and their bodies shook. They spat out a mouthful of blood.
As they were injured, the array they were maintaining began to destabilize, and the Qīnglóng Huì Yuán Array's cyan light began to fade. The surrounding yīn qi ghosts grew more frenzied and charged forward.
In an instant, the Qīnglóng Huì Yuán Array was shrouded in black smoke, and countless yīn qi ghosts were dissolving. The array's cyan light was disappearing, and it seemed like it was about to collapse.
Han Li saw that the two Heavenly King statues were approaching, their feet trampling on the yīn qi ghosts. The demon-subduing mallet in their hands was raised high, as if ready to be thrown.
If the Qīnglóng Huì Yuán Array suffered another blow, not only would the array be unable to hold, but the people maintaining it would also be affected by the array's backlash, resulting in heavy casualties.
"Fine, since you won't make a move, I'll force you to," Han Li thought to himself, his single arm rising. He swung his hand, and a burst of breaking wind sound came from the void.
Eighteen cyan-colored light beams flashed and flew out of the light curtain, scattering and falling to the ground around the array.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
As the sound of sharp metal echoed, eighteen cyan-colored bamboo swords fell to the ground, embedding themselves into the earth around the array's perimeter, surrounding the entire formation and the people within.
"This is...?" Fù Gǔ Zhǔ's eyes widened in surprise as he turned to look at Han Li.
The others, seeing the swords fall to the ground, were even more perplexed.
The yīn qi ghosts didn't care about these developments and continued to charge at the array. Soon, they had engulfed all the cyan-colored bamboo swords, and the array's spiritual energy seemed to have been depleted. Although it could still block the ghosts, it couldn't eliminate them like before.
The dense yīn qi ghosts continued to climb higher, eventually covering the entire cyan-colored light curtain.
The two Heavenly King statues stopped their actions, not throwing the demon-subduing mallet again.
"They're finished..." Sū Zhū Xiǎo's expression changed, and she sighed.
"Don't worry about them for now. Let's focus on dealing with the current situation..." Jìng Liú's face was stern, and he shouted.
Before he finished speaking, a sudden change occurred on the square.
"Boom, boom, boom"
A loud thunderclap sounded, and eighteen golden lightning pillars, as thick as pillars, burst forth from the ground, shooting straight up into the sky.
A blinding golden light enveloped the area, and a torrent of electricity surged forward, sweeping across the square in all directions. The entire area was bathed in a golden hue, making it impossible to look directly at it.
A loud "hiss" sound filled the air.
As the golden lightning passed through, a large number of black smoke clouds rose, and countless yīn qi ghosts were swept away, disappearing into the air.
"This is... the Demon-Expelling Divine Lightning!" Sū Zhū Xiǎo's eyes widened in surprise as she exclaimed.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he thought to himself, "It seems that the true master of this place has finally made a move."
The yin ghosts that had previously been fearless and unyielding in the face of the Qinglong Hunyuan Array, now felt an instinctual fear as the rolling thunder of the Bixie Shen Lei struck them. They scattered in disarray, fleeing in all directions.
However, the speed of the golden lightning was too fast, and in just a few flashes, nearly half of the yin ghosts were consumed and incinerated in a burst of crackling energy.
The few people who had been surrounded by the ghosts earlier were now able to see the light of day once more. They were overjoyed and excited.
In particular, Fu Gu Zhu, who had been watching Han Li's figure, was shocked and delighted. He couldn't help but wonder if this Stone Dao friend was a Taiyi cultivator?
Jin Liu and Su Qianqian exchanged a glance, and both saw a hint of shock in each other's eyes.
Han Li's gaze remained fixed on the high sky, his attention still focused on the lead-colored clouds that had been accumulating above.
But now, no one dared to show disrespect towards him.
Su Qianqian followed Han Li's gaze and noticed the lead-colored clouds. She looked puzzled and wanted to say something, but suddenly her eyebrows furrowed, and she shouted loudly to Han Li, "Stone Dao friend, be careful!"
As soon as she spoke, a strong gust of wind rushed towards them.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he saw a massive demon-slaying mallet flying towards him from the front, about to strike him down.
The mallet was covered in yin energy and emitted a rolling black smoke, with a cluster of dark purple phosphorus fire at its tip.
Han Li stomped his feet on the ground, showing no intention of dodging the incoming mallet. Instead, he charged forward, meeting the mallet head-on.
His speed was extremely fast, and in an instant, he reached the mallet.
But instead of trying to deflect the mallet with force, he sidestepped and directly wrapped his hands around the falling mallet, twisting his waist to change its direction.
The seemingly unstoppable mallet was suddenly reversed, and Han Li used his hands to send it flying back towards the Tianwang statue.
The Tianwang statue saw this and quickly swung its fist to block the mallet.
Han Li didn't stop, and instead, he activated the Tianxia Town Prison Gong, using his powerful energy to blast the mallet forward.
The mallet shattered the Tianwang statue's fist, sending shards of stone flying everywhere, and then pierced through its chest, causing another explosion. A burst of starlight shot out from the statue's broken body, reducing it to dust.
Another Tianwang statue arrived, swinging its mallet towards Han Li, but he easily dodged it.
Han Li's feet lightly touched the mallet, and he used the momentum to flash past the Tianwang statue's arm, quickly reaching its shoulder.
He grasped the edge of the Tianwang statue's helmet and swung himself to its chest, punching its face with a loud "Bam!"
The statue's evil face was shattered, and its mud-plastered fragments fell off, revealing a massive empty cavity. Inside, a dense and intense yin energy was condensing, with two points of ghostly fire flickering.
Han Li's mouth curled into a smile, and he reached into the cavity, pulling out the hidden ghost creature.
He dragged the creature to the top of the statue and looked up at the sky, laughing loudly, "You're quite patient, aren't you?"
As he spoke, he spread his fingers, and a burst of golden electricity shot out, incinerating the ghost creature.
The dark clouds in the sky remained motionless, but the ten red-robed ghost generals looked at each other, their expressions changing. Some of them were enraged, and they seemed to be preparing to pursue Han Li.
However, the Tian Shui sect's disciples were able to hold them back, preventing them from escaping.
"Since you're not willing to show yourself, I'll have to force you," Han Li said, his eyes cold.
As he spoke, he grasped a sword gesture, and his hand shot out, summoning the eighteen bamboo swords that were stuck in the ground. They trembled and flew back to Han Li, hovering around him.
The swords were surrounded by a faint glow, and more swords began to appear, totaling thirty-six swords.
The flying swords hummed, their surfaces crackling with electricity, as they prepared to strike.
"Go!" Han Li's hands changed the spell incantation, and he let out a loud roar.
The 36 bamboo sword spirits received the command, and immediately emitted a joyful sword hum, wrapped in a blue light, and flew towards the dark clouds in the sky.
Under the sky, the flying swords stirred up a brilliant sword light, and outside the main sword bodies, countless faint blue sword lights were stirred up, gathering together to form a majestic blue sword dragon that pierced the leaden clouds.
"Ahh..."
A clear and melodious dragon's roar seemed to echo, and the blue sword dragon plunged into the dense cloud sea, disappearing without a trace.
After a moment of silence, a thunderous roar shook the heavens.
"Rumble, rumble..."
A dazzling golden light burst out from the cloud sea, and countless golden lightning bolts scattered and rushed about, forming massive golden lightning whips that swept across the surroundings, striking relentlessly.
The dark creatures on the square looked up at the sky, their faces filled with terror, and let out a chorus of wails.
The ten red-robed ghost generals were also pale with fear, their faces revealing a mixture of shock and awe.
The Exorcism God Thunder's natural dominance over these dark creatures was evident in this moment.
Su Zhongyan looked at Han Li's figure, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes, while Jing Liu's face changed from shock to amazement, seemingly astonished by Han Li's sudden display of power.
They had thought that this "Stone Daoist" was at most a gold immortal with a decent survival skill, but now it seemed that his power was far beyond that of a ordinary Taiyi realm jade immortal.
Han Li gazed up at the sky, his brow furrowed, and his eyes no longer held the previous carefree expression.
"Hehehe..." A strange, teeth-grinding laugh echoed from the leaden clouds.
The countless ghosts heard the sound and became restless.
"Welcome, Wusuo Ghost King..." the red-robed ghost generals shouted in unison.
Su Zhongyan and Jing Liu heard the name and their faces changed suddenly, exclaiming in unison, "How can it be him?"
The others, including the people from the Tian Shui Sect, were equally perplexed, having never heard of such a ghost in the Jin Yuan Immortal Realm.
"How can it be him? He shouldn't be here, shouldn't he be in the Heavenly Prison?" Han Li was equally puzzled.
He wasn't entirely unfamiliar with the name Wusuo Ghost King, as he had collected information about the prisoners in the Heavenly Prison through the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall, including some of the most notorious ones.
Wusuo Ghost King was one of them.
At this moment, the dense leaden clouds in the sky began to churn and boil, then rapidly condensed into a black fog.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, gazing at the fog, but it was too dense to see anything. After a long time, he felt a strange sensation, as if he was about to be swallowed up.
He activated his Body Refining Technique, and his expression returned to normal.
"You're not bad, kid, but you're not dead yet. If you were, I'd give you a seat in the Ten Halls of the Underworld. But who knows, maybe you'll be dead soon?" a hoarse voice echoed from within the fog.
A figure emerged from the fog, a middle-aged man dressed in a Confucian robe, wearing a square hat.
His features were ordinary, but his eyes had a hint of a scholar's calmness, and his body was clean and free of any ghostly aura. Anyone who saw him would think he was just a harmless scholar, not the King of the Ghosts.
Han Li knew that this person was indeed Wusuo Ghost King.
According to legend, Wusuo Ghost King was once a mortal scholar who had failed to pass the imperial exams, and after a series of misfortunes, he had risen up in rebellion against the kingdom. His rebel army had swept across the land, and he had used the infamous "human livestock" method to feed his troops.
The kingdom had been on the brink of collapse, and the immortal sects had intervened, violating the taboo against interfering with mortal affairs. Wusuo Ghost King had been defeated and killed, but his spirit had lingered, and he had eventually become a powerful ghost.
Through various means, he had avoided numerous heavenly disasters and had continued to cultivate, eventually becoming a ghost immortal and reaching the level of a Da Luo Ghost King.
But why had he been suppressed in this place?
Wu Chao Ghost King was dressed in a scholarly attire, his hand clenched into a claw, and a dark, palm-sized prison appeared in his palm, emitting electric sparks and crackling sounds. The thirty-six Qingtong Bee Cloud Swords were trapped inside, struggling and colliding with each other, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't break free from the prison's shackles.
"You're really patient, taking half a day to finally show yourself," Han Li said, not looking at the swords, but instead asking.
"Earlier, I felt a presence that was quite detestable yet made me wary. I couldn't determine what it was, and I thought it might be on those two people. Now, it seems it's on you. Not bad, not bad!" Wu Chao Ghost King looked at Han Li and chuckled.
"Are you talking about my Thunderbolt Annihilation Technique? You already have it in your hand, don't you?" Han Li feigned surprise and asked.
"This Thunderbolt Annihilation Technique is indeed troublesome, but it's not enough to make me wary. I've cultivated for so long, and I've seen all sorts of great winds and waves. I've killed countless Heavenly Messenger Sages," Wu Chao Ghost King said, raising an eyebrow.
As soon as he finished speaking, a strange phenomenon appeared behind Han Li. A narrow slit suddenly tore open in the air, and a dense, black mist poured out. Numerous ghostly hands and claws emerged, instantly blocking Han Li's retreat and grabbing at him.
Han Li's body didn't move, and a strange sound echoed from his body. Countless golden electric threads burst forth, covering him like a golden armor.
The ghostly hands touched the golden threads and immediately retreated, emitting black smoke.
Han Li turned around, raised his fist, and punched the black mist.
His body's acupoints flashed with light, and a brilliant starlight burst forth from his fist, illuminating the black mist. The ghostly hands were like they were burned by the starlight, retreating back into the mist.
Wu Chao Ghost King saw this and smiled. He controlled the still-struggling Qingtong Bee Cloud Swords with one hand and clenched his other hand into a claw, grasping the air.
Han Li saw the narrow slit tear open again, and the black mist spread out like a tide. At the same time, Wu Chao Ghost King's body suddenly became illusory and disappeared.
The dense mist merged with the sky, and Han Li felt the surroundings darken, as if he had entered the night. The scenery around him disappeared, and even the sounds of the Heavenly Water Sect disciples and the ten Red Robe Ghost Generals fighting couldn't be heard.
He furrowed his brow, quickly circulating his Cultivation Technique, and sent out his divine sense to explore.
"Ah, how strange! You have the Thunderbolt Annihilation Technique, and you've also cultivated the Cultivation Technique. Your level is not low, but it's useless against me... I'm becoming more and more interested in you," Wu Chao Ghost King's voice suddenly came from the surroundings, sounding somewhat ethereal.
"What's going on?" Han Li's brow furrowed in surprise.
Using his Cultivation Technique, he couldn't even detect Wu Chao Ghost King's exact location.
At this moment, a strange fluctuation appeared in the air around Han Li, and a blood-red light emerged. A figure of Wu Chao Ghost King condensed, and it was as if there were dozens of him, all with the same aura and releasing the same cultivation fluctuations, which were all at the Great Luo level.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he scanned the Wu Chao Ghost Kings, discovering that they all had the same aura. They moved simultaneously, dispersing in all directions, and surrounded Han Li from all sides.
The blood-red light on their bodies flashed, and they began to chant, releasing a series of strange, ancient symbols. These symbols floated in the air, forming a circle around Han Li.
Each symbol had a blood-red glow, and a ghostly head emerged from each one, opening its mouth in a silent roar. A dark red light shot out from each mouth, enveloping Han Li.
Han Li felt his body stiffen, and his blood seemed to freeze. His cultivation and stellar force stopped circulating.
At the same time, a blood-red wave surged in his mind, and a figure of Wu Chao Ghost King, condensed from blood, stepped forward, walking towards the depths of his mind.
Wherever the figure walked, Han Li's mind was invaded by the blood-red color.
Han Li's heart was shocked. Since he had cultivated the Cultivation Technique, when had he been so easily broken through, allowing someone to invade his mind?
His divine sense manifested in his mind, using all his strength to circulate the Cultivation Technique, and formed a strong barrier to resist the invasion. "No need to resist, my Soul-Seeking Technique is something that even ordinary Da Luo Realm cultivators can't withstand, why bother?" Wu Zuo Gui Wang, the Blood Shadow Bookworm, spoke in his raspy voice, which echoed within Han Li's mind.
"Uu Zuo Gui Wang, I have something I don't understand, can you enlighten me, so I can die with a clear conscience?" Han Li's divine soul didn't respond directly, instead asking a question.
"If it were anyone else, I wouldn't deign to answer, but since your divine soul is so strong, it can help me break through my cultivation, I'll make an exception and let you die with a clear conscience." The Blood Shadow Bookworm stopped in his tracks and responded.
"It's said that Uu Zuo Gui Wang was suppressed in the Heavenly Court's Divine Prison, why are you here?" Han Li asked.
"I thought you'd ask why your Refining Spirit Technique couldn't withstand my Soul-Seeking Technique, but instead, you asked this... it's really... never mind, I'll tell you anyway. The former master of the Divine Prison was the Tai Sui Immortal, who guarded the prison for millions of years. Later, he betrayed the Heavenly Court and escaped, and before leaving, he tricked me into coming out and imprisoned me here." Wu Zuo Gui Wang replied with a hint of reminiscence.
"Originally, I had no idea you had such a past, no wonder this Years Tower is so treacherous... it seems we're not here to seek treasure, but to throw ourselves into a trap... " Han Li smiled wryly, his hands hidden in his sleeves, but secretly forming a seal.
"You only thought you were seeking treasure, but in reality, you entered a place of death, otherwise, I wouldn't have stayed here for so many years. Even if I didn't kill you, you'd never be able to escape this tower, so why not let me help you find release, at least you'll have a chance to reincarnate... I'm actually being too kind, having read so many sacred scriptures, my conscience is still intact." Wu Zuo Gui Wang sighed lightly.
"I have one more question, can your divine soul withstand the Thunder of the Evil-Extinguishing God?" Han Li suddenly smiled, asking a question.
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire realm of his mind was suddenly filled with a surge of golden light, countless golden lightning bolts erupted from the surroundings, instantly engulfing his entire realm.
A series of electric explosions echoed through Han Li's mind, and the Blood Shadow Bookworm was submerged in the lightning, instantly disappearing, and the surrounding blood-red color retreated and dissipated.
Along with this, Han Li's mind was shaken violently, and even he felt a sharp, tearing pain, his divine soul suffering a significant injury.
The evil ghost skulls surrounding him cracked and shattered.
Han Li gritted his teeth, enduring the intense pain in his mind, and looked forward, seeing that among the dozens of Wu Zuo Gui Wang's figures, one of them had a golden light appearing in the center of his palm.
He quickly raised his hand and swung it in that direction, and a silver light flashed, followed by the appearance of the Crying Soul, which darted towards that direction.
As soon as it appeared, the Crying Soul didn't hesitate, and its body was surrounded by a black glow, instantly transforming into its true form as a demonic beast.
It grew to over a hundred feet tall, its body a massive, black ape, its fur standing on end like steel needles, its eyes glowing red, and its brow splitting open to reveal a third, blood-red eye. Three black, bony spikes protruded from its back, and its entire body radiated a dark, oppressive aura.
The Wu Zuo Gui Wang, whose divine soul had been severely damaged by the Thunder of the Evil-Extinguishing God, was shocked and enraged, never having expected Han Li to possess such a powerful technique, and even more astonished that he would release it within his own realm.
He struggled to stabilize his divine soul, and when he looked up, he saw his arch-nemesis suddenly appear before him, and for a moment, he was flustered.
Han Li took advantage of the opportunity, his hands forming a sword seal, and with a loud, thunderous sound, the thirty-six Qing Zhuo Cloud Swords, which had been sealed by Wu Zuo Gui Wang, burst forth, flying towards him in a flash of golden light.
Han Li looked at the flying swords, their golden light somewhat dimmed, and quickly stored them in the Xuan Tian Gourd to nurture them.
He glanced at the Crying Soul, which was already engaged in battle with Wu Zuo Gui Wang, and felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, his body swaying, and he quickly sat down in the lotus position.
"It seems the damage is worse than I thought..."
Han Li sighed inwardly, his hand flipping over to retrieve a pill to repair his divine soul, which he quickly swallowed, and began to meditate.
Currently, the Crying Soul's strength had not fully recovered, and facing the Da Luo-level Wu Zuo Gui Wang, although it had a natural advantage, the difference in strength was too great, and the outcome was uncertain.
Furthermore, they were in Wu Zuo Gui Wang's spiritual realm, and he had the advantage of being on home turf, so Han Li had to quickly stabilize his divine soul to help the Crying Soul, or they would be at a disadvantage.
With this thought, Han Li focused on refining the pill, calming his mind, and meditating.
Han Li sat cross-legged, regulating his breathing, when suddenly a fierce battle erupted nearby between the Wailing Soul and the Ghost King of the Dark Nest.
The Wailing Soul dodged a large cluster of razor-sharp claws and let out a deafening roar. Its body began to swell, and golden and silver symbols emerged from its skin, releasing powerful waves of energy.
At the same time, the Wailing Soul's third eye flashed, and a thick, blood-red beam of light shot out, striking the Ghost King.
The Ghost King's eyes flickered with a hint of fear, and he summoned dozens of shadowy figures to merge with his body. He then waved his sleeve, unleashing a massive cloud of black mist.
From the mist, a bony claw emerged, and a crimson glow appeared on its palm. A blood-red face materialized, with jagged teeth and sharp horns, looking ferocious.
The Ghost King's mouth opened, revealing a dark vortex that rotated wildly. The Wailing Soul's blood-red beam was absorbed by the vortex, and the two energies clashed.
Meanwhile, the Ghost King pressed his hand against the ground, and a strange, ancient symbol appeared, disappearing into the earth.
Suddenly, a circle of blood-red light appeared beneath the Wailing Soul, and a blood pool began to spread rapidly. The Wailing Soul tried to dodge, but its feet were rooted to the spot by an unseen force.
The blood pool's surface churned and bubbled, releasing a noxious stench, and the Wailing Soul's legs were quickly submerged. The pool's interior was filled with thousands of blood-red ghosts, which clawed and crawled towards the Wailing Soul.
The Wailing Soul's body was covered in black smoke, but it managed to resist the attack due to its robust physique. However, the battle had reached a stalemate.
Han Li, who had been meditating, suddenly opened his eyes and leapt to his feet. He gazed at the Ghost King, and his wrist twitched, summoning the thirty-six Cloud-Sword blades. He charged forward, but a sudden, intense energy wave erupted from the shadows.
A figure emerged from the darkness, its presence masked by the night. It lunged at Han Li with a palm strike.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and his body flashed with a brilliant light. He vanished, reappearing hundreds of feet away. However, the attacker's hand remained, and a blazing golden fire erupted from its palm, encasing Han Li in a fiery prison.
"Qi Mozi!" Han Li exclaimed, recognizing the attacker.
Qi Mozi's face was twisted in a snarl. Han Li sensed a disruption in the flow of time and felt a chill run down his spine. A golden wheel appeared behind him, radiating intense light and releasing a barrage of golden energy beams.
The beams clashed with the flames, creating a void that slowed down time. The golden light dissipated, but the flames continued to rage.
The Wailing Soul, still trapped in the blood pool, saw Qi Mozi's attack and wanted to intervene. However, it was bound by the Ghost King's magic and couldn't escape.
Qi Mozi sneered, "You've grown stronger since our last meeting, but you're still no match for me. Today, I'll eliminate you and prevent future troubles."
The flames intensified, pushing back the golden light and encroaching on Han Li's surroundings.
Han Li let out a mighty roar, and his body glowed with energy. He summoned the power of the Heavenly Executioner's Prison, and his fist struck the air, countering Qi Mozi's attack. Han Li's fists burst forth with a brilliant starlight that exploded into a snow-white light screen, compressing the air and pressing forward, layer by layer, until the space in front of him began to distort and break apart, pushing towards Qi Mozi.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The air was filled with the sound of explosions as the light screen compressed the space, and countless golden flames were absorbed into the distortion, momentarily relieving the pressure of the golden light.
Han Li seized the opportunity to raise his hand and swing it, unleashing thirty-six Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords that scattered from his back, shooting upwards with a piercing cry, transforming into sword energy trails that vanished into thin air.
However, in the blink of an eye, the Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords flew back from the distant sky, their tips pointing directly at Qi Mozi's back, with golden electric threads crackling on their surface as they rapidly approached.
Just as they were about to reach Qi Mozi, a sheet of golden flames suddenly emerged from the void, pinning the swords in mid-air, even freezing the golden lightning on their surface.
Qi Mozi's palm swept out in a fierce motion, accompanied by a loud roar.
A golden light flashed before him, and a burning torch materialized out of thin air.
"No!"
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he hastily withdrew the True Speech Treasure Wheel into his body.
The next instant, the flames on the torch's surface began to spread, releasing a wave of light that rippled through the air, causing everything in the void to come to a standstill, frozen in time.
Han Li had released his Time Domain in the same instant, and withdrawn the True Speech Treasure Wheel into his body, rapidly reversing its rotation. However, he still couldn't escape the pursuit of the flame's light, and was enveloped by it after a mere two breaths.
In an instant, Han Li's body slowed to a crawl, although he wasn't completely immobile like before, he still appeared powerless.
Moreover, without the protection of the Thunder Array, even if he could momentarily break free, he wouldn't be able to escape.
However, Han Li's cultivation breakthrough wasn't entirely useless, and despite his slow movements, he could still move, and his thoughts weren't completely hindered by the time constraint.
The next instant, a silver light flashed on Han Li's body, and a layer of silver flames slowly spread out, covering his body like a suit of armor, emitting a powerful fire attribute law force.
As the silver flames appeared, the void around Han Li seemed to distort and become illusory, and the flame's light that fell upon it was even repelled.
"How is this possible? Can the Five Elements Law really shake the Supreme Law?" Qi Mozi exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.
With a sweep of his hand, the black short axe flew out once more, transforming into a dark light that shot towards Han Li.
This time, without the True Speech Treasure Wheel's golden ripples to block it, the black short axe pierced through the layers of flames and struck Han Li, who was enveloped by the golden flames.
Just as the axe was about to land on Han Li, a layer of golden sand particles condensed from the air, blocking the axe's path, and a golden gourd appeared above Han Li's head, releasing a wave of golden liquid that wrapped around the axe's handle.
The axe blade was trapped in the golden sand, as if stuck in a time vortex, and no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't break through the sand and land on Han Li.
The golden liquid from the gourd even corroded the axe's handle, causing it to decay and rot.
As the axe was bound and unable to move, Qi Mozi's expression turned even colder.
He took a step forward, his foot stepping on the void, and approached Han Li, whose Time Domain had little effect on him.
Qi Mozi's body drew closer, and the golden torch floating before him also drew nearer, its flames intensifying as they pressed down on Han Li.
The silver flames on Han Li's body surged wildly, but his ability to resist the flames was weakening.
Han Li's throat let out a hoarse cry as he poured all his energy into the Five Elements Illusory World Technique, causing his body to shine with a brilliant golden light.
His True Speech Treasure Wheel, the Time-Reversing Flowing Fire, and the Eastern Yi Divine Wood all appeared at the same time, releasing their respective powers.
The five time law objects, each with its own unique fluctuations, released a wave of energy that resonated with each other, but unlike before, they didn't form a unified golden ring.
As a result, the five powers remained separate, unable to stop Qi Mozi's approach.
But just as they thought that was the end, a shocking scene unfolded, leaving both Qi Mozi and Han Li stunned!
The Zhenyan Treasure Wheel's surface suddenly lit up with a brilliant light, as if a multitude of Dao patterns had emerged, fluttering and dancing in the air. The wheel itself detached from Han Li's back and flew upwards, suspended in mid-air like a full moon, its golden light radiating downwards.
The golden hourglass followed, falling to the ground and releasing its golden sand, which slowly poured out, spreading rapidly and covering the ground. In the blink of an eye, it had reached Qimozi's feet.
Qimozi's eyes widened in shock, his raised foot hesitating for a moment before he violently stomped into the sand, feeling a slight delay before continuing his advance towards Han Li.
However, just as he was about to reach Han Li, the other three time law manifestation objects began to change.
The golden liquid in the Guangyin Vessel transformed into a long, golden river, flowing and swirling in the air. The Dongyi Divine Tree was planted in the golden sand, condensing into a forest of virtual shadows. The golden torch flew into the sky, dispersing into countless sparks, resembling the starry night sky.
"This is... could it be?"
Qimozi's eyes flashed with shock, his footsteps stopping as he gazed at the scene before him.
Even Han Li himself was surprised by the sudden appearance of this strange and wondrous scene. The five time law manifestation objects had merged with his time domain, creating a fantastical landscape.
Han Li's domain space changed, causing the time law fluctuations within the domain to intensify, as if the golden ripples were resisting Qimozi's disrupted flow of time. However, the difference in their cultivation realms was too great, and Qimozi maintained the upper hand.
"Good! You've indeed obtained the Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique, and you've already reached the point of resonating with the domain. This time, you won't be able to escape, and I will definitely obtain this technique!" Qimozi's face, which had initially been shocked, was now filled with an indescribable excitement.
As he spoke, he activated the golden torch, summoning a brilliant light, and retrieved the black short axe, striking down towards Han Li.
Han Li had no choice but to use his Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique and the Tianxia Zhenjin Technique to their limits, preparing to ignite his true spirit blood vessels and transform into a three-headed, six-armed form to withstand the attack.
But just as he was about to do so, a sudden change occurred!
The five time law manifestation objects on the surface suddenly emitted a brilliant light, as if time law crystals were shooting out, merging and fusing in the air, releasing a dazzling five-colored light.
Qimozi felt the five-colored light enveloping him, his expression changing as he became frozen in place, unable to move.
Han Li's eyes flashed with surprise as he saw the five-colored light illuminating Qimozi's body, causing his form to begin to blur and split into multiple virtual shadows.
However, as the shadows continued to divide, the first virtual shadow began to shine with a faint light, its body dissolving into a gray mist, dispersing into the air.
As the shadows continued to disappear, the real Qimozi's body began to undergo a subtle transformation, his aura changing as well.
Han Li was unaware of the fortunate coincidence that had created this strange scene, and he feared that any careless movement would disrupt the scene before him.
So, he carefully maintained his technique, focusing all his energy on the Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique.
However, his eyes never left Qimozi's body.
After observing for a moment, Han Li discovered that as the virtual shadows disappeared, Qimozi's cultivation was gradually weakening... or rather, his age was decreasing.
The virtual shadows seemed to be the countless years Qimozi had experienced, and as they dissipated under the five-colored light, he was being pulled into a time trap, his body regressing to a state from tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years ago.
Within a dozen breaths, Qimozi's aura had plummeted, and he was unable to maintain even the early stages of the Mahayana realm, his state becoming increasingly unstable.
"How is this possible? These are just illusions, how can they have such power?" Qimozi struggled desperately, but to no avail, and he cried out in shock.
Han Li gritted his teeth, pouring all his energy into the technique.
He believed that if he could just hold on for a few more breaths, Qimozi's body would regress even further, perhaps to the point where he could no longer maintain his cultivation, and Han Li would have a chance to defeat him.
But fate was not on his side. The five-colored light above Qimozi's head began to fade, its color becoming increasingly dull, as if its energy was being rapidly depleted, and it was on the verge of collapse. "Hold on a bit longer, just a bit longer..." Han Li's eyebrows were scrunched up into a knot, his heart constantly praying.
But in the next instant, a faint "plop" sound echoed out.
The five-colored fusion light, under intense consumption, finally lost all its color, and all the time crystal threads within it had exhausted all their time law power, transforming into thin, transparent silk threads.
Immediately after, the spiritual domain's round moon descended, the stars gathered, the mountains flattened, the rivers flowed backwards, the trees disappeared, and all the illusory landscapes that had been conjured up dissipated.
Then, the five time law incarnations reappeared, each one's light dimly flying into Han Li's body, and no matter how he called out, they couldn't be externalized.
Not waiting for Qimozi to react, Han Li let out a loud roar, circulating the Tian Xiao Zhen Yu (Heavenly Executioner's Imprisonment) technique while reversing the true spirit blood vessels in his body. A crimson light burst forth, and his body suddenly expanded, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed form in an instant.
The central giant ape's head glared, its eyes flashing, as it swung a massive fist at Qimozi, followed by a dragon claw covered in golden scales that shot out, grasping at him.
The latter had just regained his freedom, but he didn't care about his realm decreasing, and hastily raised his hand to perform a strange hand seal, then pushed out a palm. The golden fire on the golden fire torch suddenly surged upwards.
A golden flame dragon formed, charging straight at Han Li.
The flame dragon's body condensed a dense time law power, moving at an unfathomable speed that surpassed Han Li's giant fist and dragon claw, striking him first.
Wherever the flame dragon passed, the void's time momentarily froze, its power not inferior to Han Li's when he was in the Da Luo realm. If Han Li was hit, his body would definitely become stuck, unable to fight back.
However, Han Li had long been prepared for this situation. The moment the golden flame dragon appeared, a green light burst forth in front of him, and the Xuan Tian Gourd (Mysterious Heaven Gourd) had opened its mouth, waiting.
The gourd's mouth was spinning rapidly with a green light, but when the golden flame dragon approached, it slowed down, yet never truly stopped.
When the golden flame dragon drew near, it was inevitably sucked in, directly swallowed by the gourd.
The gourd violently shook, its mouth self-sealing, its body still trembling non-stop.
Han Li had no time to care about the gourd's abnormality, and immediately grasped this fleeting opportunity, swinging out a fist and a claw simultaneously. The star power within him also surged out without restraint.
Qimozi, under the influence of the five-colored fusion light, was originally unstable, and having just used a secret technique, was caught off guard by Han Li's sudden absorption of the attack into the gourd. He was unable to counterattack, and was struck by a massive force that was like a mountain range crashing down.
A loud "boom" echoed out!
A burst of starlight exploded, and Qimozi's figure was struck, flying out amidst the starlight fragments.
His bones crackled, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes still fixed on Han Li with hatred, until he flew out of the black night sky that the Wuguo Ghost King had shrouded, and heavily crashed to the ground.
Han Li's body leapt forward, chasing after him, but the latter flashed away, shooting towards the distance and disappearing in an instant.
The ten Red Robed Ghost Generals and the Tian Shui Sect disciples, who were fighting in the distance, didn't even see his figure, only seeing the torn black night sky slowly closing, with a faint three-headed, six-armed giant demon silhouette visible inside.
Han Li's gaze slowly returned from the distance, his mind stirring slightly. The thirty-six Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Swords and the Jing Yan Fire Bird, which had been sealed by the Broken Time Flowing Fire, flew back to his side.
He turned his gaze to the other side, and saw that Ti Hu and the Wuguo Ghost King were still fighting, their bodies covered in shocking wounds, seemingly at a disadvantage.
The Wuguo Ghost King had already transformed into a several hundred zhang tall giant ghost, wearing a blood-red armor, with a crimson cloak draped over it, its entire body a deep red color.
Its head had sharp horns, its mouth had fangs, and its face was twisted with ferocity. When it breathed, two streams of blood mist flowed out of its nostrils, its body emitting a powerful, bloody aura that made one want to vomit.
The Wuguo Ghost King grasped a massive white bone trident, its shaft inscribed with blood-red symbols, its tip wrapped in black smoke, stabbing straight at Ti Hu's brow.
Ti Hu's brow was filled with a surging blood light, which collided with the Wuguo Ghost King's attack, splashing out a large amount of blood light.
"Go!"
Han Li's palm swung out, and the thirty-six Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Swords flew out first, shining with countless sword lights, like a golden sword rain pouring down from the sky, fiercely chopping towards the Wuguo Ghost King.
A burst of golden lightning erupted from the thirty-six Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords, mixing with the sword energy to engulf the Wū Cháo Ghost King.
"Ah..."
A violent roar echoed from the Ghost King's mouth as his body was covered in numerous dense wounds, with bloodlight flashing and black smoke rising.
He turned his head to look at Han Li, who was charging towards him with large strides, and immediately spat out a mouthful of air.
A loud "whoosh" sound erupted as a dense black flame burst out from his mouth, instantly forming a black fire wall that pushed forward, layer upon layer, overwhelming the surroundings.
Han Li's eyes flashed, but he didn't move, completely unresponsive.
A silver light flashed from his side, transforming into a giant silver firebird with seven-colored flames on its head, its body enormous, with wings that stretched over a thousand feet wide. With a single flap, it was like a giant silver blade, cutting through the black fire wall with ease.
The silver firebird's body charged through the center of the fire wall, its wings pushing out flames that parted to reveal a wide, open road.
Han Li's shadow flashed through the opening, his body surrounded by a silver electric glow as the power of the Lei Peng surged, his massive body appearing beside the Wū Cháo Ghost King in an instant. He punched out with a loud "boom".
The Wū Cháo Ghost King stumbled, his massive body tilting to the side, his hand holding the white bone trident wavering.
A "buzz" sound erupted as the bloodlight from the Qì Hún's eyes shot into the Ghost King's shoulder.
The Wū Cháo Ghost King let out a mournful wail, his shoulder armor melting away, revealing a giant blood hole that spewed out dark liquid.
"You're courting death, I'll crush your bones to dust!"
A sharp, ear-piercing shriek echoed from his mouth, his body surrounded by a surge of black energy, as countless dark ghostly shadows shot out from within, tearing at Han Li and Qì Hún.
The ghostly shadows seemed real, yet intangible, dispersing like smoke when Han Li tried to punch them. Unable to land a hit, Han Li recalled the Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords to surround him, releasing the Xié Yī Shén Léi to drive them back.
However, these ghostly shadows seemed to defy the Xié Yī Shén Léi, dispersing momentarily before recondensing and reappearing.
Moreover, whenever they approached Han Li, he felt an eerie, yin-yang energy seeping into his bones, as if it came from the underworld.
As the attacks continued, the yin-yang energy accumulated within him, and his body began to feel an icy, bone-chilling cold.
Qì Hún, on the other hand, was faring worse, her movements slowing, struggling to keep up with the Wū Cháo Ghost King's attacks.
If they continued to fight like this, they would surely be defeated.
Just as Han Li's thoughts reached this point, he suddenly had an idea.
"Qì Hún, come back!"
His mind stirred, and the Jīng Huǒ Firebird, which had been consuming the black fire wall, flew back into his body.
Han Li felt a surge of heat, the icy coldness dissipating, and his body returned to its original state. The silver electric glow on his body flashed, and he appeared before the Wū Cháo Ghost King.
The Wū Cháo Ghost King swung his white bone trident, trying to sweep Han Li away.
Han Li saw this and reached for the green gourd hanging from his waist, which he had picked up earlier. He poured the contents of the gourd towards the Wū Cháo Ghost King.
A "boom" sound erupted as the green vortex at the mouth of the gourd spun wildly, and a golden flame dragon burst out, charging towards the Ghost King.
This dragon was the same one that Qí Mó Zǐ had attacked Han Li with earlier, but after being trapped in the Xuán Tiān Gourd for a while, its size and speed had decreased significantly. However, its passage still distorted the space-time continuum, slowing down everything around it.
The Wū Cháo Ghost King, already exhausted from fighting Qì Hún and Han Li, saw the dragon approaching and hastily threw his white bone trident.
The dragon's speed was incredible, and the trident barely had time to fly out before colliding with the dragon.
A deafening "boom" sound shook the air.
The golden flame dragon exploded, releasing a burst of golden spiritual flames that engulfed the Wū Cháo Ghost King.
"Time..." The Wū Cháo Ghost King, caught in the explosion, felt an eerie power take hold of him, his mind going blank as his entire body was frozen in place.
A moment later, the golden flame dragon's explosion began to dissipate, and the affected area began to shrink. As the power of the Time Law within the Lingyan reduced to half, the consciousness in Wu Chao's mind also recovered. When his thoughts were still lingering on the "Time Law's power...", Han Li's figure suddenly appeared from afar.
His body was fully activated with the Tianxie Zhenyin Gong, and the thirty-six Qingzhu Fengyun swords in his hand merged into one. The sword light and lightning burst forth simultaneously, sweeping horizontally towards Wu Chao's neck.
A loud crack of thunder sounded, followed by a crisp "crack" sound. Wu Chao's head had already flown high into the air, his eyes wide open, and his body rolled to the ground with a "gulugulu" sound.
There was no blood flowing from his severed neck, only countless dark and sinister ghostly spirits pouring out, like a flock of crows taking flight, emitting a rustling sound.
As the vengeful spirits emerged, the atmosphere around them grew thick with malevolent energy, and the Yin wind howled fiercely, making the air feel even more oppressive.
Just as Han Li was about to release the Jingyan Firebird to incinerate the spirits, he saw Ti Hu arrive.
Her nose twitched, and she let out a loud snort, releasing a burst of yellow light from her nostrils that enveloped the ghostly spirits emerging from Wu Chao's neck.
With a swift motion, she inhaled the yellow light, and the ghostly spirits within began to shatter and disintegrate, transforming into a dense black light that was sucked into her nostrils.
As the black light poured into her body, the dark energy surrounding them began to dissipate, and the night sky slowly cleared.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he felt a sense of relief. He held up his sword to protect Ti Hu, scanning the surroundings.
In the distance, the battlefield was still ablaze with intense fighting. The ancient temple was almost completely destroyed, with only a single arch remaining.
Of the original ten Red Robed Ghost Generals, only three remained: the scholar with the shrill voice and the Ox-Headed Ghost General.
On the side of the Tian Shui Sect, only Su Zhen and Jing Liu remained.
The corpses of the cultivators on the ground had disappeared, either devoured by the ghost generals or reclaimed by Jing Liu's Linglong Pagoda. The only ones left were the four scattered cultivators, now reduced to white bones, still maintaining their defensive stance, surrounded by a swarm of malevolent spirits.
Han Li hesitated for a moment before waving his hand, unleashing a gust of wind that scattered the nearby ghostly spirits. He then used the wind to sweep away the debris and bury the remains of the scattered cultivators.
The two combatants and the three ghost generals finally noticed the change in the atmosphere.
"Ghost King..."
The scholar ghost general let out a shrill cry, as if he had suddenly lost his mind, and charged towards Ti Hu.
Han Li swiftly intervened, his Qingzhu Fengyun sword slicing downwards.
A brilliant sword light, wrapped in golden lightning, tore through the dark sky, striking the scholar ghost general and splitting him in two.
The latter's body began to disintegrate, his voice whispering "Ghost King... Ghost King... Ghost..." as his form dissipated into nothingness.
The Ox-Headed Ghost General and the Horse-Faced Ghost General saw their companion fall and immediately fled, with Jing Liu and Su Zhen in hot pursuit, disappearing into the distance.
Han Li merely glanced at them before turning away.
He surveyed the surroundings, seeing that the situation had finally stabilized, and sat down cross-legged, closing his eyes to meditate.
The damage to his divine soul and the exhaustion from using the Time Law's power had left him feeling drained.
After a short period of time, his eyes slowly opened, and his expression turned complex.
The strange occurrences in the spirit realm and the appearance of the law's manifestation had left him perplexed. However, based on Qi Mochen's reaction, he suspected that this was not a coincidence, but rather a result of his cultivation of the Da Wuxing Huan Shi Jue.
Unfortunately, he had learned this technique through self-study, and some things could only be understood through trial and error.
With the True Word Treasure Wheel and other time law manifestations temporarily unusable, his options were limited, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of frustration.
"This is a mixed blessing, I can only take things one step at a time..." he sighed, standing up.
Ti Hu, having finished devouring the entire Wu Chao, returned to her human form and approached him.
"Burp..." she let out a satisfied belch.
"I ate a bit too much..." Ti Hu said with a hint of embarrassment.
"Earlier, you said you felt a bit empty inside, now that you've eaten your fill, it's good. Let's head back to the cave and rest for a while..." Han Li smiled and said.
"I need to close my eyes and cultivate for a while, and then I'll be able to help Master even more." Ti Hu replied.
Han Li nodded, and with a wave of his hand, opened the silver light door. Ti Hu stepped through, disappearing into the distance.
Han Li watched her go, his eyes narrowing slightly as he pondered the events that had transpired.
Han Li waved his hand to close the light door behind him, and his body swayed slightly as he flew towards the broken temple, landing in front of the remaining circular stone gate.
The stone gate had two broken wooden doors in the middle, with severe peeling of the red paint, looking extremely dilapidated.
On the two wooden doors, a bronze beast-shaped carving was embedded, resembling a Pixiu, with some resemblance to "Little White". The carving held a large bronze ring in its mouth, with dense talismanic patterns engraved around it.
From the talismanic patterns, it was clear that this was not a particularly profound restriction, but the fluctuations it emitted were identical to the feeling when entering the third layer of space.
Without a doubt, the fourth layer was also easy to enter, but difficult to exit.
Han Li looked at it for a moment, then put aside his slightly disturbed emotions and began to set up the array to break the restriction.
Before long, two flashes of light flew in from a distance, and Jing Liu and Su Zhenyan arrived, landing behind Han Li.
"Stone friend..." Jing Liu's eyes were complex, and after a moment of hesitation, he hurriedly bowed and said.
Su Zhenyan only looked at Han Li's back, without bowing or speaking, and her eyes were filled with wariness and doubt towards the person in front of her, who was completely different from before.
"Did you catch up?" Han Li asked casually, without turning his head, continuing to work on the array.
"Those two ghostly generals injured two of our sect's elders, we can't let them off." Jing Liu saw that Han Li didn't turn his head, and his eyes didn't show any displeasure, only some hesitation.
"I'll go arrange for their bodies to be taken care of." Su Zhenyan said to Jing Liu, and her body flashed away.
Jing Liu watched her leave, and soon turned back to stare at Han Li.
He furrowed his brow, thinking for a moment, before finally asking, "Stone friend, your methods are extraordinary, but you've always been secretive and never acted. Is there something you're not saying?"
"A lone cultivator, always cautious, Jing friend doesn't need to be too alert, I have no grudges with you, and I don't want to have any grudges with you." Han Li replied, still not turning his head.
"Earlier, I was blind to your abilities, and I was rude to you. But from the fact that you helped Master Pei and the others, I can see that you're not a narrow-minded person. So I'm not worried about having a grudge with you, but I want to form an alliance with you." Jing Liu said, his eyes flashing with a hint of apology.
"I'm used to traveling alone, so forming an alliance is unnecessary. Besides, in this situation, even if I agreed to form an alliance, could we truly trust each other?" Han Li smiled and said.
"This..." Jing Liu hesitated.
"Traveling together is already a coincidence, if we have the chance to help each other, we can do so. Otherwise, let's not force it. When the time is right, we'll part ways and go our separate ways." Han Li said slowly.
As he finished speaking, he finished setting up the array to break the restriction, and clapped his hands together.
The sound of "clang clang" came from the circular stone gate, and the Pixiu carving's mouth opened, revealing a dark red light door.
"Since you've said so, then let's follow your words." Jing Liu looked at the light door, and his heart slightly relaxed, nodding in agreement.
At this time, Su Zhenyan also flew back, and the three of them exchanged a few words before entering the light door together, disappearing from sight.
...
In a certain place within the Years Tower.
On a desolate and barren land covered in rocks, a lone black and white stone monument stood, with a strange figure leaning against one of the pillars.
The figure had long and wide limbs, with skin as red as fire, and a head of fiery red hair, with flames flickering within. This was none other than Qi Mozi, who had just had a fierce battle with Han Li.
His hands were clasped together in front of him, and his body was slightly floating, with a layer of golden light waves constantly rippling around him, clearly in the midst of cultivating a higher-level technique.
A moment later, his eyes suddenly opened, and a flash of anger appeared in his eyes.
"A 'Disaster Time Flowing Fire Collection' is nothing but a waste of time, even if I cultivate for a thousand years. Old Ancestor, who did you truly pass on the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique' to? Could it be that that kid is also your closed-door disciple?"
Qi Mozi's teeth clenched, his voice filled with anger.
After a moment of silence, he began to speculate, "Or perhaps... that kid is like that gray-haired old mouse, and he secretly listened to the teachings within the sect?"
But he quickly shook his head, rejecting his own idea.
If it was possible to understand the secrets of the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique' just by listening to the teachings, then wouldn't he and his fellow disciples be nothing but fools?
"It's fortunate that this kid has only grasped the surface of the technique, and the effects of the Five Elements Fantasy won't last long. Once my cultivation is restored, the next time we meet, I won't give him any chance. I'll kill him, even if it means I won't obtain the technique, otherwise, he'll become a great threat in the future." Qi Mozi slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air, calming his emotions, and muttered to himself.
As he finished speaking, his eyes narrowed, and his hands began to form a seal, continuing to cultivate and refine his technique. At the same time, Han Li and the other two appeared on a vast ice plain.
The place where they stood was a thick layer of ice, and when they looked around, they could see many towering ice mountains in the distance, emitting a dazzling glow.
The ice plain was also extremely cold, with a fierce wind blowing, like the roar of a dragon, causing the ice flakes to fly everywhere.
Behind them, several hundred meters away, stood a massive ice mountain, with a spatial door embedded in it, flashing with a bright red light.
Next to the spatial door stood a stone stele, with a single character "Four" written on it.
When the three saw the scene before them, they all showed a hint of surprise, but they didn't relax, cautiously exploring their surroundings.
Han Li raised an eyebrow, and sensed that the time restriction in the void was stronger than the third layer, and the restriction on his divine sense was also greater, only allowing him to extend it to about half of the third layer. The impact on his speed was also likely to be greater.
"Let's go and explore the surroundings," Su Zhenzi said softly, her body flying upwards.
Han Li and Jing Liu also flew up, and the three of them chose a direction to head in.
As Han Li flew, his eyes flashed, and he saw that the speed of flight in this layer was indeed affected, and was only about half of the third layer.
Of course, the three of them didn't fly at full speed, but were extremely cautious, always on the lookout for their surroundings.
Han Li flew forward, his face calm, but his heart was like walking on thin ice, his divine sense fully open to monitor the surroundings.
He had long expected that Qi Mozi would be in this secret realm, but his appearance still gave him a great shock.
He had thought that his own strength had increased greatly, and that he would be able to handle Qi Mozi, but he didn't expect to be in such a difficult situation.
Moreover, he was now unable to use his divine abilities, and his strength had decreased greatly. Qi Mozi, although injured by the sudden change in the "Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique", had not been seriously harmed, and he didn't know if he would suddenly appear again.
And even if he didn't, as they continued to head towards the higher levels of the Tower of Time, they would eventually meet again, and it would likely be a battle to the death.
It seemed that he had inadvertently used a secret technique of the Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique, and had deceived Qi Mozi, but with his cunning, he was likely to have already recovered. When they met again, it would not be a simple matter of one side escaping, but a true battle to the death.
Han Li sighed, and took out two recovery pills, swallowing them and using his full strength to refine them, recovering the consumed spiritual energy.
The consecutive battles had also consumed a lot of his spiritual energy.
As the pills were refined, his consumed spiritual energy slowly recovered, and to his surprise, the dormant True Word Treasure Wheel and other time law objects began to stir, showing signs of awakening.
Han Li sensed this, and his heart was filled with joy, and he put down the worry in his heart, and focused on refining the pills.
Su Zhenzi and Jing Liu seemed to be doing the same, as they slowly moved forward, observing their surroundings and recovering their strength.
Time passed, and it wasn't long before half a day had passed.
It was somewhat unexpected that during this time, they didn't encounter anything, neither treasures nor metal beasts, nor fire insects.
Everything was quiet, but there was a sense of eeriness.
"What's going on? We've been traveling for so long, and it's been so calm, it's making me feel uneasy," Jing Liu said softly.
Han Li's brow was also furrowed, and this layer was indeed strange, they had walked for so long, and there was no sign of danger, only ice plains, ice mountains, and cold winds.
"This place is indeed strange, there's no sign of danger, but that's also good, we can look for the entrance to the next layer," Su Zhenzi said thoughtfully.
Han Li and Jing Liu had no objections, and they continued to scan their surroundings with their divine sense.
The three of them continued to search for half a day, but still found nothing, until they came to a massive ice mountain, where they finally discovered something different.
At the base of the ice mountain stood a group of palaces, made of a blue material, but without any cold aura, seemingly made of a type of jade.
The layout of the palaces was similar to the ancient temple in the third layer, but without the 30% eerie atmosphere.
However, the palaces were now in ruins, and had been for a long time, with many places frozen and sealed in ice.
The three of them saw this, and were initially stunned, before exchanging a glance.
"Looking at the layout of this place, it's similar to the third layer. According to the Ghost King's words, each layer of the Tower of Time imprisons a powerful prisoner, and there should be a powerful monster inside, we need to be careful," Su Zhenzi said seriously.
"Not bad, being careful can't be wrong," Jing Liu said.
Han Li nodded, and the three of them cautiously approached the palaces.
Han Li naturally didn't have any objections to Su Zhen Cai's suggestion, after all, he wasn't a rash person.
The three of them each released their divine sense to search the surroundings, and after not finding any danger, they flew down and carefully searched the area, but unfortunately, they still didn't find anything special.
The palace was devoid of any living creatures' aura, with only ice and snow-filled winds remaining.
The three of them continued to search, and soon arrived at a grand hall deep within the palace.
This place was located in a deeper part of the palace, and the cold wind from outside could no longer be felt. The air flow was quite stable.
Han Li stepped into the grand hall, and his eyes suddenly flashed.
"What is it, Brother Shi? Have you discovered something?" Su Zhen Cai immediately noticed Han Li's subtle change in expression and asked.
Jin Liu heard the sound and also looked over, and at this moment, he had already put away his disdain for Han Li. Facing Han Li's change in expression, his heart also skipped a beat.
Han Li didn't respond to Su Zhen Cai's words, but instead quickly walked a few steps forward and picked up an object from the corner of the grand hall, which was a few half-transparent white hairs.
These hairs were over half a foot long, extremely soft, and incredibly fine, making them difficult to detect with the naked eye. If not for Han Li's strong divine sense, he probably wouldn't have noticed them.
"What are these hairs? They seem to be from some kind of unusual beast." Su Zhen Cai's expression changed as she said.
"Yes, since these hairs are here, it's possible that some kind of unusual beast is hiding here." Han Li flipped his hand and put the hairs away, looking towards the deeper part of the grand hall with a faint flash in his eyes.
Because he possessed multiple true spirit bloodlines, he was extremely sensitive to true spirit auras.
From these hairs, Han Li faintly sensed some true spirit aura, which was similar to his Qing Luan bloodline.
Su Zhen Cai and Jin Liu exchanged a glance, their expressions becoming more serious.
Jin Liu slightly pondered, then flicked his sleeve, and a green light shot out, landing on the ground in front of them.
After the light dissipated, a small, green beast appeared, shaped like a fox but with a longer nose than usual, and a pair of bright green eyes that were extremely agile.
The moment the fox appeared, it crouched down and sniffed the air, then quickly ran forward.
"Bì Jīng Líng Hú!" Han Li's eyebrows twitched.
"Ah, Brother Shi seems to be quite knowledgeable, recognizing my spirit beast." Jin Liu said with some surprise.
"I just happened to come across it in some ancient texts." Han Li said.
This fox was a type of fox that was not strong in combat, but its eyes and nose were extremely sensitive, making it suitable for exploration and treasure hunting. However, it was extremely rare, and few people possessed one.
"With this Bì Jīng Líng Hú leading the way, we'll be much safer following behind. Let's go." Jin Liu said.
The three of them followed the fox, continuing forward, and soon passed through several grand halls.
The buildings ahead suddenly became sparse, and a long corridor appeared.
After passing through the corridor, they simultaneously felt a sense of joy, quickly moving forward, and arrived at a dark and grand hall.
The hall was about 20-30 meters in size, with nothing inside, and a stone door stood at the far end, adorned with a dark red light door, which was a spatial door.
There were no restrictions on this spatial door, possibly because it had already been broken through.
"A spatial door, and we found it without any effort." Su Zhen Cai said with some excitement.
However, Su Zhen Cai didn't immediately approach the door, instead, she carefully searched the hall with her divine sense.
The more easily obtained the benefit, the more traps there were, and one couldn't be careless.
Han Li and Jin Liu were also doing the same, with Jin Liu driving the Bì Jīng Líng Hú to run around the hall and explore.
The three of them searched for a while, and their expressions became somewhat strange.
No matter how they searched, even Su Zhen Cai directly opened her spirit domain, they still didn't find any traps or dangers.
"It seems that something happened here, causing this part of the palace to collapse, and the imprisoned existence either fell or left. Let's go, we'll head directly to the fifth floor." Su Zhen Cai said, then led the way into the spatial door, and indeed, nothing unusual happened, and they entered smoothly.
Han Li and Jin Liu saw this, and also followed, entering the spatial door.
The scenery in front of them changed, and they appeared on a desolate and barren plain.
The plain was also filled with howling winds and flying sand, with no end in sight, and the horizon stretched out endlessly.
Apart from this, all around them, there were numerous earthen mountains, shaped by the wind into various strange and fantastical forms, looking quite peculiar.
Su Zhen Cai was currently floating in mid-air, looking around.
"This place is quite strange." Han Li and Jin Liu also looked around.
The time restriction in the void was even stronger here, and their divine sense could only explore about 10% of the distance. The time restriction in the void not only greatly reduced the range of their divine senses, but also seemed to press down on their divine souls like a boulder, affecting the accuracy of their divine sense probing. The faces of Han Li, Su Zhen, and Jin Liu all turned solemn.
"Let's go," Su Zhen said with a light sigh. "If this tower really has seven layers, then we only have three left. I hope we can pass through this layer smoothly."
As they moved forward, the winds in this place grew stronger, sweeping away the ground and stirring up countless large and small rocks that swirled in the air, blocking out the sun and sky like a sandstorm.
Han Li's eyes flashed as he suddenly stopped flying, looking towards the rolling winds ahead.
"What's wrong, Brother Shi?" Su Zhen and Jin Liu asked, also stopping.
"This wind is strange, it's not a natural phenomenon, but rather someone's manipulation," Han Li said, his brow furrowed.
Su Zhen and Jin Liu were taken aback, carefully probing their surroundings, and soon their expressions also changed.
They also discovered the anomaly in the winds, which contained threads of spiritual energy fluctuations, indicating that someone was indeed influencing it.
"It seems we can't pass through this layer as easily as the fourth layer," Jin Liu said quietly. "What should we do? Should we go take a look?"
The one who could stir up such a massive storm must be extremely powerful, and might be the one imprisoned in this layer.
"According to our previous experience, the spatial gates are usually near the objects being imprisoned, so we must go and investigate," Su Zhen said after a moment of contemplation.
"Not bad, if we don't enter the tiger's den, how can we catch the tiger?" Han Li's eyes flashed with insight, and he nodded in agreement.
Jin Liu only hesitated for a moment, but since Su Zhen and Han Li agreed, he didn't strongly object.
The three quickly flew forward, following the spiritual energy fluctuations in the void, tracing them to their source.
As they went deeper, the winds grew stronger, and the spiritual energy fluctuations became more intense, so they didn't need to worry about losing track, and simply followed the fluctuations.
The terrain ahead changed, with more and more earthen hills and mountains forming, gradually becoming a continuous range of yellow-brown mountains.
After half an hour, the three finally found the source of the spiritual energy fluctuations.
They stood at the edge of a massive canyon, hiding their auras and gazing out.
Before them, the canyon was filled with dozens of massive white dragon-like wind columns, each hundreds of feet thick and tens of miles long, shooting up into the sky.
The wind columns contained extremely terrifying spiritual energy and law energy, almost capable of destroying the heavens and earth, and seemed to be waving about like giant tentacles, crushing and devouring everything in their path.
The ground and sky were both shaken, rumbling with thunder.
In the largest white wind column, a white figure could be faintly seen, but due to the obstruction of the wind column, their appearance couldn't be clearly discerned. The law energy within the wind column was also too intense, making it impossible to probe with their divine senses.
Before the dozens of wind columns, a group of cultivators were flying about, struggling against the winds. There were five or six of them, each displaying their divine abilities and fighting against the wind columns.
"Ah, it's them..." Han Li's eyes flashed.
The group of people were the ones they had parted ways with in the first layer, including Lei Yu Ce, Wen Zhong, a pair of young black-clothed men and women, and the young man who had appeared with Qi Mozi.
Aside from these five, there was also an unexpected person - the blue-robed youth who had escaped from Han Li's grasp.
Su Zhen and Jin Liu were also shocked, their faces filled with surprise.
The dozens of white wind columns were incredibly powerful, and Lei Yu Ce's group was being suppressed, forced to retreat step by step.
What was even more astonishing was that Han Li felt the white figure within the wind column hadn't used their full strength, seemingly toying with Lei Yu Ce's group.
"Hmph, with your strength, you think you can reach the sixth layer? You're not even worthy of being a plaything for me!" a sharp, ear-piercing voice came from within the wind column, followed by a loud laugh.
As the voice fell, the wind columns suddenly merged into one, forming a massive white wind column that engulfed the six cultivators.
The wind column was enormous, like a pillar supporting the sky, its power several times greater than before, with a momentum that seemed to change the very fabric of the world.
Lei Yu Ce's group was trapped within the wind column, their divine abilities and magical tools unable to be used, their bodies helpless against the wind's power.
Su Zhen and Jin Liu watched from a distance, their faces pale.
Lei Yu Ce was a top expert in the Golden Origin Realm, and the others were also extremely powerful, yet they were so easily trapped.
Han Li's brow furrowed, the white wind column seeming ordinary, yet containing wind attribute law energy that was incredibly powerful. Even he would find it difficult to break through.
"Wait, that's not right!"
Han Li's eyes flashed with purple light as he exclaimed.
The fifth layer's influence on their divine senses was too great, making it hard to perceive clearly. Only by using his Nine Yin Magic Eyes could he discover the secret of the white wind column.
It seemed to contain two different wind attribute law energies, perfectly merged and indistinguishable from one another.
So that's how it is. This white wind pillar is a divine ability that combines two types of law forces, no wonder it's so powerful. Han Li thought to himself.
Law fusion increases power greatly.
However, law fusion is extremely difficult to achieve. He had seen a few people use similar divine abilities during his time in the True Immortal Realm, such as Gong Shu Tian and his companions, Lan Yan and Lan Yuanzi, and even his own time law and Jiao San's reincarnation law had resonated with each other.
But the law fusion of those people was very shallow compared to the white wind pillar's law fusion.
Han Li's eyes flickered as he pondered the problem of law fusion, but he couldn't think of anything for the time being. He sighed inwardly.
Law fusion is a profound and obscure secret art, and it's naturally very rare to find records of it in ancient texts. Even if there are records, they should be in the hands of a few people, and it's unlikely that they would be widely circulated.
He had been cultivating alone for many years, and although he was free to do as he pleased, he lacked guidance and experience.
It seemed that after leaving this place, he would have to find someone to ask for guidance on law cultivation and spiritual domain cultivation. As the reincarnation son of the reincarnation hall, he should be able to find someone to guide him as long as he was willing to spend immortal stones.
"You're only this capable? You're really too weak, and it's disappointing!" Just as Han Li was thinking, the white figure inside the wind pillar spoke again, with a look of great disappointment.
Lei Yu Ce and the others heard this and their faces turned red with anger. They let out a low roar, and their auras surged as they each used their spiritual domain divine abilities.
In an instant, various spiritual domains appeared, overlapping with each other.
Especially Lei Yu Ce's golden spiritual domain, which was the most magnificent. Inside the spiritual domain, a series of golden mountains appeared, with snow-white golden sword blades inserted into the mountains, emitting a fierce and piercing sword intent.
As soon as they opened their spiritual domains, the several people's bodies stabilized, and they were no longer affected by the wind pillar's rotation.
Lei Yu Ce's face was solemn as he muttered to himself, his hands moving quickly as he formed a sword seal.
The sword seal was 10% complete, and a flash of golden light appeared on his body. In a burst of sharp whistling sounds, five or six dozen golden crystal threads shot out from his body, each emitting strong law fluctuations. These were the law crystal threads.
The golden sword blades inside Lei Yu Ce's spiritual domain seemed to be summoned, and they flew out, merging with the golden law crystal threads.
The golden crystal threads immediately changed, and in a burst of intertwining and wrapping, they transformed into five or six dozen golden giant swords, each with a different shape. Some had broad and flat blades, while others were long and slender, like needle swords. Some even had the shape of dragons or tigers.
The only thing they had in common was that each sword emitted a vast and powerful aura, with a might that could shatter the heavens.
The five or six dozen golden giant swords swam and flew around inside the spiritual domain, and although each sword emitted a powerful sword intent, they didn't conflict with each other at all. Instead, they formed a strange and wonderful sword array.
The sword array was 10% complete, and the sword energy emitted by the five or six dozen giant swords suddenly gathered together, forming a fierce and powerful sword energy that filled the entire void.
"Cut!" Lei Yu Ce's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he pulled out his sword seal.
The sword array rotated, and each of the five or six dozen giant swords shot out a massive sword energy, cutting at the white wind pillar.
A tearing sound echoed through the air, and the white wind pillar was suddenly enlarged, with a series of cracks appearing on its surface. The cracks emitted a dazzling golden light.
Han Li, who was watching from a distance, saw the sword array's divine power and his eyes flashed with a hot light.
He had learned many sword arrays, including the Qing Pan Sword Array and the Qiu Long Sword Array, but compared to Lei Yu Ce's sword array, they were all inferior.
The Tong Tian Sword Sect was known as the number one sect in the Golden Source Immortal Realm, and it seemed that they had indeed achieved great things in the way of sword arrays.
Han Li was also surprised that Lei Yu Ce didn't use flying swords, but instead used law crystal threads to create flying swords and form a sword array, and the sword array's power was so great.
Wen Zhong saw Lei Yu Ce's sword array and a hint of envy flashed in his eyes, but he didn't idle around. He formed a seal and swung his hand.
A low humming sound echoed through the air, and four massive golden sword lights shot out from his spiritual domain.
Each sword light was over a hundred feet long, and they were inscribed with the patterns of the four mythical creatures: the Azure Dragon, the White Tiger, the Vermilion Bird, and the Black Tortoise. They emitted a fierce and powerful sword energy, although it was weaker than Lei Yu Ce's sword array.
Wen Zhong pointed forward with one hand, and the four sword lights shot out, almost simultaneously cutting down at the white wind pillar.
Lan Yan opened up a blue spiritual domain and simultaneously took out the water-blue curved scythe, using the Water Yuan Slash divine ability. A massive blue arc cut towards the white wind pillar.
Xiong Shan also used his spiritual domain divine ability, and at this critical moment, he didn't hold back. He waved his hand and took out a hundred flying swords, forming a golden sword array that was several dozen feet in diameter.
A mighty roar echoed through the air, and the golden sword array emitted a brilliant light. A golden sword dragon formed from the sword lights flew out, its jaws wide open as it pounced at the wind pillar.
The two black-robed men didn't open up their spiritual domains, and instead took out a magical artifact each. A black-robed woman took out a large white bead, on which were drawn golden patterns, and the power of the laws surged, shining brightly.
The black-robed youth, on the other hand, waved his hand and took out a treelike artifact, about a few feet long, with seven branches, each with a dark, fierce glow at the tip, emitting a bloody aura, clearly an evil and sinister tool.
As soon as the two artifacts were released, they immediately burst into light, transforming into a black and white pair of shooting stars, fiercely striking the wind column.
These people's divine abilities were not small, and when they joined forces, the cracks on the white wind column suddenly expanded again, with a hint of collapse.
"Tsk, tsk, the Heavenly Sword Array is indeed extraordinary! However, you have limited understanding of the laws, and the threads of the laws are insufficient, so you cannot fully master this sword array. You want to break my 'Heavenly Wind Column'? Look at this!" a sharp voice laughed.
Before the laughter had faded, the white wind column flashed with light, and a white spiritual domain appeared, rapidly expanding in all directions.
This spiritual domain was filled with countless white clouds, changing unpredictably, giving a sense of being unable to grasp, yet also covering the entire sky, as if encompassing all the winds and clouds of the heavens.
The white spiritual domain was extremely vast, far surpassing the spiritual domains of Lei Yuze and the others, instantly enveloping their domains.
The group suddenly felt a sinking sensation, as if their bodies had fallen into a bottomless pit, and it was extremely difficult to move. Their spiritual domains were also severely disrupted by a massive force of the laws.
At the same time, nearly a hundred white crystal threads shot out from the white spiritual domain, merging into the white wind column.
The white wind column suddenly brightened, and the broken area was instantly repaired, becoming even thicker, once again firmly trapping the group.
From a distance, the three people saw this scene, and their faces changed, especially Su Zhongyan's eyes, which were fixed on the white wind column, her lips pursed, and a hint of worry flashed in her eyes, as if she was worried about someone.
"Unexpectedly, the opponent is so powerful. It seems that Lei Yuze and the others are no match for them. Should we intervene?" Jing Liu looked at Su Zhongyan and Han Li.
"We may not have a deep relationship with Lei Yuze and the others, but we are fellow travelers. Let's rescue them. If we just stand by and watch, they will fall, and our own situation will be precarious." Su Zhongyan said, looking at Han Li.
On this journey, Han Li's strength and judgment had already amazed her, and she had begun to regard him as the core of their group, especially at critical moments.
Jing Liu, although unwilling, also looked at Han Li.
"Sister Su is right, we are all in this together, sharing the same fate." Han Li nodded.
The three people had made up their minds, and their figures simultaneously became blurry, disappearing into thin air.
At this moment, inside the white wind column, Lei Yuze's face was unsightly, his eyes flashing with a hint of desperation, and his face turned blood-red.
He shouted loudly, his hands flying quickly to form a seal, and a golden light flashed on his forehead, as a golden infant the size of a palm appeared.
The infant's small hands moved, and a golden, blood-like substance was spat out, containing a powerful force of the laws, merging with the surrounding golden spiritual domain.
Lei Yuze's face, which had turned blood-red, suddenly became pale, and his skin was covered in wrinkles, as if he had aged greatly.
However, the golden spiritual domain around him suddenly brightened, and the Heavenly Sword Array flashed with light, as all the giant swords flew back, surrounding his body and rapidly spinning.
A loud explosion sounded, and a massive sword intent burst forth from Lei Yuze's body, a golden, illusory giant sword appearing, with two intricate bird-like characters on it, its sword energy rising fiercely, as if about to break through the heavens.
The void around the giant sword was shattered, and the sound of "chi la" echoed through the air, as if the void was being torn apart.
"Slash!"
Lei Yuze's hands moved, and the giant sword shot out, slashing towards the white wind column.
Wherever the sword passed, the void was torn apart, as if it was made of paper.
"Ah, you've actually grasped the Heavenly Sword Array to this extent. However, your cultivation is too weak, and I'll break it!" a sharp voice from within the wind column responded, with a hint of solemnity.
As the voice faded, a loud, piercing sound echoed through the air, and a white hoof, the size of a house, appeared out of thin air.
A sharp whistling sound followed, and over a hundred white crystal threads emerged from the spiritual domain, merging into the white hoof.
The originally blurry white hoof suddenly became clear, and a massive white horse's hoof stomped down fiercely.
A thunderous sound!
The white horse's hoof struck the ground, causing the space in front of it to ripple like the surface of water, and then a loud "crack" sounded as a massive spatial rift opened up.
The horse's hoof didn't stop, and it directly pierced through the rift, landing heavily on the tip of the illusory giant sword.
A thunderous sound shook the heavens!
The white horse's hoof and the illusory giant sword collided, causing a massive shockwave that rippled through the air, and the entire void trembled. Cracks appeared in the surrounding space, flashing and disappearing in a rapid succession.
The horse's hoof was pierced and shattered by the illusory giant sword, but the sword itself also shattered into countless golden threads that scattered in all directions.
The white wind column was affected by the shockwave, causing it to violently shake and develop cracks.
However, the horse's hoof was shattered, and the over 100 law threads that had been hidden within emerged, unscathed and shining brightly.
The law threads moved, seeking to converge with the white wind column.
At that moment, two blue spirit domains appeared out of thin air, enveloping everything within.
As the spirit domains appeared, a massive blue ice sword and a blue fist the size of a small mountain appeared beside the white wind column, striking it simultaneously.
The white wind column shook violently, its cracks expanding, but it did not shatter.
"Ha ha, you two think you can hide and sneak up on me? You think you can break my divine ability? Come out and face me!" a sharp voice laughed maniacally, as the white spirit domain's light churned and condensed into a massive white hand that reached out to grab something.
A thunderous sound echoed through the air!
The area where the hand grasped suddenly erupted in a blinding blue light, and two figures stumbled out, revealing Su Zhen and Jing Liu, who were caught by the white hand.
But at that moment, the white wind column's surroundings flashed again, and a massive golden finger shadow descended from the heavens, radiating an aura that could pierce through everything. The finger tip emitted golden sparks that were not lightning, but rather the distortions of the void caused by the golden finger's aura.
The golden finger shadow struck the white wind column, causing it to flash white and desperately resist, but ultimately, it was pierced through, creating a massive hole.
The white wind column's light flashed wildly, and then it shattered with a deafening sound, dispersing into nothingness.
Lei Yu and the others, witnessing this scene, were shocked and delighted, and they quickly flew out of the white spirit domain, joining forces to break through the barrier.
"Time laws! Who dares to break my divine ability? If you dare to act, why hide and not show yourself?" the sharp voice shouted, its gaze sweeping the surroundings.
"I've been standing here all along, but you didn't notice," a voice replied, as a figure emerged from the void outside the white spirit domain. Han Li, with a hint of a smile, said, "I've been standing here, but you didn't notice."
He had spent nearly a day recovering, and his divine abilities, including the True Word Treasure Wheel, had partially recovered.
When he approached the area, Han Li had used the "Myriad Void Silence Technique" and the "Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique" to hide his presence, avoiding the white figure's detection. He then used the "Heavenly Finger Technique" to destroy the white wind column.
The white figure was shocked to see Han Li appear out of nowhere, without any warning, and its divine sense had not detected him. Its heart skipped a beat.
In that moment of surprise, the white figure's divine sense wavered, and the white hand holding Su Zhen and Jing Liu hesitated.
Su Zhen and Jing Liu immediately seized the opportunity, their bodies twisting and turning into two distorted blue lights that broke free from the white hand's grasp and flew towards Han Li.
The white figure's anger grew as it realized it had been outmaneuvered, and without hesitation, it raised its hand to strike.
The white hand shot out like a meteor, almost instantly catching up to Su Zhen and Jing Liu, and was about to grab them.
The white hand's light surged, and a terrifying aura that could crush the void itself descended, enveloping Su Zhen and Jing Liu, causing their fleeing bodies to slow down.
But at that moment, the void in front of them fluctuated, and a massive golden fist shadow emerged, radiating a powerful aura that could shatter the void. The fist shadow collided with the white hand, causing a massive shockwave that shattered both the hand and the fist.
The sound of the collision was deafening, and the surrounding void trembled violently, developing cracks.
Han Li's body was shaken, and he stumbled backward.
The white figure's body also shook, and the white hand was shattered, releasing Su Zhen and Jing Liu from its grasp. They quickly flew towards Han Li, arriving by his side in an instant. At the same time, Lei Yu Ce and the others flew over, joining Han Li, Su Zhan Cai, and Jin Liu.
"Su Dao friend, Jin Dao friend, Shi Dao friend, you've all arrived, thank you for your help earlier." Lei Yu Ce's pale face regained some color, and he bowed to Su Zhan Cai, Jin Liu, and Han Li.
Although he spoke to the two, his gaze remained fixed on Su Zhan Cai, gentle as water.
"The one who rescued you wasn't me and Jin Liu, but Shi Dao friend, so you should thank him instead." Su Zhan Cai avoided Lei Yu Ce's passionate gaze, speaking calmly.
"Shi Dao friend, thank you for saving us." Lei Yu Ce looked at Han Li, his face flashing with surprise, and thanked him again.
The others, upon hearing this, were also filled with surprise, but still thanked Han Li one by one.
Only Lan Yan, who had already known Han Li's strength, wasn't surprised, his face expressionless, with a mixture of anger, fear, and wariness.
Han Li nodded slightly to Lei Yu Ce and the others, ignoring Lan Yan's reaction, his gaze never leaving the white figure.
Although he had unexpectedly broken through the white wind pillar, the white figure's strength was immense, and he didn't dare to relax.
Fortunately, Lei Yu Ce and the others had escaped, and with everyone's combined strength, the situation had turned around.
"Not bad, not bad, it's finally come to someone with some strength, not in vain for old ancestor to run this errand." The white figure fell silent for a moment, then burst out laughing.
As the laughter faded, the scattered white crystal threads flew back into its body, and the wind pillar around it suddenly stopped, disappearing without a trace, revealing the figure inside – a white jade horse, its body pure white, with a tuft of white horsehair on its back, looking exceptionally majestic.
The white horse stood up on its hind legs, using its front legs to gesture, one holding a green smoke pipe, and the other holding a... thing, its mouth exhaling clouds of smoke.
Han Li and the others were shocked when they saw the figure.
"May I ask your name?" Han Li was initially surprised, but quickly regained his composure, his gaze scanning the white horse's mane, and asked.
"Ah, really blind, not recognizing old ancestor! Remember, old ancestor is Li Qi Ma! Young one, your skills aren't bad, cultivating the time law, and your physical body is quite strong, very much to old ancestor's taste, come, let's have a great battle of three hundred rounds!" Li Qi Ma's eyes gleamed with battle intent, putting down the smoke pipe, and prepared to charge forward.
However, just as he was about to attack, his gaze suddenly flashed, and he let out a soft hum, stopping in his tracks.
The white spiritual domain around Li Qi Ma flashed and disappeared, his body glowing white, transforming into a beam of white light that shot towards the distance, disappearing in an instant.
Han Li had been prepared to fight, but Li Qi Ma suddenly said goodbye and left, leaving him bewildered.
The others were also confused, unsure of what to make of the situation.
But Li Qi Ma's strength was immense, and his sudden departure was a good thing.
Especially since Lei Yu Ce and the others had been fighting Li Qi Ma until now, their spiritual energy was almost depleted, and they needed time to recover, so they took out medicine to replenish their energy.
"Suzi friends, when did you arrive here?" Lei Yu Ce asked Su Zhan Cai after a brief moment of meditation, suppressing the injuries from his earlier battle.
Su Zhan Cai gazed into the distance, seemingly unaware of Lei Yu Ce's question, while Han Li's face was contemplative, as if considering something, and didn't speak.
Jin Liu, seeing this, stepped forward to take the conversation, summarizing their journey to this point, but omitted some sensitive information, such as the beehive they had encountered, and his use of the space treasure to hide other Tian Shui sect disciples, keeping those details hidden.
Han Li listened to Jin Liu's words, his heart stirring, and glanced at him.
The beehive incident was one thing, but Jin Liu's use of the space treasure to hide other disciples was unusual, and Han Li suspected there was more to it, so he used his eyes to probe.
Jin Liu noticed Han Li's gaze and immediately looked away, a faint warning in his eyes.
Han Li's probing had yielded results, and he felt a slight chill, but didn't expose the truth, instead looking away.
Jin Liu saw this and relaxed, continuing to chat with Lei Yu Ce, and asked about their journey.
Lei Yu Ce recounted their journey, which was similar to theirs, with many dangers along the way, and a gradual loss of companions, including some who had disappeared under mysterious circumstances, until only the five of them remained.
Without a way to retreat, and with a sense of discontent, they decided to continue forward, hoping to find a glimmer of hope, or perhaps some opportunities.
Just half a day ago, they had encountered Lan Yan, who was traveling alone, and joined forces, only to be ambushed by Li Qi Ma, and thus they had been fighting until now.
"It seems that no matter which path we take, the ancient tower is extremely treacherous. When we first entered the tower, there were hundreds of us, and now only a few remain." Jin Liu's expression was skeptical, but he didn't press the issue, since he too had hidden many things, and instead wore a look of sorrow, sighing.
Lei Yu Ce and the others heard this, their faces also filled with a mix of emotions, but it was unclear how much of it was genuine.
Jin Li, that Li Qima is a strange and eccentric person, although he suddenly left, it's hard to say if he won't come back again. Since we're all gathered here, let's work together from now on and explore this Time Tower together," Jin Li quickly put away his sorrowful expression and began to discuss their next course of action.
"Of course, I, Lei Yu, am more than happy to follow your lead, Jin Li, Shi Li, and Su Li, please guide us," Lei Yu exclaimed, glancing at Su Zhenzhen with a hint of excitement in his eyes.
Lei Yu's companions had just witnessed the strength displayed by Jin Li and his friends, especially Han Li's exceptional cultivation, and naturally had no objections to merging their groups, nodding in agreement.
Lan Yan, although not wanting to travel with Han Li, was a single person with little influence, and speaking out against it would only make her the target of criticism, so she remained silent.
"Lei Yu, you're too kind, this place is not safe to stay for long, let's set off immediately," Jin Li smiled and said.
After a brief rest, everyone's energy had recovered somewhat, and they set off at once, flying forward.
Without Li Qima's divine power influencing the area, the howling winds had weakened significantly and no longer hindered their flight.
However, the group was cautious, fearing Li Qima's reappearance, and didn't dare to fly at full speed, reducing their speed to about half, in case of unexpected situations.
"Lei Yu, since you arrived at this layer before us, have you discovered the location of the space gate leading to the next layer?" Su Zhenzhen suddenly asked Lei Yu while they were flying.
"Actually, we also just arrived recently and haven't had a chance to thoroughly explore, we encountered Li Qima and were entangled with him until just now, so we're not too familiar with this layer," Lei Yu hastily replied.
Su Zhenzhen responded with a simple "oh" and didn't ask any further questions.
Su Zhenzhen rarely spoke to him, and Lei Yu was secretly delighted, wanting to continue the conversation.
"Lei Yu, do you know anything about that Li Qima?" Han Li suddenly flew over and interrupted, asking.
"What do you mean, Shi Li?" Lei Yu's attempt to chat was cut short, and he felt a slight annoyance, but didn't show it, asking.
"Lei Yu, you should have realized that this Time Tower is the place where the Taishang Xianjun imprisoned the demonic beasts, and Li Qima is likely the demonic beast imprisoned on this layer. You fought with him for a long time and had some conversations, surely he revealed some information?" Han Li didn't notice Lei Yu's annoyance and continued.
"That... we did fight with Li Qima for a long time, and we did have some conversations, but he didn't mention his identity, however, judging by his strength, he's likely the demonic beast imprisoned on this layer," Lei Yu hesitated before responding.
He maintained a calm expression, but in his heart, he felt a surge of regret.
Earlier, when they were battling Li Qima, they were too focused on fighting and didn't pay attention to his attempts to converse, if only they had been more attentive, they might have gathered valuable information.
Of course, Lei Yu wouldn't reveal this to Su Zhenzhen, lest he became the laughing stock.
Han Li listened to Lei Yu's response, his face flashing with a hint of skepticism, and didn't say anything further.
The group continued on in silence, flying forward for a while.
"Shi Li, do you think Lei Yu's guess was incorrect?" Su Zhenzhen suddenly asked Han Li in a whisper.
"Do you remember the white hair we found on the fourth layer?" Han Li replied in a whisper.
"That white hair and Li Qima's mane are quite similar," Su Zhenzhen, being intelligent, immediately grasped Han Li's meaning.
"It's not just similar, they're definitely the same. Although I don't know why Li Qima's mane was on the fourth layer, it's better not to assume that there's only one powerful prisoner on this layer," Han Li smiled faintly.
Su Zhenzhen's eyes sparkled, and she nodded slowly.
Lei Yu noticed Han Li and Su Zhenzhen's whispering and felt a spark of anger, but quickly suppressed it.
The group flew forward for a while, and Jin Li, who was at the front, suddenly let out a soft exclamation and stopped.
The others followed his gaze and saw a massive mountain peak in the distance, divided into two parts, both circular in shape, resembling a giant gourd.
At the base of the mountain was a group of dark green and black palaces, stretching across 20-30 acres of land, with a layout similar to the palace groups they had encountered on the previous layers.
If they weren't mistaken, the space gate leading to the next layer should be inside these palaces.
Everyone had the same thought, but no one immediately went down.
According to reason, if the space gate was indeed here, Li Qima was likely to be here as well, and no one wanted to provoke him.
"Li Qima may have taken advantage of our split groups earlier, but we still managed to force him to retreat, and now that we're all together, even if we encounter him again, I believe we can gain the upper hand. Besides, I sense that there are treasures hidden within the palaces below, let's go down and take a look," Lei Yu said loudly.
Hearing Lei Yu's analysis, the others felt a bit more at ease, and the promise of treasures within the palaces made them even more eager to explore. Under Lei Yu's lead, they flew down towards the palaces.
Han Li followed the group, landing in front of the outermost palace, which had a large, open gate with a bronze-colored plaque bearing the inscription "Ming Xin Palace" in golden letters. As soon as they landed on the ground, his face changed slightly.
This palace was filled with a powerful restriction, and the empty space in front of the gate was also shrouded in it. This restriction had no effect on their cultivation, but their divine sense was greatly restricted.
With Han Li's powerful divine sense, he could only leave his body for less than a hundred feet.
Others also discovered this situation, and their expressions changed.
"It's just a restriction, don't be alarmed, let's go." Lei Yu Ce was also secretly shocked, but he had already spoken boldly, and couldn't take it back, so he had to pretend to be brave and stepped into the palace first.
However, he waved his hand and took out a golden bowl-shaped immortal artifact, which floated above his head, and golden light fell from it, covering his body.
Others saw this and also took out their immortal artifacts to protect themselves, then followed Lei Yu Ce into the palace.
The outermost palace was empty, except for a few pillars, there was nothing else.
The group didn't stay there, and soon walked out of the palace from a side door, heading deeper into the palace.
There were many palaces in this palace, and the group was worried that Li Qi Ma might be hiding in one of them, so they didn't dare to split up and search. Their speed was relatively slow.
Half a day passed, and they had only searched a small part of the palace.
Fortunately, they found some treasures in the palaces, and although they didn't feel bored, they didn't feel anxious either.
As they walked, there was no danger, and the group, although not careless, had relaxed their tense atmosphere.
The group walked through a long corridor and came to a palace.
This palace was much larger than the previous ones, and it was decorated with carvings of dragons and phoenixes, and the edges of the eaves had exquisite reliefs, looking like an extraordinary place.
Han Li and the others had gained a lot of benefits along the way, and their mood was quite excited. Seeing the palace in front of them, their eyes lit up.
The main gate of the palace was also open, and the group immediately wanted to enter.
But just as they were about to enter, a "hiss" sound suddenly came from around the palace, and blue light appeared, forming a blue light screen in front of the gate, blocking their way.
"Hmph!" Lei Yu Ce saw this scene, snorted coldly, and immediately snapped his fingers.
A dazzling golden light shot out from his hand, and it was a golden flying sword, its body curved like a golden snake. It looked quite extraordinary.
The golden snake flying sword flashed and turned into a golden light about a dozen feet long, slashing fiercely at the blue light screen.
The blue light screen was hit, and suddenly burst out with a dazzling blue light, making a sound like rushing water, and actually blocked the golden light.
Lei Yu Ce's attack was blocked so easily, and he felt a bit embarrassed, so he flicked his sleeve and shouted.
Six golden lights shot out from his sleeve, and they were six golden curved knives, striking the blue light screen.
The golden snake flying sword also flew out again, slashing down.
"Everyone, let's work together to break this restriction!" Wen Zhong shouted, waving his hand and shooting out a golden rainbow, striking the blue light screen.
Others heard his voice and also took out their immortal artifacts to attack.
For a moment, the immortal artifacts bombarded the blue light screen, and the colors intertwined, flashing wildly, and the blue light screen was submerged in it.
Only a dull "boom" sound came from inside, and the blue light screen finally couldn't withstand the attacks, and was broken.
The group withdrew their immortal artifacts and entered the palace.
Han Li looked at the open gate, and his brow furrowed slightly, and a faint sense of unease rose in his heart.
But this feeling only lasted for a moment, and then disappeared, and he didn't know if it was just his own tension causing a false alarm.
Han Li shook his head, dismissed the distracting thoughts, and followed the group into the palace.
The palace was quite large, with a space of about 40-50 feet in diameter, and it was quite empty, except for some stone pillars, and a long stone table in the deepest part of the palace, where a golden plaque was placed, with a line of flower-like characters written on it, which Han Li didn't recognize.
Except for the plaque, the stone table was also placed with many things, which made the group's eyes light up.
...
There were nine items on the stone table, all of which were spiritual materials, emitting astonishing aura fluctuations.
"That black lotus is the You Shui Xian Lotus! One of the top ten Xian lotus in the True Immortal Realm, consuming it will not only greatly improve one's cultivation, but also transform one's physical body into a You Shui Xian body, making it ten times easier to comprehend the water attribute laws."
"That is the Tian Jin Drill! The legendary gold attribute treasure, using it to forge a Xian instrument can destroy anything!"
"I'm not mistaken, that blue bottle contains the Xuan Zhen Essence, so pure and numerous, enough for two people to advance to the Da Luo stage!"
"There's also that..."
Everyone stared at the items on the stone table, initially stunned, then suddenly chaotic, as those who recognized the items couldn't help but exclaim in shock.
Han Li glanced at the items on the stone table, a hint of fervor flashing in his eyes, but then he looked at the walls and floor around the table, his brow furrowed.
Jing Liu fixed his gaze on the You Shui Xian Lotus and the Tian Jin Drill, his eyes burning with desire, as he took a large step forward.
"Jing Dao friend, wait!" A figure suddenly appeared in front of him, blocking his path, it was Han Li.
"Stone Dao friend, what are you doing?" Jing Liu thought Han Li was trying to snatch the You Shui Xian Lotus from him, his face darkening as he shouted, his body ready to pounce.
"Take a look at the situation around the stone table." Han Li said calmly.
Jing Liu's expression changed as he looked around, his face pale.
The walls around the stone table were engraved with seven dark red patterns, each about a foot in size, with coarse lines and worn edges, revealing a hint of desolation.
The seven patterns depicted seven deities, but they didn't seem to be orthodox gods, instead, they were strange and eerie, with three heads and six arms, or human bodies with beast heads, exuding an aura of evil and ferocity, likely being evil gods.
The seven patterns were arranged in a specific order on the walls and floor, but the dark red patterns were quite faint, and the materials used for the walls were also reddish, making them hard to notice.
Others who had been eager to act also stopped, looking around, and soon discovered the patterns on the walls.
"It seems to be some kind of forbidden array." Wen Zhong examined the patterns carefully, muttering to himself.
The others looked at each other, unsure of what to do, seemingly not recognizing the array.
"I think it's better to try and see what happens, rather than making wild guesses." Jing Liu said, raising his hand.
"Jing Liu, don't be impulsive." Su Zhen Qian tried to stop Jing Liu, but it was too late.
A blue light shot out from Jing Liu's sleeve, heading towards the stone table.
As the blue light approached the table, the seven patterns suddenly burst into light, emitting a blood-red glow that condensed into a blood-colored screen.
At the same time, the screen rippled, and a massive head appeared, one of the seven evil god patterns, its mouth open wide, swallowing the blue light.
The evil god head devoured the blue light, but didn't immediately disappear, instead, it roared at Han Li and the others, as if trying to break free from the blood-colored screen's restraints and devour them.
A ferocious and violent intent erupted from the evil god head, transmitting into the minds of the onlookers!
Everyone's vision turned red, their minds filled with a vision of skulls piled high, blood flowing like rivers, and a desolate landscape, as an endless wave of killing intent assaulted their souls!
Fortunately, the cultivators present were extremely powerful, and their souls were strong, allowing them to quickly dispel the killing intent.
The evil god head roared again, but ultimately couldn't break free from the blood-colored screen's restraints, disappearing into the screen, which then flashed twice and vanished.
Han Li watched the scene unfold, his eyes flickering slightly.
Although he didn't recognize the blood-colored array, he had sensed some clues, the array seemed to be a blood path array, similar to the Qi Lian Kong's tears of blood array, but with more deadly variations.
As for how to break it, he was stumped.
"This is a formidable evil array, it seems we'll need to put in some effort to obtain the treasures inside." Lei Yu Ce muttered.
"Hmph! Who cares about the array? With so many of us working together, we can't fail to break it." Jing Liu sneered, his eyes fixed on the treasures on the stone table, filled with greed.
Jing Liu's method of breaking the array was crude, but the others nodded in agreement.
This method was the simplest, and they didn't have much time to waste.
Han Li's brow furrowed as he listened.
Although he hadn't seen through the blood-colored array, using brute force to break it might not work.
"If you want to obtain the treasures inside, it's best not to use brute force to break the array." A voice suddenly spoke up, it was Lan Yan, who had been silent until now. The others were shocked by the words and looked at Lan Yan.
"Lan fellow, what do you mean by this? Do you recognize this array?" Lei Yu Ce's face lit up with excitement as he asked.
"I do, I've studied array formations and saw records of this array in an ancient book. This array is called the Seven Kill Blood God Array, a blood path array that contains the power of the seven evil gods. If you don't understand the method, using brute force to break it will cause the seven evil gods' power to collide and self-destruct. I don't know how powerful the explosion will be, but it will definitely destroy the treasures inside." Lan Yan said calmly.
Han Li's eyebrows rose, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
The others' expressions changed upon hearing this.
Jin Liu's face turned even darker, and he was about to make a rash decision.
It wasn't surprising, as the You Shui Xian Lian was extremely compatible with his cultivation method. If he could obtain it, he would have the confidence to break through his current bottleneck.
The Tian Jin Drilling was also something he had been searching for, and it had great use for him. Earlier, Han Li and the others had entered the golden gate first, where the golden attribute yuan qi was extremely dense, and it was possible that one or two Tian Jin Drilling could be cultivated.
He had suspected that Han Li had the treasure on him, and now he had encountered it here.
"Lan fellow, since you recognize this array, I suppose you also know the method to break it? Please, don't hesitate to teach us." Lei Yu Ce looked at Lan Yan and said sincerely.
"Lan fellow, you want me to help you for free?" Lan Yan smiled slightly and said.
"Lan fellow, do you want some compensation? Alright, after breaking the array, Lan fellow can choose one of the treasures as compensation, how about that?" Lei Yu Ce hesitated for a moment before saying.
The others also wanted the treasures inside, and upon hearing this, their expressions changed, but they didn't say anything.
"I can help you break the Seven Kill Blood God Array, but I don't want the treasures inside. Instead, I want to exchange for something else." Lan Yan said, then glanced at Han Li.
Han Li noticed Lan Yan's actions and his expression remained unchanged.
"Oh, Lan fellow, what do you want to exchange for?" Lei Yu Ce was stunned again and asked.
"I want Stone fellow to release my brother." Lan Yan looked at Han Li and said slowly.
"Your brother..." Lei Yu Ce's face moved, and the image of Lan Yuanzi appeared in his mind. He then looked at Han Li.
The others heard Lan Yan's words and also looked at Han Li.
Han Li immediately understood Lan Yan's intentions, using the opportunity to borrow the power of the group to force him to hand over Lan Yuanzi. It was a clever move.
He secretly sneered, but didn't speak, standing aside with his hands behind his back, feeling a bit strange. How did Lan Yan know that he hadn't killed Lan Yuanzi, but instead had imprisoned him?
"Stone fellow, is Lan fellow's brother in your hands?" Lei Yu Ce looked at Han Li and asked.
"Yes, Lan fellow and her brother teamed up against me, and I captured and imprisoned him." Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he said calmly.
Su Qian had guessed that Lan Yan and Han Li had a conflict earlier, and now that she heard Han Li's words, she thought to herself that it was indeed the case.
She then looked at Han Li and Lan Yan, her eyes darting back and forth, thinking of something.
Lei Yu Ce had guessed that there was a conflict between the three, but he didn't expect it to be so intense. He felt a bit heavy-hearted.
"Lei Yu Ce doesn't know what grudges you three have, but now that we're all in this together, we need to work together to progress. Stone fellow, can you release Lan fellow's brother?" He thought to himself, but his face was sincere as he spoke to Han Li, taking on a mediating tone.
"Lei fellow, I have a deep grudge against them, and I won't let it go. If I release his brother, they'll just attack me again." Han Li replied coldly.
"Lan fellow, what do you say?" Lei Yu Ce thought that Han Li's words had some reason to them, and he frowned, turning to Lan Yan.
"As long as Stone fellow releases my brother, I can swear that I won't attack Stone fellow in this secret realm, and Stone fellow's strength far surpasses mine and my brother's. We wouldn't dare do something so foolish." Lan Yan said immediately.
"Oaths are something that Stone doesn't believe in. Even if you swear with your heart demon, there are ways to break it. Stone won't put his safety in someone else's hands. This matter is not to be mentioned again." Han Li shook his head.
Although he had defeated Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan earlier, he still felt that the Jiuyuan Guan's pursuit of him was not over. He had a sense of unease in his heart, which was why he had captured Lan Yuanzi instead of killing him.
With Lan Yuanzi as a trump card, Lan Yan would not dare to do anything to him, so why would he hand him over?
"Stone fellow, Lan fellow has said that she won't attack you, and you're still holding onto past grudges. As a man, you're being too petty. Furthermore, we're putting aside our grudges and working together, but you're going against what we said earlier." Jin Liu was eager to break the seal and, coupled with his dislike for Han Li, naturally sided with Lan Yan, putting pressure on Han Li.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.
He had saved Jin Liu earlier, but the other didn't show any gratitude. Instead, he was so selfish and ungrateful, which was truly despicable.
Su Qian had been guessing that Lan Yan and Han Li had a conflict earlier, and now that she heard Han Li's words, she thought to herself that it was indeed the case.
She then looked at Han Li and Lan Yan, her eyes darting back and forth, thinking of something.
Lei Yu Ce had guessed that there was a conflict between the three, but he didn't expect it to be so intense. He felt a bit heavy-hearted.
"Lei Yu Ce doesn't know what grudges you three have, but now that we're all in this together, we need to work together to progress. Stone fellow, can you release Lan fellow's brother?" He thought to himself, but his face was sincere as he spoke to Han Li, taking on a mediating tone.
"Lei fellow, I have a deep grudge against them, and I won't let it go. If I release his brother, they'll just attack me again." Han Li replied coldly.
"Lan fellow, what do you say?" Lei Yu Ce thought that Han Li's words had some reason to them, and he frowned, turning to Lan Yan.
"As long as Stone fellow releases my brother, I can swear that I won't attack Stone fellow in this secret realm, and Stone fellow's strength far surpasses mine and my brother's. We wouldn't dare do something so foolish." Lan Yan said immediately.
"Oaths are something that Stone doesn't believe in. Even if you swear with your heart demon, there are ways to break it. Stone won't put his safety in someone else's hands. This matter is not to be mentioned again." Han Li shook his head.
Although he had defeated Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan earlier, he still felt that the Jiuyuan Guan's pursuit of him was not over. He had a sense of unease in his heart, which was why he had captured Lan Yuanzi instead of killing him.
With Lan Yuanzi as a trump card, Lan Yan would not dare to do anything to him, so why would he hand him over?
"Stone fellow, Lan fellow has said that she won't attack you, and you're still holding onto past grudges. As a man, you're being too petty. Furthermore, we're putting aside our grudges and working together, but you're going against what we said earlier." Jin Liu was eager to break the seal and, coupled with his dislike for Han Li, naturally sided with Lan Yan, putting pressure on Han Li.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and a hint of coldness flashed in his eyes.
He had saved Jin Liu earlier, but the other didn't show any gratitude. Instead, he was so selfish and ungrateful, which was truly despicable.
Han Li's eyes flashed as he spoke in a calm tone, "According to your meaning, Brother Jin, you want to disregard my safety and force me to submit?"
Jin Liu's expression turned cold as he replied, "Leave the outside matters to be settled outside, this Years Tower can't be delayed. Besides, with us present, do you still think someone would dare to make a move against you?"
Han Li's tone was equally unpleasant as he responded, "If that's the case, then let's part ways. You take your Yangguan Road, and I'll take my solitary path. If you want to use force, then come and try, I'll accompany you."
Lei Yuze, seeing Han Li's displeasure, quickly intervened, "Brother Shi, please don't be angry. According to your account, this is indeed a difficult task. How about this: if you're willing to make some concessions, release Blue's senior brother, and after breaking the seal, you can choose the treasures inside second?"
Wen Zhong and the others also chimed in, trying to persuade Han Li, clearly intimidated by his display of strength earlier.
Han Li paused for a moment before responding, "Since everyone agrees, then fine. I can release your senior brother, but I don't want the treasures inside. Instead, I want to exchange for something else."
Lei Yuze's eyes lit up as he asked, "What do you want to exchange for, Brother Shi?"
"You want me to release your senior brother," Han Li turned to Blue, "then bring me a fire-aging cicada's nest in exchange."
Jin Liu's face stiffened upon hearing this.
"A fire-aging cicada's nest... what's that?" Blue asked, perplexed.
"You don't have it, but that doesn't mean someone else doesn't," Han Li smiled faintly, his eyes glinting with amusement.
Jin Liu's anger boiled over, and he shouted, "Shi Mou, what do you mean?!"
Han Li shrugged, "Just proposing a condition. You all said you'd make sacrifices for the greater good, and I've already made concessions. As for you, Brother Jin, with your noble awareness, surely you won't be stingy about a mere material?"
Jin Liu was taken aback by Han Li's retort, and he glared at him, speechless.
Blue, seeing Han Li's willingness to compromise, quickly approached Jin Liu and asked, "Brother Jin, do you really have the fire-aging cicada's nest? Could you please spare it for me? I'll use xian yuan stones or other precious materials to exchange for it."
Lei Yuze also stepped forward, "Brother Jin, please help us out for the sake of breaking the seal."
Jin Liu's expression turned icy, but he soon seemed to have an idea, and his face relaxed.
"I can give you the fire-aging cicada's nest," Jin Liu said with a faint smile, "but instead of using xian yuan stones or other materials, I'll let Blue choose the treasures first after breaking the seal. That's all I want."
The fire-aging cicada's nest was precious, but the treasures behind the seal were even more valuable to him.
"Alright," Lei Yuze agreed, exchanging a glance with the others.
Han Li, seeing the matter settled, waved his hand, and a silver light flashed, revealing Blue's senior brother, who was still unconscious.
"Senior brother!" Blue rushed over, embracing him.
She and her senior brother were cultivating a fusion of divine techniques, and although they hadn't yet succeeded, they had already developed a special connection, allowing them to sense each other's life and death.
Blue was overjoyed to see her senior brother, but she quickly regained control of her emotions, waving her hand to release a blue light that examined her senior brother's condition.
Han Li ignored Blue and her senior brother, approaching Jin Liu instead.
Jin Liu snorted, waving his hand, and a dark red light flashed, revealing the fire-aging cicada's nest, which pulsed with powerful time law fluctuations.
Except for Su Shuang and Jin Liu, the others were seeing the fire-aging cicada's nest for the first time, and they were all amazed by its immense time law power.
Jin Liu deliberately slowed down his movements, allowing the others to get a good look at the nest.
"Thank you," Han Li said, his eyes glinting with amusement, as he took the nest.
Now that he had all three nests, he could refine them into time law crystals, greatly increasing his time law power. He would be able to use the powerful divine technique that had repelled Qiemozi earlier.
As he thought about the technique's power, Han Li's heart grew hot, and a strong desire arose: to refine the nests immediately and use the technique.
He glanced around, his eyes falling on a side door near the main hall. He was about to step forward when Blue's voice interrupted him.
"Hey, why is my senior brother still unconscious? What did you do to him?"
Han Li's expression remained calm as he replied, "I didn't do anything to him. He's just exhausted."
Blue's eyes narrowed, but before she could press the issue, Han Li flicked his wrist, and a golden light shot out, disappearing into Blue's senior brother's body.
The senior brother's eyes flickered open, and he slowly sat up.
"Senior brother, are you okay?" Blue asked, relief etched on her face.
Han Li's eyes gleamed with amusement as he watched Blue and her senior brother reunite. Lan Yanzu looked at Lan Yan with a weak expression and said, "Sister, what's going on..."
After Han Li finished his actions, he ignored the Lan siblings and walked towards the side door.
"Stone friend, where are you going?" Su Zhonglian asked hastily as she stood beside him.
"I have some things to take care of, I'll be leaving for a bit. You all can divide the treasures in the formation, don't worry about me." Han Li said calmly and quickly walked to the side door, pushing it open and entering.
The side door led to a small, empty hall with no decorations.
Han Li scanned the area with his divine sense and nodded, then waved his hands.
Multiple colored lights shot out from his sleeves, landing in different parts of the hall.
The others in the main hall saw Han Li leave and changed their expressions, but soon realized he had only gone to the side hall and not left for real. They all let out a sigh of relief.
Han Li's current strength and cultivation had become indispensable in the current situation. If he were to leave, the others wouldn't have the confidence to deal with Li Qiema.
On the edge of the crowd, Xiong Shan and the black-robed couple stood silently, their cultivations being too low to be noticed by the others.
"Is this the place?" the black-robed woman whispered to the black-robed youth beside her.
"It's definitely here," the youth replied, his eyes closed in concentration. He opened them, and a hint of excitement flashed in his eyes.
"Don't get too excited, I heard what you're planning to do isn't easy. Are you sure you can do it?" the black-robed woman asked.
"I wouldn't have come here if I didn't have confidence," the youth replied, his voice laced with dissatisfaction.
The black-robed woman chuckled and said, "That's good, because if you die here, I'll be in trouble."
The youth snorted and didn't respond, closing his eyes again.
The black-robed woman didn't continue the conversation, instead gazing at the side hall with a hint of curiosity.
Xiong Shan stood beside her, also looking at the side hall with an unreadable expression.
Meanwhile, Lan Yan took out a medicinal pill and gave it to Lan Yanzu, who swallowed it and quickly regained his complexion.
"Blue friend, now that your brother is fine, let's start breaking the formation," Lei Yuze said to Lan Yan.
Lan Yan nodded.
...
In the side hall, Han Li looked around and then made a hand seal, his voice low and commanding.
"Begin!"
As he spoke, multiple layers of light screens appeared, covering the entire hall.
After setting up the screens, Han Li opened the entrance to the Flower Branch Space and stepped inside.
The pavilion in the Flower Branch Space was surrounded by a dense, dark aura, forming a massive black ball that rolled and churned.
A terrifying ghostly energy emanated from the ball, causing the plants within a hundred feet to wither and die. Fortunately, the medicinal garden was far enough away to be unaffected.
Han Li knew that Ti Hu was refining the Wu Cang Ghost King and couldn't control the ghostly energy within him.
He raised his hand, and dozens of golden lights shot out from his sleeve, landing around the pavilion and forming a golden light screen.
A temporal law force fluctuated within the screen, instantly suppressing the ghostly energy.
Han Li nodded in satisfaction, pleased with the effect of the formation flag he had created.
He then raised his hand again, and a silver light shot out from his sleeve, transforming into a silver bird that flew around the pavilion.
"Guard the entrance of the Flower Branch Space, if anyone tries to invade, kill them without mercy," Han Li instructed.
The silver bird chirped and flew towards the entrance of the Flower Branch Space.
Han Li finally relaxed, finding a spot to sit down and taking out the three insect nests.
He took a deep breath, activated the "Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique", and his body shone with brilliant golden light. His hands intersected, forming a seal.
...
As Han Li's body was surrounded by the flashing golden lights, the True Speech Treasure Wheel, the Time Cleansing Bottle, the Phantom Hourglass, the Eastern Yi Divine Tree, the Time-Cutting Torch, and the five objects that had taken shape appeared one by one, slowly revolving around his body.
Threads of time law crystals emerged from the True Speech Treasure Wheel and other objects, intertwining to form a golden whirlpool that rapidly spun around.
Han Li took a deep breath, reciting incantations as he manipulated the spell seals, causing the golden whirlpool to suddenly shrink inward.
A powerful surge of time law fluctuations flashed by, and the golden whirlpool let out a cracking sound as all the golden light and law crystals collapsed inward, forming a golden ring.
Han Li had done this many times before, but this time seemed different.
As he condensed the golden ring, the text of the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" flowed clearly from his heart, more vivid than ever before.
He had a deeper understanding of the profound meaning of time law that this technique described.
The time law power within Han Li stirred, as if it was about to undergo some transformation, but the sudden flash of insight in his mind disappeared, and the changes in the law power ceased.
"What's going on?" Han Li wondered, but after a moment of intense contemplation, he couldn't grasp the answer, so he simply stopped thinking about it and raised his hand to push the golden ring forward.
The golden ring shot out, rapidly expanding several times its original size, and with a soft "click," it enveloped a bug nest.
The ring spun rapidly, emitting a low, rumbling sound like a divine being's gentle hum, and a dazzling golden light burst forth, like a blaze of golden flames.
A powerful suction force emerged from within the ring, wrapping around the bug nest.
The Fire Age bug nest was engulfed by the golden flames, emitting a crackling sound like burning, and bursts of golden light shot out from the nest, merging into the golden ring.
The ring trembled slightly, shooting out a golden crystal thread that swirled around Han Li's body before flying towards the Time-Cutting Torch.
Han Li watched as the golden crystal thread wrapped around the torch, and he continued to accelerate the technique.
The golden light emanating from the ring grew denser, rapidly extracting the time law power from the bug nest and transforming it into time law crystals.
Thread after thread of time law crystals shot out from the golden ring, flying towards the Time-Cutting Torch, and the Fire Age bug nest rapidly shrunk, disappearing in an instant.
Fifty-two threads of time law crystals swirled around the Time-Cutting Torch, emitting a powerful and concentrated time law fluctuation.
Han Li's heart settled slightly as he watched this scene.
His calculations had been correct; the bug nest's time law power was not inferior to his own, and he had successfully condensed so many threads of time law crystals.
The number of law crystals suddenly doubled, and Han Li felt his entire body filled with time law power, a sensation completely different from before.
Han Li even felt that he had enough time law power to cast the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" at will.
The True Speech Treasure Wheel and other objects, which had been subdued due to previous events, had recovered somewhat over the past two days, but now, with the increased number of law crystals and the surge of time law power, they were fully restored, shining even brighter than before.
Especially the Time-Cutting Torch, which not only shone with golden light but also seemed to have grown slightly larger.
Han Li suppressed his excitement, took a deep breath, and manipulated the spell seals once more.
The golden ring shot out again, enveloping another bug nest.
A dazzling golden light burst forth from the ring, wrapping around the nest and extracting its time law power.
Time passed rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, half an hour had passed.
The other two bug nests were also absorbed by the golden ring, transformed into over a hundred threads of time law crystals.
At this moment, the Time-Cutting Torch was wrapped in a total of one hundred and sixty threads of time law crystals.
The Time-Cutting Torch had grown about 30% larger and had a sense of solidity to it.
The surging time law power within Han Li was three to four times stronger than before.
The sudden increase in time law power made it difficult for Han Li to control, but he didn't feel any discomfort, only an overwhelming urge to let out a mighty roar.
He managed to suppress this urge, put away the True Speech Treasure Wheel and other objects, and sat down to circulate the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique," gathering the time law power within his body.
About two to three hours later, Han Li stood up again, his body filled with time law power, which he could now control with ease.
Although he hadn't tried, he was confident that he could cast the technique with the abundant time law power within him.
"Ah, I wonder what's happening outside," Han Li muttered to himself, glancing at the wailing spirit.
The wailing spirit was still refining its ghostly energy, so Han Li didn't disturb it, and with a swift motion, he left the flower branch space and entered the outer hall.
He waved his hand, sending out a burst of green light that swept across the hall, causing the various array flags and disks to fly back and hover before him.
Han Li waved his sleeve, collecting the array flags and disks, and then pushed open the door to enter the main hall. As soon as he entered the hall, dazzling blue and crimson light filled the space, accompanied by thunderous roars that shook the heart.
He was taken aback for a moment, and then he saw the situation inside the hall.
On the floor of the main hall, a massive blue square array was drawn, with seven ring-shaped symbols arranged in an arc shape within the array.
At this moment, apart from the still-unrecovered Lan Yu Zi and Su Zhong Qian, the other seven people, including Lan Lian, Lei Yu Ce, Wen Zhong, the black-clad couple, Jin Liu, and Xiong Shan, sat in the ring-shaped symbols, manipulating the blue array.
Lan Yu Zi and Su Zhong Qian stood outside the blue array, vigilantly looking around, as if guarding against a sudden attack.
"Stone friend, you're out..." Su Zhong Qian saw Han Li emerge, and a hint of joy appeared on her face as she greeted him.
But she suddenly stopped mid-sentence, sizing Han Li up and down, her beautiful eyes revealing a hint of surprise.
In the short half-day they had been apart, something huge seemed to have changed about Han Li, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Lan Yu Zi's face showed an unnatural expression when he saw Han Li.
Han Li nodded to the two of them, looking towards the blue array.
Lan Lian and the others rapidly manipulated the array, and intense blue light burst forth, shooting towards the crimson glow at the back of the hall.
The light was accompanied by countless blue symbols, and the water law flowed within, pouring into the crimson glow.
The sound of muffled explosions echoed out, like the roar of a tidal wave, and the crimson glow fluctuated wildly.
"Roar!"
The glow emitted a series of fierce howls, and seven clusters of dazzling crimson light emerged, along with the seven evil spirits. They raised their hands, releasing a thick, blood-like glow that was filled with malevolent energy, striking the blue light and immediately repelling it.
Moreover, the blood-like glow tore apart the blue light, striking the blue array itself.
However, Lan Lian's expression didn't change, as if everything was going according to plan.
She recited a incantation, her hands rapidly changing into seven or eight different hand seals, and then she drew a line on her wrist.
With a "hiss," two streams of blood shot out from her wrist, merging into the blue array.
The blue array's color suddenly changed, transforming into a deep crimson in an instant, and the law fluctuations it emitted also changed, shifting from the water law to the blood law.
"Ah!" Han Li's eyes widened as he exclaimed.
He had never seen such a change in the law before.
The seven evil spirits' attacks struck the crimson array, but instead of causing any harm, they were immediately absorbed into it.
At the same time, a series of blood-like tendrils shot out from the array, instantly wrapping around the seven evil spirits.
Lan Lian and the others rapidly changed their hand seals, and the crimson array suddenly brightened, transforming the blood-like tendrils into seven crimson rings that encircled the evil spirits.
The rings emitted a powerful restrictive force, immobilizing the evil spirits and rendering them unable to move.
Lan Lian's face showed a hint of joy, and she swiftly raised her hand.
A crimson token appeared in front of her, spinning rapidly as it released a burst of blood-like silk, which was actually the blood law crystal threads. There were over fifty or sixty threads, which merged into the crimson array.
The crimson array began to rumble loudly once more, and a series of enormous blood-like symbols, each over a meter in diameter, shot out from the array, striking the evil spirits' crimson glow.
The glow immediately began to shake violently, and the interior seemed to be exploding, rapidly becoming thinner.
The seven evil spirits seemed to sense the threat, and they let out a collective roar, their bodies emitting a layer of liquid-like blood light.
A fierce, malevolent energy burst forth from the evil spirits, far surpassing the previous one. It was accompanied by a dark, evil law that directly invaded the minds of the people present, rendering their protective laws useless.
Han Li was also affected by this energy, his vision turning red as he seemed to see an endless sea of blood, mountains of corpses, and fields of white bones...
However, at this moment, the time law within him automatically activated, driving out the evil law and restoring his clarity of mind.
Although he quickly recovered, the others were unable to do so.
Xiong Shan's eyes turned a deep crimson, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably, emitting a powerful, murderous aura. It seemed that he had been controlled by the evil energy.
Jin Liu, Wen Zhong, and the heavily injured Lan Yu Zi's eyes also turned crimson, and they let out low, beast-like growls. However, their eyes still retained a hint of clarity, and they were not completely under control.
Lan Lian, Su Zhong Qian, and Lei Yu Ce were the strongest, and they were the least affected. They began to release their own law energies, driving out the evil energy from their bodies.
Han Li ignored the others, his eyes fixed on the black-clad couple within the array.
The two of them were still motionless, their faces hidden behind their masks.
The black-robed man and woman, although also affected by the evil aura of the evil god, only lagged behind Han Li by a moment before immediately recovering.
However, as soon as they recovered, they exchanged a glance, and a blood-red glow flashed in their eyes as they pretended to still be under control.
Han Li observed their subtle movements, and after a moment of thought, he didn't do anything.
The seven people controlling the formation were controlled by the evil aura, and their hands immediately stopped, the blood-red formation's light dimmed, and the blood-red circles that bound the seven evil gods weakened by nearly half.
The seven great evil gods let out a long, mournful cry, and the blood-red glow on their bodies intensified as they struggled fiercely.
In a series of cracking sounds, the seven blood-red circles suddenly appeared with cracks, and were on the verge of shattering.
At this moment, blue light and golden light flashed on Lan Yu's and Lei Yu's bodies, and their eyes regained their clarity. Seeing this scene, their faces changed.
"Trouble!"
Lan Yu cried out in surprise, but at this moment, the others were still under the control of the evil aura, and the formation beneath them was not something she and Lei Yu could control. They couldn't do anything in time.
Suddenly, a dazzling golden light descended from the sky, and in a flash, it transformed into a circular golden circle that enveloped the seven great evil gods. The golden circle contained countless golden ripples, and the evil gods' struggling bodies immediately froze.
A figure appeared within the golden circle, and it was Han Li.
At the same time, he spread his hands, and five golden lights shot out, each entering the bodies of Xiong Shan and the others.
The five people's bodies immediately radiated dazzling golden light, and a vast, time-based law erupted, instantly crushing and expelling the evil aura within their bodies.
"Quickly!" Han Li shouted.
Lan Yu and the others heard his words and didn't dare to hesitate, immediately using their techniques to activate the formation. The blood-red formation regained its brilliance, and the blood-red circles that bound the seven evil gods also returned to their original state.
Lan Yu opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which merged with the blood-red token before her.
The token's law-enforcing crystal threads suddenly shone brightly, and more gigantic blood-red symbols appeared, shooting out like a meteor shower, striking the blood-red light screen.
With a loud "boom," the blood-red light screen shook violently, and was ripped apart, transforming into countless blood-red spirit lights that disappeared.
Han Li saw this scene, and his hands changed, the golden light circle around him flashing and disappearing.
The seven evil gods within the circle let out a cry of unwillingness, and their bodies exploded, transforming into a cluster of blood-red lights that dispersed.
"We finally broke through the seal, thanks to your help, Stone friend!" Lan Yu lightly exhaled, standing up and thanking Han Li.
Just as Han Li was about to speak, a shrill, whistling sound erupted.
It was Lei Yu, Wen Zhong, Jin Liu, and Su Qian, who simultaneously shot out like lightning, transforming into two blue and two golden lights, pouncing towards the stone table that had lost its seal and was now completely exposed.
Before they reached the stone table, the four people each waved their hands, releasing a burst of light that transformed into four large, glowing hands, grasping towards the treasures on the stone table.
With a loud "bang," the stone table was shattered, and the treasures on it were scattered, flying out in all directions, but were caught by the four people.
The stone table had nine treasures, and Wen Zhong, Jin Liu, and Su Qian each grabbed two, while Lei Yu, who was the strongest, grabbed three.
The four people's movements were as fast as lightning, and the others didn't react until this moment.
"What are you doing? Didn't we agree to divide these treasures equally before we broke the formation?" Xiong Shan's face darkened, and he asked.
The black-robed man and woman's faces were also unyielding, but they didn't say anything.
Han Li and Lan Yu, as well as Lan Yuanzi, remained silent.
"Divide equally? With your cultivation, you're not worthy of dividing the treasures with us." Jin Liu's hands held the two treasures, the You Shui Xian Lotus and the Tian Jin Drill, and his expression was ecstatic. Hearing Xiong Shan's words, he glanced at him and the black-robed man and woman, and sneered, using a mocking tone.
Xiong Shan's expression suddenly turned ugly, and his hands clenched into fists, but after a moment of silence, he lowered his head, saying nothing.
"Blue friend, Stone friend, you two are different from them. You were able to break through the Seven Kill Blood God Formation, all thanks to your help. Although you two said you didn't want these treasures, the principle of 'those who see it have a share' still applies. Please take these two treasures." Lei Yu and Su Qian exchanged a glance, and each released a burst of light, sending a treasure to Han Li and Lan Yu.
"No need, Stone has already obtained the insect nest, and is already satisfied." Han Li's eyes flashed with a purple light, and he waved his hand, sending the treasure back.
"I, Blue, have already rescued my senior, and am already content." Lan Yu also waved her hand, sending the treasure back.
"If that's the case, then we won't force it. This place seems to have many treasures, and there will certainly be more in the future. We'll compensate you two later." Lei Yu smiled, and was about to put away the treasures in his hands.
But at this moment, a soft "pu" sound came from the treasures in his hands, and the gray-white light on the three treasures flashed, suddenly becoming disordered and unclear, transforming into three gray-white crystal threads.
"This...!" Lei Yu's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the scene. Three gray-white crystal threads suddenly shot out, pouncing towards Lei Yu Ce who was just a few feet away.
Lei Yu Ce reacted quickly, with a surge of golden light on his body, but it was already too late. The three gray-white crystal threads instantly broke through his protective golden light and entered his body.
Su Xi and the other two people's treasures also turned into a gray-white crystal thread, entering their bodies.
The four of them trembled uncontrollably, half-kneeling on the ground, their mouths emitting painful cries.
Han Li and the others were also shocked, their faces pale.
In the next moment, several people simultaneously flew out in all directions, falling hundreds of feet away, far from the four people, as if avoiding a snake or a scorpion.
Han Li looked more calm than the others, but his eyes flashed with a purple glow.
He hadn't really not cared earlier, but had just used his Nine Yin Magic Eyes to observe those strange treasures, although he hadn't seen that they were illusory objects, he had still sensed something abnormal, so he hadn't taken them.
Lei Yu Ce's cries grew louder, with an increasingly dense gray-white glow on his face, and his pupils rapidly changing to gray-white. His trembling body began to calm down.
"This is terrible, they've been controlled!" Lanyan's face changed, her hands waving towards the four people.
A blue light flew out from her hands, forming a blue silk screen.
The screen was a vibrant blue, seemingly made from a special silk, and it rapidly expanded to several dozen feet in size.
Each blue thread on the screen emitted a blue water ripple glow, and in an instant, tens of thousands of layers of blue water ripples appeared, layer upon layer, surging towards the four people.
But just as the screen was about to cover them, Lei Yu Ce and the others suddenly lifted their heads, their pupils completely changed to gray-white, staring at the falling blue screen.
Su Xi and Jing Liu shouted, their hands waving in unison.
Four blue lights shot out from their hands, forming two blue long lances and two blue large banners.
The four treasures intertwined and rotated, emitting a soaring blue light, forming a massive blue light sphere that held up the falling blue screen.
Meanwhile, Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong flew out, pouncing towards Han Li and the others.
Their bodies emitted countless golden sword auras, like blooming flowers, as golden lotus flowers burst forth, covering Han Li and the others.
The fierce sword auras hadn't arrived yet, but the walls and ground nearby, which had been reinforced with restrictions, were already cut with deep and shallow scars, and the air was trembling.
Xiong Shan, the black-clad man and woman, and Lan Yuanzi saw this and hastily used their divine powers to counterattack.
A loud explosion shook the air, as various lights intertwined and flashed.
The four people joined forces, barely withstanding Lei Yu Ce's attack.
But the palace, despite being reinforced with restrictions, couldn't withstand the massive force, and it collapsed, becoming a ruin.
Without the palace's restrictions, the people flew into the air, able to fight more freely, and they clashed again.
Lanyan fought alone against Su Xi and Jing Liu, while Xiong Shan and the others blocked Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong.
Lei Yu Ce and the others, controlled by someone, seemed unable to fully exert their strength, but Lanyan and the others, although slightly at a disadvantage, firmly blocked their attacks.
"Who is secretly manipulating others, why not show yourself?" Han Li floated in the air, his eyes flashing with purple light, and he shouted.
"Ah, Nine Yin Magic Eyes, I didn't expect to see the magic of the demon tribe here, it's truly rare. It seems I can add another powerful phantom slave to my collection." A lazy voice came from the nearby void, and the sound echoed, as if many people were speaking at the same time, making it impossible to determine the source.
Han Li couldn't locate the source of the voice, but he could sense that it wasn't Li Qi Ma, and his heart skipped a beat.
Could it be that he had guessed correctly, that there was more than one captive in this layer?
"You have such divine powers, yet you can't show yourself?" Han Li's thoughts turned, and he shouted again.
"Little guy, you think you can deceive me with a few provocative words? Do you think I'm a three-year-old child? If you want to find me, you'll have to use your true abilities, hahaha..." The voice laughed, echoing through the surroundings, striking fear into the hearts of those who heard it.
"Is that so? Then I won't be polite." Han Li listened carefully, a smile spreading across his face, and his hands suddenly reached out into the void.
Two thick, golden electric arcs shot out from his palms, striking a certain point in the void hundreds of feet away.
A deafening thunderclap shook the air, and the void violently fluctuated, as a middle-aged man's figure appeared, his face filled with surprise.
The man wore a cyan long robe, and his features were quite elegant, but his eyes were misty, and his pupils were invisible, emitting a gray-white glow.
At this moment, the golden electric arcs had not dissipated, and they surged towards the middle-aged man.
The man sneered, and with a gentle wave of his sleeve, the golden electric arcs were blocked by an invisible force, unable to advance even a step, before exploding and dispersing.
The man's eyes, however, were still filled with a hint of surprise, and his gaze was fixed on Han Li.
Han Li saw the middle-aged man break the Evil-Suppressing Divine Thunder with ease, and his pupils constricted slightly.
But when his gaze fell on the man's face, his heart stirred slightly.
The middle-aged man's appearance was unfamiliar, and Han Li confirmed that he had never seen him before, but for some reason, the man gave him a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen him somewhere before.
Han Li didn't notice that, in the distance, the black-clothed youth who was fighting with Lei Yu and Wen Zhong was shaken when he saw the middle-aged man appear, and his eyes flashed with excitement.
"Tell me, how did you see through my true form?" the middle-aged man asked Han Li, his voice calm, but the laziness in his tone was gone.
"Who are you? Why did you set up a trap here and try to harm us?" Han Li didn't answer the man's question, but instead asked his own.
"It seems we don't want to answer each other's questions. How about this: you answer one of my questions, and I'll answer one of yours?" the middle-aged man said, his eyes narrowing.
Han Li's eyebrows rose, and he glanced at Lanyan and the others, who were still fighting. Seeing that they were unharmed, he nodded in agreement.
"Since it's my method, I'll ask first," the middle-aged man said magnanimously.
"Who are you?" Han Li asked after a moment's thought.
"I've been imprisoned for countless years, and my name is unknown to you. I'm just a prisoner trapped in this place," the middle-aged man said indifferently.
Han Li heard the vague answer and frowned, feeling unsatisfied.
However, the man's words revealed that he was a prisoner trapped in this layer, which did answer one of Han Li's questions.
"I've answered one of your questions. Now it's your turn to answer mine. What are you people, and how did you come here?" the middle-aged man asked, looking at Han Li.
"We're from the Golden Source Immortal Domain, and we stumbled upon the cave of the Tai Sui Immortal Lord. We came here to search for treasures," Han Li replied vaguely.
"Tai Sui's cave has appeared?" the middle-aged man asked, his body shaking with surprise, and his eyes flashing with excitement.
"Now it's my turn to ask a question, I suppose," Han Li said, seeing the man's reaction, and his mind racing.
"Go ahead," the middle-aged man said, his face flashing with anger, but then he seemed to remember something and suppressed his anger.
"How many prisoners are there in this layer, apart from you?" Han Li asked, his eyes flashing.
The middle-aged man heard the question and didn't respond for a moment. Then, he burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" Han Li asked, his voice low.
"Do you think I'd answer that question?" the middle-aged man asked, his smile disappearing.
"Does that mean you won't continue our conversation?" Han Li asked, his eyes narrowing.
"I've wasted enough time. I won't waste any more words on you, boy. Come and die," the middle-aged man said, his face twisting into a cruel smile, and his eyes flashing with gray-white light.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly looked away, his body glowing with golden light.
But no matter what he did, it was futile. The surrounding scenery changed, and the space turned into a gray-white mist.
The palace, Lanyan, and the others disappeared, and the middle-aged man was nowhere to be seen.
"Is this an illusion?" Han Li muttered.
He quickly calmed down and grasped his fists. Golden lightning flashed on his body, and a thunderous sound erupted. A layer of golden light condensed into a suit of armor, which looked like the god of thunder had descended.
Han Li's sleeves fluttered, and the sound of thunder echoed again. Thirty-six golden flying swords appeared, and he grasped a hand seal. The swords glowed with golden lightning, and a dazzling electric arc flashed out, containing a powerful lightning law.
"Go!" Han Li shouted, his hands pressing down.
The thirty-six swords exploded out, turning into thirty-six blinding golden lights that streaked through the gray-white space.
The space was torn apart, leaving thirty-six scars. But the gray-white space flashed with light, and the scars disappeared.
Han Li's face fell, and he was about to do something else.
Just then, the entire gray-white space lit up, and a dazzling gray-white light shone on Han Li's eyes, making them hard to open. He closed them slightly.
However, his golden armor flashed with lightning, and the thirty-six swords flew back to him, swirling around him and emitting a fierce sword aura.
The light flashed, and when it disappeared, Han Li opened his eyes to find that his body was fixed to a copper pillar, his hands and feet bound by thick copper rings. He was unable to move.
His golden armor and the thirty-six swords had vanished.
"This...!" Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and he let out a low growl. Over nine hundred points of mysterious light appeared on his body, and he used all his strength to struggle.
But the copper rings and pillar didn't budge, still holding him firmly in place. "This is impossible!" Han Li exclaimed.
With his current physical strength, even if the copper pillar was a powerful immortal artifact, it shouldn't be able to withstand his full force without any reaction.
A loud, muffled sound echoed, and a wave of intense heat suddenly appeared on the copper pillar, causing it to turn bright red.
Han Li's skin was instantly scorched, and his body was covered in a thick layer of black smoke. His physical defense, which was normally unbreakable, seemed to have vanished.
A deep, searing pain shot through his body, as if his soul was being burned by the flames. Even Han Li's strong willpower couldn't withstand it, and he let out a muffled groan.
Before he could even react to the pain, a flurry of gray-white blades appeared in front of him, stabbing down at him with a sharp, piercing sound.
Han Li's face changed, and his body glowed with a brilliant golden light. The True Word Treasure Wheel appeared behind him, emitting countless golden waves that enveloped the surrounding area.
However, the copper pillar and the gray-white blades were unaffected by the True Word Treasure Wheel.
The blades continued to fall, stabbing into Han Li's body without any delay. Han Li's endurance was finally broken, and he let out a pained cry.
He realized that he had been trapped in an enemy's illusion, a powerful one that had complete control over his senses and spiritual awareness.
This illusion was unlike anything he had ever seen before, and it seemed to be able to break through the boundaries of reality and illusion.
As the blades continued to fall, a strange, unpredictable force began to emanate from them, enveloping Han Li's body.
But just as this force was about to overwhelm him, a burst of temporal energy emerged from Han Li's body, as if it had sensed an external force invading his space.
This energy resisted the unpredictable force, and for a moment, it seemed to be at a stalemate.
However, the blades continued to fall, piercing Han Li's body and causing him immense pain.
A wave of unpredictable energy accompanied the pain, invading Han Li's mind and causing his consciousness to become hazy.
Han Li's eyes began to glaze over, and his mind became cloudy.
A series of attacks came at him like a tidal wave, each one faster and more intense than the last. Han Li's willpower was strong, but even he was starting to feel overwhelmed.
Just as he was about to give up, a powerful spiritual energy surged up from within him, and his cultivation technique began to rotate automatically.
A crystal-clear sword shadow appeared in his mind, radiating a fierce and powerful energy.
Han Li's feelings of despair were instantly dispelled, and he regained his clarity.
He opened his eyes, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Han Li endured the intense pain, his eyes narrowing as he gazed at the gray-white space. A resolute look appeared on his face, and his body began to glow with an intense golden light.
He was about to activate the Great Five Elements Fantasy Technique, to completely destroy the gray-white space.
But just as he was about to do so, the gray-white space suddenly began to tremble, and a low, humming sound filled the air.
A massive, blood-red sword shadow appeared, piercing through the gray-white space and radiating a terrifying, destructive energy.
Han Li felt a chill run down his spine, and his spiritual energy seemed to be drawn towards the sword shadow.
"This sword shadow is...!" Han Li's cultivation technique rotated, and he immediately recognized the sword shadow.
If he wasn't mistaken, this was the Heavenly Fox Blood Knife!
The massive sword shadow slashed through the gray-white space, causing it to tear apart and disintegrate into countless gray-white light particles.
Han Li's vision blurred, and he found himself back in the collapsing palace. The green bamboo sword was still by his side, and the golden lightning armor was still on his body.
In the distance, the middle-aged man in blue robes stood with a shocked expression, looking at the black-clad youth who was holding the blood-red long knife.
The black-clad youth was standing not far away, and the Heavenly Fox Blood Knife was still radiating a powerful, destructive energy.
At the same time, the Li Qi beast appeared on the battlefield, fighting against the black-clad woman.
The Li Qi beast was surrounded by four or five hundred-foot-long white wind serpents, which were coiled around its body. The beast's mouth was open, and it was spitting out waves of white wind blades that were piercing through the air.
These wind blades seemed ordinary, but they were incredibly powerful, and they could easily tear through the air and create fissures.
The black-clad woman had a dark red circular shadow behind her, which had six black holes arranged in a hexagonal pattern. The circular shadow was rotating, and a powerful, unpredictable energy was emanating from the six holes.
This energy was able to easily deflect the wind blades, and then it crushed them with a single blow, making it impossible for the Li Qi beast to get any closer.
The others, including Lan Yu, were standing on the sidelines, their eyes gray and white, as if they had been controlled. However, they didn't move, and they seemed to be waiting for something.
Han Li looked at the black-clad youth and the woman, and his eyes narrowed. He immediately guessed what had happened.
(Note: I've kept the translation as close to the original as possible, but some minor adjustments were made to improve clarity and readability.)
The middle-aged man gazed at the black-clad youth, his voice cold and inquiring. "Tian Huo Hua Xue Dao! How did this sword end up in your hands? Who are you?"
The black-clad youth smiled upon hearing this, and began to mutter to himself. A crimson aura emerged from his face, flowing downwards.
His body and appearance changed, transforming into a slender youth with silver hair flowing in the wind.
Han Li's face faltered, for this person was none other than Fox Three, whom he had parted ways with in the Gray Realm.
Han Li didn't know if the other party had discovered anything from his current appearance, which was different from his original form.
"I am the ninth generation descendant of the Tian Huo tribe, Liu San Sheng, paying my respects to Senior!" Fox Three bowed respectfully to the blue-robed middle-aged man.
The blue-robed middle-aged man's expression softened slightly as he gazed at Fox Three's true appearance, but his tone remained cold. "A descendant of the Tian Huo tribe... I didn't expect to meet a fellow clansman here. So, this Tian Huo Hua Xue Dao was given to you by him?"
Fox Three replied respectfully, "Yes, and no."
The blue-robed middle-aged man snorted, "I have no interest in exchanging clever words with you here. You've chosen to follow him, and now you're here... Do you think that just because of your clan ties, I won't kill you? Or do you think that with the Tian Huo Hua Xue Dao in hand, you can resist me?"
A cold glint flashed in the blue-robed middle-aged man's eyes as he spoke, his voice laced with killing intent.
Fox Three didn't show any fear, his tone sincere. "I wouldn't dare, Senior. Your Illusory Law has reached a state of near perfection, and my power is no match for yours, even with multiple Tian Huo Hua Xue Dao. I came here today because the outside world has undergone a sudden change, and my clan has been drawn into it. I've come to ask you to lend your assistance, to help my clan through this great calamity."
The blue-robed middle-aged man's expression remained cold. "I said it back then, and I'll say it again: I will no longer concern myself with the affairs of the Tian Huo tribe. Since your cultivation isn't weak, and you're considered a talent, I won't make things difficult for you. Leave here immediately."
As he spoke, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The distant Lichi Ma, which had been fighting the black-clad woman, immediately stopped its attack, and the several wind dragons swirling around it vanished into thin air.
"The Wheel of Reincarnation is indeed extraordinary, but unfortunately, the timing isn't right today. We'll have to wait for another day to have a great battle!" Lichi Ma gazed at the black-clad woman, its eyes burning with intensity, before letting out a long whistle.
Then, it vanished in a flash of white light, reappearing beside the blue-robed middle-aged man in an instant.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged, but his heart stirred once more.
The black-clad woman, seeing Lichi Ma stop its attack, didn't pursue it. Instead, she calmly made a hand seal, and the dark red circular wheel behind her spun wildly before exploding and disappearing, transforming into over a hundred dark red law crystals that merged into her body.
The woman's figure flickered, and she vanished, reappearing beside Fox Three.
The blue-robed middle-aged man glanced at the black-clad woman, but didn't say anything. He floated down beside Lichi Ma, preparing to leave.
"Senior, won't you even lend a hand to our clan in its time of need?" Fox Three asked, his face urgent, as he chased after the blue-robed middle-aged man.
The blue-robed middle-aged man's body stiffened, and he fell silent for a moment before speaking in a cold tone. "I've already said it: the Tian Huo tribe and I have no further connection. You must handle your own affairs."
Fox Three's heart was filled with anxiety, but he had already said all he could. He had no strategy to persuade the blue-robed middle-aged man.
"Wait!" Just then, the Tian Huo Hua Xue Dao in Fox Three's hand flashed with a bloody light, and a figure emerged from it – the sword spirit, Shi Qing Hou.
"Ah, it's you! I didn't expect you to still be alive. No wonder the Tian Huo Hua Xue Dao's power hasn't diminished. You must have followed him as well!" The blue-robed middle-aged man's expression turned even colder, and he revealed a hint of disgust, but he didn't stop moving.
"Master is still alive, perhaps," Shi Qing Hou said, gazing at the blue-robed middle-aged man's back.
The blue-robed middle-aged man's body suddenly stopped, and he turned around, his eyes fixed intently on Shi Qing Hou. "Master is still alive? You're telling the truth? No, this is impossible. I saw Master's downfall with my own eyes back then!"
"Master's abilities are extraordinary, and he wouldn't die so easily. What happened back then, I'm afraid we didn't see the truth. I've only recently discovered some clues, and I've been investigating, which is why I submitted to him." Shi Qing Hou spoke proudly.
"Ah, I see. So you came to find me this time...?" The blue-robed middle-aged man nodded slowly, his eyes thoughtful.
However, he glanced at Han Li and the black-clad woman, and his words trailed off.
"Indeed, this matter is related to Master's possible resurrection. That's why we've come to ask for your assistance." Shi Qing Hou said.
The blue-robed middle-aged man's gaze lingered on Han Li and the black-clad woman, and his expression turned cold once more. Since it concerns the master, I naturally won't decline, but I'm currently being held captive here, and my life-bound jade slip is still in the seventh layer. Even if I wanted to leave with you, I couldn't," said the middle-aged man in the green robe, his attitude changing greatly.
"Don't worry, we've already made thorough preparations for our arrival. I'll help you retrieve your life-bound jade slip," said Shi Qinghou, his face lighting up with joy.
"Then I'll have to trouble you. The spatial gate leading to the sixth layer is just ahead. As for the prisoners being held in the sixth layer, I'm not sure. However, the higher you go, the more formidable the prisoners become. You'll need to be careful," said the middle-aged man in the green robe, nodding and warning them.
"I have Huo San and Shao Zhangshi with me, and with the addition of Han brother, no one will be able to stop us. Han brother, isn't that right?" Shi Qinghou suddenly turned to Han Li, smiling.
Han Li's eyebrows twitched at the mention of his name.
"What? You're Han brother?" Huo San stared at Han Li in shock, his voice trembling.
The black-robed woman, however, remained calm, as if she had already known Han Li's identity.
"Ah, so this person is also one of your group? It seems the Tian Huo tribe has made some progress over the years, forming alliances with many talented individuals," said the middle-aged man in the green robe, glancing at Han Li and the black-robed woman.
"These people are all friends of Huo San, and have nothing to do with the Tian Huo tribe's old stubbornness," said Shi Qinghou.
The middle-aged man's expression changed, and he looked at Huo San with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.
"Shi senior, Huo San, and Jiao San, it's been a long time," said Han Li, flying forward, his gaze sweeping over Shi Qinghou and Huo San before landing on the black-robed woman.
"Ah, I knew you wouldn't be able to hide from Brother Han's eyes," said the black-robed woman, her hands weaving a seal, her body glowing with a faint red light as she revealed her true appearance, which was indeed Jiao San.
"Are you really Han brother?" Huo San asked, his eyes still filled with doubt.
This was understandable, as when they had parted ways in the Gray Realm, Han Li had only been a Golden Immortal at the peak of his realm. Now, over a thousand years had passed, and he had transformed into a Taiyi Realm cultivator at the peak of his realm, which was truly astonishing.
"Since you've all already discovered my true name, I'll explain. Back then, I was pursued by the Heavenly Court, and to avoid trouble, I changed my name to Li. Please don't mind," said Han Li, smiling apologetically, his hands weaving a seal, his body glowing with a faint red light as he revealed his true appearance.
"Indeed, it's really Han brother! I never thought your cultivation would progress so quickly, it's truly astonishing! Back then, during the Gray Realm's upheaval, you and Shi Chongkong were captured and taken away, and I worried about you for a long time. Seeing that you're safe and sound, I'm relieved. By the way, how is Shi brother doing?" Huo San asked, his face filled with joy.
"Back then, it was a powerful expert from the Demon Realm who intervened, using their powers to summon us back to the Demon Realm. Shi brother is doing well, and you can rest assured," said Han Li, smiling.
"That's good," said Huo San, sighing in relief.
"If we want to reminisce, we can do so after we leave the Years Tower. The matter at hand is more pressing," said Shi Qinghou, taking a step forward.
"Shi senior is right," said Huo San, showing great respect towards Shi Qinghou.
"Han brother, since we've met again in this place, it's fate. Shall we work together from now on?" Shi Qinghou asked, turning to Han Li.
"I'm ashamed to say that I entered this immortal estate by mistake, and I know nothing about it. However, from what I've heard from you, it seems you're familiar with the Years Tower. Please enlighten me," said Han Li, his expression calm, as he asked Shi Qinghou instead of responding to his question.
"Of course, this Years Tower is a leftover from a powerful Da Luo existence named Tai Sui Xian Zun. He cultivated the same time laws as you, and was once the master of the Heavenly Court's prison. However, he suddenly betrayed the Heavenly Court and escaped, taking many prisoners and treasures with him. The most famous of these treasures is the Years God Lamp, which is said to be a treasure of the time laws. It's likely that the lamp is in the seventh layer. The Heavenly Court has been chasing him for years, but no one expected him to hide in the Jin Yuan Immortal Realm, which is close to the Central Plains Immortal Realm, and secretly build this immortal estate," said Shi Qinghou, knowing that Han Li wanted to understand the situation before making a decision.
"Years God Lamp!" Han Li's heart stirred.
Ever since he entered the Years Tower, he had been feeling a strong time law energy emanating from above, which was his motivation for moving forward. Now, it seemed that the energy was indeed the Years God Lamp, and he wondered what kind of treasure it was.
"Since this immortal estate is so secretive, how did you all find out about it?" Han Li asked, his curiosity piqued.
"This matter should be asked to Jiao San, as I and Huo San followed her here," said Shi Qinghou.
Han Li looked at Jiao San, his eyes filled with surprise.
"This matter involves the Wheel of Reincarnation's secrets, and even as the son of the Wheel of Reincarnation, you don't have the authority to know," said Jiao San, her eyes flashing with a hint of mystery.
Han Li didn't press the matter, his eyes gleaming with thought as he fell into contemplation.
"Regarding this Taishan Immortal Mansion, I know only this much, and you already know the purpose of my and Huo San's visit. As for the alliance proposed by Shi Mou, how do you think, Fellow Han?" Shi Qing Hou waited for a moment, seeing Han Li remained silent, before asking.
"Alright, I, Han, can agree to form an alliance with you two, and even assist you in obtaining that life-bound talisman later. However, if I encounter any difficulties in the future and need assistance, I hope you two won't refuse to help." Han Li's thoughts turned, and he slowly spoke.
"Deal!" Huo San and Shi Qing Hou heard this and immediately exclaimed with joy.
Jiao San's eyes sparkled with a hint of thought, but she didn't speak.
"Since that's settled, let's set off now." Shi Qing Hou said, glancing at the blue-robed middle-aged man beside him.
"Follow me, don't look around, and don't touch anything. If you have any questions, don't ask me."
The blue-robed middle-aged man said indifferently, then urged the auspicious horse forward, with Lan Yan and the others following closely behind, like zombies.
Han Li and the others also followed.
As a result, they walked for an entire day and night.
The middle-aged man led Han Li away from the gourd-shaped mountain, soon leaving the Gobi Desert behind, and then passing through a vast swamp, followed by a range of undulating hills...
Along the way, Han Li discovered strange and wondrous things, such as a hundred-zhang-tall ice sculpture standing upright on the Gobi Desert, giving off a chill that could be felt from afar, a massive whirlpool in the swamp that constantly churned out water bubbles, and the sound of muffled pounding coming from beneath the hills, as if someone was constantly striking something. Even when they passed through a forest of giant trees, they found a series of blood-red chains linking nearly a thousand trees together, forming a strange shape.
Due to the middle-aged man's previous warning, and his apparent reluctance to speak, everyone remained silent, lost in their own thoughts, as they hurried along. Han Li didn't find an opportunity to investigate, and could only give up.
After a series of twists and turns, the group finally arrived at a black grand hall situated on a grassy plain.
This grand hall was larger, but the light was very dim, so several fire basins were lit to illuminate the interior.
Inside, a dark red gate stood tall, emitting a faint dark red glow.
"This is the entrance to the sixth layer, you can go now." The blue-robed middle-aged man said, turning to leave.
"Senior, the sixth and seventh layers are unknown dangers, and although we are strong, it's not easy to break through. Can you please release these companions of mine, and let them come with us? It would be easier for us." Huo San suddenly called out to the blue-robed middle-aged man, then looked at Lan Yan and the others.
"These people are not weak, and have some use. You don't lack these few phantom slaves." Shi Qing Hou added.
"Very well." The blue-robed middle-aged man's brow furrowed, then relaxed, and he made a hand seal.
Seven gray-white lights shot out from his hand, entering Lan Yan and the others.
Lan Yan and the others immediately radiated a large amount of gray-white light, and then a series of gray-white crystal threads flew out of their bodies, merging into the blue-robed middle-aged man's body.
Han Li watched the gray-white crystal threads, his pupils constricting.
"Kid, when you go to the seventh layer, if you encounter my life-bound talisman, remember to bring it with you. I'll have a reward for you." Just then, a faint voice suddenly appeared in Han Li's mind, belonging to the auspicious horse.
He felt a stir in his heart, and looked at the auspicious horse.
The horse obediently carried the blue-robed middle-aged man, its eyes fixed straight ahead.
"Let's go." The blue-robed middle-aged man finished, and indifferently said.
The auspicious horse moved its four legs, and a white light flashed, causing the two to vanish into thin air, leaving no residual aura behind, as if they had never appeared.
The crystal threads left their bodies, and the gray-white light in Lan Yan and the others' eyes quickly dissipated.
Han Li saw this, and made a hand seal, his body flashing with red light as he transformed back into his original appearance.
Huo San and Jiao San also saw this, and made a hand seal, restoring their original appearances. Huo San also put away the Tianhu Xue knife.
The three of them had just finished when Lan Yan, Lei Yu Ce, and the others' eyes cleared, and they looked around in confusion.
"Where are we? I remember being invaded by the gray-white crystal threads of the precious treasure..." Lei Yu Ce, Su Qianqian, and the others exclaimed.
Han Li saw this, and thought that people controlled by the gray-white crystal threads wouldn't retain any memories.
Lan Yan and the others were also confused, only remembering their memories before being controlled by the blue-robed middle-aged man.
"Don't worry, everyone, the enemy has left, and we're safe now." Huo San slowly said.
"Do you know what happened?" Lei Yu Ce asked.
"I know a bit, Fellow Lei, it's like this..." Huo San coughed, and fabricated a story, saying that Han Li had displayed great power, defeating the enemy and saving everyone.
Huo San was skilled in speaking, and his fabrication was flawless, covering all aspects without leaving any loopholes.
Han Li heard this, and couldn't help but feel a bitter smile, but didn't say anything.
"If that's the case, then Shi Fellow has saved us again. We're grateful, and when we exit the Taishan Immortal Mansion, Shi Fellow must come to our Tian Shui Sect as a guest. We'll treat you to a feast, and express our gratitude." Su Qianqian said gratefully.
Xiong Shan, Lan Yan, and Lan Yuanzi also thanked Han Li, but the Lan siblings' gazes held a hint of wariness and caution. Here is the translation of the chapter:
Apart from that, Lei Yu Ce, Jin Liu, and Wen Zhong's expressions were somewhat downcast.
They had previously spent a lot of effort trying to break the seal, but in the end, they didn't get anything. Especially Jin Liu, whose insect nest was taken away by Han Li. Now, he was rescued by Han Li in a confused state, and his heart couldn't help but feel depressed.
"No need to be polite, those enemies may return at any time, and this place is not suitable for a long stay. We should leave quickly and enter the sixth layer," Han Li said, waving his hand.
"Not bad, time is of the essence," Su Zhen Zi nodded and said.
Lei Yu Ce and the others also forced themselves to cheer up and began to break the seal on the space door.
The seals on each space door were basically the same, and the group had already become familiar with them. They quickly broke the seal on the light door in front of them and entered one after another.
Han Li only felt a flash of light in front of him, and his figure passed through the light door, arriving at a vast expanse of golden sand.
He looked far into the distance, gazing at the surroundings, but all he saw was endless yellow sand, and the air was filled with a dry, desolate smell.
At this time, light flashed beside him, and the figures of Jiao San and the others appeared one after another.
These people didn't say a word, and naturally divided into two groups.
Among them, Huo San and Jiao San were naturally closer to Han Li, while the two from Tian Shui Sect were closer to Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong. The Lan Yuanzi siblings followed behind them.
What was strange was that Xiong Shan was standing on Han Li's side for some reason.
After everyone stood still, they looked around at the surroundings.
After a moment, their eyes flickered, and their faces revealed a hint of a strange color.
Jiao San bent down and picked up a handful of fine sand, gently rubbing it, and her brow furrowed slightly as she said, "This is gold sand..."
"It's not gold sand, it's a large amount of bone powder from demonic beasts," Han Li shook his head and said.
"How is that possible?" Jiao San asked in disbelief.
"It's indeed bone powder," Lei Yu Ce suddenly spoke up.
He pointed to a curved, crescent-shaped object in the distance, which was protruding from the horizon.
Everyone followed his gaze and flew over to take a closer look, only to discover that it was a curved horn from a massive, ancient beast's remains. Its body was a golden yellow color, and it was covered in wind-swept, corroded marks.
Jiao San's brow furrowed, and she wanted to reach out and touch the horn.
But as soon as she made contact with it, she heard a faint "poof" sound.
The golden, curved horn suddenly shattered, turning into a cloud of golden sand that dispersed, revealing that the sand below was indeed bone powder.
"This vast desert, which direction should we head in?" Huo San asked helplessly.
He looked up at the sky, and his gaze finally settled on the white, circular sun hanging above, which seemed to be drawn on a piece of white paper, without any heat emanating from it.
Lei Yu Ce was about to speak when Han Li suddenly pointed in a direction and said, "That way..."
Everyone followed his gaze, but all they saw was the endless sand sea, with nothing in sight.
After entering the sixth layer, everyone's spiritual sense was suppressed even more, and they could only sense things within a hundred miles.
"What's there?" Su Zhen Zi asked curiously.
"I'm not sure, my spiritual sense is being suppressed too much. I can only faintly sense a special aura... Let's just go take a look," Han Li said after a moment of contemplation.
Jiao San and Huo San exchanged a glance, and both looked hesitant.
"Stone friend, it's not easy to get here, and many people have died along the way. I think it's better not to act rashly. Let's discuss it and find a safer route," Lei Yu Ce said after a moment of hesitation.
"Yes, this tower is more treacherous the higher you go. Even if you're skilled and brave, you can't be too careful," Jin Liu chimed in.
Su Zhen Zi opened her mouth as if to say something, but hesitated and ultimately remained silent.
"Thank you for your concern, but everyone can go wherever they want. Since we're already at the sixth layer, each person has their own considerations. I'll just go on my own," Han Li said with a slight bow, smiling.
He then wanted to leave first.
"Stone friend, I'll go with you," Xiong Shan said with a smile.
Han Li heard this, but his expression didn't change, and he didn't respond. He simply flew off in the direction he had pointed, with Xiong Shan following closely behind.
"We'll also follow Stone friend," Jiao San said after a moment of consideration, and she and Huo San flew off in pursuit of Han Li and Xiong Shan.
(Forget the words, I had something to do during the day, and there will only be one more chapter tonight)
After Han Li and the others left, only Lei Yu Ce and Su Xun Si remained.
For some reason, Jin Liu's eyes followed Han Li's figure disappearing into the distance, and his heart felt a slight relaxation, as if the tension in his nerves had been released.
Regarding this person who he couldn't see through, no matter how he appeared on the surface, Jin Liu's vigilance and guard never wavered.
The Lan Yuan Zi siblings exchanged a glance, also secretly letting out a sigh of relief.
Although they were originally ordered to pursue and kill Han Li, after their encounter, they discovered that this opponent was more difficult to deal with than they had imagined. If they had a choice, they would rather not have met him.
"Now, what should we do?" Su Xun Si looked at the remaining people and asked.
"Wait a moment, Su Xianzi."
Lei Yu Ce said, his wrist twisting, and a metal disk with many symbols and markings appeared in his palm. He held it with one hand and pressed down on it with the other, operating it with a series of hand seals.
A moment later, the disk lit up with a blurry glow, and inside, a small flame the size of a thumb rose up, as if being pulled by an invisible force, slightly shifting to one side.
Seeing this, including Su Xun Si, everyone was slightly startled, but Jin Liu's eyes lit up.
Lei Yu Ce followed the direction of the flame, then flipped his palm, putting away the disk, and pointed in the direction the flame had shifted.
"We'll go this way."
"Lei Dao You, what is this thing?" Su Xun Si asked, furrowing her brow.
Lei Yu Ce hesitated for a moment before explaining, "It's a small treasure that can slightly connect with the Sui Yue Shen Deng, and following its direction will definitely not be wrong."
"So, does that mean that the direction Stone Dao You took was incorrect?" Su Xun Si asked, looking at the direction Lei Yu Ce was pointing, which was quite far from Han Li's.
"Do you remember the fork in the road when we first entered the secret realm?" Lei Yu Ce asked, changing the subject.
"Your meaning is... different paths, same destination?" Su Xun Si asked back.
"Whether Stone Dao You's path is correct or not, I don't know, but perhaps the destination we finally reach will be the same." Lei Yu Ce nodded, saying so.
Su Xun Si heard this, looked at Lei Yu Ce, and nodded thoughtfully.
"We shouldn't delay, since we have a direction, let's set off." Wen Zhong reminded.
...
In the golden desert, aside from the interference with his divine sense, Han Li's flying speed was also suppressed, making him feel somewhat unaccustomed.
"Xiong Shan Dao You, no matter what your purpose is for following me, I'll remind you that you shouldn't do anything unnecessary. I don't want to kill you again." Han Li glanced at Xiong Shan, who was closely following him, and said.
"Han Dao You, don't blame me, this encounter is truly a play of fate. If it weren't for Qi Mo Zi's sudden summons, I would either be on duty in the Xian prison or closed up in my cave, and I wouldn't have come out until I reached the Tai Yi late stage." Xiong Shan hastily explained.
"Oh, why did you want to reach the Tai Yi late stage?" Han Li raised an eyebrow, asking.
"I originally thought that with the support of the Xian palace, I could reach the Tai Yi late stage before you, and then come find you to settle the score from back then. But after seeing you, I lost that heart, and I'm afraid I'll never have the chance again." Xiong Shan sighed, his face bitter.
"Let's not talk about other things, how did you recognize my identity?" Han Li stared at Xiong Shan, asking.
"Didn't you, Han Dao You, just recently had a confrontation with Qi Mo Zi?" Xiong Shan asked back.
"That's right. So, does that mean that Qi Mo Zi left some mark on me during our previous encounter?" Han Li's heart moved, asking.
"Qi Mo Zi knew that you, Han Dao You, were skilled in changing your identity with the wheel of reincarnation mask, so he decided that the next time he encountered you, he would leave a mark on you, making it easier to track you down afterwards." Xiong Shan nodded, saying.
"Xiong Dao You, you'd better explain clearly, what kind of mark is it that even I couldn't detect?" Han Li asked, puzzled.
"This mark won't have any spiritual energy fluctuations, and can't be tracked from a distance. Only when you're extremely close can you sense it through a small seal." Xiong Shan said, taking out a small, willow-leaf-sized jade pendant and presenting it to Han Li.
Han Li took the pendant, discovering that it didn't have any unusual glow or fluctuations, only a burning sensation emanating from it, and he understood.
"Since you discovered my identity, shouldn't you be afraid of me, rather than following me?" Han Li asked, putting the pendant away.
"This is because... I think that following you will be safer, and maybe I can gain some benefits that you wouldn't notice. Second, I'm thinking that if I meet Qi Mo Zi again, he'll see that I'm following you, and I'll have fulfilled my duty." Xiong Shan hesitated, saying so.
"Aren't you afraid that I'll kill you again?" Han Li's eyes narrowed, asking.
"You've already killed me once, and all the enmity should be wiped clean. This time, I didn't take the initiative to become your enemy, and I believe that you, sir, distinguish between gratitude and resentment, and won't kill an innocent person. If I take a step back, dying at your hands is still my own choice, and it's better than dying in this tower without knowing why." Xiong Shan's back was drenched in cold sweat, but he forced himself to remain calm. "Then please, Brother Xiongshan, remember what you said just now. If I find even a hint of abnormal behavior from you, don't blame me for being heartless." Han Li's mouth curved into a cold smile.
Actually, if it were any other time, he would never have allowed Xiongshan to follow him like this. If someone were to follow him like this, he would have killed them on the spot without hesitation. But now, with Qimozi's whereabouts unknown, he decided to let Xiongshan follow him, to see if he had any hidden plans or schemes, and to use this opportunity to lure Qimozi out and eliminate him once and for all.
"Brother Han, you only need to move your little finger, and you can kill me on the spot. I wouldn't do anything so foolish." Xiongshan quickly waved his hand.
Just as they were speaking, Jiao San and Huo San caught up from behind.
"Brother Han, can you tell us clearly what you found over there?" Jiao San asked directly.
"Yes, although your choices are usually not wrong, if you could let us know, we could also have a bottom line, and if we encounter any unexpected situations, we could also have a way to respond." Huo San chimed in.
"I just sensed a familiar yet unfamiliar aura, so I wanted to go take a look. You all didn't need to follow me." Han Li replied nonchalantly.
"Alright, you at least have a direction, maybe it's the right path after all." Jiao San thought for a moment before saying.
And so, the group of people followed Han Li's lead, flying rapidly through the air.
As they flew over the desert, they could see giant golden skeletons buried in the sand from time to time.
However, the group only scanned the area with their divine sense, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, they didn't pay much attention.
"Over there..."
After flying for about two hours, Han Li saw a blurry outline appear at the edge of his vision, reflecting a dazzling golden light, which seemed to be a magnificent palace building.
The aura he had sensed earlier was now becoming more and more distinct.
Huo San and Jiao San's spirits were lifted.
The group flew closer, and after a hundred miles, they finally saw clearly that it was a grand hall made of golden sand, with giant golden curved horns used for decoration, which were clearly the remains of some exotic beast's skeleton.
On the roof of the golden hall, a group of young men in golden robes were lying along the ridge, each holding a golden skull.
Their faces were quite handsome, but their expressions were somewhat lazy, and they were tossing the skulls back and forth with a look of boredom.
The skulls were much larger than ordinary human skulls, and seemed to be from some exotic tribe. However, they had been played with so much that their surfaces had become very smooth.
One of the young men tossed the skull again, and then stood up, looking far away at Han Li and the others, his eyes narrowing slightly as he licked his lips.
At this moment, his chest suddenly moved, and a golden lizard the size of a palm emerged from his collar, standing on his shoulder, also looking in their direction.
"Indeed..." Han Li's eyes condensed, and his face turned serious.
"Brother Han, do you know this person?" Jiao San asked.
"It's not wrong to say that I know him. That's the infamous Jin Xian." Han Li nodded.
"What... I sensed that his aura has already reached the Da Luo realm, and this kind of Jin Xian's strength is not something that ordinary Da Luo cultivators can match. This is going to be trouble." Huo San exclaimed.
"Ah, Brother Han, I knew I shouldn't have followed you." Xiongshan sighed, lamenting his decision.
Jiao San didn't say anything, but his eyes flickered, as if he was thinking of a way to deal with the situation.
Before Han Li could say anything, the young man had already flashed to a distance of several hundred feet, floating in mid-air, examining the group with interest.
Han Li and the others immediately became cautious, on high alert.
"You don't need to be so tense, I won't kill you immediately..." The young man suddenly smiled, saying.
After that, he took the golden lizard from his shoulder, holding it high, and continued, "I've been stuck in prison for too long, and it's been 10,000 years since I've had any fun. Since you're here, you can stay and keep me company."
As soon as he finished speaking, he tossed the golden lizard, and a burst of sound shook the air.
The golden lizard flew out like a golden arrow, shooting straight at Jiao San's face.
Jiao San didn't seem to move, but a dark red glow appeared in front of him, forming an invisible shield.
The golden lizard hit the shield, and the shield rippled like water, creating a deep impression. The distance between the lizard and Jiao San's brow was only a few inches.
But then, the shield suddenly shook, and a dark red glow burst out, bouncing the lizard back.
Just as this happened, Han Li shouted, "Be careful..."
Jiao San instinctively took a step back, only to feel his shoulder being grabbed, and his body was suddenly lifted off the ground and sent flying backward.
The golden ferret that had just bounced back suddenly expanded its body at an alarming rate, and its entire body radiated a brilliant golden light. With a loud "boom," it exploded into a massive golden vortex that swept outward, emitting a deafening roar and containing numerous golden blades that seemed to be slicing through the air.
What was even more astonishing was that these golden blades contained a concentrated golden attribute law, which instantly shredded the surrounding air into fragments.
Han Li tossed Jiao San aside and flashed forward, his body radiating a brilliant starlight as he employed the Five Elements Phantasmal Sect's cultivation technique and the Heavenly Executioner's technique simultaneously. His fist was imbued with a powerful aura, and he struck forward with a mighty blow.
A golden light enveloped his fist, and a semi-transparent golden fist shadow shot out, heavily striking the golden vortex.
A deafening crash echoed through the air!
The golden vortex exploded, releasing countless golden blades that flew outward in all directions.
The air was still reeling from the aftershocks, and the residual aura had yet to dissipate when the young man flew down, charging towards Han Li.
Han Li couldn't help but inwardly sigh.
It seemed that this was indeed a Gold Devouring Immortal, and just like Jin Tong, he was eager to engage in a fierce battle at the slightest provocation.
Han Li faced the Gold Devouring Immortal with utmost caution, his True Speech Treasure Wheel reversing as his body suddenly became blurry and retreated a short distance.
"Time Law?" the young man muttered, his face expressionless, yet a hint of displeasure flickered in his eyes.
As he spoke, a golden ripple spread across his body, and his entire being became illusory, with a series of faint shadows appearing around him.
Han Li felt a sudden blur, and the young man reappeared beside him, his palm extended, fingers curled into claws, grasping for Han Li's throat.
This attack was incredibly swift, and even Han Li found it difficult to dodge.
Just as the young man's fingers were about to touch Han Li's throat, a feminine voice shouted from the side, and a sword light shot from the left, targeting the young man's head.
The young man merely sneered, making no attempt to evade, and continued to grasp for Han Li.
A sharp "zing" sound echoed through the air!
The sword light was incredibly sharp, but when it struck the young man, it merely flashed once before shattering and dissipating, failing to even damage his golden robe.
Just as the young man's fingertips were about to touch Han Li's throat, a golden light burst forth from behind Han Li.
A golden treasure wheel materialized, spinning wildly in the air, emitting dazzling golden light that illuminated the surroundings.
The young man felt time itself being frozen, and his body became suspended in mid-air.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he beckoned with his hand.
A series of "whooshing" sounds echoed through the air as thirty-six blue-green swords, the Qingtian Huayun Swords, materialized beside him, each leaving behind a trail of faint sword marks as they shot towards the young man.
A burst of golden light flashed, and a series of golden lightning bolts erupted from the swords, resembling thirty-six lightning serpents shooting towards the young man from all directions.
The air was filled with a cacophony of clashing sounds as the golden lightning bolts converged, enveloping the young man in a brilliant golden aura.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble..."
The golden aura pulsed with energy, and the air around it seemed to burn with an intense heat.
However, after a prolonged period, the lightning bolts dissipated, and the young man reappeared, his golden robe slightly charred, but otherwise unharmed.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he pinched his fingers, causing the thirty-six swords to merge into a single flying sword.
The sword's surface erupted with a brilliant display of symbols, and a massive golden lightning bolt, as thick as a water jug, descended from the sky, striking the young man with incredible force.
"Rumble, rumble, rumble..."
The sound of the impact shook the heavens, and the young man was engulfed by the golden lightning bolt, his body sinking downward.
The desert seemed to give birth to a lake of golden lightning, its surface churning with incredible energy.
Jiao San and the others, who had retreated to a safe distance, watched this spectacle with changing expressions. It's really infuriating... people are just so different, it's enough to drive one to death..." Xiong Shan's expression was the most complex, and he couldn't help but sigh.
A moment later, the lightning dissipated, the thunder ceased, and the golden lightning pool disappeared.
Everyone saw that the Qing Zhu Fengyun Sword was stuck in the young man's forehead, but it had only pierced his hair, without harming his flesh.
The strength of a Daluo-level Xian's body was simply unimaginable.
"Heh heh, do you have any other tricks up your sleeve? If not, I'll have to take action..." The young man, who was being restrained by the True Word Treasure Wheel, suddenly spoke up.
As he spoke, his body glowed with golden light, and layers of golden ripples emanated from him, transmitting his own unique law fluctuations, which clashed with the golden light of the True Word Treasure Wheel, actually pushing it back a bit.
Han Li saw this and his eyes flashed with surprise.
Earlier, through the refinement of the "Beehive", he had already condensed a large amount of time law threads, and the time law power within him had far surpassed what it was before. He had thought that although he might not be able to subdue the same time law power as Qimozi, at least he could prevent ordinary Daluo cultivators from moving.
But now, this level of law power was unable to completely restrain this Daluo-level Xian.
The young man's face suddenly lost its smile, and two nearly transparent wings appeared behind him.
Accompanied by a faint humming sound, his wings began to flutter rapidly, with strands of semi-transparent golden light flashing on their surface, rapidly impacting the golden light of the True Word Treasure Wheel.
As the golden light grew stronger, the law fluctuations emanating from him became more apparent, and the space where the True Word Treasure Wheel was being pushed back grew larger.
In this space, the young man was able to move freely.
He first raised his hand to brush off the scorch marks on his golden robes, then rubbed the spot on his forehead where the sword had pierced, and looked at Han Li with a calm expression, raising one hand and lazily clenching his fist.
However, just this simple action caused a terrifying aura to suddenly erupt from him.
His body was surrounded by a blast of golden light, and behind him, a massive, illusory golden cicada-like creature seemed to appear, releasing law fluctuations that instantly pushed back the golden light.
"Not good, be careful!" Jiao San's heart skipped a beat, and he was about to rush forward to help when Han Li raised his hand to stop him.
Jiao San looked at Han Li in confusion, and saw that he had suddenly withdrawn the True Word Treasure Wheel into his body.
"Han brother, what are you doing?" Huo San's brow furrowed in confusion.
Not just him, but even the young man looked puzzled, a strange expression on his face.
"This Xian friend, how should I address you?" Han Li suddenly asked.
"Han brother, why are you trying to make friends with him now? What's the point?" Huo San asked, his voice laced with amusement.
Jiao San simply shook his head, indicating that he didn't understand either.
The young man heard this and his brow furrowed slightly, but he didn't respond.
Han Li saw this and didn't get angry, continuing to speak: "I observe that you, like the previous layers of the tower, are also being imprisoned by the Taixu Xianzun. So, why must you be enemies with us?"
"Hahaha, hahaha..."
The young man heard this and laughed loudly, as if he had heard a joke.
"If you don't make things difficult for us, I, Han, can promise to find a way to lift the seal and take you out of this prison. What do you think?"
"Ha! You think you can defeat me? You think you can get past the seventh layer? You think you can get out of this tower? I've been trapped here for millions of years, and I've already killed all the other beasts and creatures that were imprisoned here. I've turned their bones into gold dust, and created this golden desert. But I'm not going to let you have this entertainment, I'm not going to let you leave this tower."
Han Li's expression remained calm as he spoke: "If I can convince you, I naturally have a way to deal with the seventh layer. Now, it's just a matter of whether you're willing to cooperate or not."
The young man saw Han Li's confident expression and his eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation.
If he could leave, who wouldn't want to?
But the person in front of him, did he really have the ability to take him out of the tower?
"Alright, I'll agree to your terms... but you have to prove to me that you won't die at the hands of that old lunatic, and that you have the ability to save me from this tower. Why don't you just stand there and take a punch from me?" The young man's eyes gleamed with a hint of challenge.
Jiao San and the others heard this and their brows furrowed in concern, but before they could speak, Han Li calmly said:
"I agree."
"I agree."
Han Li, a full-powered strike from a Da Luo-level Devouring Gold Immortal is not something to be taken lightly! I know you have skills, but you shouldn't be so reckless," Jiao San transmitted to Han Li.
"Han Li, he only said not to dodge or avoid, but didn't say you couldn't use magical treasures or artifacts. I can lend you the Tian Huo Blood Knife to take his punch, and it should give you an advantage," Huo San also transmitted.
"Thank you for your kindness, I have my own plan," Han Li smiled and replied.
Jiao San and Huo San heard this and exchanged puzzled glances, but didn't try to persuade him further.
"If you have any defensive robes or the like, wear as many as you can, just don't dodge or avoid. My punch won't leave any room for you," the young man sneered, showing off his white teeth.
"No need," Han Li shook his head and said.
After that, he looked at Jiao San and the others, and transmitted a warning to them to temporarily retreat.
The group heard this and quickly retreated to a distance of over ten li, watching from afar.
"What's Han Li planning? Can he really take down this Devouring Gold Immortal's full-powered strike?" Huo San wondered.
"I don't know, but based on my understanding of him, he's never one to fight a battle without confidence. Since he's already agreed, let's just wait and see," Jiao San shook his head and said.
Xiong Shan didn't say anything, but instead seemed to be the most at ease among the three. He even felt that this Da Luo-level Devouring Gold Immortal was likely to be outsmarted by Han Li.
After the group retreated, Han Li lightly beckoned with his finger, and a spherical light screen expanded outward, covering an area of over a thousand zhang.
"Time Domain... You think you can use time laws to block my attack?" the young man raised an eyebrow and said.
"You can make your move," Han Li said calmly, without responding.
After that, he took a step back and assumed a defensive stance, his internal spiritual energy surging like a flood. The "Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong" and "Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue" had already begun to circulate.
"This is interesting..." The young man saw this and raised an eyebrow, his expression full of interest.
Just as he finished speaking, a massive golden light burst forth from his body, his clothes fluttering wildly, and his sleeves rippling with energy.
Under his feet, a series of golden light circles expanded and contracted, like ripples on a lake, spreading out for hundreds of li.
"Rustling, rustling..."
The desert sand was blown back by the force of the attack, the golden sand grains jumping and dancing like they were celebrating.
Jiao San and the others felt the force of the attack and turned pale, their eyes filled with doubt as they looked at Han Li.
Han Li was closest to the young man, and naturally felt the most intense shock. However, his face remained calm, and he only accelerated his spiritual energy circulation.
"Are you ready?" the young man asked, his eyebrow raised, as he took a step back and began to gather his energy.
Han Li didn't respond, but a massive golden light burst forth from his body.
Behind him, a golden treasure wheel emerged, its surface glowing with a brilliant light, and flew out to merge with the surrounding Time Domain. The treasure wheel flew upward, shining like a full moon, and released a gentle, soothing light that illuminated the surroundings.
Following that, a layer of golden sand grains spread across the ground, merging with the desert sand, and it was almost impossible to distinguish between the two. However, the light flowing across the sand grains caused the surrounding terrain to change, and a mountain range emerged.
Next, the Dong Yi Divine Tree sprouted, growing into a lush forest, filling the mountains and valleys.
The River of Time seemed to flow down from the heavens, transforming into a winding river that flowed through the mountains and valleys.
A golden torch scattered countless golden sparks, which flew backward into the air, like a dense starry sky, filling the night sky.
"This is..."
The young man's eyes widened in surprise at the sight.
However, he didn't understand the mysteries of the "Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue", and only felt a sense of wonder, without realizing that his own state was undergoing a strange transformation.
"Hah, what's the point of creating these bizarre illusions? They're useless against me!" the young man sneered, despite feeling that the flow of time was slowing down, and his movements were becoming more restricted.
Just as he finished speaking, the golden light surrounding him reached its peak, and his body was filled with a massive, pent-up energy.
At that moment, he took a step forward, and a massive golden fist flew out, striking toward Han Li.
"Boom boom boom..."
The air was filled with the sound of thunder, and a massive golden fist shadow flew out, seemingly unaffected by the Time Domain's restrictions, and struck toward Han Li.
However, just as the fist flew out, the young man's expression changed, and he realized that his attack was much weaker than he had anticipated.
His expression changed again, and he finally understood what was happening to him.
Han Li, who was facing him from a distance, was also not relaxed, as the Time Crystal threads he had condensed earlier had already consumed a significant amount of his energy, which made him feel a pang of pain. He quickly withdrew the various illusions created by the Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue. The surroundings suddenly changed, and the fist that flew in was suddenly accelerated to an incredible speed, almost instantly reaching Han Li's front.
Fortunately, he had long been prepared for this, and the "Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong" within him had also been activated to its limit, and he also punched out a fist towards the golden fist.
This punch did not use the spiritual energy that had been consumed in the past, but instead gathered the power of the stars in his body and condensed it into his fist, and with a sudden burst of energy, he struck out.
A loud "boom" echoed out.
The golden fist was almost pasted onto Han Li's fist, and his fist also burst out with a brilliant white light, like a snowstorm suddenly attacking, and like a proud sun exploding.
The golden light and white light simultaneously merged and exploded, and a chaotic whirlpool rose up, sweeping towards all directions, instantly stirring up the surrounding air into chaos.
On the ground, hundreds of chaotic air currents rolled up, stirring up yellow sand tornadoes that reached the sky, and the desert was like a demon dragon soaring through the air, making terrifying rumbling sounds.
Han Li was directly smashed into the underground golden sand by a massive force, his bones cracking and his muscles aching unbearably.
His eyes shone brightly, and with a wave of his arm, he heavily struck the ground, and his body suddenly burst out of the flowing sand, directly smashing through dozens of yellow sand tornadoes, and hovering in front of the young man.
After a moment, the commotion gradually subsided, but the entire desert was still filled with dust, and visibility was poor.
"I've received your punch, how is it?" Han Li spat out a mouthful of blood from his chest, and asked.
"How is this possible? Your spiritual domain..." The young man looked at his fist in surprise.
"Your cultivation state has temporarily retreated by several hundred million years, but it will gradually recover later." Han Li said calmly.
Although he said it lightly, the young man still felt shocked.
Indeed, when he had punched out earlier, he had discovered that his fist's power was insufficient, and it was not an illusion. At that moment, his cultivation had indeed been suppressed and retreated by a lot.
"Since you've received my punch unscathed, what I said earlier will naturally count. I won't stop you from exploring, and I can even take you to the seventh floor. And you, will take me out of the tower." The young man said.
"If you hadn't punched out earlier and directly agreed to my proposal, it would have been possible. But since you've punched out, some conditions will change." Han Li suddenly smiled, and said slowly.
"Do you mean to go back on your word?" The young man frowned.
"I won't go back on my word, but I need you to do something for me." Han Li said.
"What is it?" The young man asked, suppressing his anger.
"This time, among the people who entered the Time Tower, there is a Da Luo cultivator who is my arch-nemesis. I want you to help me deal with him. Of course, this isn't necessarily something you have to do. If he doesn't take the initiative to find me, you don't have to do it. After we leave the Time Tower, you'll be free, and you won't have to do it." Han Li said, seeing that Jiao San and the others had already arrived.
"Is that all?" The young man asked, hesitating.
"That's all." Han Li nodded, and said.
As they spoke, Jiao San and the others arrived, and looked at the scene before them with strange expressions.
Earlier, when Han Li had used the Five Elements Fantasy, they had also sensed the dense time law power, but they didn't know what had happened specifically. However, looking at the current situation, they also knew what had happened.
"By the way, there's something else I can tell you. When I was touring the various immortal realms, I saw two Tai Yi boundary cultivators who were likely of the same kind as you..."
"Where did you see them?" Han Li asked, before being interrupted by the young man.
"In the North Cold Immortal Realm and the Golden Source Immortal Realm, one was a half-grown child, and the other was a fierce woman." Han Li casually fabricated.
"If you can take me to find them, I'll protect you completely, even after we leave the Time Tower. If the person you mentioned finds you, I'll also do my best to help you kill him." The young man said, after a moment of consideration, his eyes flashing with an unusual color.
"Then it's settled." Han Li smiled.
Earlier, he had intentionally activated the connection between his soul and the Golden Child, so the young man wouldn't care about the truth of his words.
The two of them spoke on the surface, but both had their own thoughts. Han Li had the intention of taking the young man to the Golden Child to devour, and the young man also had the intention of finding the Golden Child and devouring him.
"Now, can you tell me your name?" Han Li asked, smiling.
"Qu Xian." The young man replied.
"I'm Han Li." Han Li said, with a slight bow.
"Brother Han, since we've reached an agreement, let's not delay. I'll take you to the seventh floor immediately." Qu Xian said, with some urgency.
"No rush, no rush. Let me meditate for a moment." Han Li said, waving his hand.
Qu Xian's previous punch was incredibly powerful, and Han Li had been able to block it with great difficulty. How could he not have been injured at all?
He said this, and then sat down cross-legged, taking out a pill and swallowing it, before closing his eyes to meditate.
On the other side of the golden desert, a group of six people, including Lei Yu Ce, gathered in front of a red-brown stone archway that stood out among the dunes. The archway was adorned with a circle of dense, intricate symbols, seven or eight of which were emitting a soft, golden glow. Inside the archway, a dark red light screen was suspended, with nine dark golden chains crisscrossing it. The chains were also adorned with dense, fish-scale-like symbols that radiated a powerful restrictive force.
"If you look closely, you'll see that the nine dark golden chains have symbols like fish scales, which are emitting a powerful restrictive force," Lei Yu Ce said, his face serious.
Jin Liu looked at Lei Yu Ce with a hint of doubt in his eyes. "Lei Dao You, can you really break this Nine Dragon Lock Divine Array?"
Lei Yu Ce did not answer immediately, instead conferring with Wen Zhong in a low voice before responding. "This Nine Dragon Lock Divine Array has been modified, so breaking it won't be easy. It'll take some time."
"How much time will it take?" Su Qian asked, her brow furrowed.
"The array is complex, and modifying just one of the dragon scales makes the solution twice as complicated. At least four of the restrictions have been modified... it'll take at least two to three days to open it," Lei Yu Ce said, his expression thoughtful.
"Two to three days? That's too long!" Jin Liu exclaimed.
"If you have a better way to break the array, you're welcome to try," Wen Zhong said, his brow furrowed in annoyance.
Jin Liu's face fell, and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes, but he said nothing.
In terms of breaking the array, his talent was actually quite average. Otherwise, he wouldn't have mistaken the Xing Gong's Confrontation Array for a Yin-Yang Closure Array earlier. Now, he couldn't break the Nine Dragon Lock Divine Array.
Lan Yuanzi and his sister exchanged a glance, shaking their heads. Neither of them knew the solution to the array, so they said nothing.
Lei Yu Ce looked at Jin Liu, then at Su Qian, his expression softening slightly. "I have another method, but I'm not sure if it will work. We can try it, but I don't have much confidence in it."
"Since we have a method, we should try it. Otherwise, we'll be stuck here for who knows how long," Jin Liu said, his brow furrowed.
"You're making it sound easy, but the method Lei Shixiong is talking about is a forced break, which could harm himself. It's not something to be taken lightly," Wen Zhong said, his anger rising.
Su Qian's eyes flickered with a hint of change as she looked at Lei Yu Ce. "It seems we can only wait...," Jin Liu said, stroking his chin.
"Lei Dao You, if the risk is too great, it's better to wait a few more days," Su Qian said, turning to Lei Yu Ce.
"Su Xianzi, don't worry, I'll try it," Lei Yu Ce said, his voice firm.
Wen Zhong's eyes flashed with a hint of resignation, and he opened his mouth to dissuade Lei Yu Ce, but then closed it again.
"To break the array quickly, we need to use an array to counter an array. We'll use the Wild Array to forcibly open the Nine Dragon Lock Divine Array and create a temporary path," Lei Yu Ce said, his eyes gleaming with determination.
"The Wild Array is something I'm familiar with, but it's far inferior to the Nine Dragon Lock Divine Array. How can it possibly break the array and create a stable path?" Jin Liu asked, his brow furrowed.
"Of course, the Wild Array alone is not enough. Later, I'll use the Nine Dragon Pearl as the array's core to start the array. Once the array is activated, I'll need everyone's help," Lei Yu Ce said, his eyes locked on Jin Liu.
"The Nine Dragon Pearl? If we have that treasure, we might have a chance to break the array," Jin Liu said, nodding.
"We'll do our best to help," Lan Yuanzi said, clasping his hands together.
Su Qian didn't say anything, just nodding slightly.
Lei Yu Ce took out a set of array flags and stones, beginning to set up the Wild Array outside the stone archway. Wen Zhong assisted him, and soon the array's outline was visible.
After that, they buried the array stones in the ground and inserted the array flags, completing the Wild Array.
"Everyone, the array is set up. Please enter the array to help," Lei Yu Ce said, inspecting the array one last time.
As soon as he finished speaking, the group entered the array, standing at the six corners of the hexagonal array. They formed hand seals, waiting for Lei Yu Ce to activate the array.
Lei Yu Ce stood at the corner closest to the stone archway, looking at Su Qian beside him before nodding.
Then, his wrist moved, and a purple sphere the size of a fist flew out of thin air, spinning and falling towards the center of the Wild Array.
The sphere was surrounded by electrical threads, with nine dragon-shaped patterns moving on its surface. A low, rumbling sound emanated from it.
As the Nine Dragon Pearl took its place, Lei Yu Ce's eyes narrowed, and his voice began to chant. Everyone saw the situation and began to recite their incantations, their hands weaving intricate patterns as they pointed at the purple orb.
The six paths of colorful spiritual energy shot out from their fingertips and converged on the purple orb, producing a low humming noise.
Suddenly, the Nine Dragon Pearl emitted a burst of electric light, and countless purple lightning threads erupted from it, forming a purple glow that filled the entire array.
A dragon's roar echoed through the air as the nine dragon shadows on the pearl shot out, dancing within the purple lightning glow before transforming into nine massive purple lightning dragons that charged towards the circular archway.
A deafening boom shook the air as the dragons crashed into the archway, causing the dark red glow within to violently tremble.
The crowd's hearts were racing as they poured their spiritual energy into the array.
A hissing sound filled the air as the dark red glow began to take shape, forming a hole the size of a human head that revealed a glimpse of the space beyond.
"It's open! Add more force!" Jing Liu exclaimed, urging the others on.
"This is only a partial opening of the transmission gate; the Nine Dragon Lock Divine Seal Array has not been broken, do not be careless..." Lei Yu Ce warned, his voice laced with caution.
As he spoke, the nine dark gold dragon scales binding the dark red glow suddenly flared with golden light, emitting a wave of dragon-scale-like golden energy that obscured the entire array.
The golden light mixed with the purple lightning, producing a chaotic vortex that tore at the surrounding spiritual energy, drawing it towards the newly formed hole.
The hole's center was now a deep, black void, and the only visible feature was a faint, turbulent aura emanating from within.
Lei Yu Ce and the others, still within the array, could feel the terrifying power emanating from the void and exchanged nervous glances.
"It seems we underestimated the Nine Dragon Lock Divine Seal Array's power; let us withdraw our spiritual energy and retreat while the array's power has not been fully activated," Lei Yu Ce shouted.
His words had barely left his lips when a sudden, deafening boom shook the air, and the black vortex at the center of the archway erupted with a massive, chaotic energy that threatened to engulf everything.
The nine dark gold dragon scales binding the archway flashed with golden light, and nine golden dragon silhouettes burst forth, charging towards the crowd with jaws agape.
The group was caught off guard, and Jing Liu was the first to flee, followed closely by the Lan siblings.
As they retreated, the entire array collapsed, and the Nine Dragon Pearl lost control, its surface flashing with a black electrical glow before exploding in a blast of light.
Wen Zhong saw the situation and retreated, leaving only Lei Yu Ce and Su Qi, who were trapped between the golden dragon silhouettes and the purple lightning.
Their reactions were swift, but they were too close to the archway, and they had no time to react.
"Su Xianzi..."
Lei Yu Ce called out, his voice barely audible as he positioned himself in front of Su Qi, his body glowing with a faint, silver light.
A deafening boom shook the air as the golden light and purple lightning exploded, sending the group flying back.
Jing Liu and the others watched in horror as the explosion raged on, the golden light and purple lightning mixing in a chaotic dance that seemed to shake the very foundations of the earth.
The explosion finally subsided, leaving behind a massive, smoldering crater, and the surrounding landscape was scorched and blackened.
The group flew towards the crater, peering into its depths, and saw a massive, charred figure shielding a smaller, unscathed figure.
The figure was Lei Yu Ce, his silver armor shattered and his clothes torn and blackened. His back was heaving violently, and his aura was unstable, as if he had suffered a grievous injury.
Su Qi, however, was unscathed, her clothes only slightly damaged.
Lei Yu Ce's eyes were fixed intently on Su Qi, his expression a mixture of concern and relief.
Chapter:
Everyone saw that Lei Yuze and Su Ci at the bottom of the pit were not moving, and Wen Zhong shouted loudly and rushed down.
Jin Liu also quickly shot down, taking the lead and pulling Lei Yuze away from Su Ci. Wen Zhong then helped the almost unsteady Lei Yuze.
"Are you okay?" Jin Liu saw that Su Ci's expression was different and asked while supporting her shoulders.
Su Ci's shoulders shook, and she avoided his hands, turning to look at Lei Yuze.
Lei Yuze, who was being held by Jin Liu, had already taken a medicinal pill, and his chest was still heaving violently.
Sensing Su Ci's gaze, he also turned his eyes to her, his soft and gentle expression shaking his head to indicate that he was fine.
Su Ci's heart was slightly touched, and she looked away, knowing that if Lei Yuze hadn't been protecting her, he wouldn't have been injured so severely.
Lei Yuze saw her reaction and didn't feel disappointed, just smiling habitually and sitting up with Wen Zhong's support. He began to circulate his internal energy, and the remaining purple lightning and golden light in his wounds burst out, emitting a "crackling" sound. The pain made his face contort, but he didn't make a sound.
The Lanyuan siblings watched this scene, and their eyes couldn't help but flash with a hint of admiration.
Su Ci's eyes flashed with a hint of pity, and she walked to Lei Yuze's side, turning her wrist to take out a small, sky-blue ceramic bottle and handing it to Lei Yuze. "This is the Waters of Heaven Pill from our Tian Shui Sect, which isn't the most effective at healing but has some benefits in repairing internal energy. If you use it with other medicinal pills, you can recover quickly."
"Thank you, Su Xianzi..." Lei Yuze accepted the bottle with both hands, his eyes shining with surprise.
He then took out a medicinal pill, swallowed it, and closed his eyes to meditate again.
"I didn't expect that our all-or-nothing gamble would still fail. What should we do now?" Jin Liu's gaze fell on Su Ci, and his eyes flashed with a hint of displeasure as he asked.
Wen Zhong hummed and didn't speak.
Lan Yan's expression also turned unhappy, and he was about to reprimand Jin Liu, but Lan Yuanzi stopped him.
After his encounter with Han Li, Lan Yuanzi had become even more low-key. He shook his head, indicating that Lan Yan should not make a fuss.
Lan Yan furrowed his brow but eventually held back.
Just then, they felt a sudden sensation and lifted their heads to look into the distance. They saw Han Li and his group of four or five people flying towards them from afar.
Han Li saw the desolate scene on the ground and furrowed his brow.
After they landed, Lei Yuze also opened his eyes, his gaze falling on Qu Lin, and his expression changed slightly.
"You didn't take a different route, so how did you end up here?" Jin Liu's brow furrowed as he asked.
"Heh, when did the Years Tower become your private property, Jin friend? We can go wherever we want, and you have to control us?" Huo San spoke up, his tone slightly unhappy.
"You..." Jin Liu was taken aback.
"Stone friend, who is this?" Lei Yuze asked, looking at Qu Lin.
"This is Qu Lin, a friend who has been sealed in the Years Tower for many years. He has reached an agreement with me to help us pass through the tower." Han Li introduced him briefly.
"Stone friend, forgive me for being presumptuous, but the people sealed in this tower aren't all benevolent. Reaching an agreement with them is like plotting with a tiger, and I hope you'll think carefully..." Lei Yuze didn't respond directly, instead using his internal energy to transmit a message.
"Thank you, Lei friend, for your good intentions. Shi has his own judgment." Han Li felt puzzled, wondering why Lei Yuze was warning him, and didn't explain further.
"Is this the Nine Dragon Lock God's seal?" Huo San suddenly stepped forward.
"Friend, you also know this formation?" Lei Yuze's eyes flashed as he asked.
"The dragon scales have been moved, and it's a bit tricky..." Huo San examined the formation carefully before speaking.
"Not bad, but if we want to find a way to break the seal, it'll take at least two days. However, I tried to break the formation earlier, and the array counterattacked, injuring me severely. I'm afraid I'll need more time." Lei Yuze shook his head, sighing.
Han Li's gaze fell on the formation, and he carefully examined it for a moment before making a decision.
If he were to break the formation, it would only take half a day.
However, before he could speak, Qu Lin had already stepped forward and began to press the symbols on the stone door.
"What are you doing? Don't touch it!" Lei Yuze's expression changed, and he hastily shouted. Only he was heavily injured, and after shouting once, he was unable to stop.
"What's the commotion about? Can't you see? The array is broken," Qu Lin said expressionlessly, not stopping his movements, and said casually.
"I've just figured out that the Dragon Scale Lock's passive effects have been changed, and your reckless pressing will only add more variables, don't be reckless," Lei Yu Ce said furiously.
Wen Zhong, who was on the side, made a move to stop him.
Jin Liu, however, stood by, waiting to see the array's backlash, and was ready to pull Su Qian away.
Han Li's eyes flickered slightly, and he didn't intervene.
At this time, Qu Lin pressed down on another symbol, and the stone archway above suddenly burst into a red glow. The nine dark golden chains that were tied to the light screen immediately made a "clattering" sound, and retreated back into the four directions.
The Nine Dragon Lock God's Seal Array, which had been a thorn in their side, was thus broken.
Everyone was shocked by this.
"Was it you who modified the Nine Dragon Lock God's Seal Array?" Han Li asked, his eyes flashing with a hint of surprise.
"That's right. At the time, I thought that if I could reach the seventh layer, I might have a chance to leave this place, so I tried to open it. But when I reached the seventh layer, I encountered that old madman who was being imprisoned, and he beat me half to death. I barely escaped, and afterwards, I relocked the array and modified it to make it stronger," Qu Lin replied directly.
"Can this seal be reversed?" Han Li asked, puzzled.
"I was lucky to have left a way out. After I reached the seventh layer, I set up the Hunyuan Nine Palace Array, which also served as a way out for myself," Qu Lin replied.
"Since Brother Qu is skilled in array techniques and has already helped us break the seal, let's not waste any more time. Let's hurry through," Han Li said, turning to the others.
Lei Yu Ce was about to ask some questions, but seeing Han Li's words, he didn't speak up.
Seeing that Jin Liu and Lei Yu Ce didn't immediately enter the door, Han Li and Bao San exchanged a glance, and their eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation. They didn't move either.
"Since you're not willing to enter, I'll go first." Qu Lin sneered, and stepped through the stone archway, disappearing into the dark red glow.
Han Li saw this, and his eyes flickered slightly. He covered himself with a layer of protective light, and walked towards the dark red glow.
But just as he did, a sudden change occurred!
Han Li took a step forward, and his foot had just landed when a yellow glow suddenly erupted from the ground. A whirlpool of yellow earth suddenly appeared, and a powerful force surged out from within.
Because the whirlpool appeared so suddenly, there was almost no warning, and Han Li was caught off guard. His foot stepped into the whirlpool, and he was sucked in, his lower half disappearing into the earth.
The moment he fell into the whirlpool, Han Li's Tian Xie Zhen Yu Gong began to circulate, and his body burst forth with starlight energy. His feet made a "popping" sound, and he shot out of the whirlpool like he was walking on air.
But just as he emerged from the whirlpool, a muddy substance like mud burst out from within, wrapping around his ankle and pulling him back into the whirlpool.
Han Li felt a strange power emanating from the mud, and his entire foot went numb. He looked down and saw that his foot had turned gray and stone-like.
He gritted his teeth, and his other foot swept towards the mud, his toes glowing with golden light. A burst of golden lightning erupted, cutting through the mud like a knife.
Han Li's body flew back, and he landed on the edge of a massive pit. He looked back at the whirlpool, and saw that the mud had fallen into the pit, and a yellow figure slowly emerged from the earth.
It was a woman in a wide yellow robe, her face twisted in an ugly expression.
"Shi Chan, Elder! How did you end up here...?" the Blue Yuanzi siblings exclaimed in shock.
"Hmph! How did I end up here? You two idiots, you've been chasing him for so long, but you still haven't caught him. I had to come here, or you'd never be able to explain yourselves to the sect," the yellow-robed woman said, her eyes flashing with anger.
Han Li stared at Shi Chan, and tried to move his petrified foot. He found that he had regained sensation, but his blood vessels still felt sluggish.
"I warn you all, this person's name is Han Li, a wanted fugitive from the Tian Xuan's Wheel of Reincarnation. He has committed countless crimes in the various immortal realms, and was responsible for the death of the Golden Source Palace's Master, Dongfang Bai. If you help me capture him, you will be rewarded with great merit, and will bring honor to yourselves and your sect. What do you say?" Shi Chan asked, her eyes scanning the group.
Lei Yu Ce and the others were shocked, their bodies trembling with surprise.
It seemed that Shi Chan's words had been too shocking.
“Is he really Han Li? The one who can single-handedly kill his way into the Golden Source Sect and escape unscathed?” Su Zhi finally came back to her senses, muttering to herself.
Jin Liu's gaze fell on Han Li, becoming increasingly complex.
Lei Yu Ce glanced at Wen Zhong, shaking his head slightly, and the latter nodded in understanding, both of them watching from the sidelines without making a sound.
Su Zhi quickly regained her usual icy demeanor, not intending to speak.
Jiao San and Huo San naturally wouldn't say anything either.
She Qian swept her gaze across the group, finally settling on the Blue Yuanzi siblings.
“Please forgive us, Elder She. My brother and I have already sworn an oath that we will not attack Han Li in this Timeless Tower secret realm. If we need to take action, we will wait until we leave this place,” Blue Yuanzi said with a hint of difficulty, bowing his fist.
“Foolishness! In the face of such great righteousness, what need is there to follow such a trivial oath? Have you forgotten the purpose of pursuing this person?” She Qian emphasized the word "purpose" as she spoke.
Blue Yuanzi's expression changed slightly, but after a moment of hesitation, he maintained his bowed fist, refusing to rise.
Blue Yan also bowed her head, remaining silent.
“Fine, fine, fine... You Blue siblings are quite something. I'll make sure to report this to our sect's elder when I return, and your master will have to give an explanation,” She Qian said with a sarcastic tone.
Blue Yan's face changed, and she was about to stand up.
“Don't be afraid of violating orders. If we lose faith today, our master will be heartbroken,” Blue Yuanzi whispered, grabbing her sleeve.
Blue Yan settled back down, not making a move.
The others not helping was one thing, but even their own sect members refused to take action, leaving She Qian feeling embarrassed and humiliated. Her gaze swept over the siblings, her eyes cold and dark.
“Remember your choice today, and hopefully, you won't regret it in the future,” She Qian warned, her voice dripping with menace.
Jin Liu watched the scene unfold, a hint of amusement flickering in his eyes as he observed from the sidelines.
He knew that the angrier She Qian became, the more ruthless she would be towards Han Li, which was exactly what he wanted to see.
Han Li stood with his hands behind his back, his mind racing with strategies to deal with the yellow-robed woman, his expression unchanging. A faint smile even played on his lips.
“Let's see how long you can remain so calm,” Jin Liu thought to himself, a soft snort escaping his nose.
“Since you all have chosen to watch from the sidelines, then be good spectators and keep a safe distance,” the yellow-robed woman said, her body suddenly disappearing without warning, leaving behind a yellow glow.
The group retreated, keeping a safe distance.
The next instant, a strong gust of wind blew from behind Han Li, and a cloud of yellow sand erupted, surrounding him on all sides.
Han Li had anticipated this, and his True Essence Wheel reversed, allowing him to instantly disappear from the spot. The yellow sand landed on empty air.
As the sand settled, a yellow glow burst forth, and a screen of light expanded, enveloping the surrounding area within a hundred miles.
Han Li found himself trapped within, feeling a heavy pressure bearing down on him. The air seemed to thicken, and the ground transmitted a crushing force, as if multiple invisible mountains were pressing down on him.
In She Qian's spiritual domain, the yellow sand dunes shifted and transformed, revealing a series of low, winding mountains on the periphery. The air was desolate, with barely any signs of life.
Near Han Li's location, the ground was covered in a sea of yellow mud, with various shapes and sizes of yellow mud pits emerging. The surfaces of the pits were calm, but the air was filled with a noxious stench.
Han Li's nose wrinkled in distaste as he took in the smell.
Suddenly, a low, croaking sound echoed in his ears, and he turned to face the source.
A massive, house-sized toad head emerged from a nearby mud pit, its golden eyes fixed on Han Li. The toad's skin was covered in dense, wart-like protrusions, sending a chill down Han Li's spine.
Han Li's wrist twitched, and a burst of golden electricity flowed from his sleeve, summoning thirty-six bamboo swords that shot towards the toad.
“Zhilalala...”
The swords sliced through the air, their speed hindered by the spiritual domain's earth attribute laws, but their power and momentum remained unchanged. As the flying sword approached, the sword light gathered, and the thunder and lightning flashed. Just as it was about to strike, the yellow toad suddenly leapt into the mud pit and disappeared.
Han Li quickly circulated his Lian Shen technique, urging his divine sense to search for the toad. However, he could only sense a vast and powerful earth attribute law force surrounding him, and he couldn't detect the toad's trail.
"It's using its own spiritual domain as cover, and its aura is completely merged. This is a bit tricky." Han Li's heart tightened, and his eyebrows furrowed as he muttered to himself.
Just as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt the ground beneath him violently tremble, and he was lifted into the air as the toad burst out from beneath him.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he raised his hand, and the 36 Qing Zhu Feng Yun swords immediately flew back to his side, forming a defensive perimeter around him.
However, just as the flying swords were about to reach him, he suddenly noticed a dark shape looming above him. A hundred-zhang-tall mountain peak was flying towards him, and it was about to crash down on his head.
If the mountain peak were an ordinary object, Han Li wouldn't have been afraid. But it was actually a product of the toad's spiritual domain, imbued with a dense earth attribute law force. Its weight was at least a thousand jun.
Han Li's eyebrows slightly furrowed as he pointed upwards, and the Qing Zhu Feng Yun swords immediately changed direction, flying towards the mountain peak.
As the mountain peak was about to crush Han Li, the 36 Qing Zhu Feng Yun swords emitted a sharp, piercing sound, and they stabbed into the base of the mountain peak. The swords' bodies glowed with a blue and gold light, and the thunder and lightning shadows burst forth.
The golden lightning filled the air, and the mountain peak was held in place by the golden lightning sea, preventing it from falling.
Han Li circulated his Tian Xia Zhen Yu Gong, and his body flipped downwards, assuming a posture as if he were descending from the heavens. He clenched his fist and prepared to strike.
The ground had already split open, revealing a massive crater, and a gigantic yellow toad was waiting at the bottom. Its mouth was open wide, and it was about to swallow Han Li whole.
Han Li's body fell rapidly, and in the span of a few breaths, he had already fallen into the toad's mouth.
The toad's eyes flashed with a cold light, and its jaws snapped shut, swallowing Han Li whole.
But at the same time, Han Li's fist had already gathered its power, and a starlight glow burst forth from his fist. He struck downwards with a mighty blow.
A deafening crash echoed through the air, and a brilliant white light erupted from the toad's mouth. The toad's jaws were torn open by a powerful gust of wind and a surge of energy, revealing a multitude of starlight beams.
The next moment, a thunderous explosion shook the air, and the massive yellow toad burst apart, revealing Han Li's figure once more.
As the yellow toad died, the surrounding environment underwent a sudden change. The spiritual domain's light curtain rapidly contracted, shrinking to a tenth of its original size. The light also began to fade, as if it would soon disappear.
At the same time, the mountain peak in the distance suddenly melted, transforming into a yellow-brown mud that fell from the sky like a rain of mud and stones.
Han Li was caught off guard, and he was splattered with mud. He raised his hand, and the Qing Zhu Feng Yun swords flew back to his side, returning to his body.
"How is this possible?" the people watching from a distance exclaimed, their faces filled with shock and incredulity. How could a powerful Da Luo like the toad be defeated so easily?
Among them, Jin Liu's expression changed the most, revealing a mix of disappointment and anger.
Just as they were about to react, another unexpected event occurred. Han Li's body, still suspended in mid-air, suddenly froze, as if he had been petrified. He fell to the ground with a thud.
"No!" Jiao San exclaimed, her brow furrowed as she rushed forward.
"You mustn't forget our mission! The bigger picture is more important..." Huo San chased after her, trying to stop her.
Jiao San's footsteps halted, and she gazed at Han Li from a distance.
The yellow mud that had fallen on Han Li's body had transformed into a layer of mud, encasing him in a shell that resembled a life-sized ceramic statue. However, this shell was different from an ordinary statue, as it was imbued with a powerful earth attribute law force, like a strong binding spell that sealed him within.
At first, Han Li's body seemed to struggle slightly, but as the mud shell's color deepened, his movements ceased.
As the mud shell dried and hardened, a small, mud-covered toad emerged from the mud pit, its body glowing with a yellow light. The toad transformed into a yellow-robed woman, who sneered at Han Li's statue-like form.
"Hehe, a mere Tai Yi boundary cultivator like you thinks you can stir up trouble? You're no match for me!" She glanced at Han Li's statue, her eyes filled with mockery.
Lei Yu Ce and the others saw Han Li being trapped by She Yan, hesitated for a moment, and then flew towards him.
"Serves you right!"
Jin Liu's mouth curled up into a smile, and he muttered a sentence, also flying towards Han Li.
Only Xiang San and the other person didn't move immediately, seemingly hesitant.
"Earlier, you seemed to want to help him, could it be that you're also from the same sect as him? If so, don't hold back, you can try to rescue him, who knows, maybe you can save him?" She Yan saw this and looked at Xiang San with a hint of provocation.
Xiang San's eyes flashed with anger, and his fist clenched, taking a step forward.
"Good, it's indeed his accomplice, you..."
She Yan's words were cut off as her expression suddenly changed, and an anomaly appeared at her feet.
A golden light flowed from the clay figurine that was binding Han Li, and a strange, golden tree shadow suddenly appeared, rapidly growing and spreading its branches. Thick, golden vines extended from it, wrapping around the entire figurine.
A strong, golden light burst forth, and a dense, temporal law force flowed out.
In the midst of the chaos, the clay figurine that was binding Han Li suddenly melted, turning into a puddle of yellow mud. Han Li's figure leapt up, his Qingtian Bianyun sword stabbing straight at She Yan.
This all seemed to happen in an instant, but in reality, it was just a brief moment under the influence of the temporal law.
She Yan was shocked and tried to retreat, but her feet felt heavy, and she looked down to see a layer of golden sand particles covering her feet up to her ankles.
She felt a strange, temporal law fluctuation coming from beneath her, and her legs felt as if they were frozen in place, unable to move.
Before she could react, the golden vines from the tree shadow wrapped around her upper body, binding her in place.
At the same time, a brilliant light burst forth from behind Han Li, and the Zhenyan Baolun appeared, completely sealing She Yan in place.
Han Li didn't hesitate, his wrist flicking, and his Qingtian Bianyun sword flashed with electricity, stabbing straight at She Yan's chest.
This scene unfolded too suddenly, and the people nearby were affected by the temporal law force, unable to move.
Han Li's sword tip stabbed into She Yan's chest, producing a sound like metal striking stone, and a burst of golden sparks. However, the Qingtian Bianyun sword couldn't pierce through her chest!
Han Li's brow furrowed, seemingly surprised.
At that moment, a series of yellow talismans on She Yan's body lit up, and a wave of earth-attribute law force burst forth, forming a layer of yellow, earthy law force fluctuations that collided with the temporal law force emanating from Han Li's three law force manifestations.
The temporal law force, being one of the three supreme laws, naturally held the upper hand. However, Han Li and She Yan's cultivation realms were still different, and She Yan's earth-attribute law force was quite profound, allowing the two to clash.
A layer of golden light was pushed back by the yellow, earthy light, and She Yan's body was enveloped in a yellow, earthy glow, as if a small, self-contained world had formed around her, gradually restoring some of her mobility.
Han Li's brow furrowed deeper, and he quickly withdrew the range of his three law force manifestations, strengthening his control over She Yan.
Earlier, due to his underestimation, She Yan had fallen into his carefully laid trap, and now he had her under his control. If she were to escape now, it would be difficult for him to capture her again.
As expected, with the three law force manifestations' power being concentrated, the small, self-contained world around She Yan was compressed, and her body was once again frozen in place, unable to move.
Han Li's heart was slightly at ease, and with a flick of his wrist, thirty-six Qingtian Bianyun swords appeared, hovering in mid-air and vibrating with an intense, blue glow.
The swords' vibrations created a sea of blue, sword-like shadows, and a low, rumbling sound, like thunder, echoed through the air.
"Quickly!"
Han Li's voice was low and urgent.
The golden, electric light burst forth, and a golden, dragon-like sword energy appeared, producing a sound like a dragon's roar, and a massive, golden sword energy descended from the sky, aiming straight for She Yan.
The golden sword energy's passage caused the air to distort, and the space around it seemed to tear apart, creating a massive, quake-like shockwave that shook the entire desert.
Just as the golden sword energy was about to engulf She Yan, a strange, blue light suddenly appeared from behind Han Li.
A blue, crystal-like orb, about the size of a fist, appeared, and several golden talismans on its surface lit up, releasing a massive, blue, watery glow that exploded into a gigantic, swirling vortex.
Han Li was caught off guard, focused as he was on controlling the temporal law force manifestations and manipulating the Qingtian Bianyun sword to kill She Yan. He didn't notice the sudden change behind him until it was too late.
He felt a massive, overwhelming power sweeping towards him, despite the golden light from the Zhenyan Baolun attempting to block it. The temporal law force manifestations and the Qingtian Bianyun sword were both unable to be controlled. With a loud boom, Han Li was sent flying outwards.
The sword dragon formed by Qing Zhu's Bee Cloud Sword scattered in an instant, losing all its momentum, and the sword light dissipated, leaving only the physical flying sword, which flew back into Han Li's body through their spiritual connection.
Han Li flew back hundreds of meters before stabilizing his body, and he turned to look at Lei Yuze and the others, his eyes filled with anger.
The others also looked at one of their own, Jing Liu, with surprise.
It was Jing Liu who had attacked Han Li with the Hunyuan Ming Water Pearl, causing him to fail in his attack.
"Why..." Su Xi asked, her eyes filled with doubt.
"Why? This person is a wanted criminal of the Heavenly Court, shouldn't we all be allowed to kill him? You're not willing to help Shi Qian, and you're not even a true cultivator of the Jin Yuan Sect. You're asking me why?" Jing Liu's expression turned stern, and he spoke with righteous indignation.
"You acted impulsively, aren't you afraid of bringing trouble to our Tian Shui Sect? The Heavenly Court is not to be trifled with, and you've already offended the Wheel of Rebirth," Su Xi said, her voice laced with anger.
"Su Xi, are you intentionally trying to protect the wanted criminal? If that's the case, then I..." Jing Liu's words were cut off by Shi Qian.
"Hehe, Jing Daoist, there's no need to say so much. According to our previous agreement, if you help me capture Han Li, I'll help you take down Su Xi. What's difficult about that?" Shi Qian smiled, his eyes gleaming with malice.
Jing Liu's expression changed, and his face showed a hint of embarrassment.
"Let's focus on capturing Han Li first," he said, quickly regaining his composure.
Jing Liu knew that Shi Qian's words were meant to bind him to her, and he felt a strong sense of resentment, but he didn't dare show it.
At this moment, not only Su Xi, but also Lanyuanzi and the others, looked at Jing Liu with disdain, and Lei Yuze's eyes even held a hint of killing intent.
The Hunyuan Ming Water Pearl had seemed powerful, but in reality, it had only disrupted Han Li's attack and helped Shi Qian escape, without causing much damage to Han Li himself.
Han Li suppressed his anger, and with a grip of the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword, which was formed from 36 swords, he suddenly charged towards Shi Qian.
Shi Qian's eyes also showed a hint of seriousness, and he no longer dared to underestimate Han Li.
He turned his wrist, and the yellow light around him expanded, forming a spiritual domain that enveloped the surroundings.
The ground began to change, and mountains and mud pits appeared.
Han Li's body had just flown out hundreds of meters when the ground began to erupt, and giant hands made of mud shot out to grab him, while a mountain peak crashed down on him.
The space around him was becoming increasingly heavy, and his speed was slowing down.
"Brother Han, I'll help you," Jiao San's voice came from the ground, and a dark red spiritual domain opened up.
Han Li felt the pressure around him decrease, and he was about to thank Jiao San when Fox San's spiritual domain also opened up.
"Ah, I couldn't just stand by and do nothing..." Fox San sighed.
Han Li's heart was filled with joy, and he activated his Tian Sha Zhen Yin Gong and True Spirit Bloodline, causing his body to be surrounded by a blood-red glow. His body expanded, and he transformed into a giant demon with three True Spirit heads.
"See, they're indeed allies of the Wheel of Rebirth. Why aren't you all attacking them?" Shi Qian said, his voice filled with surprise.
Lei Yuze and the others didn't move, and Lanyuanzi and his sister turned their backs on the scene.
"Are you trying to rebel?"
Shi Qian's face turned red with anger, but he was helpless, and he could only charge towards Han Li.
His wrist turned, and a wolf-toothed club appeared in his hand, emitting earth-attribute law energy. It was a high-grade immortal artifact.
The two enemies were separated by hundreds of meters, and they both unleashed their full strength, striking each other.
At this moment, Han Li's star power had reached its peak, and his True Dragon, Kunpeng, and Mountain Giant Ape powers were all unleashed. The Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword's devilish energy was also activated, and a giant lightning sword descended from the sky.
Shi Qian's wolf-toothed club was surrounded by a yellow glow, and a layer of black, rocky energy appeared on its surface, containing a terrifying amount of condensed gravity. The club's weight was unimaginable, and it was like a giant mountain peak crashing down on Han Li.
A burst of sword light and rod shadows tore through the void, colliding with each other in a deafening explosion.
A massive wave of chaotic energy swept out in all directions, and amidst the turbulent air, a golden dragon and a giant Peng bird could be seen rushing past, tearing through the illusory mountain peaks conjured by the rod shadows. A giant ape followed closely behind, its arms swinging wildly as it charged towards She Chen, slamming down towards her.
The massive rod shadow shattered first, and the lightning-filled sword blade descended in a swift cut.
"Impossible..."
She Chen's voice trembled as she uttered a cry of shock, and her Wolf Tooth Rod cracked open with a loud "crack" sound.
A gaping wound appeared on her shoulder and chest, and she felt the golden lightning coursing through her body, seeping into her internal organs.
She Chen's outer skin was tough, and her physical strength was among the top among the early-stage Da Luo cultivators, but her internal organs were somewhat special, and her ability to withstand damage was much weaker.
If she allowed the lightning to wreak havoc unimpeded, it could potentially affect her future cultivation foundation.
After a moment of deliberation, She Chen steeled herself and suddenly plummeted downwards, falling into the muddy ground below.
Jing Liu saw this and knew something was amiss. He flashed a hint of light and prepared to flee.
However, before he could react, a red light flashed, and Jiao San appeared before him.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jiao San cried out in a sharp voice.
On the other side, Huo San had already blocked his escape route.
Han Li, on the other hand, didn't immediately give chase. Instead, he maintained his giant demon form, suspended in mid-air, scanning the ground below with his angry gaze, searching for She Chen's trail.
Just then, a mournful cry echoed from beneath the ground, and a figure surrounded by silver flames burst forth from the earth, flying into the high sky.
Her clothes were tattered, her hair disheveled, and her body covered in wounds, looking utterly wretched. It was She Chen.
A giant firebird with silver flames surrounding its body followed closely behind, chasing after her.
Han Li saw this and, with a wicked grin, charged towards She Chen, who was desperately trying to flee. He swung his sword once more, unleashing a fierce slash.
A brilliant sword light illuminated the sky, and a massive sword shadow tore through the air, descending towards She Chen with incredible force.
The Lanyuan siblings watched this scene unfold, their expressions turning complex. They had a special relationship with She Chen, and seeing her in such a perilous state, they couldn't just stand by and do nothing.
Just as they were about to intervene, She Chen's face twisted in a snarl, and she let out a crazed roar: "Today's debt will be repaid tomorrow!"
As soon as she spoke, her brow split open, revealing a bloodied mouth, and a small, snow-white orb the size of a dragon's eye shot out from within, flying towards Han Li's sword shadow.
"This is terrible, she's going to self-destruct her demonic core!" Lei Yu Ce exclaimed, instinctively shielding Su Ci beside him.
"No, that's her Toad Moon Pearl!" the Lanyuan siblings cried out in unison, halting their footsteps in surprise.
Jiao San's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this. According to legend, among the toad-like demonic creatures, there existed a special Moon Palace breed, which possessed, aside from their primary demonic core, a Toad Moon Pearl that could absorb moonlight, allowing them to boost their cultivation speed.
The importance of this pearl was second only to the demonic core and the yuan ying.
She Chen's true body was clearly of this breed, and her cultivation had reached the Da Luo realm. The Toad Moon Pearl within her had accumulated moonlight for countless years, containing unfathomable power. If it were to explode, the consequences would be catastrophic.
The crowd realized the gravity of the situation and hastily retreated, fleeing in all directions.
Xiong Shan, knowing his own strength was the weakest, was the first to escape, fleeing to a distant location.
Han Li, too, sensed something was amiss, but it was too late to recall his sword.
The Toad Moon Pearl flew into the range of the lightning-filled sword shadow, causing it to tremble violently before exploding with a deafening "boom".
The sky above was initially bright, then suddenly darkened, as if night had fallen. A cold, silvery moonlight descended, casting a layer of frost over the surrounding area.
The space around them seemed to solidify, only to shatter with a loud "crack" sound.
It was as if a silver mirror had shattered, revealing a network of dark, gleaming spatial rifts. The air was filled with the sound of space winds, and the power of the spatial laws emanating from within was awe-inspiring.
Jiao San and the others watched in shock as the rifts spread, their faces pale.
They hastily employed their techniques to avoid the rifts, but there were too many, and everyone was left stumbling about, looking disheveled.
Su Ci, caught off guard, almost got swallowed by a rift that appeared behind her. Fortunately, Lei Yu Ce, despite his injuries, managed to react in time, saving her from the brink of disaster.
After being saved by him twice, Su Ci, even with her icy demeanor, couldn't help but feel a spark of warmth towards Lei Yu Ce. On the other side, Jing Liu was not as fortunate. Earlier, he was surrounded by the crowd in the center, so he was the last to leave. As soon as he flew out over a thousand feet, he was met with a massive rift that tore through the air.
Although he forcibly twisted his body to avoid the rift, he was still unable to escape. The powerful force emanating from the rift pulled him in, inch by inch, and even his nascent soul was unable to escape.
In the center of the void where the Crab Moon Pearl had shattered, there were dense rifts everywhere. Si Yuan's figure had already disappeared, leaving only Han Li behind. He was suspended in mid-air, with a golden treasure wheel glowing brightly behind him, emitting a warm light that was slowing down the expansion of the rifts.
As everyone looked on, they saw Han Li holding a green gourd in his hand, pointing its mouth at the void in front of him.
A green whirlpool swirled out of the gourd's mouth, gathering up the silver-white crystals scattered throughout the void. The crystals slowly coalesced into a small, snow-white pellet, which was the Crab Moon Pearl.
This object had accumulated the essence of countless years of moonlight, and Han Li felt that it would be of great use to him. He carefully collected it.
After that, he summoned the Fire Bird back to his side, and his figure flashed through the dense rifts, flying back down to the ground.
Regarding the previous battle, everyone remained silent, no one mentioning it. They all just took medicine and meditated for a while.
"Thank you all," Han Li said, standing up and bowing slightly to the crowd.
Earlier, these people had not attacked him, despite Si Yuan's provocation. Although it was partly due to their own self-preservation and desire to conserve their strength, in the end, they had helped him.
"Brother Han relied on his own strength to deal with it, it has nothing to do with us," Lei Yu Ce said, recovering somewhat.
"Brother Han single-handedly resisted a Da Luo cultivator, I'm truly impressed," Xiong Shan said, his eyes fixed on Han Li with a complex expression.
Jiao San, on the other hand, was deep in thought, weighing his options.
"We shouldn't delay, let's continue on our way," Han Li said, his brow furrowed.
Everyone nodded in agreement, and they set off once again, entering the light screen within the stone gate.
Han Li's vision blurred, and when he came to, he found himself in a large, gray cave.
The cave was enormous, stretching out into the distance, and it was dark and cold. The air was filled with the howling of wind, and the stone walls were covered in a layer of black frost.
Lei Yu Ce and the others also appeared, looking around cautiously.
Han Li looked around for a while, his brow furrowed in concern.
The first to enter, Qu Lin, was nowhere to be seen. Had he already left, heading deeper into the cave?
The others soon discovered Qu Lin's absence, and their expressions turned solemn. Lei Yu Ce, Huo San, and Jiao San, in particular, looked anxious.
"Let's go, let's take a look," Han Li said, leading the way. "This place seems strange, it's not a good place. Everyone be careful."
He had just displayed his power, and the others did not think it was a problem. They followed him, walking cautiously.
The seventh layer of the cave was even more restrictive on one's spiritual sense, and everyone's spiritual sense could only extend 20-30 li before being suppressed. Therefore, they chose to walk instead of flying.
However, the cave was unexpectedly long, and they walked for over half an hour without seeing any signs of the end. The wind grew stronger, and the air grew colder.
"Be careful!" Han Li warned, his footsteps slowing.
As soon as he spoke, a black light flashed in the distance, and seven or eight black shadows shot out, revealing several humanoid wolves with black and red fur.
These creatures were over a dozen feet long, with long, black-red fur covering their bodies. They charged towards the group, their speed and attack power extremely high.
A black wind burst forth from their claws, leaving deep gashes on the ground and walls. The wounds were black and charred, as if corroded.
"What are these things?" Lei Yu Ce and the others exclaimed, but they did not panic. They raised their hands, and a wave of sword energy and water arrows shot out, striking the wolf-like creatures.
The creatures let out a mournful howl, and a black-red flame erupted from their mouths, forming a sea of flames that tried to block the group's attacks.
However, the group's attacks were too powerful, and the flames were easily pierced. The creatures were quickly torn apart, their bodies disintegrating into black smoke.
But they left behind a number of black-red pearls, each the size of a fist, emitting a soft, gentle glow.
"What are these pearls?" Wen Zhong exclaimed, raising his hand to grab them.
"Wait, don't touch those magic pearls!" Han Li warned, but it was too late. Wen Zhong's golden light had already touched the pearls.
The pearls exploded, releasing a blast of black-red light that filled the air.
In the deafening roar, the cave was hit by a black-red light, and it immediately collapsed, causing the ground to shake and mountains to tremble. Countless huge rocks fell down, instantly burying Han Li and the others.
Fortunately, Han Li and the others knew some earth escape techniques, and in the instant the cave collapsed, they immediately used their techniques to escape into the ground.
But just as the few people entered the ground, a strange and eerie laugh echoed from underground, causing everyone's hearts to tremble.
Immediately, a huge black claw, as big as a house, emerged from the depths of the earth, grabbing towards the group with lightning speed.
The owner of the giant claw was a massive monster, resembling a lizard, but much larger and more bloated.
This beast was hiding underground, its breath and the surrounding soil and rocks were indistinguishable, and it suddenly launched a surprise attack on the group, without any warning.
Lei Yu and the others didn't discover the monster hiding underground, and they were too late to resist. Just as they were about to be caught by the black claw, Han Li's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he pointed his finger.
With a "hiss" sound, a dazzling golden lightning bolt shot out, striking the black claw.
This golden lightning bolt was tiny compared to the black claw, but as soon as they touched, the black claw was easily torn apart like paper.
The golden lightning bolt shattered the black claw and didn't stop, flashing onto the black monster's chest, creating a hole the size of a water barrel.
The lizard monster let out a blood-curdling scream, its massive body shrank violently, and it tried to escape into the ground.
But at this moment, Lei Yu and the others also reacted, launching a barrage of attacks that rained down on the lizard monster, instantly turning its body into a sieve, killing it.
Its corpse, like the wolf-type monsters, dissipated into a black mist, which spread rapidly in all directions, staining the surrounding soil and rocks black.
Han Li and the others were close by, and they were immediately affected by the black mist. They quickly opened their protective light circles, blocking the mist.
Kong Shan, who was standing at the back of the group, also had a layer of golden light appear around his body, protecting him.
The black mist surged forward, but was blocked by the golden light.
However, in that moment, a very thin black light shot out from the surrounding mist, silently piercing Kong Shan's protective golden light, and entering his body.
In the chaos, Kong Shan didn't notice, and the others didn't either.
After killing the lizard monster, the group didn't stop, and they continued to move forward, eventually emerging from the ground.
"I'm sorry, because of my fault, you all fell into danger, and almost got hurt. I'm truly sorry," Wen Zhong said apologetically.
"Wen friend, don't be so self-critical, we didn't recognize those wolf-type monsters, who could have known that those beads would explode? Ah, Han friend, you seemed to recognize those things, but what are they?" Su Qi comforted him, then asked Han Li.
The others looked at Han Li, waiting for his answer.
"Those wolf-type monsters are a type of demon beast from the Demon Realm, called Corpse Devil Wolves. It's not surprising that you don't recognize them, as they are not well-known. These beasts have Corpse Fire Beads inside them, which can't be contaminated by other energies, or they will explode immediately," Han Li explained.
" Demon Realm demon beast? No wonder," the group exclaimed.
But since Han Li recognized the beast, had he been to the Demon Realm before?
The group was curious, but they didn't dare ask, and it wasn't the right time to investigate. They continued to move forward, following the cave.
After another moment, the front of the cave suddenly brightened, and a vast open space appeared before them, much larger than the previous cave.
The open space was filled with piles of golden minerals, ranging from small to large, with the largest ones as tall as mountains, and the smallest ones only a few feet high. They seemed to be arranged in a deliberate pattern, forming a stone array.
The group exchanged a glance, seeing the seriousness in each other's eyes, and they proceeded with caution, entering the stone array.
Fortunately, nothing happened as they entered the array, and they continued to move forward, eventually walking out of the array.
In front of them, a small plaza appeared, with a golden altar in the center. The altar was over a hundred feet tall, with three layers, and was made of a golden material that seemed to be naturally formed, without any signs of construction.
At the top of the altar was a golden platform, with a golden Taiji diagram engraved on it. On one side of the diagram was a dark golden ancient sword, with a triangular shape, and engravings of sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, and dragons.
A brilliant golden light emanated from the ancient sword, containing the laws of gold, which made the group feel a piercing pain, as if they were being cut open.
On the other side of the Taiji diagram, a golden flame the size of a human head floated, emitting strong temporal law fluctuations.
Golden symbols extended from the Taiji diagram, covering the entire altar, forming a cage-like formation. The Golden Rule and the Time Rule intertwined, not only did they not conflict, but they were extremely harmonious, enveloping the entire altar.
However, a massive crack appeared on the altar, and inside, it was pitch black, with a faint, cold wind blowing out, emitting a mournful howl, as if it came from the depths of the underworld.
The stone array surrounding the square seemed to have a shielding effect, as before, when they were inside the array, they had not noticed the altar's existence. Now, as they exited the array, a massive aura enveloped them, and everyone's movements were momentarily frozen.
"What is this? A seal?" Su Zi stared at the golden altar, her eyes wide with wonder, and muttered to herself.
Hou San and Jiao San also stared at the golden altar, their faces pale with shock.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he examined the altar, his gaze quickly moving to the ancient sword and the golden flame on top.
"This ancient sword's material is the same as the Tian Jin Drill I saw before! No wonder it has such a sharp aura! And the golden flame, it contains the power of the Time Rule, which is quite unusual, with a sense of time flowing like a river... it's completely different from the five elemental laws of the Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue..." He thought to himself, his mind captivated by the two objects on the altar.
Compared to the others, Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong appeared relatively calm, exchanging a glance, with a hint of excitement in their eyes.
At the back of the group, Xiong Shan stared at the golden ancient sword on top of the altar, his eyes filled with an intense longing, his breathing becoming heavy.
He glanced at Han Li and the others, and his body suddenly shot forward, his golden light surging, transforming into a giant golden hand that grasped towards the ancient sword.
"Xiong Dao friend, don't be rash!"
Everyone's faces changed as they witnessed the scene, especially Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong, who were shocked, and cried out, "Ah!"
However, it was too late, and the golden hand grasped the ancient sword, which suddenly burst forth with golden sword light, cutting through the golden hand with ease.
Not only that, the golden ancient sword seemed to be enraged, its body vibrating with a humming sound, emitting a series of sword cries, and a multitude of crystal sword auras shot out in all directions.
Han Li and the others were immediately enveloped by a wave of sharp sword intent, their faces changing, as they hastily cast spells to defend themselves.
The Lan siblings immediately stood back-to-back, and Lan Yuanzi spat out a blue orb, which expanded into a blue, ball-shaped light shield, covering himself and Lan Yan.
Jiao San and Hou San saw this and followed suit, with Jiao San tossing out a small, white shield that rapidly expanded, forming a white light shield to protect the two of them.
Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong also quickly joined hands, their hands waving in unison, as they released a multitude of small, golden flags that surrounded them, forming a golden light array.
A dazzling golden light burst forth from the flags, creating a golden light array that enveloped Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong.
"Su Xianzi, quickly enter the array!" Lei Yu Ce called out to Su Zi, who was standing nearby, preparing to cast a spell.
The golden light array immediately expanded, enveloping Su Zi, and changing its shape from a circle to an ellipse.
Su Zi's eyes flashed with a complex expression, but she did not resist, allowing the golden light to envelop her.
However, she waved her hand, releasing a blue, large banner.
A blue wave emanated from the banner, forming a blue light shield that enveloped the three of them, adding another layer of defense.
Han Li also let out a low cry, as the light from the 900-plus acupoints on his body flashed, and a thick, crystalline membrane formed around him, which was the Zhen Ji membrane.
Not only that, he waved his hand, and the golden lightning from his sleeve flashed, as the 36 Qing Zhu Bi Yun swords flew out, forming a golden sword curtain, with electric arcs swirling around it.
Han Li had just finished setting up his defenses when the sharp, crystal sword auras shot towards him, striking the golden sword curtain.
The golden sword curtain violently shook, emitting a series of explosive sounds, and shooting out countless sparks.
The 36 Qing Zhu Bi Yun swords on the curtain shot out sparks, although they were not destroyed, the originally neat and orderly sword array was on the verge of collapse.
Han Li's face changed, and he, along with the sword array, flew backward, as he let out a loud cry, his hands spreading apart, and a multitude of thick, golden electric arcs appeared around him, merging with the sword array.
The sword array, which was on the verge of collapse, immediately stabilized, but several crystal sword auras managed to sneak in before it stabilized, striking Han Li's body.
The Zhen Ji membrane on Han Li's body flashed, its surface becoming smooth like a mirror, as it blocked the sword auras with a series of muffled sounds.
The Zhen Ji membrane's power increased with the number of acupoints opened, and Han Li, who had opened over 900 acupoints, had a defense that surpassed any of his magical artifacts.
Han Li also flew out of the sword aura's range, his body falling onto a nearby stone pile.
Han Li easily deflected the crystal sword energies, but others were not so fortunate.
The spherical light shield surrounding the Lan siblings was sliced open with a "hiss" sound, revealing a series of cracks.
The light shield's blue light flashed wildly, and it seemed on the verge of collapse, with hints of blood visible within.
The siblings' faces changed dramatically, and they quickly formed hand seals, causing their bodies to flash with blue light. A series of blue crystal threads shot out from their bodies, merging with the light shield.
The light shield suddenly stabilized, stubbornly resisting the sword energies' attack. At the same time, it retreated backward, flashing out of the plaza's range and into the outside.
Inside the shield, Lan Yuanzi's arm was severed at the elbow, and Lan Yan's shoulder had a deep sword wound. Their faces were filled with shock and fear.
The crystal sword energies' power far exceeded their expectations. Luckily, they had used the Eight Dragon Water Pearl, a defensive treasure they had been saving. Otherwise, they would have been killed on the spot.
The white light shield in front of Huo San and Jiao San was also sliced open, revealing cracks. It seemed on the verge of shattering.
In a critical moment, Jiao San placed his hands on the shield, and two dark red glows burst forth from his palms, forming a dark red light shield. A powerful, cyclical force surged within.
Although the dark red light shield seemed thin, it was exceptionally resilient, firmly resisting the sword energies' attack.
However, the two did not retreat, their eyes fixed intently on the golden altar.
On the other side, the golden light array surrounding Lei Yu Ce and his companions was struck by the sword energies. Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong simultaneously chanted incantations, their hands moving rapidly as they formed a series of colorful seals, pouring them into the golden light array.
The golden light array suddenly produced a hundred-zhang-tall golden sword shadow, which vibrated intensely. The crystal sword energies that entered the array immediately submitted, swirling around the golden sword shadow before being absorbed into it.
"Where's Xiong Shan?" Han Li's brow furrowed, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
Xiong Shan, who was closest to the golden ancient sword, shouldn't have been killed already?
But the next scene made Han Li's eyes widen in surprise.
Xiong Shan's body was enveloped in a golden light, his entire being transformed into a golden mist. A sword intent like clouds and mist emanated from him.
Sword energies sliced through his body, but seemed to cause no harm.
"What kind of secret art is this?" Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he soon discovered that the sword energies had indeed caused harm.
Each sword energy that sliced through Xiong Shan's golden mist reduced it slightly.
However, contrary to everyone's expectations, Xiong Shan did not retreat. Instead, his golden mist surged forward, and he continued to charge toward the golden ancient sword. In an instant, he was within ten zhang of the sword.
The golden flame beside the ancient sword suddenly flared up, its size increasing by threefold. It began to churn violently, emitting a shrill whistling sound.
Golden flames shot out from the flame, merging with the ancient sword's sword energies. The crystal sword energies were now shrouded in a faint golden flame, transforming into flame sword energies.
With a loud "Boom!"
The flame sword energies surged violently, their power increasing several times over. The original crystal sword energies had only enveloped the altar's surroundings, but now the flame sword energies had expanded to cover a radius of nearly a thousand zhang.
Xiong Shan's golden mist was immediately enveloped by the flame sword energies, churning violently as it rapidly shrunk. Pained cries echoed from within.
Huo San and Jiao San, as well as Lei Yu Ce, were also engulfed by the flame sword energies. Soon, angry roars and cries of alarm echoed from within, but it was unclear what was happening.
Han Li and the Lan siblings had already retreated to a safe distance. As the sword energies surged, they were once again drawn into the fray.
Flame sword energies sliced through the sword curtain surrounding Han Li, causing the golden sword curtain to shatter. The thirty-six Qing bamboo swords were like falling leaves in a storm, spinning wildly as they were blown away.
The flame sword energies sliced through the golden sword array, striking Han Li's body.
Han Li's Zhen Ji membrane glowed intensely, its surface cracked and torn. The membrane, which had previously been able to withstand the crystal sword energies, now had deep sword wounds, with some areas pierced through.
Han Li could no longer hold back, and his hands quickly formed a seal.
A low hum filled the air as the Zhen Yan treasure wheel appeared behind him, its surface covered in dense, swirling patterns. The flame sword energies were enveloped, slowing down but not stopping.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he gazed at the golden flame on the sword energies. Suddenly, he understood, and his hands changed the seal once more.
The Zhen Yan treasure wheel's side flashed with golden light, and the Duan Shi fire stick appeared, its surface extending a flame-shaped golden light. This formed a golden domain, the Duan Shi fire boundary.
The Duan Shi fire stick's time crystal threads increased explosively, and the Duan Shi fire boundary's power surged. Everything within its range was completely frozen, rivaling the power of Qi Mo's Duan Shi fire boundary. The flames and sword energy were finally halted by the Time Boundary.
Just then, a loud noise came from the side, and it was from the two Blue Primal Sons.
The noise had yet to subside when a massive blue sun burst forth, radiating blue light that wildly swept out in all directions.
Eight blue dragons shot out from the sun, their jaws wide open as they pounced on the flames and sword energy, momentarily blocking them.
Taking advantage of the brief moment, two figures shot out from the blue sun, appearing far away. The Blue Primal Sons' faces were deathly pale, their injuries more numerous than before, with fresh blood dripping from their wounds. They looked disheveled and hastily took out medicinal pellets to treat their injuries.
Han Li glanced at the two and immediately withdrew his gaze, focusing on the ancient sword and golden flames at the top of the altar. His eyes sparkled with excitement.
The golden ancient sword was a divine artifact of the Golden Law, while the golden flames contained the Time Law. The two laws could be combined, and their power was astonishingly strong.
His Qingtong Bee Cloud Sword could combine with the Time Law before it was born with the Thunder Law, but after it transformed into a divine artifact, it was no longer compatible with the Time Law.
If his Qingtong Bee Cloud Sword could combine with the Time Law, its power would be incredible.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he thought of this. He raised his hand, and the Qingtong Bee Cloud Sword flew back into his sleeve.
Then, he moved, flying towards the altar with the True Word Treasure Wheel and the Time Boundary.
Just as he did, the black wind surging out of the crack in the altar suddenly intensified, enveloping the entire cave in a dark, icy wind. The dense flames and sword energy around the altar were unable to block it.
A series of mournful wails echoed through the cave, and the air was filled with the sound of rushing sand and stone.
Han Li's expression changed, and he halted his flight.
The ancient sword and golden flames on the altar flashed again, and the golden law array on the altar began to wildly flash. The sword energy shooting out from the array suddenly contracted, no longer attacking Han Li and the others. Instead, it focused on the crack in the altar.
"It's too late now!" a cold, mirthless laugh came from the crack, followed by a surge of dark energy.
A massive black lightning bolt burst forth from the crack, piercing through the sword energy and striking the golden flames.
At the same time, a brilliant golden light flashed amidst the dense sword energy, and a fierce sword intent burst forth, creating a gap in the sword energy.
A thin, golden mist shot out from the gap, entering the hole created by the black lightning bolt. It then shot forward, its timing impeccable.
However, this all happened in the blink of an eye, and the golden mist was not noticeable, so no one saw it.
Han Li and the others only saw a brilliant black lightning bolt pierce through the sword energy, striking the golden flames on the altar.
A deafening explosion shook the air, and the black and golden lights burst forth, causing the surrounding space to distort and tremble.
The golden flames violently shook, and then, with a loud crack, they were severed from the Taiji diagram below, flying out in a different direction.
The flames happened to be flying towards Han Li, who was overjoyed. He quickly formed a hand seal, and several time law crystals shot out from the Time Boundary, wrapping around the golden flames. He then pulled them back towards himself.
To his surprise, the golden flames did not resist or struggle, and they were easily pulled back to his side.
At the same time, the thin golden mist flew to the top of the altar, transforming into a figure - it was Xiong Shan.
Han Li's eyes widened in shock as he saw Xiong Shan's appearance. He was covered in wounds, with no blood flowing from them. His legs and left arm were gone, leaving only a wounded right arm.
The golden ancient sword was still radiating brilliant sword energy, and Xiong Shan's body was pierced by countless holes, his flesh on the verge of collapse.
However, he didn't flinch, his eyes fixed on the golden ancient sword. He stretched out his remaining right arm, grasping the sword hilt, and then pulled upwards.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed in concern. The black lightning bolt had barely managed to dislodge the golden flames, and Xiong Shan's condition was dire. It seemed unlikely that he could pull out the golden ancient sword.
But then, something unexpected happened!
The golden ancient sword let out a clear hum, and then was easily pulled out by Xiong Shan's right arm.
Xiong Shan held the golden ancient sword in his hand, his broken body swaying slightly, but he finally steadied himself, a faint, sinister smile playing on his lips.
As the golden ancient sword and the golden flames left the altar's top, the golden light flashing on the altar's surface suddenly dimmed, and the flames that filled the air also disappeared.
At this moment, Hu San and Jiao San, as well as Lei Yu Ce, appeared.
Hu San and Jiao San's white light shields were gone, clearly destroyed.
The two were now covered in a dark red halo, their clothes tattered, their bodies covered in bloodstains.
Lei Yu Ce's situation was much better, the golden light arrays around him undamaged, but the golden sword shadows within were cut off.
Lei Yu Ce and Wen Zhong's faces were pale, their energy depleted.
But when they saw the golden flames fall into Han Li's hands, and the ancient sword pulled out by Xiong Shan, their faces turned even paler.
Just as they were about to say something, a muffled sound came from within the golden altar, as if something had shattered.
Han Li heard the sound, and a sense of unease rose up within him.
Before he could react, a loud roar came from within the altar, as if countless people were shouting towards the sky, filled with endless cheers.
As the roar grew louder, blinding black light burst forth from the altar's crack, causing the entire cave to shake violently, as if the earth was splitting apart.
The golden altar also shook violently, other cracks opening up, releasing bursts of black light.
"Brother Han, Brother Xiong, quickly put back what's in your hands! Quickly!" Lei Yu Ce's face was deathly pale, his voice trembling.
Han Li saw the scene before him, his heart already filled with shock, and he hesitated.
Xiong Shan, however, seemed to ignore Lei Yu Ce's words, holding the golden ancient sword in his arms, and taking out a blood-red pill to swallow.
Han Li looked at the golden flames in his hand, gritted his teeth, and was about to put them back.
Just then, a thunderous explosion shook the air, and the golden altar burst open, shattering into countless pieces.
Xiong Shan, who was standing on the altar, was blown away by the explosion, flying towards Han Li.
Xiong Shan's state was extremely bad, and he seemed unable to even fly, his body blown away by the explosion, but his right hand still tightly grasped the golden ancient sword.
Han Li saw this, and with a wave of his hand, released a burst of blue light, catching Xiong Shan and preventing him from crashing into the wall.
"Th...thank you..."
Xiong Shan thanked Han Li, but his expression was not grateful, and instead seemed wary, holding the golden ancient sword tightly in his arms, as if afraid Han Li would take it away.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, feeling that Xiong Shan's behavior was a bit abnormal, and different from his usual self, but he didn't say anything, and turned to look at the altar.
A black light portal appeared within the shattered altar, releasing large amounts of black light.
The portal flashed several times, then shattered, and a loud roar erupted.
Figures flew out of the shattered altar, their numbers reaching over a hundred, floating in mid-air, their voices filled with excitement.
"Ha ha! I've finally come out! Come out!"
"How many tens of thousands of years, I've finally escaped this bitter sea!"
"Where is Wen Taixu? I, Pan Qian Luo, vow to rip his belly open and dig out his heart, or else I'll never be able to vent my billion-year-old hatred!"
These figures were mostly human, some half-human, half-beast, or simply beast-like, with black energy swirling around them, clearly demonic in nature.
Han Li's expression changed, his eyes flashing, and he quickly retreated, flying towards the cave wall to avoid being surrounded.
These demonic figures were not weak, most of them at the Tai Yi level, and some of them even stronger than Han Li.
Xiong Shan, who had recovered some of his energy, also retreated, standing near Han Li.
A layer of blood light appeared on his body, and his wounds began to heal rapidly, his broken limbs regrowing.
In an instant, Xiong Shan's body had recovered, although his face was still pale. At this moment, Lei Yu Ce and the others also hastily retreated, Lei Yu Ce and the three of them stood together, while Huo San and Jiao San happened to be standing beside the Lan siblings, and they also stood together, their expressions extremely solemn, and they glared fiercely at Han Li and Xiong Shan.
The group of demon tribe people had finished venting their excitement and looked at Han Li and the others, their faces twisted into cruel smiles.
"Hehe, were you few the ones who broke the seal?" A tall and robust man with a strong physique stepped forward, looking at Han Li and the others.
This person's skin was a dark bronze color, and his cheeks and chin were covered in thick, lion-like whiskers. His hair was upright like iron needles, and his muscles were extremely powerful, making him look like a majestic lion king, gazing down at the surroundings.
Han Li and the others were swept by his gaze, and their hearts trembled.
"Not bad, we are from the Golden Origin Realm, and we accidentally came here. I don't know what kind of people you are, and why you are here?" Han Li's eyes moved, and he cupped his hands, saying.
"Is that so? Then thank you very much. As a reward, I will allow you to become our blood food, and hand over your essence and soul!" The long-whiskered robust man's eyes flashed with two eerie lights, and his mouth curled into a cruel smile.
His voice had not fallen when he suddenly stretched his body, transforming into a long snake-like illusion, and instantly pounced on Han Li, his two fists, which were as big as basins, radiating a strong black light, and heavily striking down.
The long-whiskered robust man seemed to be very familiar with the fighting habits of human cultivators, his physical body was extremely strong, and his speed was also extremely fast. Moreover, this place had a limited space, and a close-range attack was more effective than any divine artifact or secret technique.
Unfortunately, the long-whiskered robust man had miscalculated this time. Facing his sudden attack, Han Li's expression was cold and indifferent, and his body flickered, disappearing from the original place, and reappearing about 70-80 meters away.
The long-whiskered robust man was stunned, and he stood still in place.
At this moment, a sudden whistling sound erupted, like a thunderclap, and a golden sword light, about 50-60 meters long, descended from the sky, like a swift sword, striking towards the long-whiskered robust man.
The golden sword light, as it passed through the air, left a neat black line, and the cold and fierce sword intent covered the entire cave space.
The long-whiskered robust man's expression changed, and he grabbed at the air with his right hand, and a black large hammer appeared in his hand.
He shook his arm, and the black large hammer let out a loud sound, transforming into a ball of black, heavy light, and striking towards the golden sword light.
The long-whiskered robust man's black hammer was not an ordinary magical artifact. When he had first started cultivating, he had traveled through the demon realm and encountered a mountain peak formed from dark iron. He had spent a great deal of effort to move it to a place with a underground fire vein.
He had used the power of the underground fire vein to smelt the mountain, and after 100,000 years, he had finally refined the dark iron, removing all the impurities, and turning it into a pure dark iron.
The long-whiskered robust man had later collected hundreds of top-grade golden attribute minerals from the demon realm, and fused them into the dark iron, and then used the demon tribe's secret technique to refine and forge it for tens of thousands of years, finally creating this dark iron hammer.
This hammer seemed ordinary, but it was extremely heavy, and even a cultivator at the Taiyi Realm could not lift it.
The long-whiskered robust man himself was extremely powerful, and his hammer strike was unmatched, capable of crushing any attack.
The sword light and the black hammer collided, and with a slight sound, the black hammer split in two, the cut surface smooth and neat.
The golden sword light easily cut through the black hammer, and then continued to strike towards the long-whiskered robust man without stopping.
The long-whiskered robust man's expression changed greatly, and he spat out a black orb.
The black light burst forth, and with a loud sound, it shattered, transforming into a black light sphere, about 10-20 meters in size, which engulfed the long-whiskered robust man's body.
The golden sword light struck the black light sphere, and with a cracking sound, the black light sphere was cut in two, and the two halves were crushed by the golden sword light's cold and fierce sword intent, and turned into countless black light points that dispersed, but the long-whiskered robust man's body was nowhere to be seen.
The golden sword light flashed and disappeared, transforming into a person, who was Xiong Shan, still holding the golden ancient sword.
His face was still pale, but his expression was filled with excitement, and he was looking at the ancient sword with an unbridled enthusiasm, his eyes shining with an uncontainable excitement and fervor.
It seemed that in his eyes, only this sword was the most important thing, and for this sword, he could disregard everything, even if it meant falling.
In the distance, about 1,000 meters away, the black light flickered, and the long-whiskered robust man's body appeared.
He was still pale, and seemed to have been injured by the sword strike, but he did not care about it, and looked at the broken black hammer, a hint of pain flashing across his face.
The dark iron hammer had been destroyed, and it could no longer be used. Fortunately, the materials had not been completely destroyed, and they could be re-refined, but it would take many years.
"Great Wilderness Ancient Sword!" The long-whiskered robust man turned his head, looking at Xiong Shan's ancient sword, and spoke in a cold voice, his tone filled with a sense of dread.
And Xiong Shan's sword had easily destroyed the long-whiskered robust man's black hammer, and his evaluation of the ancient sword had risen to another level, making him even more proud and arrogant.
"Haha, demon tribe thieves, you have bitten the hand that feeds you, look at my sword!" He shouted loudly, and the Great Wilderness Ancient Sword radiated a dazzling light, enveloping his body.
The golden light flashed, and Xiong Shan and the Great Wilderness Ancient Sword disappeared, transforming into a 100-meter-long golden sword light, which struck towards the long-whiskered robust man once again.
The sword light was like a long rainbow, and it emitted a thunderous sound, like the sound of countless horses galloping, and it was unstoppable!
"You're looking for death! A small Golden Immortal, thinking you can show off with just one divine sword! Go cultivate for another million years!" The long-bearded burly man seemed to be enraged by Xiong Shan's arrogant attitude, and a black light flashed in his hand, revealing a black knife with a skull-like head on its hilt.
The knife's body was long and narrow, with lightning-shaped patterns engraved on it, emitting a faint black glow. The aura emanating from it was even more powerful than the previous Xuanming Divine Hammer.
As the long-bearded man swung his arm, a powerful slash was unleashed.
"Whoosh!"
A massive amount of black energy burst forth from the black knife, transforming into a black cloud that swept towards the golden sword light. Simultaneously, over a hundred lightning-shaped black crystal threads shot out, converging on a single point.
A loud crackling sound filled the air!
The black lightning flashed, and a house-sized black lightning lion materialized, its four legs flying towards the incoming golden sword light.
A surge of cold and violent thunder laws erupted from the black lightning lion, causing the air to shudder and tremble. Xiong Shan's sword light, however, remained unwavering, as if ready to clash with the lion to the death.
The next moment, the sword light and the lightning lion collided, unleashing a massive explosion of black and golden light.
The entire cave shook violently, but the stone walls surrounding it were reinforced with seals, and a layer of golden light emanated from the walls, preventing them from collapsing.
With a loud "crack!", the black lightning lion was cleaved in two, its body disintegrating into a multitude of black lightning crystal threads that scattered everywhere.
The long-bearded man stumbled backward, his face filled with disbelief.
However, the thunder laws from the lightning lion rebounded, and the golden sword light vanished. Xiong Shan stumbled out, his face even paler than before, but his eyes still shone with a crazed fervor.
Han Li, who had been watching from a distance, couldn't help but feel a hint of surprise.
Xiong Shan, a mere Golden Immortal, had managed to break through the long-bearded man's attack, a Taiyi realm expert, using the ancient sword he had just obtained. Han Li had previously judged the sword's power to be around a fourth-grade divine artifact, but now he realized it was likely a third-grade divine artifact.
Han Li couldn't help but feel envious of the sword's power and its perfect compatibility with Xiong Shan's laws.
The long-bearded man and Han Li, Xiong Shan exchanged blows in a flash, while the other demonic cultivators were still reacting to the sudden turn of events.
It was only natural for the demonic cultivators to be hostile towards the cultivators from the immortal realm, especially the humans. These cultivators had been imprisoned by the Taishang Xianzun for who-knew-how-many years, accumulating boundless resentment.
As the demonic cultivators charged towards Han Li and the others, nearly half of them, however, were more concerned with escaping the Taishang Tower than attacking. They transformed into black lights and flew away, disappearing into the distance.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed as he watched the scene unfold, but he quickly grasped the situation.
He didn't bother with the departing cultivators, focusing instead on the seven or eight demonic cultivators who were charging towards him with hostility.
Han Li's eyes flashed with cold light as he swept his sleeve, unleashing the thirty-six Qingtong Huiyun swords.
The swords transformed into hundreds of golden sword lights, each one flashing with golden lightning and emitting a deafening roar. The swords descended upon the demonic cultivators, ready to strike.
The seven or eight demonic cultivators, who were all cultivating yin-attribute techniques, were caught off guard by the Qingtong Huiyun swords' thunder laws, which countered their own magical energy. They were shocked and struggled to defend themselves.
As the demonic cultivators focused on the sword lights, Han Li's eyes turned cold, and he formed a hand seal. The True Word Treasure Wheel appeared behind him, spinning rapidly as it released a massive golden aura that enveloped the surrounding area.
The seven or eight demonic cultivators were caught off guard, and their bodies were instantly frozen in place, unable to move.
The next moment, the hundreds of golden sword lights descended, slashing across the demonic cultivators' bodies.
Han Li then swept his hand, and the True Word Treasure Wheel and the golden aura vanished.
The seven or eight demonic cultivators' bodies exploded, turning into a shower of blood and flesh. Their nascent souls and divine consciousness were unable to escape, and they were annihilated by the sword energy.
Han Li's sequence of attacks was extremely fast, and the True Word Treasure Wheel appeared and disappeared in the blink of an eye. Most of the onlookers didn't even have time to react before the seven or eight Taiyi realm demonic cultivators were defeated and killed. This scene fell into the eyes of the nearby demon tribe, causing a huge commotion. The actions of those holding their hands stopped, and many people's eyes showed deep fear.
Lei Yu and others saw this situation and were also shocked.
But Han Li didn't pay attention to the surrounding people's gaze, and a golden lightning light flashed on his body, his figure disappeared instantly, and the next moment he appeared more than a thousand feet away.
He didn't say a word, and with a single hand, he pinched a spell, the True Speech Treasure Wheel reappeared, and golden ripples spread out, instantly covering the surrounding hundreds of feet, trapping the nearby demons.
As he swung his hand, hundreds of sword lights flew out again, and with a fierce twist, they turned the demon into minced meat.
Han Li killed more than a dozen Taiyi Realm demons in a row, and the demons on the scene looked at him with a hint of fear, fleeing in all directions.
Han Li's face didn't change, and a golden lightning light flashed on his body, and he was about to use his Lightning Escape Technique to chase after them.
At this moment, a series of thunderous roars sounded, and a large piece of black lightning bolts moved in the air, a black lightning spirit domain appeared out of thin air, and it covered everything.
Inside the black spirit domain, a tall, sturdy man with a long beard stood upright, his eyes cold as ice.
Xiong Shan was currently being blocked by several Taiyi Realm demons in the distance, and he was fighting with them.
He had just obtained a treasure and was excited, so he continuously stimulated the Great Wilderness Ancient Sword to display its powerful divine abilities, and his internal energy was depleted by more than half, almost to the point of exhaustion. Now, he could only use some methods that didn't consume his energy to fight against the Taiyi Realm demons, and he couldn't stop the long-bearded man.
Han Li was covered by the black lightning spirit domain, and the golden lightning light on his body was like ice and snow meeting fire, instantly melting and disappearing. His face slightly changed.
Not only was the golden lightning light on his body extinguished, but the lightning power on the Qingtong Huanyu Sword revolving around him also dimmed several times, leaving only a faint glow.
"You little one, I don't care who you are outside, but today you won't leave here alive!" The long-bearded man's face was ferocious, and after covering Han Li with the spirit domain, he immediately roared, his hand holding a black long knife that slashed through the air.
Instantly, 150 lightning law crystals flew out from the black long knife, entwining each other.
The black lightning flashed, and those lightning law crystals turned into a black five-clawed lightning dragon, a terrifying aura burst forth from the dragon's body, surpassing the previous black lightning lion.
The five-clawed lightning dragon moved its body, and its body transformed into a black lightning bolt that shot out, instantly flying to Han Li's head. The dragon's claws changed into a strange shape, and it fiercely grabbed downwards.
The sky darkened, and it seemed that the entire sky was also crushed by the lightning dragon's claws, causing the heavens to collapse.
The long-bearded man seemed to have used a divine ability similar to reversing the truth wheel, and this series of actions was incredibly fast. Han Li had just noticed being covered by the black lightning spirit domain, and the next moment, the five-clawed lightning dragon's claws arrived in front of him.
He was shocked, and he only had time to raise his fist to punch the air.
A "boom" sound echoed, and a golden fist shadow appeared out of thin air, dragging a long golden tail light, and it collided with the black dragon's claws.
The fist shadow contained a powerful force, and wherever it passed, the air was crushed, and cracks appeared.
The Qingtong Huanyu Swords beside him also flew out with the fist shadow, and they instantly formed a large blue sword lotus, with countless sword shadows moving in it, blocking in front of him.
The five-clawed lightning dragon let out a dragon roar, and the black lightning on its claws surged, fiercely grabbing the golden fist shadow.
A "rip" sound echoed!
The golden fist shadow, which seemed to have substance, was easily torn apart by the five-clawed lightning dragon's claws like paper.
The black dragon's claws didn't stop, and they grabbed the blue sword lotus again.
The Qingtong Huanyu Swords were Han Li's lifebound treasures, and although they were suppressed by the spirit domain, the lightning law was not fully displayed, but the sword lotus was extremely powerful, far surpassing the fist shadow.
The black dragon's claws grabbed the blue sword lotus, and a shocking sound echoed. The blue sword lotus flashed twice, and then it was also broken through, exploding and scattering the 36 Qingtong Huanyu Swords.
The black dragon's claws paused for a moment, and then they fiercely grabbed Han Li again.
Han Li saw this, and his pupils shrank.
He sought this momentary gap, and his body's golden light surged, a golden spirit domain appeared, and it quickly spread around him, instantly submerging the five-clawed lightning dragon. At the same time, the True Speech Treasure Wheel appeared behind him, rotating rapidly.
In an instant, countless golden ripples appeared, also covering the five-clawed lightning dragon.
Not only that, but the True Speech Treasure Wheel's side also flashed with golden light, and the Dantian Fire appeared, instantly opening the Dantian Fire Boundary, which also covered the lightning dragon.
The five-clawed lightning dragon was frozen in place, unable to move, by Han Li's time spirit domain, the True Speech Treasure Wheel, and the Dantian Fire Boundary.
"What!" The bearded man's eyes widened in shock as the Five-Clawed Thunder Dragon was instantly subdued. He had previously seen Han Li's formidable strength and the mysterious Time Law divine ability, so he had used all his might to attack. First, he had restricted Han Li's power with his spiritual domain, then he had sacrificed his own Law Crystals to cast the "Electric Light Reversal" secret technique, forcibly increasing his spellcasting speed. Finally, he had summoned all his Law Crystals to launch a full-force attack.
He had thought that even if he couldn't kill Han Li, he could at least severely injure him. But he had never expected to be blocked by his opponent.
The bearded man's temperament was already violent, and being sealed by the Taishang Immortal for so many years had made his personality even more extreme. After breaking free, he had immediately vented his anger towards Han Li and the other True Immortal Realm cultivators, eagerly seeking to kill them.
But now, his strongest technique had failed to defeat Han Li, and his raging anger had subsided, replaced by a hint of retreat.
Han Li, who had subdued the Five-Clawed Thunder Dragon, also felt a slight sense of relief. He silently scolded himself for being too arrogant, thinking that if he had deployed his Time Spiritual Domain from the beginning, he wouldn't have fallen into such a precarious situation.
As he pondered, his movements didn't slow down. With a flick of his wrist, a blue-green jade gourd appeared in front of him - the Xuantian Gourd.
At this moment, a loud rumbling sound suddenly erupted beside Han Li, followed by a massive explosion of golden light. It was the golden flame from the altar.
Earlier, with the constant changes, Han Li had almost forgotten about the flame.
Now, the golden flame and the surrounding Time Spiritual Domain seemed to resonate with each other, suddenly swelling to several times its original size. The flame burned fiercely, unaffected by the True Words Treasure Wheel and the Time-Breaking Fire Boundary.
A powerful Time Law fluctuation burst forth from the golden flame, causing the nearby Time Spiritual Domain to tremble.
"What is this...?" Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he gazed at the golden flame. A peculiar light flashed in his eyes, and he swiftly cast a spell.
Two law seals flew out of his hands, each entering the golden flame and the Xuantian Gourd.
The golden flame wrapped around Han Li's Time Law Crystals, which suddenly lit up, merging with the flame to form a golden shadow. The shadow shot towards the Five-Clawed Thunder Dragon.
Meanwhile, the Xuantian Gourd's green light flashed, and a stream of green light burst out, enveloping the Five-Clawed Thunder Dragon. The gourd's green light was faster, quickly wrapping around the dragon and pulling it back.
The Five-Clawed Thunder Dragon's body shook, and it began to soften, as if it were being melted by the green light.
However, the Five-Clawed Thunder Dragon was formed from over a hundred of the bearded man's Law Crystals, containing an enormous amount of Law energy. Even the Xuantian Gourd couldn't quickly absorb it.
Just then, the golden flame shot out, striking the Five-Clawed Thunder Dragon.
A faint "hiss" sound echoed, and the dragon's body, which had been slightly stirred by the Xuantian Gourd's green light, instantly decayed and broke into two pieces.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise, and then a look of great joy appeared on his face.
The bearded man, however, was shocked.
But the next moment, the golden flame suddenly fluctuated wildly, and the Time Law energy within it surged violently. The True Words Treasure Wheel and the Time-Breaking Fire Boundary were shaken, and the restraint on the Five-Clawed Thunder Dragon was loosened.
The bearded man's eyes lit up, and his body began to transform. He rolled on the ground, turning into a massive, dozens-of-zhang-long lion-like demon.
The demon's body was a dark, bronze-like color, with lightning-shaped black patterns on its skin. Two curved black horns protruded from its head, surrounded by black lightning.
The demon's horns glowed with a fierce, black lightning, like two small black suns.
The broken Five-Clawed Thunder Dragon suddenly lit up, shrinking rapidly to form two black lightning rings, one large and one small.
The two lightning rings burst forth with intense, unparalleled lightning energy, which was not stronger than the Five-Clawed Thunder Dragon but more refined and sharper. They broke free from the Xuantian Gourd's green light and pushed back the True Words Treasure Wheel and the Time-Breaking Fire Boundary.
The two lightning rings shot out, flying beyond the True Words Treasure Wheel and the Time-Breaking Fire Boundary.
"You won't escape!" Han Li's face darkened, and he spat out a blue and a golden light.
The blue light entered the Xuantian Gourd, and the gourd's green light flashed. A stream of green light burst out, pursuing the two lightning rings.
The green light was faster than before, quickly catching up to the lightning rings and enveloping them.
A dozen or so green crystals emerged from the green light, wrapping around the lightning rings. The lightning rings' radiant light dimmed, and they stopped moving.
The golden light flew towards the golden flame, and a net of golden light formed, encasing the flame.
The Time Law fluctuations within the golden flame were immediately suppressed, and the True Words Treasure Wheel and the Time-Breaking Fire Boundary's tremors began to subside.
Han Li's hands moved swiftly, casting a spell. The True Words Treasure Wheel's range expanded rapidly, spreading towards the two lightning rings.
The bronze lion demon's eyes widened in surprise, and it let out a deafening roar. The black lightning patterns on its body glowed brightly, and all the light converged towards its two black horns.
The demon's horns glowed with an intense, black lightning, like two small black suns. The two black horns suddenly became transparent, emitting a flash of lightning that was almost impossible to gaze at directly.
The large black lightning ring in the emerald green aura flashed with lightning and suddenly struggled free from the emerald green aura's restraints, flashing into the copper lion's mouth.
The smaller lightning ring, however, despite its struggles, seemed to lack the power to break free from the emerald green aura's restraints, and was enveloped by the golden ripples that spread out, instantly solidifying in place.
Then, the emerald green aura contracted, enveloping the black lightning ring, and with a "whoosh" sound, it disappeared into the Xuantian Gourd.
The copper lion demon saw this scene and its two eyes suddenly turned blood red, letting out a thunderous roar, causing the entire cave to shake.
Han Li sneered, his body transforming into a golden shadow as he pounced towards the copper lion demon.
His time domain also surged forward, enveloping the copper lion demon.
"You human brat, I'll remember you!" The copper lion demon, having previously experienced Han Li's time laws, had been left with a lingering fear, and after a furious roar, its massive body transformed into a black lightning bolt, shooting towards the front of the cave and disappearing in an instant.
The other demon tribes in the cave saw the copper lion demon escape and lost the will to fight, following after it and disappearing into thin air.
Han Li didn't pursue, stopping his body and retracting his time domain and the True Speech Treasure Wheel.
As the time domain retracted, the golden flame also stopped its rolling motion, rapidly shrinking back to its original state.
However, the golden flame had shrunk by nearly half, and the power of the time laws within it had decreased significantly, as if the previous attack on the five-clawed dragon had consumed a lot of power.
Han Li's brow furrowed slightly as he gazed at this scene.
The divine ability of the golden flame was similar to that of the fire age firefly, but it was much more powerful, and couldn't be compared.
However, it seemed that the golden flame could only be used once more, which was a pity.
He sighed inwardly, his hand forming a seal as he pointed, and the twenty-odd time law crystals surrounding the golden flame rotated, forming a flower-shaped seal that enveloped the golden flame.
Han Li then waved his sleeve, putting away the golden flower.
Lei Yuze, Lan Yuansu, and the others didn't pursue, as they had all been injured, and had been at a disadvantage when facing the dozens of demon tribes in the Taiyi realm.
As the demon tribes disappeared, they all hurriedly descended to recover.
Han Li had also been exhausted from the intense battle, and took out a medicinal pill to consume, operating his cultivation to refine it.
Half an hour later, Lei Yuze and the others stood up, one by one.
"If it weren't for Brother Han's help, we would have all been buried here today," Lei Yuze said with a complex expression, clasping his hands in respect.
"Brother Lei is too polite," Han Li said with a hint of depth in his voice, "but what's going on with those demon tribes? Brother Lei seems to know something, please tell me the truth."
The others looked at Lei Yuze, awaiting his response.
However, Lei Yuze didn't immediately answer Han Li's question, instead flying towards the previous altar.
The black light portal had already disappeared, leaving behind only a pile of rubble covering the ground.
Lei Yuze waved his hand, sending out a golden light that swept away the rubble, revealing the ground beneath.
On the ground was a dark golden circular stone plate, with a complex formation carved into it, and eight golden stone pillars, each about a foot high, standing at the corners of the formation.
The circular stone plate was now cracked, with several fissures opening up, and the formation was damaged, its array lines dull and lifeless.
Lei Yuze's expression turned heavy, his face covered in a layer of frost.
"Brother Xiong, the current situation is all because of your reckless actions!" Lei Yuze said, his voice stern.
"I apologize, I didn't know that pulling out this sword would cause so many demon tribes to appear, and I will be more cautious in the future," Xiong Shan said, clasping his hands.
Although he apologized, his expression didn't show any regret, and his eyes seemed to gleam with suppressed joy, as he glanced at the Great Wilderness Ancient Sword in his hand.
The sword's body was surrounded by 20-30 golden crystals, which emitted a golden light that merged into the sword, as if refining it.
Lan Yuansu and the others couldn't help but glance at the Great Wilderness Ancient Sword, their faces filled with envy.
Lei Yuze's brow furrowed, but he didn't say anything.
Xiong Shan's strength had originally been the weakest among the group, but now that he possessed the Great Wilderness Ancient Sword, his power had greatly increased, and except for Han Li, no one else had the absolute confidence to deal with him.
It's now come to this, so I'll no longer hide it from you all. As for the seventh floor of the Years Tower, I, Lei Yu, actually know a thing or two. You've all come this far, so you must have already realized that this Years Tower is a prison, holding many prisoners. The seventh floor is no exception, suppressing an extraordinary demon.
"An extraordinary demon?" Han Li raised an eyebrow.
"That's right, this extraordinary demon is far beyond the prisoners we've encountered before." Lei Yu added.
"We've encountered prisoners who have already reached the Great Luo realm, so is this extraordinary demon a Dao Ancestor or not?" Lan Yan sneered, speaking with disdain.
"My sect's founder participated in the sealing of this demon, and according to the records left behind by the founder, this demon is not a Dao Ancestor, but is not far off." Lei Yu's expression turned serious.
Lan Yan saw Lei Yu's expression and withdrew the smile from his face.
"Your sect's founder came to this place before? This Years Tower should have been built by the Tai Sui Immortal, so did your sect's founder know the Tai Sui Immortal?" Han Li's eyes narrowed, asking.
"There's no mention of it in our sect's records, and I don't know." Lei Yu looked at Han Li and shook his head.
Han Li remained silent, but in his heart, he was skeptical of Lei Yu's words, unsure if he was intentionally not saying anything or truly didn't know.
"Lei, the demon you mentioned, is it the same one that performed the blood sacrifice on the entire Jin Yuan Immortal Domain?" Su Qi suddenly interrupted, asking.
"That's right, it's the same one. Su, you must have a deep impression of this demon, right?" Lei Yu looked at Su Qi deeply and said.
"Of course, our Tian Shui Sect's records also mention the great calamity that occurred back then." Su Qi's face turned pale as she nodded.
"What are you two talking about? Can you tell us?" Han Li asked.
"You all aren't from the Jin Yuan Immortal Domain, so you wouldn't know about this. In the distant past, during the great war between the immortal and demonic realms, our Jin Yuan Immortal Domain experienced a great calamity. A demon named the Black Sky Demon God descended upon our domain, unleashing a powerful demon array that sacrificed the entire domain. At that time, more than half of the living beings in our domain died in that array. Later, the Heavenly Dao Ancestor intervened, breaking the array. This event was a great calamity for our domain, causing immense damage that still hasn't been fully recovered from. The Black Sky Demon God's name is also a taboo in our domain." Su Qi sighed and said.
"I see." Han Li nodded slowly, his eyes gazing towards the front of the cave, his mind racing.
It turned out that the demon in this place was related to the great war between the immortal and demonic realms back then. What connection did it have to the Night Sun Kingdom?
"What Su said is true. In fact, the reason the Tai Sui Immortal's estate appeared this time is not a coincidence. According to our sect's records, it's likely that the demon is breaking through the seal, causing the estate to appear. My and Wen Zhong's purpose in coming here is to reinforce the seal. The sealing array has five array eyes, arranged according to the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth. Each array eye also seals a demon from the demonic realm. The golden altar over there is one of the gold array eyes." Lei Yu continued.
"The golden altar has already collapsed, so one of the array eyes has been destroyed?" Lan Yan's voice was laced with unease.
The others also turned serious.
"That's right. Originally, as long as the five array eyes were intact, the Black Sky Demon God wouldn't be able to escape. But now that the gold array eye has been destroyed, if the other array eyes are also destroyed, the Black Sky Demon God will likely break free from the seal. At that time, not only will we be in grave danger, but the entire Jin Yuan Immortal Domain will also fall into a great calamity. So, everyone must be careful from now on and avoid destroying the other array eyes." Lei Yu's expression turned extremely serious.
The others nodded in agreement.
"What do we do next? Should we continue forward?" Lan Yan asked.
"That's right. Before we go, I'll try to repair the array here. This array is the key to the gold array eye, and although it's damaged, the original energy hasn't completely dissipated. If we can repair it, it might still have some effect." Lei Yu thought for a moment before saying.
He then began to examine the array on the ground.
Wen Zhong also came forward to help, and the two of them discussed it briefly before starting to repair the array.
Han Li and the others weren't familiar with the array on the ground, so they couldn't help. They walked to the side and continued to meditate and cultivate.
After a while, Han Li and the others were still meditating when a strong array fluctuation suddenly appeared, causing them to quickly stand up.
They saw that the golden array on the ground had been repaired, and it was now humming with energy. A thick golden light rose from the array and merged into the stone wall above.
Lei Yu's hands moved rapidly, and the golden array slowly stopped, the golden light column disappearing.
"It's good that the array wasn't damaged too badly, so we were able to repair it." Lei Yu's face showed a hint of a smile as he nodded.
"Will the repaired array have any effect?" Lan Yan asked, seemingly afraid of the Black Sky Demon God.
"I don't know, but I hope it will." Lei Yu was silent for a moment before saying.
The others exchanged glances, and no one spoke for a while.
"Let's go, we've delayed for too long. Let's hurry and move forward." Lei Yu said, then waved his hand, releasing a burst of golden light that gathered nearby rocks and covered the golden array.
(To be continued) Everyone's injuries had mostly recovered, and they were no longer willing to stay in the same place, so they continued onward.
Along the mountain cave, they walked for a long time before finally exiting the cave.
Outside the cave, there was a platform with an area of no more than a few hundred meters, with rugged rocks and boulders scattered about, as if it were located on the middle slope of a massive mountain peak.
Han Li and the others arrived at the edge of the platform and looked around, but saw nothing but a vast expanse of gray mist swirling in the air.
Xiong Shan gazed out at the distance for a moment, his brow furrowed, and then raised his golden long sword, slashing downwards towards the distant void.
A loud sword hum resounded, and a massive golden sword light burst forth, shooting out for a moment.
Looking at the sword's strength and speed, it should have instantly cleaved through the void, traveling hundreds of miles in an instant. However, to everyone's surprise, the sword light flew out for only a few hundred meters before suddenly crashing into an invisible wall, exploding and dispersing.
"Indeed, there is a restriction..." Xiong Shan muttered to himself.
"Everyone, don't bother trying, this mountain peak's restriction is connected to the root of the entire Years Tower. Unless someone has the ability to destroy the entire Years Tower, it's impossible to forcefully break through." Lei Yu Ce cautioned.
Han Li heard this and immediately expanded his divine sense, beginning to probe the surroundings.
However, his brow soon furrowed, as the restrictions on his divine sense were extremely severe, and even his powerful divine sense couldn't extend too far.
Seeing this, the group had no other choice but to fly up the mountain slope, following the edge of the cliff.
After flying for nearly a thousand meters, Jiao San suddenly let out a soft "ah" and stopped.
Everyone saw this and also stopped, following her gaze upwards to see another cliff platform, with a man-made stone staircase winding its way up the mountain.
"Let's go take a look." Lei Yu Ce called out, leading the way.
Wen Zhong and Su Qi followed closely behind, with Han Li and the others flying up shortly after.
Han Li landed on the cliff edge, his eyes scanning the surroundings, and found that there were no caves, only the stone staircase.
The group then ascended the staircase, one by one, continuing upwards towards the mountain peak.
The stone steps were steep and winding, leading them upwards for several hundred meters before arriving at another, larger platform.
There, a massive blue-roofed grand hall stood, built into the mountain slope, with eaves that seemed to fly upwards, giving off a sense of ancient elegance.
In front of the grand hall, there was a large square with an area of several hundred meters, its surface reflecting a mirror-like glow, as if it were a lake. Water vapor seemed to rise from it, shrouding the area in a faint blue mist.
Lan Yuanzi's eyes scanned the mist, his brow furrowed, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.
"Brother, what's wrong?" Lan Yan asked.
"This place seems to be shrouded in water and mist, with a faint wave of Water Attribute laws fluctuating within. However, the water vapor doesn't seem as dense as it appears, I think... this is likely a Water Attribute illusion array." Lan Yuanzi pondered.
"Water Attribute illusion array?" Han Li's brow furrowed as well.
His eyes flashed with purple light, and his Nine Underworlds Devil Eyes divine sense began to rotate, carefully examining the area.
Under the Devil Eyes' gaze, the water mist revealed a series of water vapor whirlpools, swirling and flowing within, each one attracting and repelling the others, forming a unique energy fluctuation.
However, after gazing at it for a moment, Han Li felt a slight wetness in his eyes, as if the water vapor was seeping into his eyes. He was about to wonder what was happening when he looked around and discovered that Lei Yu Ce, Jiao San, and the others had all vanished.
He let out a wry smile, feeling a sense of helplessness, realizing that they had all entered the illusion array when they crossed the last step of the staircase.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he began to fully activate his Refine Spirit Technique, attempting to use his powerful divine sense to force his way through the illusion.
However, as soon as he activated the technique, the surroundings changed.
The water vapor whirlpools seemed to be stimulated, and each one began to rotate wildly, colliding and crashing into each other, as if they were hurricanes colliding.
Han Li's heart had just formed this thought when he suddenly found himself standing on a dark, stormy sea, surrounded by the sound of crashing waves.
Han Li stood in the air above the sea, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
Above him, a thick layer of dark clouds had gathered, almost pressing down on him, and the sound of howling winds filled the air. Huge storms from all directions were rushing towards him, creating massive whirlpools that rose up to tens of thousands of feet high, colliding and merging with each other, and squeezing towards the center of the storm where Han Li was standing.
Although Han Li knew that this was just an illusion, the suffocating pressure and the cold, icy feeling of the waves crashing against him were too real, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of fear.
"Rumble, rumble"
As the deafening roar of the storm grew louder, the seven or eight whirlpools finally collided, merging into a single massive whirlpool that swallowed Han Li whole.
His body was tossed about by the turbulent water, battered by the intense pressure, and his entire body felt like it was in agony. His mind was even starting to feel a bit disoriented.
Han Li's thoughts stirred, and suddenly a loud thunderclap boomed, and a brilliant golden light burst forth, shining like the sun and expanding in all directions. The golden light filled the air, and the massive whirlpool was torn apart in an instant.
His body plummeted downwards, falling directly into the sea.
Han Li's mind suddenly stirred, and he realized that something was off.
The water around him seemed to have no buoyancy at all, and no matter how hard he tried to resist with his spiritual energy, he was still sinking downwards.
And this deep sea seemed to have no bottom, with no floating fish or other living creatures, only Han Li's solitary figure, sinking deeper and deeper into the darkness.
As Han Li was trapped in the illusion, the others were experiencing similar situations, although the scenery of their illusions was different.
For example, Jiao San was trapped in a blood-red river, with a thick, eerie atmosphere that made her heart tremble. The river was devoid of any living creatures, only a group of ghostly figures floating about, like water plants swaying in the current.
As Jiao San's body was swept away by the river, the ghostly figures attached themselves to her, wrapping around her body like a shroud, and her body began to feel heavier and heavier, sinking deeper into the riverbed.
Lei Yu and the others were also standing still, as if they had been petrified, their faces twisted in a mixture of fear and confusion. They were all trapped in their own illusions, unable to break free.
At this moment, Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan, who had been standing still, suddenly had a water印 pattern appear on their arms, and a blue light burst forth, entering their heads and merging together.
The two lights merged, and a brilliant blue light burst forth, filling the air with a powerful water attribute energy. The light coalesced into a blue water screen, enveloping the two siblings.
As soon as the screen closed, Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan opened their eyes, their faces pale.
"This is an incredibly powerful water elemental illusion array..." Lan Yan said, clutching her chest, gasping for breath.
"I didn't expect that the water spirit symbol our master planted in us would come into effect here, and that we would receive our master's blessing..." Lan Yuanzi said, taking a deep breath.
"It's also thanks to the fact that we're both here, and that the symbol was activated, that we were able to break free from the illusion. Otherwise, even with the power of the symbol, it's unlikely that either of us would have been able to escape." Lan Yan said, her eyes filled with a hint of fear.
"Enough, we can't waste any more time. Let's go check out the main hall." Lan Yuanzi said, his eyes gleaming with determination.
"But what about them?" Lan Yan asked, looking at the others who were still trapped in their illusions.
"Whether or not they can break free, it's up to their own abilities." Lan Yuanzi said, shaking his head.
The two siblings, protected by the blue water screen, quickly made their way through the misty square, arriving at the entrance to the grand hall.
Lan Yuanzi approached the entrance, and after a quick check, found that the door was no longer sealed. He pushed the door open, and a powerful water attribute energy burst forth, enveloping the two siblings.
The two of them stepped into the hall, and saw a blue-colored altar standing before them, identical in size and shape to the golden altar they had seen before.
On the altar, there were two damaged areas, each with a small blue pouch floating above them. The pouches were made of silk, with a water wave pattern embroidered on them, and they radiated a powerful water attribute energy.
Next to the blue pouches, a golden flame was burning, just like the one they had seen on the golden altar.
The two siblings looked at each other, and then approached the altar, their ears ringing with the sound of "Rumble, rumble".
Lan Yuanzi immediately grabbed Lan Yan's arm, stopping her from moving forward, and listened carefully to the sound.
The sound was coming from the blue pouch, and it was like the sound of a river bursting its banks, making their hearts tremble with fear.
Lan Yuanzi's eyes lit up, and he exchanged a look with Lan Yan. Both of their faces were filled with a mixture of excitement and joy.
"Little sister, wait here, I'll go get that treasure." Lan Yuanzi said, his eyes gleaming with an unusual light, as he released Lan Yan's arm and smiled. "Brother, don't be in a hurry, what if you take this treasure and it's like what Lei Yu Ce said before, and it releases that unparalleled demonic head? What then?" Lan Yan's eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation as she spoke.
"Don't worry, even if Lei Yu Ce's words are true, even if the demonic head is released, there are others who will deal with it. At worst, we can just leave this place and return to the Jiuyuan Temple, and everything will be none of our concern," Lan Yuanzi patted her hand and said softly.
"But..." Lan Yan's voice trailed off, still seemingly worried.
Just as she was about to continue, Lan Yuanzi interrupted her: "Think about it, we first failed to capture Han Li, and then we offended She Yan. If we don't achieve anything this time, what will happen when we return to the sect?"
Lan Yan's expression changed slightly as she heard this, and she fell silent.
"We'll be punished, and who knows, maybe even our master will be implicated... But if we can bring this treasure back to the sect, perhaps we can avoid some of the blame, at least we won't implicate our master," Lan Yuanzi added.
"Alright, let's do it," Lan Yan's expression finally relaxed as she said.
Lan Yuanzi smiled and nodded, turning to walk towards the altar.
After taking two steps, he stopped and turned back to Lan Yan: "The previous altar's restriction was too strong, the power of the law array within this blue cloth bag is no weaker. The disturbance will be great, you and I should keep our distance, be careful."
"Brother, if that's the case, don't try to do it alone, let's use the fusion technique instead. If something goes wrong, even if we can't get the treasure, at least we can protect ourselves," Lan Yan said, seemingly having thought of something.
Lan Yuanzi's brow furrowed slightly as he listened, appearing hesitant.
Lan Yan didn't press the issue, instead scanning the surroundings with her eyes.
"Alright, that's a good idea, otherwise, I wouldn't have much confidence in my own abilities," Lan Yuanzi said after a moment's thought.
Lan Yan smiled and walked with Lan Yuanzi to the altar.
Lan Yuanzi examined the altar for a moment before raising his hand, and a multitude of array flags and array disks appeared, floating in front of him as he began to set up the array.
...
Within the illusion array, Han Li and the others' faces were contorted in pain, unable to break free.
Han Li was still trapped in the depths of the sea, unable to wake up no matter how hard he tried to use his cultivation technique.
"Could it be that this illusion array isn't based on spiritual anomalies, but rather constructed using water attribute law?" he thought to himself, still unsure of how to break free.
The sea around him seemed endless, and no matter how deep he sank, he couldn't reach the bottom.
Han Li even felt a sense of disorientation, as if he had entered a realm where time and space didn't exist, and he would continue to sink forever if he couldn't break free.
...
About an hour later, a circular array had formed around the altar in the main hall.
Lan Yuanzi checked the array, then nodded to Lan Yan.
She raised her hand, and a sky-blue oil-paper umbrella appeared, opening up with a soft whoosh.
On the umbrella's surface, a vivid painting of a pond with red fish and green water seemed to come to life, with ripples on the surface.
Lan Yan twirled the umbrella handle, and the umbrella spun around, its surface rippling as if the water was being stirred.
She raised her hand, and the umbrella flew up, covering the altar like a canopy.
"Begin," Lan Yuanzi said softly.
The two of them simultaneously activated their techniques, and a layer of water-blue light enveloped them, forming a large and small spiritual domain that surrounded the altar.
As they began to chant, the array flags began to unfurl, releasing a powerful water attribute energy.
The array disks on the ground lit up, and water-blue pillars of light rose up, surrounding the altar.
...
As the blue yuan zi and blue yan duo activated the formation, the blue oil paper umbrella suspended above the altar began to rotate rapidly, and the pool drawn on it was like being hit by a sudden storm, shaking violently.
The edge of the umbrella seemed to have water splashing, almost jumping out of the paper, and the ten or so golden carp in the pool also began to move, swimming on the umbrella's surface, their tails leaving behind golden trails.
As the formation started, the altar began to shake violently, and the golden flame on top of it wavered slightly, but the blue cloth bag on the side reacted much more dramatically.
The bag's body was bulging and shaking violently, and the sound of "rumbling" grew louder, no longer sounding like a river flowing, but like thunder shaking the sky.
Lan Yuanzi heard the sound and exchanged a glance with Lan Yan, both of their expressions were serious, and they couldn't help but feel a bit tense.
Suddenly, a loud "boom" sounded.
The blue cloth bag shook violently, and a blue light flashed from within, eighteen water dragons burst out, charging straight at Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan.
Each water dragon was over ten meters long, its body crystal clear, like a water crystal, and the water inside was flowing, releasing a powerful water attribute law.
"Be careful..." Lan Yuanzi's eyes narrowed, warning.
As soon as his words fell, the eighteen water dragons crashed into the formation they had set up.
A series of thunderous sounds continued to ring out, and the water dragons' bodies were filled with lightning, countless blue water thunderbolts surging out, constantly bombarding the formation, and the electric threads that shot out enveloped the entire altar.
Lan Yan felt the power and force contained within the water thunder, and her face turned slightly pale.
She secretly stabilized her mind, her hands continuously forming hand seals, coordinating with Lan Yuanzi, sending spiritual energy to the blue oil paper umbrella.
The umbrella's light flashed, and it suddenly expanded several times, the pool drawn on it churning, and the golden carp inside jumped up, leaving behind golden trails.
As the umbrella's strange phenomena appeared, the symbols on the umbrella's handle began to glow brightly, and a series of black whirlpools emerged, releasing a powerful attractive force.
The whirlpools absorbed the blue lightning, and the umbrella's surface was still, the pool's water was boiling, and the golden carp inside were no longer just jumping, but were frantically leaping, their scales flashing with electricity.
As the umbrella continued to absorb, it seemed to have temporarily reached a stalemate with the water dragons, and the altar's surroundings were still filled with the power of the water thunder.
"It seems we can only control it to this extent, if we continue to stalemate, the Jin Yu umbrella might not be able to withstand it, since we've reached this point, we have to take a risk..." Lan Yuanzi's expression was serious.
"Alright!" Lan Yan's face was pale, and she nodded.
The two of them simultaneously closed their eyes, sat down in a cross-legged position, and formed a strange hand seal, their bodies releasing a powerful water attribute law.
As they changed, the two layers of spiritual domain light screens surrounding them produced thin threads, connecting and pulling each other, and finally, the light merged into one.
At the same time, a blue light flashed on Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan's foreheads, and two tiny yuan babies emerged, flying to the center of the two, their hands clasped, and their bodies glowing brightly, merging into one.
The merged yuan baby's body rapidly expanded, becoming almost human-sized, but its face was slightly blurry, making it difficult to distinguish its sex.
Suddenly, the merged spiritual domain released a powerful water attribute law, enveloping the transparent merged yuan baby, forming a strange blue water armor.
The water armor was attached to the merged yuan baby's body, and its aura surged, looking back at the two physical bodies still sitting on the ground, it took a step forward, and its body instantly appeared at the edge of the altar.
It saw the two hands enter the lightning-filled curtain, and with a split, the water thunder was like a curtain, opening up a hole.
The merged yuan baby bent down, entering the hole.
As soon as it entered the altar's range, the eighteen water dragons immediately raised their heads, charging towards it.
The merged yuan baby saw this, its hands forming a strange seal, and with a push, a half-person-high circular water shield appeared in front of it, blocking the water dragons' attack.
A loud "boom" sounded, and the eighteen water dragons crashed into the water shield, splashing out large amounts of blue water thunder. The sound of crackling electricity filled the air as countless bolts of lightning struck the Yuanying, despite being separated by the water armor. The Yuanying's face contorted in agony, clearly in immense pain.
However, the Fused Yuanying refused to retreat, inching closer to the altar with each passing moment.
The thunderous roar grew louder, and the water lightning became increasingly violent, causing the water armor to begin dissolving. The intricate symbols etched onto the armor's surface began to blur and fade.
At the same time, the oil-paper umbrella above began to mist, releasing a massive amount of water vapor. The water pool painted on the umbrella's surface became increasingly shallow, and the dozen or so golden fish began to disappear, with seven or eight of them vanishing into thin air.
The Fused Yuanying's face twisted in agony, on the verge of collapse, as it finally reached the altar.
"Ah..." The Yuanying let out a mighty roar, and in the moment before it was about to collapse, it grasped the blue cloth bag.
With a sudden yank, the bag was pulled back, and the eighteen lightning water dragons that had emerged from it retreated, transforming into a pool of water that fell back into the bag. The blue light on the bag's surface flashed once, and all sound ceased.
At the same time, the oil-paper umbrella above the altar finally gave way, its surface cracking and crumbling as the water pool painted on it completely dried up. The golden fish had all disappeared, and the umbrella's surface resembled parched, wrinkled skin.
As the last of the umbrella's spiritual energy dissipated, the surface erupted in a fierce blaze, burning to ashes.
The Fused Yuanying retreated from the altar, and its body flashed with blue light as it transformed back into two small Yuanying, which flew back to Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan.
The two sat cross-legged on the ground, their eyes snapping open as they let out a deep breath.
Lan Yan held the blue cloth bag, gazing at Lan Yuanzi with an expression of joy.
Just as Lan Yuanzi was about to speak, the altar began to shake violently, its surface cracking and splitting like a spider's web. The two quickly stood up, Lan Yuanzi grasping Lan Yan's hand as they retreated from the altar, flying out of the grand hall and back onto the mist-shrouded square.
As they descended, they noticed the mist on the square beginning to dissipate, gradually clearing away.
At that moment, the people on the square, who had been trapped in the illusion, suddenly felt their pain intensify before their eyes snapped open, and they awakened from their trance-like state.
Han Li, who had just escaped the suffocating feeling, took a few deep breaths and looked around, his gaze falling upon the blue grand hall, which was shaking violently, and the Lan siblings, who were descending from the sky.
He furrowed his brow, puzzled, and just then, a loud rumble shook the ground. The black crack that had appeared on the ground began to expand, splitting the mountain cliff in two.
"Ah no..." Lei Yushi's voice echoed through the air as he leapt into the air, attempting to fly towards the grand hall.
However, the black crack expanded rapidly, and the grand hall was torn in two, collapsing in both directions.
Through the crack, Han Li saw the altar, which was still intact, with a lone golden flame hovering above it. The flame danced and flickered, as if it might extinguish itself at any moment.
Han Li's thoughts moved swiftly, and the Great Five Elements Illusory Realm Technique within him began to rotate, drawing upon the power of time to manipulate the flame. He raised his hand, and the flame shot out from the altar, circling his palm before being absorbed into his body.
The altar, which had been on the verge of collapse, finally lost all its restrictive power, and with a deafening crash, it crumbled into the depths of the black hole.
A massive, dark pit had formed, and the remnants of the altar fell into its depths, silence following.
"Too late, too late..." Lei Yushi's voice was laced with regret as he muttered to himself.
His words were cut short by a chorus of eerie, piercing cries that echoed from the depths of the pit.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he sensed the presence of numerous powerful auras rising from the pit, growing stronger by the second.
"Hear the old man, you've suppressed me for so long, but I've finally broken free, haha..." A sharp, sinister voice echoed from the depths of the pit, filled with malice and hatred.
Everyone was shocked and looked towards the sound, only to see a giant demon with a height of ten zhang, covered in white bones, flying out of the cave entrance and hovering above the grand hall.
As everyone saw the demon's appearance, they couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Its entire body was covered in white bones, as white as jade, with no skin or internal organs. Its massive head was unlike that of a human, resembling a goat's skull, and it had two white bone wings on its back, connected by a transparent wing membrane. The wings flapped continuously, creating a whooshing sound.
Han Li released his spiritual sense to scan the demon and found that its aura was no weaker than that of the previous Copper Lion Demon. He furrowed his brow slightly.
"Are you the ones who released me?" the white bone demon asked, its eyes scanning the crowd below.
Han Li and the others didn't know what it meant, so they didn't respond. They just stared at the demon with caution.
Seeing no one answering, the white bone demon's gaze fell upon the blue bag in Lan Yan's hand. Its eyes, a deep blue, seemed to gleam with interest.
"Since you have this item, it's clear that you're the ones who opened the seal. I, a demon, am not ungrateful or without etiquette. You have done me a favor, so I'll give you these precious stones as a gift." The white bone demon spoke, its hand waving, and a blue light flashed from its fingertips.
Seven or eight fist-sized blue crystals flew out of the air, each containing a dense, water-attribute law. It was clear that they were no ordinary objects.
Everyone's expressions changed slightly.
They weren't surprised by the rarity of the blue crystals, but rather by the white bone demon's actions.
"Hmph! You don't even say a word or accept the gift, and you're already leaving? That's quite rude." The white bone demon's voice grew cold, its words dripping with disdain.
With a wave of its hand, the blue crystals were enveloped by a powerful force and shot towards the crowd.
Accompanied by a loud whooshing sound, the blue crystals flew towards the crowd, their cores suddenly glowing with a dark, black light. The light expanded rapidly, exploding into a massive shockwave.
The shockwave was so powerful that it seemed to corrode the air itself, producing a hissing sound that made everyone's teeth ache.
Han Li and the others had anticipated this, so they quickly retreated, using their various techniques to defend themselves.
"You refuse my gift, so I'll give you a penalty instead. Let's have some fun..." The white bone demon sneered, its voice dripping with malice.
As it spoke, the entire mountain cliff collapsed, and a group of massive demons flew out of the ground, charging towards Han Li and the others.
Since the outside of the mountain was surrounded by a restrictive barrier, the group couldn't retreat far. Seeing the demons approach, they decided to stand their ground and charge forward.
Han Li's wrist flicked, and a green bamboo sword appeared in his hand. He charged towards a demon with a powerful aura, comparable to that of a late-stage Taiyi cultivator.
The sword sliced through the air, leaving behind a trail of golden light. A golden lightning bolt erupted from the sword, striking the demon's head.
However, the demon's head didn't split open as expected. Instead, a blinding golden light flashed on its forehead, colliding with the golden lightning bolt. The demon's neck was forced downwards, and then it bounced back, repelling Han Li's sword.
The demon's two heads on either side opened their mouths, letting out a shrill scream. Two spiral-shaped golden waves erupted from their mouths, charging towards Han Li.
However, the golden waves suddenly slowed down, as if they had been frozen in place.
Han Li's body glowed with a golden light as he dodged the attack. He appeared behind the demon, his sword flashing with golden light as he struck its heart.
A burst of golden electricity erupted from the sword, and the demon's wound began to spasm. A silver flame erupted from the outside, engulfing the demon.
The entire process seemed to take a long time, but in reality, it was completed in an instant, thanks to Han Li's time manipulation technique. The demon was killed instantly, thanks to the combined attack of the demon-slaying lightning and the silver flame.
In contrast to Han Li's solo battle, Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan were facing a more intense fight. Seven or eight demons, all at the Taiyi stage, were surrounding them, seemingly interested in the blue bag in Lan Yan's hand.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he realized that the blue bag was likely a treasure, similar to the golden sword that Xiong Shan had used to suppress the altar's restriction.
The demons were too powerful, and Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan were forced to retreat, their movements becoming more and more disorganized. Han Li hesitated for a moment, just as he was about to step forward to help, he saw Lanyan suddenly focus her gaze, raise her hand to grasp the blue cloth bag, and point at it with a finger.
A blue light flashed from her fingertip, and the blue cloth bag began to violently expand and contract, with thunderous roars emanating from the opening. A blue light vortex suddenly appeared from within.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he gazed at the opening of the bag, his eyes flashing with a hint of surprise. He saw that within the vortex, there were flashes of lightning, and it seemed to be a Water Thunder Array.
At this moment, Lanyan and Lanyuanzi stood back-to-back, suddenly tilting the bag's opening towards the surrounding gathering of demons, and let out a fierce cry: "Go!"
As soon as the cry sounded, the blue light vortex at the bag's opening began to rapidly spin, and seven or eight blue water dragons burst out once more, charging towards the demons and biting at them.
Just then, Lanyan's expression suddenly changed, her face turning deathly pale, and she looked as if she had exhausted her spiritual energy.
Han Li witnessed this, and his heart skipped a beat.
This blue cloth bag was certainly a divine artifact, but just how high was its rank, to be able to cause such a massive consumption of spiritual energy? From her appearance, it seemed that not only was her spiritual energy depleted, but also her law energy had been severely drained.
In comparison, the earlier scene of Xiongshan, who had activated the ancient sword of the Wasteland, seemed even more bizarre.
Han Li was pondering this when another demon suddenly pounced towards him. He coldly snorted, and with his sword, he charged forward to meet the demon.
The blue water dragons' movements were swift and decisive, and as they moved, the surrounding air seemed to be shrouded by a layer of water-attribute law energy, sealing off the demons' escape routes.
Several demons that were too close were caught off guard, and were directly bitten by the blue water dragons.
The demons let out strange cries, and frantically struggled to break free, but were unable to escape the water dragons, and were pulled back, flying away.
As they flew back, their bodies began to rapidly shrink, and by the time they reached the bag's opening, they had already been reduced to the size of a pellet, and were all pulled into the bag.
The demons were immediately caught in the Water Thunder Array within the bag, and the blue light vortex began to churn and boil, with thunderous roars shaking the air.
However, within a few breaths, the blue cloth bag began to emit pitiful wails, mixed with the sounds of thunder and lightning.
And in just a moment, all the sounds ceased, and the demons had already been completely turned to dust.
Lanyan, who had activated the bag, seemed to have been instantly drained of all her energy, and her body went limp, collapsing to the ground.
Lanyuanzi quickly supported her, and took the blue cloth bag from her hand, flipping it over to retrieve a water-blue pill, which he fed to her.
The white-boned demon saw this, and let out a fierce cry, and the remaining demons, seeing this, immediately stopped their attacks, and fled in all directions.
The white-boned demon glanced at the group, and then turned to flee, its bony wings fluttering as it brought the remaining demons with it.
The group tidied up, and then reassembled.
Lei Yu's gaze fell upon the blue cloth bag in Lanyuanzi's hand, and his expression turned somewhat unsightly. He hesitated for a long time, but ultimately did not say anything, and instead, he bowed to the group, saying: "Everyone, please wait, this forbidden area's array has been severely damaged, and repairing it will take some time. You can use this opportunity to search the surroundings, and see if there are any remaining treasures."
After saying this, he didn't care about the others' reactions, and brought Wen Zhong to repair the array.
Lanyuanzi and his sister did not move, and instead, sat down to meditate and recover.
Lanyan's consumption seemed to be even more severe than imagined, and even after taking the pill, her face still looked very bad. Lanyuanzi gazed at her with a pained expression, and his eyes fell upon the blue cloth bag in his hand, and he seemed to be hesitant.
Han Li watched for a moment, and then, like the others, began to search the surroundings.
However, the great hall had already been severely damaged, and the mountain cliff was already in a state of disrepair. The group searched, but only found some water-attribute materials, and nothing else.
After about a quarter of an hour, Lei Yu and Wen Zhong returned, and said: "Everyone, the array at the altar has been repaired, and we can continue on our journey."
After saying this, he called out to Su Zhencai, and the three of them flew off together, continuing towards the mountain peak.
Jiao San and the others followed closely behind, and also flew off.
Han Li was about to follow the group, but seemed to have a sudden feeling, and turned his head to look at a distant place, and then furrowed his brow, looking puzzled.
He pondered for a moment, but still couldn't understand, and so he shook his head, and continued on his way.
Han Li and the others disappeared into the distance, and two figures suddenly appeared on a nearby mountain wall, surrounded by a white glow. They were the Copper Lion Demon and the White Bone Demon.
The other demons were nowhere to be seen, and it was unclear where they had gone.
The two demons stood side by side, seemingly familiar with each other.
"Unexpectedly, that human cultivator's divine sense is so strong, and the Heaven Bone Ring almost couldn't be concealed." The White Bone Demon let out a sigh and spat out a white ring.
The white ring seemed to be made from some kind of white bone and was suspended in the air, surrounded by a white mist. Its surface glowed with a soft white light, but it didn't emit any aura.
Not only that, but the Copper Lion Demon and the White Bone Demon's auras were also suppressed, and they didn't emit any aura.
"You've been sealed for so many years, but you haven't been idle. The Heaven Bone Ring has been refined to be even more exquisite, and it's almost reached the fifth grade, right?" The Copper Lion Demon looked at the white ring and said.
"Over the years, I've been sealed in that dark place without any demonic energy to cultivate, so I could only focus on refining my demonic treasure. Speaking of which, your Thundercutter Knife is probably similar." The White Bone Demon sighed and said.
The Copper Lion Demon's face lit up with a hint of joy when he heard this, but then his expression darkened as he remembered the destruction of his Xuanming Divine Hammer.
"Unexpectedly, that Han thief not only has powerful divine abilities but also a strong divine sense. I thought that with your Heaven Bone Ring, we could sneak up on those people undetected and ambush Han and the others, but now it seems that's impossible." The Copper Lion Demon's eyes flashed with hatred and said.
"After all these years, your temper hasn't changed at all. You still can't stand losing and want to take revenge immediately." The White Bone Demon shook his head and said.
"Living in the world, if you can't avenge your grievances, what's the point of living?" The Copper Lion Demon snorted.
The White Bone Demon glanced at him and sighed.
"By the way, were your Law Threads really refined by that person? You've already condensed a Law Ring, so how could they be refined in such a short time?" The White Bone Demon asked.
"That Han thief has a gourd in his hand, which is probably a Heaven and Earth treasure with extremely powerful refining effects. My Law Threads were absorbed and refined by that Heaven and Earth gourd." The Copper Lion Demon said with hatred.
"Heaven and Earth treasure! No wonder, Heaven and Earth treasures are born from the heavens and earth, and they often contain extremely powerful laws." The White Bone Demon said with realization.
"That Han thief absorbed half of my Law Threads, and I must take them back. Even if he has a Heaven and Earth treasure, he can't refine the Law Threads' original aura in such a short time. As long as I can take them back, I can re-refine them and restore them to their original state." The Copper Lion Demon said.
"Old Three, the enemy is numerous and powerful, and we can't take them on alone. I've just escaped from my seal, and I won't follow you to seek death. Don't blame me for not being loyal to our brotherhood!" The White Bone Demon's expression changed, and he said.
"Second Brother, don't worry, I'm not stupid. I won't do anything rash. I heard those people talking, and they're going to continue searching for other array eyes. Those greedy people will definitely be tempted by the treasures on the array eyes and will take action to steal them. We'll follow them and help them if necessary, and we'll rescue Big Brother and the others. When we five brothers are reunited, we'll deal with those people easily." The Copper Lion Demon chuckled and said.
The White Bone Demon listened to this and narrowed his eyes, not speaking for a moment.
"What's wrong, Second Brother? Did I say something wrong?" The Copper Lion Demon asked.
"You're not wrong, but rescuing Big Brother and the others will also mean breaking the last three array eyes. If all five array eyes are broken, the power of the seal will be weakened to the extreme, and Black Heaven Demon Ancestor might escape. We can't forget that we were involved in his sealing back then." The White Bone Demon said with concern.
"What should we do? Can't we rescue Big Brother and the others?" The Copper Lion Demon's expression changed, and he asked.
Just then, the White Bone Demon suddenly turned around and shouted, "What person is hiding there? Come out!"
He stretched out his hand, and five white lights shot out from his fingertips, grasping at the nearby void.
The five lights were white and bright, like the glow of white bones, and they emitted a crackling sound as they moved.
The five lights exploded, and the void nearby fluctuated violently. A figure wrapped in golden light suddenly appeared.
The five lights hadn't dissipated yet, and they transformed into a white bone hand, surrounded by bright white flames that didn't emit any heat. The hand grasped at the figure.
The five fingers left five black marks on the void.
The figure wasn't flustered, and the golden light on its body intensified before expanding outward.
The golden light enveloped the white bone hand, which immediately stopped moving before shattering into pieces and dispersing.
...
At this moment, Han Li, who was flying towards the mountain peak, felt a slight fluctuation in the golden light on his body. He looked down and saw the White Bone Demon's actions, and his eyes flashed with a fierce light. Han Li, what's wrong? Jiao San asked, noticing Han Li's actions.
Nothing. Han Li's face didn't reveal any emotions, and he quickly flew forward.
Jiao San looked at Han Li's back, furrowed his brow, and glanced downward, but quickly shook his head and followed.
...
This is... The white bone demon's face changed as he saw the scene.
The bronze lion demon roared and raised his black lightning knife, ready to strike, but was stopped by the white bone demon.
Haha, it's been years since we last met, and White Bone's Bone Law has become even more cunning and ruthless! A red figure emerged, revealing his body, and it was Qi Mozi.
His aura was like a deep pool, and his cultivation seemed to have fully recovered.
You! The white bone demon's eyes flashed with cold light as he saw Qi Mozi, as if he recognized him.
Second brother, do you know this person? Who is he? The bronze lion demon asked, his eyes wide with surprise.
He's Qi Mozi, a fellow cultivator who was once the second disciple of the True Words Sect's Mi Luo Old Ancestor, but later betrayed his master and joined the Heavenly Court. The white bone demon's eyes flashed with mockery.
Ah, so you're the traitor from the True Words Sect. I've heard a lot about you, but it's not the same as seeing you in person. The bronze lion demon looked Qi Mozi up and down, his face full of disdain.
Qi Mozi, I've heard that you made great contributions in the suppression of the True Words Sect. You must be in a high position in the Heavenly Court now. The white bone demon sneered.
Back then, my master went against the heavens, and I advised him to stop, but he wouldn't listen. I had no choice but to abandon the darkness and join the Heavenly Court. As for my current position, I'm grateful to the Dao Ancestor for his trust, and I'm now the warden of the Heavenly Prison. Qi Mozi smiled, his face not showing any shame or awkwardness.
At the same time, he took out a golden token in the shape of a tiger's head and played with it in his hand.
The token looked ordinary, but there was a strange aura emanating from the two ancient characters on it: Prison Warden.
The air around them trembled as the aura was released.
The white bone demon saw Qi Mozi's expression and his mocking smile slowly faded, replaced by a hint of seriousness.
Pfft! Traitors like you are a dime a dozen, but I've never seen anyone as shameless as you, who betrayed their master and joined the enemy without any remorse. The bronze lion demon spat and scolded.
You're the famous Copper Lion King of the Five Kings of the Demonic Realm, and I've heard that you're as fierce as a wildfire. Today, I see that it's true, and I admire your spirit. Qi Mozi looked at the bronze lion demon and smiled calmly, his expression still not showing any anger.
The bronze lion demon was praised by Qi Mozi, and he seemed to swallow a fly, spitting again and wanting to say something.
Third brother. The white bone demon stopped him with a cold gaze.
The bronze lion demon saw the white bone demon's expression and stopped talking.
So, you're already the warden of the Heavenly Prison. Congratulations. What brings you here? The white bone demon glanced at the golden token and asked, his eyes narrowing.
Don't worry, I'm not here on behalf of the Heavenly Court. The current Heavenly Prison is under my control, and it's not the same as it was in the past. I won't attack you, and instead, we can cooperate. Qi Mozi put away the token and smiled.
What do you mean? The white bone demon's expression changed slightly, but his wariness increased, and he asked.
I overheard your conversation with those people, and it seems you have some grudges with them. I also have some unfinished business with them. White Bone, we're old acquaintances, why don't we work together? Qi Mozi looked in the direction Han Li and the others had left and said.
Working together? Qi Mozi, you're already in the Great Luo Realm, and you cultivate the Time Law. What can't you do? Do you need our help? The white bone demon's eyes flashed with surprise.
It's not that simple. My power is strong, but those people are numerous and powerful. Especially one of them is extremely powerful, and I'm not sure I can handle him. Qi Mozi smiled.
Hmph!
The bronze lion demon heard this and thought of Han Li's image, his eyes flashing with anger, and he coldly snorted.
Qimozi spoke again, "I happened to overhear your conversation, you want to rescue the other three of the Cangshan Five Kings, but you're worried about releasing the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor. I have a way to help you rescue your brothers while dealing with the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor."
Bai Gu Yao Demon's body trembled at these words.
Tong Shi Yao Demon's expression changed, looking at Qimozi with a hint of curiosity.
"Of course, if the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor is released, I won't be able to escape with my life, so I wouldn't dare to boast about it," Qimozi said with a smile.
Tong Shi Yao Demon didn't speak, but looked at Bai Gu Yao Demon, clearly wanting him to make a decision.
"Sir, what method do you have to deal with the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor? Please explain," Bai Gu Yao Demon said with a serious expression, his eyes gleaming with sharpness.
Qimozi smiled slightly, speaking a few words in a low tone.
Bai Gu Yao Demon and Tong Shi Yao Demon's expressions changed, their eyes widening in surprise.
"It's actually like that, in that case, we have a good chance of dealing with the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor," Bai Gu Yao Demon said after a moment of consideration, nodding slowly.
Tong Shi Yao Demon also nodded thoughtfully.
"You can rest assured, since it concerns my life, I won't speak empty words," Qimozi said with a smile.
"Good, since Qimozi has a way to deal with the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor, we can join forces, but Qimozi must have some requests, please speak clearly," Bai Gu Yao Demon said firmly.
"Ha ha, since Bai Gu Yao is quick to speak, I won't beat around the bush. After rescuing your other brothers, I need your help to obtain the Suiyue God Lamp, and then help me kill Han Li," Qimozi said with a laugh, his eyes cold and devoid of any warmth.
"Kill Han Li? No problem, I've already had a grudge against him, but after killing him, his treasures will belong to us," Tong Shi Yao Demon said, his eyes lighting up.
"Han Li's immortal materials and other things can be given to you, but I want to take the cultivation manual from him, and all the written records will belong to me," Qimozi said, waving his hand.
"Alright, I only want his immortal tools, the rest can be yours," Tong Shi Yao Demon said, only caring about Han Li's green gourd and his set of lightning-attribute flying swords.
"Bai Gu Yao, what do you think?" Qimozi asked.
"Alright, I'll agree to this for my brothers, but Han Li's methods are unusual, we five brothers will only be able to assist from the sidelines, the actual fight will have to be done by you," Bai Gu Yao said, his eyes flashing.
"No problem," Qimozi said, nodding without hesitation, which slightly surprised Bai Gu Yao.
However, both parties had reached a consensus, and Bai Gu Yao didn't ask any further questions.
The main matters were settled, and both parties discussed the details, quickly coming to an agreement, and then set off immediately.
The three figures disappeared into the distance, and soon, three more figures appeared near a mountain wall, namely Qu Lin, Li Qi Ma, and the middle-aged man in blue robes.
"Unexpectedly, the new Heavenly Prison's master has also arrived, the situation is becoming more complicated," the middle-aged man in blue robes muttered.
"Qimozi, although he's the Heavenly Prison's master, his goal isn't to reinforce the seal, but to steal the Tai Sui God Lamp. His appearance might be beneficial to us," Qu Lin said, her eyes flashing with a golden light.
"It's not necessarily the case, Qimozi's appearance has increased the chances of the seal breaking, but his cultivation is deep, and he's already reached the Great Luo Realm, and he's cultivating the time law, not to mention Fox Three, even we three aren't his match, if he takes action to steal our life-bound treasures, Fox Three and the others might not be able to stop him... and our life-bound treasures are linked to the Tai Sui God Lamp, if we get close to it, our treasures will be attacked by the Tai Sui flames, so we can only rely on Fox Three and Han Li to take our treasures, if they fail, and our treasures fall into Qimozi's hands, we'll be doomed to serve him for eternity," the middle-aged man in blue robes said, shaking his head.
Qu Lin and Li Qi Ma hadn't thought of it that deeply, and after hearing the middle-aged man's analysis, they realized the severity of the situation, their expressions changing.
"What do you think we should do, Brother Liu? Should we take action to stop Qimozi before he reaches the Tai Sui Temple, and give Han Li and the others some time?" Qu Lin asked urgently.
"If Qimozi hadn't allied with Bai Gu Yao and Tong Shi Yao, we three might have had a chance to stop him, but now it's too late," the middle-aged man in blue robes sighed.
Qu Lin and Li Qi Ma's expressions turned solemn.
"Is there really no way?" Li Qi Ma asked.
"There is a way, but it involves taking some risks," the middle-aged man in blue robes said, taking out a small, human-sized doll.
The doll looked like a woman, with a beautiful face, wearing a flowing long dress, her eyes shining with a soft light, and her body occasionally twitching, as if trying to escape from the middle-aged man's hand, like a living creature.
The doll's body was half-white and half-black, with the white half having a gentle expression, and the black half having a cold and sinister look, with a hint of malevolence in her eyes, making one feel a chill. Liqima saw the girl puppet, and his face slightly changed, then immediately returned to normal, as if he had seen this object before.
"This is..." Qu Lin was seeing this object for the first time, and his face showed surprise.
"This is a puppet I made using special materials, called 'Good and Evil Two Hearts'. If we want to retrieve our original life cards, this is the only way," said the middle-aged man in the blue robe, looking at the puppet with a complex expression in his eyes, before speaking seriously.
"How do we do it?" Qu Lin's spirit was shaken, and he immediately asked.
The middle-aged man in the blue robe waved his hand, opening a gray-white barrier that surrounded the three of them.
A moment later, the gray-white barrier flashed and disappeared, and the three of them flew out, heading in the same direction.
...
Han Li and the others flew forward, but because their divine sense couldn't probe too far, they didn't dare to fly too fast.
After a while, the group had traveled for over an hour, and suddenly stopped, their eyes shining as they looked forward.
In front of them, on a relatively flat area of a mountain peak, there was a white jade plaza, over a hundred acres in size. The ground was covered with long, white jade stones, and white mist rose from the stones, forming a shallow cloud sea on the plaza, which looked beautiful and magnificent, like a scene in the clouds.
Around the white jade plaza, tall trees were planted, with leaves and trunks that were all white, emitting a soft, white glow, looking incredibly beautiful.
After searching the plaza, the group confirmed that there were no traps or restrictions, and they landed on the plaza. However, they didn't go to admire the scenery or the white trees, but instead gathered at the front of the plaza.
There were three small stairways leading out of the plaza, each extending in a different direction.
Next to each stairway stood a white jade stone tablet, with the names "Fire Elemental Palace", "Dry Earth Temple", and "Wood Spirit Mausoleum" written on them.
After experiencing what had happened before, the group immediately understood what these places were.
Fox Three, Jiao Three, and the others' eyes lit up, each looking at one of the stairways, with a eager-to-try expression.
Just then, three beams of light flew in, landing on the three stairways, blocking their path. They were Wen Zhong, Lei Yu Ce, and Su Qian Xi.
"Now that two of the array eyes have been broken, if the other three are also broken, the Black Sky Demon God will definitely appear. At that time, we will all die without a burial place. I have spoken my piece, and you must be careful!" Lei Yu Ce said, his voice serious.
But before he finished speaking, Fox Three and Jiao Three had already flown up, heading towards the middle stairway, which led to the Dry Earth Temple, as if they hadn't heard Lei Yu Ce's words.
"Two friends, please stop, or else I will have to offend you!" Lei Yu Ce said, his voice stern, as he raised his hand.
Swish!
Dozens of golden flying swords flew out of his sleeve, blocking Fox Three and Jiao Three.
Han Li saw this, and his pupils slightly contracted.
These flying swords were over 60 in number, each emitting a strong golden law aura, and they were all at the level of 8th-grade spirit tools. A few of the flying swords emitted an especially bright golden light, reaching the level of 7th-grade spirit tools.
The dozens of powerful sword auras converged, causing the air within a hundred yards to vibrate violently, making a humming sound like a drumbeat.
Fox Three and Jiao Three didn't pay attention to the flying swords, and didn't stop their movement.
Lei Yu Ce's face turned red with anger, and he clenched his fist, making a sword seal.
The 60-odd flying swords suddenly increased in brightness, spinning around each other, forming a golden sword array. This was the same sword array he had used before, the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array.
But before the sword array could fully form, a dazzling, dark red light burst out of Jiao Three's body, engulfing the golden sword array.
The golden sword array's light suddenly stopped, and then began to dissipate rapidly, as if it was about to collapse.
At the same time, Fox Three's palm flashed with a blood light, and the Celestial Fox Blood Knife appeared in his hand, flying out in a swift slash.
"Snap!" A sound like a crack of thunder echoed through the air.
A dazzling, blood-red light burst out, instantly filling the air, making it seem like all colors had disappeared, leaving only this sticky, red light.
...
The white trees near the square withered and turned black as the blood light from the Tian Huo Hua Knife enveloped them, and the spiritual energy within the white jade stones was drained, causing them to shatter into countless fragments.
In an instant, the spiritual energy within a several hundred-mile radius of the White Jade Square was drained, and a deafening explosion shook the air.
The Tong Tian Sword Array collapsed, and dozens of flying swords scattered in all directions, with over a dozen being split in two.
Lei Yu Ce stumbled backward, his face flushed with an unnatural red glow.
As the blood light vanished, Huo San and Jiao San's figures appeared, having already passed Lei Yu Ce and were flying toward the front.
Lei Yu Ce's eyes twitched, and he was about to act when Huo San's voice echoed from afar, "Lei Dao Friend, you can't stop us. The situation ahead is unclear, and we don't want to fight you. Please don't force us."
Lei Yu Ce's movements froze, and he stood there, stunned.
Huo San and Jiao San's figures disappeared into the distance, and Lan Yuan Zi and Lan Yan transformed into two blue lights, shooting toward the Wood God's Tomb.
"Stop!" Su Zhan Cai shouted, her jade hand grasping at the air.
The surrounding area was filled with flashing blue light, and countless blue water balls appeared, each surrounded by a giant blue electric serpent. The water balls hurtled toward Lan Yuan Zi and Lan Yan, accompanied by the sound of thunder.
Lan Yan remained calm, her jade hand weaving a spell as the small blue bag reappeared, its mouth opening to release a multitude of blue lights.
The water balls halted, then transformed into blue lights, merging into the small blue bag.
The originally majestic water balls vanished, leaving behind an eerie silence.
"What?!" Su Zhan Cai's face revealed an expression of astonishment.
Lan Yan's face turned pale, having expended a large amount of her spiritual energy to control the small blue bag.
Lan Yuan Zi grasped Lan Yan's hand, and their lights merged, increasing their speed as they flashed past Su Zhan Cai and disappeared into the distance.
Han Li's eyes flickered, and he transformed into a golden light, shooting toward the Fire Element Palace.
Wen Zhong noticed Han Li's actions and swiftly intervened, his hands weaving a spell as dozens of hundred-meter-long sword lights shot out, aiming to intercept Han Li.
However, Han Li's golden light suddenly brightened, increasing his speed several times as he effortlessly surpassed Wen Zhong and vanished into the distance.
Wen Zhong's brow furrowed, but he could do nothing.
At this moment, a golden longbow shot forth, and Xiong Shan appeared, his speed almost as fast as Han Li.
Wen Zhong quickly reacted, attempting to intercept Xiong Shan, but the latter's golden longbow was too swift, and Wen Zhong's reaction was delayed.
The golden longbow flashed past Wen Zhong, and Xiong Shan disappeared into the distance.
In the blink of an eye, only Lei Yu Ce, Wen Zhong, and Su Zhan Cai remained on the square.
"These short-sighted fools only care about immediate gains, ignoring the consequences. When the Black Sky Demon God breaks free, they'll regret it!" Wen Zhong exclaimed, his face red with anger.
"They're not from the Golden Source Realm, so they don't know the terror of the Black Sky Demon God. The array's seal contains powerful artifacts, making it understandable that they'd stop at nothing to obtain them. It's clear that they're not simple individuals, and it seems we can't stop them," Su Zhan Cai said, her expression calm.
"Now that things have reached this point, we have no choice but to split up and try to persuade them to abandon the array's treasures. If that fails, we must repair the array's seal," Lei Yu Ce said, his movements unhurried as he retrieved his golden flying swords.
"Indeed, it's come to this. I didn't expect you to remain so calm in this situation, Lei Dao Friend," Su Zhan Cai said, her tone laced with curiosity.
"'Man proposes, God disposes.' The situation is already dire; if we lose our composure, it'll only worsen," Lei Yu Ce replied, shaking his head.
"You still have the heart to joke at a time like this. What's the plan, then?" Su Zhan Cai asked, a hint of a smile on her lips.
Wen Zhong also turned to Lei Yu Ce, awaiting his response.
"Wait a moment," Lei Yu Ce said, producing two sets of array instruments, one red and one yellow, along with two jade slips, which he handed to Wen Zhong and Su Zhan Cai.
"The array's seal is complex and difficult to repair, but the jade slips contain the array's layout method. You only need to follow the instructions to repair it. If you're unable to, send me a message," Lei Yu Ce said, handing Su Zhan Cai a transmission array disk. Han Li and Wen Zhong, it seemed, had another way to communicate.
Wen Zhong and Su Zhongzi's divine sense entered the jade slip, and they quickly nodded in understanding.
"I'll go first," Wen Zhong said, scanning Han Li and Su Zhongzi with a glance, before turning into a golden streak of light and flying towards the Huoyuan Palace.
"I'll go too," Su Zhongzi said, turning to leave.
"Su Xianzi, the Lan siblings are extremely powerful, and now they've obtained the blue small bag, making them even more formidable. Don't provoke them, and if necessary, let them take the treasure. Prioritize your own safety above all else," Lei Yuze suddenly called out, cautioning Su Zhongzi.
"Thank you, Lei Dao friend, for reminding me. I understand," Su Zhongzi replied, before flying towards the Mushi Mausoleum.
After Su Zhongzi's figure disappeared from view, Lei Yuze shook his head, and with a burst of speed, flew towards the Qiantu Temple.
Not long after the three of them left, three streaks of light flew in from behind, landing on the plaza, revealing the figures of Qimozi, Baigu Yao, and Tongshi Yao.
"It seems those people have arrived, and they seem to have had a confrontation. Now they've split into three groups, heading towards the three array eyes," Baigu Yao said, her eyes flashing with white light as she scanned the surroundings.
"It looks like everything is under your control, Baigu Dao friend," Qimozi said with a smile.
"It's just a small trick, but now those people have split into three groups. It's easy to eliminate one of them. Shall we make a move?" Baigu Yao asked, smiling again.
"Not yet, those people are mostly here to steal the treasure. We can let them help us break the array eye's seal and release your three brothers. Let's just observe for now," Qimozi said, shaking his head.
Baigu Yao nodded slightly.
"Since they've split into three groups, we should do the same. There are precious treasures at the three array eyes, and we can't let those people get them," Qimozi said.
Baigu Yao and Tongshi Yao thought of the power of the Dahuang ancient sword and the blue small bag, and their hearts skipped a beat. They immediately nodded and flew towards the Qiantu Temple and the Mushi Mausoleum.
Qimozi watched them leave, a cold smile flashing on his lips, before he vanished into thin air.
Han Li flew forward along the staircase, flying for a while before realizing that Lei Yuze and the others hadn't followed him. His face relaxed slightly.
Although he wasn't afraid of Lei Yuze and the others, as Fox Three had said earlier, the situation ahead was unclear, and Lei Yuze and the others didn't seem to have any malicious intentions towards him. If possible, he didn't want to fight them.
Han Li looked ahead, his eyes flashing with a hint of excitement, and his speed increased again.
He didn't want to fight Lei Yuze and the others, but he didn't want to give up the treasure in the array eye either. As for the Black Heaven Demon God that Lei Yuze had mentioned, he didn't particularly care.
With his current abilities, as long as he didn't face a Dao ancestor, he was confident in his ability to protect himself.
After all, he had already gained a lot from entering this tower, and if something unexpected happened, he could just leave. Even if he couldn't find a way out, he could always retreat.
As for the Years God Lamp that was suppressing the tower, he had some ideas, but it wasn't something he had to obtain. Safety was the top priority.
The staircase was unexpectedly long, and he flew for a full quarter of an hour without seeing the end.
However, a white mist began to appear in the air around him, floating and dancing in the wind.
This mist wasn't ordinary mist, as it contained threads of spiritual energy. Although it wasn't harmful, it greatly obstructed his vision.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he slowed down, spreading his divine sense to investigate the surroundings.
After flying for a bit longer, his eyes lit up, and he flew forward with increased speed.
The scenery ahead expanded, and he saw a plaza on the mountain wall, with a black volcanic rock pavement and numerous small airholes, from which wisps of smoke were rising.
Behind the plaza stood a massive, fire-red temple with a red door, red pillars, and a roof covered in red glazed tiles, which seemed to be shrouded in a layer of heat, making the air around it seem distorted.
Although he was separated from the temple by a wide plaza, Han Li could still feel a scorching heat wave, like a wave of water, surging out from the temple and spreading in all directions.
This time, he didn't rush to enter the plaza, but instead narrowed his eyes, and with a flash of purple light, he used his Jiu You Demon Eyes to scan the plaza.
After a moment, he didn't notice anything unusual, nor did he sense any similarity to the blue temple he had encountered earlier.
He felt a slight sense of relief, and with a calm expression, he descended onto the black plaza.
Han Li's feet had just stepped onto the square when his eyebrows furrowed, and his feet immediately felt a scorching heat, as if he was walking on hot coals. Although his boots blocked the heat, he still felt like he was walking on fire.
However, after taking a few steps, he found that there was nothing else unusual, and he quickly adapted.
The several hundred meters wide square quickly came to an end.
Han Li stepped onto the stone steps in front of the crimson palace, looked up, and saw that the high gate was adorned with a plaque that read "Huo Yuan Palace" in ancient seal script. Above the plaque hung a copper plate with a flame pattern, and in the center of the plate was a strange flame symbol.
Han Li's eyes widened as he looked at the symbol, and he quickly dodged to the side, trying to avoid something.
Suddenly, the flame symbol on the copper plate flashed brightly, and a thumb-thick red flame shot out from it, straight at Han Li's forehead.
Han Li had already sensed the danger, but he was still unable to avoid it completely, and the flame hit his forehead.
A searing pain shot through his forehead, and his skin was instantly charred, revealing white bone underneath.
Han Li felt like his forehead was burning, as if his skull was about to melt.
Just as he was about to be overwhelmed, a silver light burst forth from his forehead, and a silver flame appeared, colliding with the red flame.
The flame bird's appearance caused Han Li's pain to subside, and his skin began to heal quickly.
He looked up, and his eyes flashed with a fierce light. The flame bird let out a loud cry, and the silver flames erupted, enveloping the red flame and devouring it.
The copper plate was quickly melted by the silver flames, and the fire energy it contained was absorbed by the flame bird. The remaining material turned into a puddle of copper liquid, flowing down the plaque.
The flame bird then flew back to Han Li, as if seeking praise, and circled around him.
Han Li smiled and beckoned, and the flame bird returned to him.
He rubbed his forehead, and the skin was already healed, but there was still a thumb-sized crimson mark left behind.
He looked up at the palace door, pushed it open, and stepped inside.
The interior of the palace was simple, with wooden shelves along the walls, each one holding a lantern with a small flame inside. In the center of the room was a circular altar, similar to the one in the golden palace, but made of red crystal.
On the altar were two objects: a white sphere the size of a dragon's eye, surrounded by a transparent white flame, and a golden flame.
Han Li's eyes scanned the room, and he felt a surge of energy. He raised his hand, and the time domain enveloped the room.
The air was filled with the power of time, and Han Li's hand beckoned to the golden flame.
The flame seemed to sense the power of time, and it wavered slightly, but it did not move.
Han Li smiled wryly. "It seems that without breaking the altar's formation, nothing can be taken."
He dispelled the time domain and approached the altar, examining it carefully.
After a moment, he stopped, rubbed his chin, and fell into thought.
Suddenly, he seemed to have an idea, and he began to set up a formation around the altar using flags and plates.
Soon, an eight-sided formation appeared around the altar.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed as he examined the formation, and he began to activate it.
The flags and plates lit up, and a golden light enveloped the altar, forming a golden wall around it. As the spell formation on this side began to rotate, the altar suddenly shook violently, and the white fireball suspended above it flashed brightly. The nearly transparent flames on its surface surged upwards, seeping out in threads and flowing into the altar below.
The altar's surface instantly lit up with countless flame symbols, and a loud whooshing sound erupted as a wave of crimson flames burst forth, rushing towards Han Li.
However, the flames were blocked by the golden "city walls" and could not break through, instead surging upwards in a frenzy, like a massive pillar of fire that pierced the roof of the grand hall. With a deafening "boom," the flames were blown open, revealing a massive opening above.
Han Li gazed up at the opening above, his eyes flashing with a hint of determination. As long as he could use the spell formation to block the altar's power and prevent it from spreading, he could wait for it to dissipate into the void, weakening its energy. Then, he could safely enter the formation and retrieve the treasure.
But just as he thought this, a sudden change occurred!
The walls of the grand hall on either side began to glow red, as if heated by the flames, and strange flame symbols appeared on their surfaces, emitting a strange, pulsating energy.
"Damn it, the restrictions aren't just on the altar..." Han Li's eyes widened in alarm as he exclaimed.
As soon as he spoke, the flame symbols flashed red, and a pair of grotesque, horned heads emerged from within, their faces resembling those of oxen, with long, serpent-like bodies trailing behind them.
The two creatures burst forth from the wooden racks, and the flames from the lanterns on the racks shot upwards, attaching themselves to the creatures' bodies.
With a deafening "boom," the two creatures' bodies erupted in a fierce blaze, as if they had transformed into two clawless, fire-breathing dragons. They charged towards Han Li, their mouths agape.
Han Li dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the creatures as they passed by. The two fire serpents circled around, their bodies forming a circle as they trapped Han Li in the center.
Han Li let out a wry smile. He had just built a high wall around the altar, and now these two fire serpents were doing the same to him.
The two serpents raised their heads, their eyes fixed on Han Li, and a cold, icy glint appeared in their eyes.
A deafening roar erupted from the serpents' mouths, and a wave of flames shot out, engulfing Han Li.
But Han Li's body was instantly surrounded by a golden light screen, protecting him from the flames. The ground beneath him began to shudder and crack, as if it could not withstand the intense heat.
Suddenly, the ground gave way, and the rocks beneath Han Li's feet turned into a sea of molten lava. The flames surrounded him, and he felt like he was being refined in a furnace, struggling to breathe.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he focused his energy, using his Heavenly Prison technique to resist the flames. His hands transformed into fists, and he swung them in a flurry of punches, striking the flames around him.
As he moved, his body began to glow with a soft, golden light, and his fists left behind a trail of starlight. The flames around him began to recede, and a circular, vacuum-like wall formed around him.
Han Li's movements became faster and more frenzied, his fists striking the flames with increasing force. The vacuum wall around him grew stronger, and the flames were compressed into a smaller and smaller area.
Finally, the wall exploded in a deafening "boom," releasing a massive amount of energy. The flames around Han Li were blown back, and the two fire serpents were torn apart, their bodies disintegrating into a vortex of flames.
Han Li's figure emerged from the flames, his fists still glowing with energy. He struck out with a pair of swift punches, and the walls of the grand hall on either side were blown open, revealing massive holes. The flame symbols on the walls were destroyed, and the wooden racks were reduced to splintered fragments.
As Han Li regained his footing, he saw that the flames on the altar had weakened by nearly a third, a clear sign that his spell formation was working.
"If we're late, things will change, and we won't know what will happen, so it's better to take a risk and try...”
Han Li hesitated for a moment, then decided not to wait any longer and immediately took the white fire bead.
He raised his hand, and a small silver flame person appeared in the palm of his hand, which was the Jingyan Firebird.
This small thing was connected to Han Li's mind, and without needing to speak, it understood Han Li's plan. With a flash of silver light, it transformed into a silver flame that enveloped Han Li's entire body.
Han Li felt the layer of flame on his body and then raised his right arm to look at it.
At this moment, his right arm was also surrounded by a layer of flame, but unlike the other places, it was a seven-colored flame, which was the concentrated power of the seven-colored fire dan sand.
Han Li was ready, and with a slight movement, he charged into the altar with the silver flames swirling around him.
As soon as he entered the altar, the red flames that had seemed to weaken by three points suddenly surged up, becoming even stronger than before.
Han Li felt an unbearable burning sensation spreading from his body, and even his bones and meridians seemed to be being roasted over an open flame.
At the same time, his spiritual sea seemed to be filled with flames, causing his soul to be tormented. For a moment, Han Li felt like he could smell the scent of burning flesh in his nostrils.
He quickly gathered his thoughts and used his Lianhua technique and Tianxia Town Prison to raise his spiritual and physical state to their best condition, and only then did he feel the unbearable sensation subside.
At this time, the Jingyan Firebird on his body began to fully utilize its powers, suppressing its instinct to devour the flames and instead using its own flame power to push back the flames that were deadly to Han Li.
Despite this, Han Li's situation was still not easy.
The white fire bead and the golden flames were at the center of the altar, which was the hottest place. Han Li was already being burned by the flames at the edge, and it was even harder for him to penetrate deeper.
He furrowed his brow, gritted his teeth, and his face was filled with pain. His body was constantly sweating, and the water vapor rose up, making a hissing sound.
He took a step forward, his arm stretched out, and his fingers formed a claw as he reached for the white fire bead.
Just then, the palace door suddenly opened, and a figure flashed in.
Han Li divided his attention to investigate, and his brow furrowed. The person was none other than Xiongshan.
"Xiongshan..." Han Li couldn't speak, so he used his voice to shout.
"I'm just here to watch the fun, I won't do anything stupid," Xiongshan said, waving his hand to explain.
"Just watch, don't do anything unnecessary," Han Li warned, not having time to spare.
If Xiongshan dared to make any abnormal movements, he was confident that he could kill him within two to three breaths.
Xiongshan didn't speak, but stood obediently at the door, not taking another step forward.
The temperature of the altar was extremely high, and Han Li's right arm was still surrounded by the seven-colored flames, but the burning power was still making his brow furrow.
When his palm approached the white fire bead, a white shadow suddenly flashed across the center of the bead, looking like a symbol or a wisp of flame.
After it flashed, the white fire bead suddenly erupted with white flames, forming a layer of white light around it that blocked Han Li's hand.
Han Li's palm pressed against the light screen, and he was immediately enveloped by a strange power. The two flames seemed to be intertwined and resisted each other, unable to advance or retreat.
Just as he was about to use his true spiritual bloodline to forcefully break through the white flame screen, a sudden change occurred.
Xiongshan, who was standing at the door, suddenly changed his expression, raised his hand, and swung it forward.
A silver token shot out from his hand, flying towards the altar and bursting with silver light. The surface of the token was engraved with symbols, and numerous silver threads erupted from it, emitting a powerful spatial fluctuation.
Han Li sensed the change behind him, but it was difficult for him to withdraw at this moment. He could only force the Jingyan Firebird to separate from his body, using his physical body to resist the altar flames, and break through the white light screen.
The surrounding flames surged towards him, and Han Li felt like his internal organs were being burned. He could only rely on his powerful physique to endure the pain, turned around, and flew towards the outside of the altar.
However, as soon as he turned around, he saw a figure emerging from the silver light, which seemed to have torn through the void. It was a fire-red figure, and it raised its hand, pointing at Han Li's heart like a knife.
The person's face was twisted in a cruel smile, and it was none other than Qimozi.
Han Li's expression changed, and he quickly reversed his internal wheel, trying to move away from the spot. However, a flame-wreathed torch suddenly appeared in front of him, freezing him in place.
Qimozi didn't hesitate, and with a swift movement, he stabbed his palm into Han Li's heart. As he watched, Qí Mó didn't relent, fiercely twisting his arm to shatter Han Li's entire chest, only withdrawing his hand to grab Han Li's neck.
"You little scoundrel, you can't escape this time, can you?" Qí Mó sneered, shouting loudly.
Having failed to gain the upper hand in their previous exchanges, Qí Mó's hatred for Han Li had grown extremely intense. Now that he had Han Li in his grasp, he felt an overwhelming sense of delight.
Han Li's chest was torn open, his entire body seemingly drained of its vitality, his limbs limp and lifeless as he was held in Qí Mó's hand. The light in his eyes quickly faded.
Qí Mó saw this and a hint of puzzlement flashed across his face. Just as he was about to deliver a fatal blow to Han Li's skull, his expression suddenly changed.
He saw that Han Li's body was suddenly enveloped in a layer of white light, his clothes instantly decaying into dust, his body transforming into a white puppet.
The puppet was made entirely of white beast bones, with various mysterious symbols attached to its body. It was the same substitute puppet that Han Li had obtained from Dōng Fāng Bái.
"A substitute puppet..." Qí Mó immediately recognized the object.
As soon as he spoke, Han Li's figure suddenly appeared behind him, surrounded by the five temporal law artifacts, including the True Speech Treasure Wheel, which countered Qí Mó's golden flame.
Han Li's brow flashed with light, and a small crystal sword shot out, disappearing in an instant.
Before Qí Mó could react, the sword had already pierced his brow, entering his mind and causing chaos.
Qí Mó's divine sense was disrupted, and he was thrown into a state of panic.
Han Li took a step forward, his Heavenly Prison Sect's cultivation surging, and punched Qí Mó's chest with incredible force, sending him flying into the altar, where he was engulfed by the flames.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
When Xióng Shān wanted to intervene, Qí Mó had already fallen into the altar, surrounded by the flames, and was propelled into the air.
Han Li didn't pursue him, instead re-entering the altar as the flames were disrupted by Qí Mó's presence.
The Jing Huǒ Niǎo, which was already struggling against the altar's flames, immediately pounced on Han Li, re-encasing him in a layer of flames.
Han Li's Heavenly Prison Sect's cultivation surged, and his True Spirit Bloodline was activated, causing his body to rapidly expand and transform into a three-headed, six-armed demonic form.
His right claw, which was enveloped in a layer of seven-colored flames, swiped at the air, piercing the light screen surrounding the white flame pearl and grasping it.
A loud explosion shook the air!
As the white flame pearl was pulled away from the altar, the entire formation began to collapse, and the flames spewing out of the altar rapidly dwindled.
A furious roar echoed from above, and Qí Mó descended, his face twisted in anger, as he charged towards Han Li.
However, Han Li had already retreated from the altar, surrounded by a ring of silver lightning that condensed into a silver lightning array, which vanished in an instant.
Qí Mó's body crashed into the ground, causing the altar to shudder violently, and a network of terrifying cracks appeared on its surface.
He slowly stood up, his massive hand clenched into a fist, which creaked with tension.
Xióng Shān hesitated for a moment before approaching Qí Mó, bowing and saying, "I'm sorry, sir. I failed to distinguish between the real and fake Han Li. Please punish me."
Qí Mó's expression changed, and he fell silent for a moment before sighing.
"It's not your fault. This substitute puppet is a product of the inner sect of Bǎi Zào Shān, and its intricacies are too complex for even me to discern. It's just that Han Li is too cunning, and he must have been prepared for this possibility from the moment you started following him."
Qí Mó's eyes seemed to drift off, and he continued, "I was too careless. I've already died at his hands once, and yet I still didn't learn my lesson."
Xióng Shān sighed, "I don't know if it's just my imagination, but compared to our previous encounter, Han Li seems to have grown even stronger. An opponent like him is truly frightening..."
Qí Mó's gaze wavered, and his voice trailed off, unsure if he was speaking to Xióng Shān or himself.
After a moment, his expression hardened, and he rubbed his still-aching brow, feeling a hint of fatigue.
His gaze then shifted to the remaining golden flames on the altar, and his face relaxed slightly as he said, "Never mind, time is pressing. Let's release those things first..."
After speaking, Qí Mó Zǐ's hands formed a seal, and the time law power within his body surged out, transforming into a golden large hand that grasped towards the altar. The golden flames on the altar were sucked into his hand.
"This is indeed a good thing..." Qí Mó Zǐ felt the time law power contained within the golden flames, and his heart was filled with joy. He clasped his hands together, and the flames were absorbed into his body.
Once the golden flames left the altar, the already damaged altar finally collapsed, and a large, dark hole appeared on the ground. A surge of demonic energy emerged from the hole, and dozens of grotesque demons with different shapes and forms rushed out, their mouths letting out strange howls.
Among them was a demon with a height of over ten zhang, with a pair of large, curved horns on its head, and a face resembling a goat. Its body was similar to that of a human, with two white, fleshy wings on its back. However, its arms were blood-red, with sharp bones protruding from its skin.
The demon's gaze fell upon Qí Mó Zǐ and his companion, and it seemed to sense the powerful aura emanating from Qí Mó Zǐ. A hint of hesitation appeared in its eyes, but the anger and bloodlust that had been suppressed for too long quickly took over.
"You have all been suppressed for too long, so let these two be your first blood offering as you regain your freedom. Tear them apart!" The demon's voice was hoarse and unpleasant, causing Xíng Shān to frown and rub his ears.
The demons let out a chorus of howls and charged towards Qí Mó Zǐ and his companion. Qí Mó Zǐ's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he raised his hand, releasing a wave of golden flames that transformed into a golden light screen.
The demons that were charging at the front collided with the light screen, and a series of pained cries echoed through the air. The demons seemed to have their life force drained away, and their bodies quickly withered and turned to ash.
The remaining demons were shocked and retreated in disarray. The demon with the blood-red arms, enraged, stretched out its hand, and a massive, blood-red palm emerged, covering the sky.
The demon's palm grew to several thousand zhang in size, casting a dark shadow over the ground. The air was filled with a bloody, murderous aura, and the demons that were within the palm's range felt their auras surge, momentarily forgetting their fear as they charged towards Qí Mó Zǐ and his companion once more.
Xíng Shān, standing behind Qí Mó Zǐ, felt his heart racing, and his mind was filled with terrifying images. A faint, murderous aura began to grow within his heart.
"Protect your spiritual sea!" Qí Mó Zǐ shouted, and Xíng Shān was jolted awake. He quickly formed a seal, withdrawing his spiritual energy and guarding his spiritual sea.
Qí Mó Zǐ reminded him, then turned his attention to the demon, taking a step forward and raising his hand to strike. A surge of golden light erupted from his palm, colliding with the demon's palm and producing a deafening crash.
The demon stumbled back, its palm shrinking back to its normal size. "Blood Hand, I am not your enemy. Do not attack again, or I will be forced to kill all of you," Qí Mó Zǐ warned, his eyebrows furrowed.
"You know me? Who are you?" The demon's expression changed, and a hint of fear appeared in its eyes.
Qí Mó Zǐ did not respond, instead tossing an object at the demon. The demon caught it, and upon examining it, discovered that it was a white, bone-like token with a grotesque, demonic pattern etched onto it.
"This is Second Brother's bone token..." The demon's eyes narrowed, and it spoke in a low tone.
"He and Copper Lion have already escaped, and I have come to rescue you," Qí Mó Zǐ said.
"You still haven't answered my question, who are you?" the demon asked, its brow furrowed.
"Intelligent people don't ask so many questions. They're waiting for you..." Qí Mó Zǐ sneered, then summoned Xíng Shān, and the two of them disappeared into the distance.
The demon looked at the token in its hand, its gaze sinking into thought. After a moment, it let out a roar, and the demons followed it as it flew towards the distance.
Once the area was quiet, a figure emerged from the distance - Wén Zhòng. He looked at the ruined temple and the destroyed altar, his face twisted in anger as he cursed. He then began to repair the altar.
...
Hán Lǐ left the Fire Temple and continued to fly upwards. Han Li flew for a while before slowing down, as he saw that Qi Mozi and the others were not chasing after him. He then took out the white, spherical bead.
The bead's surface flames had completely disappeared, and only a faint white glow remained. There was no sign of the intense flames that had been present earlier.
Han Li saw this and was not surprised, but instead felt a sense of joy.
Ordinary divine artifacts, even when not activated, would still have spiritual energy fluctuations and law energy spreading out.
This white bead's behavior was due to its internalization of all its flames and law energy. Unless it was activated, it would not reveal its power.
The higher the quality of the artifact, the greater its power.
Han Li thought that among the many divine artifacts he possessed, only the Polaris Bottle and the Golden Disk had reached this level.
Han Li calmed his mind, took a deep breath, and spat out a mouthful of cyan energy that merged with the white bead. At the same time, he formed a series of hand seals that flew towards the bead.
A soft "whoosh" sound was heard.
The white bead emitted a burst of white flames that rolled and jumped, accompanied by a terrifying high temperature that made the surrounding air tremble. The flames also revealed a powerful, unmatched law energy that spread out.
In an instant, the white mist within a radius of several dozen li was completely evaporated, leaving no trace.
Han Li had already prepared himself before activating the bead, and his body was surrounded by a strong golden light. The law energy of time immediately enveloped his body, isolating the flame energy outside.
Without the interference of the flame energy, the bead's terrifying high temperature could no longer harm Han Li. He secretly activated the "Tian Xia Town Prison" technique, using it to resist the intense heat.
At this moment, a clear, crisp cry was heard, followed by a flash of silver light. The Blazing Fire Bird flew out of Han Li's sleeve and landed on his shoulder.
The bird's eyes were fixed on the white bead, revealing a greedy, human-like gaze.
As soon as the Blazing Fire Bird appeared, it absorbed most of the intense heat energy.
Han Li relaxed, his hand seals moving faster as he established a connection with the white bead. The flames on the bead grew stronger.
"Quickly!" Han Li thought, his hand seals guiding the bead.
The white bead's flames burst forth, shooting out a long, white flame that wrapped around a nearby, towering peak.
The peak was about 200-300 meters tall and 30-50 meters in diameter, with a thick, ancient copper color and a rich, golden aura.
The Seventh Layer of the Years Tower was incredibly dense with heavenly energy, and after many years of nourishment, the ordinary trees and vegetation on this peak had become top-grade spiritual materials. Some of the mountain rocks had also become top-grade minerals.
This peak had transformed into a massive, golden mineral, resembling a Xuan Copper Stone.
Although the quality of this mineral was not sufficient to forge a divine artifact, it was renowned for its durability and hardness, making it suitable for constructing strongholds and secret rooms that could last for tens of thousands of years.
The white flame touched the ancient copper peak, silently and effortlessly cutting through it. The peak's upper half broke off, crashing down towards the ground, and the sound of the impact was like thunder.
The peak's surface was smooth, as if it had been cut by a divine sword.
Han Li saw this and felt a mix of emotions, a sense of joy and then a sigh.
The white bead's power was beyond his expectations.
However, his cultivation technique was not fire-attribute, and he had not practiced any fire-attribute secret techniques. Activating the white bead was extremely difficult, and he could not fully unleash its power.
The Blazing Fire Bird let out a series of high-pitched cries, conveying its desire for the white bead.
"Don't worry, my cultivation technique is not fire-attribute, and I'm unable to fully utilize the bead's power. The white bead will definitely be yours, but be cautious when using it, as its power is immense." Han Li glanced at the Blazing Fire Bird and formed a hand seal.
The white bead trembled, then flew towards the Blazing Fire Bird.
The bird was overjoyed, spitting out a silver flame that enveloped the bead, and then swallowed it whole.
As the bead entered the bird's body, its flames surged, and aside from the silver flames, a kaleidoscope of colors appeared, revealing the power of the Seven-Color Fire Dan Sand.
The Blazing Fire Bird had the ability to absorb and refine various flames, but it had not yet fully refined the Seven-Color Fire Dan Sand.
The seven to eight types of flames intertwined and clashed within the bird's body, emitting a series of muffled, thunderous sounds. The bird's body began to distort, with bulges forming, as if it was about to burst.
Han Li's expression changed, and he quickly stopped the escaping light, covering the Blazing Fire Bird with a golden glow. He then released his divine sense to examine the bird's condition.
The Jingyan Firebird's eyes, filled with a hint of pain, gazed at Han Li, but a thread of joy flickered within them.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise at this sight.
At this moment, a strand of white flames emerged from the Jingyan Firebird's body, sweeping across it from head to toe in a flash.
The seven-colored flames on the Jingyan Firebird's body vanished instantly, and the power of the Qicai Fire Dan Sand was completely refined and merged into the Firebird's body.
Moreover, the fire energy within the Jingyan Firebird's body was also cleansed and refined, leaving only the essence behind.
The Jingyan Firebird's body smoothed out, and its silver flames rippled, as it suddenly shrunk by nearly half. However, the flames emanating from its body grew stronger by several times, and a hint of fire law fluctuations emerged from its body.
This fire law was not the same as the law of the white fire bead, but a higher level of fire law.
Han Li sensed the Jingyan Firebird's transformation and felt a stir in his heart.
The Jingyan Firebird had been consuming various flames for years, constantly increasing its strength, but it had yet to truly give birth to law energy. Unexpectedly, after obtaining the power of the white fire bead, it had refined its internal fire energy and finally begun to give birth to law energy, and it was an extremely high-level fire law.
The Jingyan Firebird let out a joyful cry, its wings unfolding as it shot out, its body transformed into a massive silver firebird, hundreds of feet in size, circling and dancing in the air.
The Jingyan Firebird's transformation was vastly different from its previous form, its body longer and more majestic, with a flame crown on its head and nine flame feathers on its back, exuding a sense of nobility.
A terrifying wave of heat emanated from the silver giant bird's body, several times stronger than before, and comparable to the flames released by the white fire bead. The surrounding air trembled violently, as if it was about to be ignited.
The Jingyan Firebird soared through the air, its cries growing louder, its eyes filled with excitement, as it suddenly flapped its wings.
Its wings burst forth with silver light, and a stream of silver flames shot out, covering the surrounding mountains and peaks, like a meteor shower.
The surrounding mountains were instantly pierced by the silver flames, and the giant mountain was also struck, creating a deep, bottomless hole.
A series of deafening explosions followed, as the silver flames erupted and spread, connecting with each other, forming a massive silver sea of flames, dozens of miles in size.
A wave of extreme heat emanated from the silver sea, causing everything within its range to melt rapidly, and the surrounding mountains were reduced to wisps of smoke, disappearing into nothingness.
The giant mountain was also affected, its surface melting, revealing a massive gap.
However, the giant mountain was too massive, and the gap was insignificant compared to its entirety. The mountain body didn't even budge.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise, his eyes flashing with excitement, as he realized that the Jingyan Firebird's strength had surpassed his expectations.
But he immediately furrowed his brow, thinking that this commotion was too close to the Huoyuan Palace, and if it attracted the attention of the Qiemozi and others, it would be disastrous.
He immediately transmitted a mental message to the Jingyan Firebird, ordering it to stop.
However, the Jingyan Firebird seemed to have gotten carried away, ignoring Han Li's message, and instead, it turned its gaze towards the giant mountain, its eyes narrowing, as if unsatisfied with its previous attack.
It let out a high-pitched cry, its body bursting forth with silver flames, as it shot out the white fire bead, striking the giant mountain.
The white fire bead's body glowed brightly, rapidly expanding.
Originally only three inches in diameter, it instantly grew to three feet, then thirty feet, three hundred feet, and finally, three thousand feet in diameter!
The surface of the giant bead was surrounded by a scorching white flame, making it impossible to look directly at it, as if the sun had appeared in the sky.
The surrounding area, over a thousand miles in radius, turned a scorching white, and the temperature increased to a terrifying level, causing all the mist to evaporate, and the mountains to begin melting rapidly.
A wave of destructive energy emanated from the giant bead, causing the surrounding air to distort, and the space to tear apart, revealing countless spatial rifts.
Han Li was about to intervene, but the surrounding air rippled, and a wave of spatial rifts emerged, cutting towards his body.
He furrowed his brow, his mouth uttering a low growl, as the True Word Treasure Wheel appeared behind him, releasing a wave of golden ripples that spread across the surrounding area.
The spatial rifts within the hundred-foot radius were momentarily halted, but the power contained within them was too great, causing the golden ripples to tremble violently, as if struggling to contain the rifts. Han Li hastily activated the True Speech Treasure Wheel, stabilizing the golden ripples that had appeared earlier. He looked at the Blazing Flame Bird and the White Giant Pearl in shock.
He had just activated the pearl, and it had only released a small flame. Compared to the White Giant Pearl before him, it was insignificant.
Not only that, but the Blazing Flame Bird and the Blue-Colored Bag had also been activated, releasing a powerful aura. However, compared to the White Giant Pearl, it was still far inferior.
The White Giant Pearl didn't stop, instead, it flew forward, accelerating rapidly, and crashed into the Heavenly Pillar Mountain.
A deafening sound echoed through the air!
The Heavenly Pillar Mountain, which had been unmoving, began to shake violently, emitting a low rumbling sound that lasted for a long time. Countless rocks of various sizes fell from the sky.
The White Giant Pearl directly embedded itself into the mountain wall, its surface spewing out flames that burned and melted the layers of the mountain wall. It seemed to be trying to penetrate the mountain.
However, at this moment, a brilliant golden light spread out, enveloping the White Giant Pearl.
A temporal law force swirled within the golden light, slowing down the White Giant Pearl's speed by ten times.
Han Li's figure flashed, and he appeared near the mountain wall. He waved his hand, and over 200 time law crystals flew out, merging with the golden light.
The golden light condensed into a massive golden hand, which entered the mountain wall and grasped the White Giant Pearl.
The White Giant Pearl's flames rolled and burned, scorching the golden hand, but it remained motionless.
"That's enough, stop causing trouble!" Han Li coldly gazed at the Blazing Flame Bird and ordered.
The Blazing Flame Bird's excitement quickly dissipated, replaced by a timid expression. Its massive body shrunk, transforming into the Blazing Flame Child.
The White Giant Pearl also shrunk rapidly, returning to its original size, and flew back to the Blazing Flame Child's side.
The silver flames surrounding the area also disappeared.
The Blazing Flame Child's silver flames had dimmed significantly, and the fire law that had just been born had been consumed by half. It was almost imperceptible.
However, the Blazing Flame Child didn't seem to mind, flying to Han Li's side and lowering its head in shame. It glanced at Han Li, then quickly looked away.
"Alright, don't be so reckless in the future," Han Li said with a smile, patting the Blazing Flame Child's head. He then put away the time law crystals.
The Blazing Flame Child let out a joyful cry, sitting on Han Li's shoulder, and absorbed the White Giant Pearl into its body.
As the pearl entered its body, the silver flames on its body surged, and a strand of fire-attribute energy from the void merged into the Blazing Flame Child's body.
Han Li sensed this and looked surprised.
The Blazing Flame Child had previously only been able to recover its energy by consuming existing flames, such as those from the earth. Now, with the White Giant Pearl's assistance, it could directly absorb fire-attribute energy from the void.
Han Li realized that the White Giant Pearl had more uses than just attacking.
However, even its attack power was already sufficient.
The White Giant Pearl's attack had been earth-shaking, and even Han Li wasn't confident he could withstand it. If the pearl hadn't collided with the Heavenly Pillar Mountain, dissipating most of its energy, he wouldn't have been able to capture it.
Moreover, based on the Blazing Flame Child's energy changes, it seemed that it could activate the White Giant Pearl to launch two more attacks like the previous one.
With the Blazing Flame Child as a trump card, Han Li's strength had increased significantly, and he had a higher chance of winning against Qimozi.
Han Li secretly let out a breath, suppressing his excitement, and transformed into a golden light, flying upwards. The Time Tower was no longer peaceful, and it was possible that released demons were roaming around. The Blazing Flame Child had caused a huge commotion, and it was no longer safe to stay.
As the Blazing Flame Child put away the White Giant Pearl, the void around them began to fog up again. Han Li's figure flashed, and he disappeared into the fog.
Just as Han Li had left, two figures flew in from below, arriving at the location where Han Li and the Blazing Flame Child had been. The two figures were Qimozi and Xiongshan.
Qimozi looked at the damaged mountain wall, then at the void, her brow furrowed, and her expression changed.
"It seems that a fierce battle took place here, and the opponents were not weak," Xiongshan said, looking around.
"There's still a residual temporal law energy here, and one of the people involved is likely Han Li. The other person is cultivating the fire law and used the Li Huo Tian Zhu to fight Han Li," Qimozi said after a moment of contemplation.
Didn't the Li Huo Tian Zhu fall into Han Li's hands? Could it be that someone intercepted it halfway and stole it?" Xiong Shan's face revealed a look of surprise upon hearing this.
Qi Mozi didn't say a word, his mouth muttering to himself as he raised his hand and waved it.
A golden light flashed in his palm, and a small golden mirror the size of a palm appeared, emitting a wave of golden light that spread out in all directions, rapidly fluctuating within a radius of several dozen li before returning to the mirror's surface.
The golden mirror flashed, and three strands of light appeared: gold, white, and red.
The golden light emitted waves of time law fluctuations, while the white and red lights both emitted flames of law. Especially the red light, which was smaller than the white light but emitted stronger law fluctuations, suppressing the white light's law power.
"Ah, this flame law is quite extraordinary, able to surpass the flame law within the Li Huo Tian Zhu." Xiong Shan wasn't surprised by the scene before him, clearly not the first time he had seen it.
"Of course it's extraordinary, this strand of flame law is the legendary flame origin law, how could it be suppressed by the Li Huo Tian Zhu?" Qi Mozi said slowly.
"Flame origin law! This is surprising, but who could have left this strand of origin law? Among the people who entered the Sui Yue Tower, it seems no one cultivates flame law." Xiong Shan's expression changed, and he said.
Qi Mozi's face sank upon hearing this.
The reason for his heavy expression was precisely because of this.
In the world, there were countless laws, with the three great supreme laws being the most revered, but origin laws were not ordinary either, ranking just below the three great supreme laws. Very few people could comprehend them.
Qi Mozi knew that among the people who entered the Sui Yue Tower, no one cultivated flame law. Now, a person who cultivated flame origin law had suddenly appeared, leaving him shocked and secretly guessing whether someone else had entered the tower apart from Han Li and the others.
"Never mind, it's pointless to think too much. Let's just follow and see." Qi Mozi shook his head and said.
Xiong Shan naturally wouldn't object to this, and the two of them transformed into two golden lights, flying upwards.
…
At this time, Han Li was leading the Jing Yan Tongzi, continuing to fly upwards.
The higher they went, the thicker the white mist became, and it gradually became more substantial, like silk threads wrapping around Han Li's flying light, greatly reducing his speed.
Moreover, the higher they went, the thicker the white mist became, and the obstructions increased, his flying speed quickly dropping to only 10% of his usual speed.
Suddenly, Han Li's expression changed, and he stopped his flying light, looking towards the front with a contemplative expression.
The Jing Yan Tongzi looked at Han Li, opening and closing his mouth several times, then using his small hands to gesture, seemingly asking Han Li why he had stopped.
Han Li didn't respond to the Jing Yan Tongzi, only looking towards the front.
At this point, he could clearly sense a powerful time law fluctuation ahead, no longer as unclear as before.
This time law fluctuation was similar to the golden flame aura he had seen at the two array eyes, and should be of the same origin.
If he wasn't mistaken, the source of this time law fluctuation should be the Sui Yue Shen Deng.
Han Li had previously asked Lei Yu Ce about the Black Heaven Demon God's seal, and the five array eyes were only auxiliary, the Black Heaven Demon God being sealed within a main array. The Sui Yue Shen Deng was also within that main array.
Now that the Sui Yue Shen Deng had revealed a hint of its presence, the Black Heaven Demon God's seal should be nearby.
Han Li wasn't as afraid of the Black Heaven Demon God as Lei Yu Ce and the others, but he still didn't want to confront this possible Dao Ancestor existence head-on.
Since entering the Tai Sui Tower, he had first obtained three fire age silkworm nests, greatly increasing the number of time law crystals. Just now, he had also obtained the white fire pearl containing the flame origin law, his harvest already considerable.
If he continued forward, it would mean taking a risk at the Black Heaven Demon God's seal, increasing the danger.
Just then, a loud muffled sound came from somewhere, and the nearby white misty sea fluctuated.
"What's going on?" Han Li's eyebrows rose.
The Jing Yan Tongzi's body suddenly lit up with a white light, and the white fire pearl flew out of his body, its light bursting forth and vibrating intensely, as if resonating with something.
However, this situation didn't last long, and after a few breaths, the white light on the fire pearl quickly dimmed, returning to its original state.
The Jing Yan Tongzi saw this and quickly opened his mouth to absorb the fire pearl back into his body, then used his small hands to tightly hug his belly, looking like he was afraid it would fly out again.
"Could it be that the other two array eyes were broken, causing this white fire pearl to react?" Han Li saw this and smiled slightly, stroking the Jing Yan Tongzi's head as he secretly guessed.
The five array eyes were connected, and the white fire pearl was the pressuring object of one of the array eyes, so it was normal for it to have a connection with the other two array eyes.
He pondered for a moment, then quickly stopped thinking, his gaze looking towards the front.
This brief delay had already made him decide to continue forward, seeing the situation before deciding what to do.
After all, he had already come this far, and retreating midway would be a waste, he was still curious about the Sui Yue Shen Deng and wanted to see it.
Moreover, he had previously agreed with Huo San and the others to join forces, and now leaving without warning would be a breach of their agreement.
With this thought, Han Li didn't hesitate, shouting lightly as a giant golden sword shadow appeared on his body, enveloping him as he flew forward. The sword shadow was surrounded by a golden electric arc, emitting a fierce and unparalleled sword energy that instantly cut through the fog in front of it, increasing its speed.
However, the good fortune was short-lived, as the white fog around it grew thicker and more resilient after advancing a short distance.
The golden sword shadow found it increasingly difficult to break through the fog, and its speed slowed down again.
Jing Yan Tongzi's eyes narrowed as he saw this scene, and he flew out from Han Li's shoulder, opening his mouth to spit out a white fireball.
The white fireball merged with the golden sword shadow around Han Li, and a few strands of white flames shot out from the fireball, wrapping around the sword shadow and interacting with the golden electric arc.
The sword shadow's speed suddenly increased, and it cut through the fog in front of it with a force like a broken bamboo.
"The road ahead is uncertain, don't waste your energy to activate the fireball, conserve your strength." Han Li frowned and said in a low voice.
Jing Yan Tongzi smiled and seemed to say it was okay.
Han Li carefully sensed the changes in Jing Yan Tongzi's aura, and found that the consumption was not great, and he was surprised and delighted, and quickly accelerated the sword light to move forward.
After flying for a while, the white fog in front of them suddenly began to thin out, and it seemed to have reached the end.
The mountain peaks below were no longer endless, and they could vaguely see the overall shape, and it seemed that they had finally reached the mountain top area.
Han Li was secretly delighted and accelerated again.
But the next moment, a loud "Boom" sound came, and he crashed into something hard, the golden sword shadow around him shattered, and he was shocked and flew back.
Fortunately, Han Li's physical body was extremely resilient, and he was not injured.
The white fireball inside the sword shadow was also shaken back, and Jing Yan Tongzi quickly swallowed it into his body.
"What's going on?" Han Li's body straightened up, and he looked forward, his face changing.
Only to see a layer of white light screen appearing in front of the fog, which didn't seem to be very thick, and inside, he could vaguely see white light flowing and flashing.
But this light screen was semi-transparent, and it was mixed with the fog, making it difficult to discover.
The light screen seemed to be endless, and Han Li's divine sense couldn't sense its full shape, and couldn't penetrate it, as if it was a heavenly moat blocking his way.
And in the depths of the white light screen, he could vaguely see a dazzling golden light, and waves of time law fluctuations were emanating from it.
"That's..." Han Li's eyes lit up, and he flew over to the white light screen, trying his best to see the situation behind the golden light.
Unfortunately, the golden light was too dazzling, and the light screen blocked his view, and he couldn't see the situation inside, but he could be sure that it was the sealed area of the Black Heaven Demon God.
Han Li withdrew his gaze, and his eyes fell on the white light screen in front of him, and he reached out to press it.
The white light screen was slightly soft to the touch, but it was extremely hard and unbreakable, giving him a sense of being indestructible.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and then he let out a low growl, and his body's over 900 acupuncture points burst out with light, and then he punched the light screen with all his might.
A loud "Boom" sound echoed!
His fist sank deeply into the white light screen, and the light screen around his fist showed a wave-like fluctuation, and the surrounding air shook with a loud rumble.
But the white light screen didn't show any signs of shattering, and instead, it emitted a powerful backlash, shaking him back.
Han Li flew back over 200-300 feet, and his body's golden light flashed, and he stopped again.
This time, the backlash was too strong, and it twisted his five organs and six viscera into a knot, and even with his physical body's resilience, he was somewhat unable to withstand it, and his face turned white, and it took a while for him to recover.
Han Li's face sank, and he coldly snorted, and his two hands formed a seal, and he activated the "Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong".
The next moment, his body burst out with starlight, and his shape suddenly expanded, transforming into a giant demon with three heads and six arms.
The three heads were a mountain giant ape, a true spirit heavenly dragon, and a heavenly whale.
The three true spirit bloodline powers surged out from his body, and a powerful and overwhelming aura burst out from him, and the surrounding air shook.
The white light screen behind him suddenly fluctuated, but the next moment, it returned to its original state.
Han Li only focused on activating the "Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong", and didn't notice the light screen's situation, and the giant demon let out a roar, and its six fists struck the white light screen with all its might.
A loud "Boom" sound echoed!
The six fists struck the light screen, and it sank deeply into the light screen, and the light screen around it shook violently, and the fluctuations were ten times stronger than before.
But even so, the white light screen remained taut and unbroken, and it emitted a dazzling light, and the white light inside it rotated rapidly, and a powerful and flexible restrictive force emanated from it, slowly dispelling the giant demon's unparalleled strength.
"What's going on?"
Han Li's transformed giant demon saw this and changed its expression.
The next moment, the white light screen flashed again, and the depressed area suddenly returned to its original state.
The giant demon's body shook violently, and it was blown away again, retreating over a dozen steps before stabilizing its body. It looked at the white light screen in shock, its face filled with a heavy expression.
As for the attacking power of its cultivation method, the "Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong" was the strongest, but it couldn't break through this light screen. What could be done?
Han Li still had some other methods, but judging from the current situation, it was likely to be useless.
The Jing Yan Tong Zi suddenly let out a sharp cry, transforming into a firebird shape once again, and was about to fly out.
At this moment, the nearby misty sea surged violently again, and a muffled sound came from within.
The white light on the Jing Yan firebird's body flashed again, and the white fireball automatically flew out once more, its light intensifying.
Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he looked back.
Could it be that the last array eye had been broken?
Although he had expected it, he didn't think it would happen so quickly. This way, the time left for him was limited.
If he couldn't break through the obstruction in front of him in a short time, there would be many variables.
As soon as he thought of this, Han Li turned back, looking at the white light screen in front of him.
And at this moment, a shocking scene appeared!
The white light screen, which was almost impossible to destroy, suddenly burst into a dazzling white light, flashing violently twice, and then rapidly thinned out, shattering with a "bang" sound, turning into a multitude of white light streams that flew towards the sky, disappearing in an instant.
Han Li was stunned, almost unable to believe his eyes.
"Could it be that the five array eyes have been broken, and this light screen restriction will disappear?"
He thought of this, looking down.
...
At this moment, on a small peak of the Qian Tian Giant Peak, two figures stood behind a large stone, and it was Lei Yu Ce and Su Xi.
A layer of white light enveloped the two, with a white light screen above that was flashing with a mist-like white light, looking exceptionally mysterious.
In front of the small peak, over a hundred miles away, a green palace could be seen, but it had already collapsed.
Two blue lights flew out of the ruins, and it was Lan Yuan Zi and Lan Yan.
The two lights merged into one, and their speed increased instantly, disappearing into the distance.
As soon as the two figures disappeared, a group of black figures flew out, all emitting powerful demonic energy.
In the midst of cheering, these demonic cultivators also flew towards the distance, disappearing quickly, and the surroundings became quiet.
Lei Yu Ce waved his hand, and the white light screen enveloping the two disappeared, turning into a white circle that flew into his sleeve.
"Lei Yu Ce, why didn't you let me go out and stop them? With our combined strength, we might have had a chance to protect this place!" Su Xi looked at Lei Yu Ce, her voice serious.
"It's impossible, Lan Yuan Zi and Lan Yan's strength are not below ours, and they have that blue pouch. We can't be their opponents, and forcing a fight would only lead to loss. If I were alone, it would be fine, but since you're here, I can't take risks." Lei Yu Ce sighed.
Su Xi's mouth moved, and a complex expression flashed in her eyes, before she fell silent.
"The wood array eye has been broken, and now all five array eyes have been broken. What do we do now?" she asked worriedly.
"I have a plan, don't worry. Let's go repair the array first." Lei Yu Ce's eyes flashed with an unusual color, and he said, before flying towards the collapsed palace.
Su Xi hesitated, looking at Lei Yu Ce's back, her eyebrows furrowed, before following him.
...
At the top of the Qian Tian Giant Peak, Han Li withdrew his gaze, and his body flew forward, "whooshing" out of the white misty sea. His vision suddenly expanded.
Before him, the sky was a bright blue, with white clouds, and the Qian Tian Giant Peak finally reached its peak. The golden light floated in the air above the peak.
At this moment, without the white light screen and mist blocking his view, Han Li finally saw that the golden light was a massive palace, towering high, with an extraordinary aura.
He looked at the palace, his eyes lighting up, and he flew towards it. The sky suddenly became turbulent, a white cloud cluster emerged, and countless white light flashes danced within, just like the previous white light screen.
The nearby heavenly energy surged towards the white cloud cluster, which rapidly expanded and covered the entire sky in an instant.
Within the white clouds, thunder rumbled, and white electric arcs began to move, exerting a massive pressure, as if the heavens were enraged.
Below the clouds, a fierce wind howled, sweeping across the giant peak, shattering rocks and uprooting trees, as the misty sea churned and rolled, exuding a sense of slaughter.
Han Li's expression changed, and he stopped in his tracks, about to examine the situation in the sky.
A series of loud explosions erupted from the white clouds, and the clouds began to churn violently, as white electric arcs suddenly intensified, and long, thick white lightning bolts struck down, targeting the giant peak.
The white lightning was scorching hot, almost impossible to gaze at directly, and it contained a massive lightning law, making Han Li's heart tremble with fear.
Moreover, this lightning law was filled with the intent of heavenly punishment, similar to the heavenly punishment lightning he had seen before, but with a power that was over a hundred times stronger.
Han Li's face turned pale, and he was about to retract his giant demon transformation and dodge, but it was too late, as over a dozen thick white lightning bolts pierced through the void, striking him.
A heavenly punishment descended, carrying an aura of destruction, as if the heavens intended to annihilate him and crush his rebellious spirit.
The heavens wanted to kill him, and he could not defy it!
Han Li's consciousness was suppressed by this aura, but the next moment, his massive spiritual power burst forth, shattering the suppression, just as the white lightning bolts reached him.
The giant demon let out a roar, its body glowing with light, as it rapidly plummeted downwards, barely gaining a moment's time.
At the same time, the giant demon's six fists glowed with black light, becoming blurry and transforming into countless illusory shadows that struck the white lightning bolts.
In an instant, a deafening howl erupted!
The dense black fist shadows appeared in the void, each radiating an aura of terrifying magic and immense power, as if they could shatter the void, creating visible white scars and spatial rifts.
The fist shadows collided with the lightning, but instead of a deafening explosion, they seemed to melt away like ice in fire, dissolving into wispy black smoke.
The white lightning bolts effortlessly pierced through the black fist shadows, striking the giant demon's body with a loud crash.
The giant demon's body was ravaged, its massive form crashing into the ground, creating a massive crater, as rocks and debris flew everywhere.
White electric arcs enveloped the giant demon's body, crackling with energy, as the magic within it dissipated, vanishing in an instant.
As the magic dissipated, the giant demon transformation collapsed, and Han Li's true form reappeared.
At that moment, his face was pale, and his body was covered in deep wounds, as if he had been struck by lightning, but fortunately, he had managed to avoid the vital points.
Han Li quickly consumed a blood-red medicinal pill, and his wounds began to heal at an incredible rate, as the blood glow flashed across his body.
The white clouds in the sky thinned out, and the white electric arcs diminished, but the second wave of white lightning bolts struck down, their power undiminished.
Han Li's expression remained calm, as a golden light enveloped his body, and a golden electric arc spread across his skin.
The True Speak Bead appeared, radiating golden ripples that enveloped his body, as he prepared to face the second wave of lightning.
The first wave had caught him off guard, but he was ready for the second wave, and he was confident that he could withstand the white lightning bolts, even if they were twice as powerful.
However, the second wave of lightning did not strike Han Li, but instead fell towards other areas, disappearing into the misty sea, as the sound of distant, muffled explosions echoed through the air.
Han Li's eyes widened as he realized that the white lightning bolts were targeting those with magical auras, and that the Taishang Xianzun had anticipated the destruction of the five array eyes, leaving behind a countermeasure, transforming the white light screen into a lightning screen, and unleashing the white lightning bolts to annihilate the escaping demons.
The white lightning bolts seemed to be a specialized lightning technique, designed to counter magical auras, which explained why his "Tianxia Town Prison" technique had been at a disadvantage against them.
Han Li's eyes lit up with understanding as he realized that he had been mistaken for a demon due to the magical aura on his body, and that the white lightning bolts had targeted him as a result.
He had since retracted his transformation and isolated his aura using the time and lightning laws, and was no longer a target for the white lightning bolts.
With this newfound understanding, Han Li felt a mix of admiration and trepidation towards the Taishang Xianzun, and he stood still, unwilling to make a move.
As the white cloud cluster in the sky began to dissipate, the third wave of lightning bolts formed, and a series of thick white lightning bolts struck down, their numbers decreasing with each wave.
The fourth wave, the fifth wave, and the sixth wave of white lightning bolts fell, until the white cloud cluster finally dissipated, and the sky returned to its calm state, as if nothing had happened.
Han Li let out a sigh of relief as he put away the True Speech Treasure Wheel, and with a flash of light, he flew towards the palace in front of him. He quickly arrived at the Golden Hall.
Above the hall, a giant plaque hung with the three large characters "Sui Yue Hall".
The doors of the hall were half-open, and from the gap, a dazzling golden light spilled out, accompanied by a massive time law fluctuation. Other strong auras, seemingly from treasure artifacts, also emanated from within.
However, the gap was too small to see inside, and Han Li's divine sense was severely hindered, unable to probe the interior.
Han Li stood before the hall, his eyes flickering slightly.
He didn't directly push open the door because in front of the main entrance of the Sui Yue Hall, a large square stretched out, with dozens of yellowish-brown stone swords standing upright. Each sword was as large as a small mountain, emitting a thick earth attribute law fluctuation.
There were thirty-six swords in total, arranged in a sword array that blocked the entrance to the hall. To enter, one had to pass through this array.
As Han Li's shoulder-mantled Phoenix Bird let out a chirp, it spread its wings, ready to fly towards the Sui Yue Hall.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he waved his hand, sending a golden light to wrap around the Phoenix Bird. Despite its protests, he forcibly pulled it into the Blossom Space.
The Phoenix Bird's power had grown significantly since it acquired the law of time, but its temperament had also become more unruly and difficult to control.
Han Li shook his head, continuing to examine the stone sword array before him. His brow furrowed, and his eyes flashed with a hint of anxiety.
This array, formed by the thirty-six stone swords, seemed simple, but the more Han Li looked at it, the more he felt that it contained hidden mysteries, making it impossible to discern.
If it were any other time, he could take his time to study and comprehend it, which would even benefit his own array formation arts. However, time was of the essence, and if he delayed any further, others might arrive, making it difficult for him to gain an advantage.
Han Li pondered for a moment before snapping his fingers.
A golden sword energy, ten zhang long and three zhang wide, shot out, striking one of the yellow stone swords.
The next moment, the stone sword emitted a low hum, and a thick yellow aura appeared, engulfing the golden sword energy. The energy was absorbed, leaving no sound or trace.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, realizing that relying on small tricks wouldn't be enough to break through this array. With a resolute heart, he formed a hand seal.
His body flashed with golden light as the True Speech Treasure Wheel appeared behind him, releasing countless golden ripples that enveloped the surrounding area.
Han Li, with the True Speech Treasure Wheel, stepped into the stone sword array.
As he entered, the scene before him changed, and he found himself in a desolate, yellow desert. The air was filled with a thick, yellow mist, and a massive pressure emanated from above.
"This is..." Han Li's expression changed as he took in his surroundings.
The yellow desert space was unlike ordinary illusionary spaces, being incredibly stable, with no visible flaws. Moreover, the only attribute present was earth, with no other attributes of heaven and earth, which weakened the effect of other laws by eight-tenths.
His heart tightened, and he activated the Nine Underworld Devil Eyes, his pupils flashing with a purple light as he gazed around.
At that moment, the surrounding yellow mist flashed, and the thirty-six giant yellow stone swords appeared, encircling him.
Each sword emitted a dazzling yellow aura, transforming into a thick, yellow light column that shot towards the sky.
Simultaneously, yellow sword energies emerged from the stone swords, like thirty-six blooming flowers.
In an instant, the sound of sword energies filled the air, and the yellow sword energies exploded, only to dissipate and disappear.
The next moment, the area around Han Li began to fluctuate wildly, as the yellow sword energies surged forth, layer upon layer, slashing towards him.
Han Li's heart sank, but he didn't panic. His hands moved swiftly, forming a wheel-like seal, and the True Speech Treasure Wheel behind him flashed, rapidly rotating. The golden ripples surrounding him condensed, forming a dense, golden barrier.
The sword energies struck, but upon entering the golden barrier, they were instantly frozen in place.
A ring-shaped, yellow sword wall formed around the golden barrier, motionless.
The subsequent sword energies continued to strike, but they too were trapped within the golden barrier, unable to move.
However, the yellow sword energies were incredibly powerful, and with thirty-six stone swords simultaneously unleashing their might, the sheer number of attacks was staggering.
In just a few breaths, the yellow sword wall surrounding the golden barrier grew to an alarming degree, condensing into a solid, yellow mass that engulfed the golden barrier and Han Li. The sword energy continued to fly towards the solidified sword wall, striking it with a loud crash. The earthy yellow light burst forth, forming a series of earthy yellow suns that rapidly expanded and contracted, pressing inward.
A terrifying spiritual pressure emanated from the surrounding sword wall, pressing down on the interior. The golden ripple region began to vibrate violently, emitting a cracking sound.
Han Li's face changed, and he glanced at the surrounding earthy yellow giant swords. Thirty-six earthy yellow light columns shot up into the sky, converging into a single earthy yellow cloud.
Innumerable earthy yellow talismans flashed within the cloud, emitting a mysterious aura that grew stronger by the second.
Han Li's eyes twitched, and he let out a low shout. His hands changed into a different hand seal, and his body began to glow with a dense black light. His body suddenly expanded, transforming into a hundred-zhang-tall, three-headed, six-armed giant demon.
Over nine hundred of his acupoints burst forth with starlight, and a series of silver lines erupted from his acupoints, covering his entire body. A layer of starlight enveloped his giant demon body.
The giant demon let out a low roar, and its six fists struck the surrounding sword wall in unison. A massive black sun exploded, shattering the sword wall and creating an opening.
The giant demon withdrew its true words, and its body transformed into a black shadow that shot out of the opening, charging towards the nearest stone sword.
Innumerable yellow sword energies sensed the giant demon's intentions and shot towards it from all directions, blocking its path and striking its body with a series of deafening crashes.
However, the giant demon's starlight barrier was impenetrable, and it easily deflected the sword energies. The black shadow flashed, and the giant demon struck the stone sword with a single fist, its speed akin to lightning.
A massive explosion rocked the air, and the giant stone sword burst forth with earthy yellow light before shattering into countless yellow spirit lights.
The giant demon's other five fists simultaneously struck the air, creating five tangible fist silhouettes that shot out like meteors, destroying the surrounding sword energies and striking the other five stone swords.
Three consecutive massive explosions rocked the air, and three stone swords shattered. The two stone swords that were farthest away were only struck by the weakened fist silhouettes, but they were unable to shatter.
Han Li's lips curled into a faint smile, but it immediately disappeared.
The four stone swords that had shattered still had their earthy yellow light columns, which continued to soar into the sky, albeit slightly dimmer. The earthy yellow light columns began to converge, forming four earthy yellow sword silhouettes.
As the earthy yellow light columns converged, the four sword silhouettes rapidly solidified, and it seemed that they would soon re-condense into four stone swords. The surrounding earthy yellow light columns also began to brighten, returning to their original state.
Han Li stared at the scene in shock, and then he let out a furious roar. His body burst forth with golden light as he activated the Time Domain, and his six arms simultaneously formed a hand seal.
Over two hundred strands of law crystals shot out, splitting into two and fusing with the Time Domain's golden light. They transformed into two massive golden blades, each over a dozen li long, which slashed towards the left and right.
The area they traversed was filled with the Time Domain's law, which churned and boiled like a raging tide, striking fear into the hearts of all who witnessed it.
At the same time, thirty-six green bamboo flying swords shot out from Han Li's body, merging into a single, several-thousand-zhang-tall golden giant sword. The sword was surrounded by golden lightning, and its lightning laws burst forth as it slashed towards the earthy yellow cloud in the sky.
A series of massive explosions rocked the air as the two golden blades swept across the area, shattering over half of the stone swords. However, the earthy yellow light columns remained, and the Time Domain's laws seemed unable to harm them.
The earthy yellow light columns continued to converge, and the time within them rapidly reappeared, as if they would never be destroyed.
Another massive explosion rocked the air, and the lightning giant sword struck the earthy yellow cloud. The cloud seemed insubstantial, but it was incredibly resilient, only trembling slightly before returning to its original state and blocking the lightning giant sword's attack.
Han Li's face finally fell.
The earthy yellow cloud in the sky suddenly began to churn violently, and the surrounding earthy yellow energy surged forth like a burst dam, converging towards the cloud.
The earthy yellow light on the thirty-six stone swords below was sucked away, and the swords no longer emitted sword energies. All the light was absorbed by the earthy yellow cloud.
The cloud rapidly expanded, and the waves within it surged forth, revealing a massive, circular yet square, earthy yellow gate. The gate was adorned with sword-shaped patterns, emitting a sharp, piercing sword energy and an immense earthy law aura.
This earthy law aura was unlike any ordinary earthy law aura, giving off a sense of the vastness of the heavens and the earth. It seemed that this gate connected the heavens and the earth.
A massive explosion rocked the air, and the entire space became a hundred times heavier. Han Li's giant demon body sank, and his movements became extremely difficult.
Han Li's eyes, which had transformed into a giant demon's, suddenly twitched, and he let out a loud roar.
His six fists, which emitted a dark glow, simultaneously burst forth with dazzling starlight, and then condensed into a starlight pattern on his fists before shooting out.
A loud "whooshing" sound filled the air!
Six solid, fist-like shadows shot out, emitting a dark glow and starlight that intertwined and flashed, releasing an explosive power that surpassed the previous black fist shadows, shooting towards the yellow cloud in the air.
At the same time, the two golden blades, which had been transformed from the Time Law Crystal Threads, and the giant electric sword, which had been transformed from the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword, simultaneously shot out, slashing towards the yellow cloud.
A series of earth-shaking, thunderous sounds echoed through the air!
The six fist shadows struck the yellow cloud first, exploding and opening up into six giant light balls that collided with the yellow cloud, followed by the two golden blades and the giant electric sword, which struck the yellow cloud with great force.
The yellow cloud, which was incredibly resilient, was still violently tumbling and was torn apart with a loud "ripping" sound, revealing the yellow door inside.
Han Li's eyes lit up with excitement as he saw this scene, and he was about to urge the golden blades and the giant electric sword to strike the yellow door.
But at that moment, the yellow door began to shake violently, and a layer of yellow ripples burst forth from it.
The two golden blades and the giant electric sword were struck back, flying back with a loud "boom".
Han Li's body shook, and he retreated two steps before regaining his balance.
At that moment, the yellow door's light burst forth, and it slowly opened a narrow gap.
A loud "boom" echoed through the air as countless yellow rays poured out of the gap, like a river bursting its banks or a sky full of stars falling.
Through the gap, one could see that the inside of the door was a vast, earthy yellow space with endless, rolling waves of yellow light that seemed to be condensed into a liquid state, surging outwards.
Each yellow ray was a pure, unadulterated manifestation of the Earth Law, almost condensing into a liquid state, and they poured out of the gap, forming a massive yellow whirlpool.
The sword-shaped patterns on the yellow door flashed rapidly, and the yellow rays that poured out immediately split apart, transforming into a multitude of earthy yellow stone swords that filled the air, emitting a terrifying, ear-piercing sound.
Each stone sword had the Earth Law patterns etched onto it, emitting a heavy, oppressive aura that made the already heavy space feel even more suffocating.
Han Li's face turned pale as he watched this scene, and he quickly formed a hand seal.
His giant demon body, which had been over a hundred meters tall, suddenly shrunk to a tenth of its original size, becoming around ten meters tall.
The Time Spirit Domain rapidly shrunk, becoming around a hundred meters in diameter, but its power increased several times over.
The two golden blades, which had flown back into the spirit domain, shattered and reformed into a multitude of golden crystal threads that swirled within the domain, increasing its power.
The stone swords that poured down from the sky entered the golden spirit domain, and their speed suddenly decreased.
Han Li took advantage of this brief moment to grab at the air with his six arms.
The giant electric sword, which had flown back, flashed with lightning and transformed into six smaller golden lightning swords, each falling into one of Han Li's hands.
As he moved his arms, they became blurry, and the six lightning swords transformed into a blurry sword shadow that intertwined with the stone swords, forming a sword net that clashed with the stone swords.
The sound of the collision was like thunder, and the stone swords that poured down from the sky were shattered by the golden sword net.
However, Han Li's body also shook violently, and his six arms, which held the swords, felt a dull pain, causing his face to change color.
Each stone sword contained a powerful Earth Law that was almost palpable, and they were incredibly heavy, making Han Li feel like he was being struck by a mountain every time he blocked one.
The sound of the swords clashing grew louder and louder, and more stone swords flew down, increasing the pressure on Han Li.
"Damn it! What kind of sword array is this?!" Han Li cursed in his heart, using all his strength to activate the "Heavenly Execution, Jail Prison" technique, the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword, and the Time Spirit Domain.
The golden sword net grew denser, stubbornly resisting the stone swords that poured down from the sky.
...
At the same time, over a thousand miles away from the Stone Sword Plaza, two figures flew through the air, their movements swift and agile.
The two figures were Jiao San and Huo San.
"That tortoise-backed demon was incredibly resilient, and I had to use the Later Heaven Seal to suppress it, but it still managed to escape. Its strength is not to be underestimated," Jiao San said, her brow furrowed in concern.
As she spoke, she couldn't help but glance at the dark yellow, square-shaped seal in her hand, which had a ferocious, beast-like image etched onto its surface, and the words "Heaven and Earth" inscribed below it.
The seal itself didn't seem to have any particularly remarkable features, but it emitted a powerful, earthy aura that seemed to pulse with energy, and every now and then, a layer of yellow light would burst forth from its surface.
"You're not a practitioner of the Earth Law, so it's not easy for you to use this seal. Trying to kill that demon, which is known for its physical strength, is even more difficult. But judging from its appearance, it shouldn't be feeling too well," Huo San said with a smile. Jiao San nodded, about to put away the yellow large seal, when he suddenly frowned, his eyes falling on the stone sword square in front of him, which was getting closer and closer.
At this moment, the square was shrouded in sword energy, and it was impossible to see anything clearly.
"This is..." Huo San also frowned, puzzled.
"This sword array looks extraordinary, it seems to have started operating, could it be that someone has already passed through the array?" Jiao San said, also somewhat surprised.
The two of them had just landed on the edge of the stone sword square, when two more figures appeared in the distance, and Lan Yuanzi and his sister Lan Yan appeared.
Seeing Jiao San and Huo San standing outside the array, Lan Yuanzi's eyebrows twitched slightly.
Lan Yan glanced at the stone sword square, which was shrouded in sword energy, and the magnificent great hall behind it, and his eyebrows also furrowed.
Jiao San and Huo San exchanged glances with them, but no one spoke.
Just then, three more figures appeared, and Lei Yuze, Su Cai, and Wen Zhong arrived.
As soon as Lei Yuze landed, his eyes fell on the sword array that had already started operating.
He took a step forward, walking back and forth on the edge of the square, his eyes shining with excitement.
"The Heaven-Piercing Sword Array... Wen Shidi, do you see? This is the real, complete Heaven-Piercing Sword Array..." Lei Yuze exclaimed, his eyes full of joy.
"Our sect's lost sword array, and it's actually here?" Wen Zhong's eyes widened in surprise.
"I've studied the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array for years, but I've never been able to recreate it completely. I didn't expect that it actually existed here, it seems that the legend of our sect is true, and Taisheng Xianzun really did bring the array diagram here." Lei Yuze said, still unable to contain his excitement.
"Lei Daoyou, what's wrong with you?" Su Cai asked, feeling that Lei Yuze's expression was strange.
Lei Yuze came back to his senses, composed himself, and said with a hint of embarrassment:
"I was just surprised to see the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array, which our sect has lost. I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"You're saying that this sword array is the famous Heaven-Piercing Sword Array?" Su Cai asked, also surprised.
Jiao San and the others heard this, and their expressions changed.
The origin of the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array's name was interesting. It wasn't because it came from the Heaven-Piercing Sword Sect, but rather the other way around. The Heaven-Piercing Sword Sect got its name because of this array.
It could be said that the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array was the foundation of the Heaven-Piercing Sword Sect.
Therefore, it was clear that this sword array was extremely important to the Heaven-Piercing Sword Sect.
As the sect's main sword array, its power was naturally extraordinary, and it was said that it could kill enemies with ease, even if they were of a higher level.
"Lei Daoyou, looking at this array's layout, it's clear that someone has already entered the array. I think it's urgent, you should quickly break through the array. If some monster gets in first, it wouldn't be good." Jiao San warned.
Lei Yuze's eyebrows furrowed, and he hesitated for a moment, just as he was about to speak, his face suddenly changed, and he turned to look behind him.
At the same time, Jiao San and the others also changed their expressions, looking in the same direction.
A dark cloud was gathering in the sky, and seven or eight figures were flying towards them, shrouded in black mist.
Most of these figures were extremely ferocious and strange, and were the leaders of the monsters that had escaped from the various altars.
Apart from the Copper Lion Monster, the White Bone Monster, and the Blood Hand Monster, there were two new faces.
One of them was ten feet tall, with a black body, dragon horns on his head, and dragon scales on his body. On his back, he had a huge dark green turtle shell, with intricate symbols etched onto it.
However, on the edge of the turtle shell, there was a three-foot-long crack, with sharp edges, looking like a new wound.
As soon as this monster landed, his eyes fell on Jiao San, with a venomous gaze.
It was clear that the crack on his turtle shell was caused by Jiao San's earlier attack with the earth seal.
The other monster didn't stand out in terms of appearance, but his face was almost identical to that of a human, except for his eyes, which were a deep green, and his nose, which was high and curved like an eagle's beak. His eyebrows were also slanted, giving him a sinister look.
This eagle-nosed monster's eyes fell on Lan Yuanzi and his sister, with a calm expression, but his eyes revealed a hidden killing intent.
When he saw the monster's gaze, Lan Yan didn't back down, and instead sneered, pulling out a green wooden staff from his sleeve, with branches that looked like willow leaves, emitting a strong wood-attribute law wave.
The eagle-nosed monster's eyes narrowed, and his face twitched, clearly wary of the staff.
Jiao San's eyes scanned the five monsters, and finally fell on the other two, who didn't have any monster aura, and were clearly the leaders of the group.
The two of them were none other than Qi Mozhi and Xiong Shan.
Qi Mózǐ saw the two sides facing off, and the atmosphere was somewhat subtle, so he opened his mouth to say, "Everyone, there's no need to be like this. We all have the same goal in coming here, which is to seize the treasure. Although they are yāo and mó, they don't have any deep grudges or hatred towards you, so why must you be so hostile towards them?"
Lei Yùcè sneered and said, "Hmph! Those who are not of our kind must have a different heart. These yāo and mó brought calamity to the heavenly realm's common people, and were suppressed here for no less than a million years. If we say they don't have any hatred towards us, and don't want to devour us, do you think we would believe it?"
Qi Mózǐ smiled and said, "So, Lei Dàoyǒu, do you think we should have a fight to the death here? The one who dies will naturally have no chance of getting the treasure, and the one who lives... how much confidence do you have in being able to pass through the Tiānxiàn Sword Array? Oh... I almost forgot, as a member of the Tiānxiàn Sword Sect, Lei Dàoyǒu, you naturally have a way to pass through it."
Lei Yùcè's expression changed, and his anger grew. Qi Mózǐ's words were indeed vicious and aimed at his heart.
As expected, Jiǎo Sān and the others heard this and began to hesitate.
"Everyone, don't listen to this person's one-sided words. Yāo and mó are like ghosts and demons, and cannot be trusted..." Wén Zhòng frowned and reminded them.
The White Bone Yāo Mó heard this and coldly sneered, "Heh heh, if we talk about being cunning and ruthless, aren't you humans even more so?"
The Copper Lion Yāo Mó said, "Second brother, I've already said it, there's no point in talking to them. It's better to just take action."
The Blood Hand Yāo Mó and the Turtle Back Yāo Mó looked at each other, but neither of them spoke.
The Eagle Nose Yāo Mó also didn't speak, but he glanced at the Copper Lion Yāo Mó, who immediately shrunk his neck and became silent.
The White Bone Yāo Mó saw this and slightly nodded, saying no more.
Lei Yùcè heard this and his heart skipped a beat. Almost everyone was gathered here, so the identity of the person in the array was clear.
If it were anyone else, Lei Yùcè wouldn't be too worried, but the person in the array was likely to be Hàn Lì. That person's strange divine abilities had always been unclear to him, so he naturally couldn't help but be concerned.
Moreover, the Tiānxiàn Sword Array's array diagram must not fall into his hands.
"Alright, Dàoyǒu's words are reasonable, and I have no way to refute them. Let's put aside our differences and work together to break the array, how about that?" Lei Yùcè sighed and said.
Qi Mózǐ looked at the Eagle Nose Yāo Mó, seemingly asking for his opinion.
"Everything is up to Dàoyǒu's decision." The Eagle Nose Yāo Mó nodded and said.
"We have no objections, it's up to you." Qi Mózǐ heard this and said.
Lei Yùcè heard this and turned to look at Jiǎo Sān and the others, who also nodded in agreement.
"To show our sincerity, I have ordered our subordinates to stay far away from here and not approach. I hope Lei Dàoyǒu can also show some sincerity." Qi Mózǐ looked at Lei Yùcè and said.
Lei Yùcè pretended not to understand and asked, "What do you mean, Dàoyǒu?"
"This Tiānxiàn Sword Array is from your Tiānxiàn Sword Sect, Dàoyǒu. Don't you have any method to break the array to teach us?" Qi Mózǐ coldly said.
Lei Yùcè sighed and said, "Dàoyǒu, you don't know that the complete method to set up the array has already been lost in our sect. The sword array has undergone changes over the years, and it's no longer the same as the original. As for how to break the array, I can only figure it out after entering the array."
Qi Mózǐ heard this and raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing his words.
"If Dàoyǒu doesn't believe me, I have no way to convince you. You can try to break the array first, and we won't stop you." Lei Yùcè shrugged and said.
"Alright, since that's the case, let's enter the array together. I believe that once we enter the array, we'll have to rely on Dàoyǒu's strength to break the array." Qi Mózǐ smiled and said.
"Of course, once we enter the array, I'll be able to break the array with confidence." Lei Yùcè nodded and said.
After deciding, the group split into two teams and stood in front of the sword array.
"Everyone, when we enter the array, remember not to move randomly. The more you move, the stronger the array's attack will be. You can try to find a weak point in the array and break it." Just then, Xióng Shān, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up.
His words made Lei Yùcè's heart skip a beat. Almost everyone was gathered here, so the identity of the person in the array was clear.
If it were anyone else, Lei Yùcè wouldn't be too worried, but the person in the array was likely to be Hàn Lì. That person's strange divine abilities had always been unclear to him, so he naturally couldn't help but be concerned.
Moreover, the Tiānxiàn Sword Array's array diagram must not fall into his hands.
"Alright, let's enter the array!" Qi Mózǐ shouted.
As his voice fell, the group surged forward, entering the sword array.
"Follow me..."
Just before entering the array, Lei Yùcè suddenly grabbed Su Qīng's delicate hand and entered the array with her. Su Zhi's heart skipped a beat, and she felt a faint warmth on her cheeks.
As soon as everyone entered the sword array, the figures flying in mid-air suddenly sank, as if a massive, invisible force had suddenly pressed down on them, causing them to fall to the ground.
Before they could figure out what was happening, the surroundings had already fallen into chaos.
"Rumble, rumble..."
A loud, thunder-like sound echoed in everyone's ears, and the sky and earth were in turmoil. Everywhere, only a yellowish haze could be seen, and above, a dark yellow cloud seemed to be covering everything, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
Su Zhi and Lei Yuze were together, and after entering the array, they could only see each other. The others were nowhere to be seen, and they couldn't even sense their presence.
However, the gravity between the sky and earth seemed to have increased tenfold, making it difficult for them to stand still. They had to rapidly circulate their internal energy to resist this force.
Nearby, a yellow light column rose from the ground, twisting and turning like a dragon, and shooting into the dark yellow cloud. Inside the light column, a stone sword with a dark yellow glow was slanted.
"It seems this array is based on the power of the earth attribute law. Breaking it won't be easy," Lei Yuze said, looking around at the changes.
"What do you mean by 'earth attribute law'?" Su Zhi asked, puzzled.
"The Heavenly Sword Array can communicate with all laws, and it doesn't have any attributes itself. However, the flying swords used to set up the array contain different laws, which can create different array phenomena and attacks. This is why I said that we need to enter the array to know how to break it," Lei Yuze explained quickly.
"If that's the case, how can we break this array?" Su Zhi asked hastily.
"The sword array should be controlled by a cultivator to operate smoothly. Since there is no cultivator controlling this array, it's likely that the array is using the Heavenly Sword Array's diagram as a pivot. To break this array, the fastest way is to find the diagram. Once the diagram is moved, the sword array will be unable to operate," Lei Yuze said after a moment of contemplation.
Just as they were talking, a muffled sound came from above.
"Rumble"
A sound like suppressed thunder echoed from the yellow clouds.
Lei Yuze and Su Zhi instinctively looked up and saw a magnificent heavenly gate standing in the depths of the clouds. The dark yellow gate was half-closed, revealing a narrow slit.
Through the slit, a massive yellow whirlpool could be seen inside, emitting waves of earth attribute law energy that made their hearts tremble.
Su Zhi was about to speak when the whirlpool inside the gate suddenly flashed with light, and a series of dark yellow light columns shot out from the gate, falling towards the ground.
These light columns condensed into giant yellow swords, each tens of meters long, and fell towards the sword array. Two of the swords fell towards Lei Yuze and Su Zhi, and before they even reached them, a suffocating pressure descended upon them, as if the air above their heads was being compressed.
"Su Zhi, be careful..."
Lei Yuze warned, then stood in front of her, his hands raised in a "supporting the heavens" gesture.
His body glowed with light, and a circular symbol appeared on the ground, emitting a golden light. A series of giant, illusory swords shot out from the symbol, rising into the air and colliding with the two giant swords.
The sound of the collision was deafening, and the two giant swords continued to fall, their pressure crushing.
Lei Yuze's eyes widened in shock, and he muttered, "Is this the true power of the Heavenly Sword Array?"
Just then, a blue light flashed beside him, and a water attribute law energy spread out.
Su Zhi was surrounded by a blue glow, her hands clasped together in front of her, holding a small, round bead that emitted a gentle blue light. The bead was filled with a swirling blue water that seemed to be moving on its own.
Su Zhi's eyes were closed, and her eyelashes were slightly raised, giving her an ethereal beauty. She seemed to be one with the blue light, and her presence was captivating.
Suddenly, her eyes opened, and she raised her hand towards the sky.
"Whoosh"
A sound like a wave crashing echoed through the air, and the blue water around her hand suddenly surged upwards, forming a massive wave that crashed into the two giant swords.
The swords were momentarily slowed down, but they didn't dissipate. Instead, they continued to fall, their pressure still intense.
"Go!"
Lei Yu Ce's voice thundered out, and the symbols on the ground beneath him burst into radiance. The sound of sharp, piercing clangs echoed out, and one after another, golden swords shot out from the ground, their tips pointing towards the sky. Suddenly, flames erupted...
These swords were different from the illusory sword shadows that had appeared earlier. All of them were genuine flying swords, and there were a total of thirty-six of them. Each sword had symbols etched onto its body, and within those symbols, threads of golden attribute law energy were hidden.
Lei Yu Ce's hands formed a sword seal, and the golden flying swords on the ground began to vibrate violently. The golden light on the swords' bodies surged, and countless threads of golden sword energy burst forth, like a tidal wave crashing upwards into the sky.
In the sky above, the two dark yellow giant swords' oppressive force had already been greatly hindered. Now, as the dense sword energy surged upwards, the earth attribute law energy within the giant swords was finally exhausted.
A loud rumbling sound echoed out, and the two dark yellow giant swords shattered simultaneously, dissolving into a halo of light.
Lei Yu Ce saw this and exchanged a smile with Su Xi.
However, before the two of them could relax, a muffled sound echoed out from the heavens above.
"It seems that if we don't break this sword array, the attacks won't stop," Lei Yu Ce said, his eyes flashing with insight.
"The sword array's diagram should be somewhere within the array. You go and search for it, and I'll hold off the attacks here," Su Xi said, after a moment's thought.
"This sword array's power is not to be underestimated. You alone might not be able to..."
Lei Yu Ce's words were cut off by Su Xi's icy tone. "Are you looking down on the Tian Shui Sect, or are you looking down on me?"
Lei Yu Ce's face turned red as he stuttered, "H-how could I dare..."
Su Xi's expression relaxed, and a rare smile appeared on her face. "You can go and search for the diagram. I'll take care of things here."
Lei Yu Ce still looked worried, but he could only nod and say, "Alright, I'll go and search for the diagram. You be careful, Su Xi."
Su Xi's expression returned to normal, and she said softly, "You be careful too, Lei DaoFriend."
Lei Yu Ce's heart swelled with joy, and he nodded heavily before turning to head towards the center of the array. The pressure on his body was immense, but he felt as light as a feather, and his footsteps were quick and carefree.
Above, the heavens' gate was still open, and the dark yellow flying swords continued to fall from the sky at irregular intervals. The people trapped within the array, including Jiao San and the others, were not having an easy time.
However, Han Li felt that things had become much easier for him.
Because of the other people's entry into the array, the sword array had to divide its power to attack everyone, and the pressure on Han Li's body had decreased significantly.
At this moment, he was using his full strength to activate his true spirit blood vessels and operate the Tian Xia Zhen Yu Gong. The six giant arms on his body each grasped a Qing Zhu Feng Yun sword, and he was swinging them continuously, using the sword energy to blast open a path through the dark yellow giant swords that were falling from the sky.
According to his previous guesses, the sword array's core location was likely to be in the center of the array, which was also the most difficult place to approach. If he could find that location, he would have a chance to break open the sword array.
As the sword energy continued to burst forth, the surrounding void suddenly erupted into a chaotic light, and a whirlwind appeared out of nowhere, sweeping towards the four directions.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and his brow furrowed.
But then, his eyes flashed with purple light, and his nine-yin magic pupils began to rotate, observing the surroundings.
However, under his spiritual vision, the surroundings did not change at all. The chaotic light continued to swirl, and the dark yellow giant swords in the sky above continued to fall towards him.
Han Li's heart tightened, and he could only divide his attention between searching for a path and defending against the sword array's attacks.
He silently recited the incantation for the Lian Shen Shu, and he used his full strength to turn his spiritual energy towards the surroundings, searching for any clues.
But the result was still nothing.
In this Su Yue Tower, spiritual energy was already being suppressed, and in this sword array, the suppression was even stronger. Han Li's spiritual energy could only sense the earth attribute law energy in the surroundings, and nothing else.
He felt anxious, but he had no choice. He could only rely on his intuition to move forward.
As he walked, the invisible pressure around him grew stronger, and the pressure on his body increased by more than tenfold compared to when he first entered the sword array.
Every step Han Li took, the ground beneath his feet would crack and split, leaving behind a deep impression.
And with every fall of the dark yellow giant swords, the pressure on Han Li's body grew even greater. "What a magnificent sword array, even if a Da Luo cultivator were to charge in, if they couldn't find the correct way to break the array, they would be worn down to death...". Han Li's throat moved slightly, and his mouth felt a bit bitter, he spat out a mouthful of saliva and said.
As he walked to this place, although he seemed to be unharmed, his internal organs were actually being severely compressed. If he couldn't find a way to break the array and leave soon, he would eventually be in danger of losing his life.
After advancing with great difficulty for several hundred feet, Han Li left behind a long string of deep footprints embedded in the ground.
As soon as he finished speaking, he seemed to suddenly remember something, and no longer focused on advancing in a straight line. Instead, he gathered his spirit and no longer used his eyes as a guide, and began to move in different directions with his eyes closed.
He didn't walk much each time, only about ten steps, before retreating back to the starting point, and then walking out in another direction, and retreating again, changing direction and starting anew.
After several rounds of this, a large area of deep footprints appeared around him, covering a radius of several dozen feet.
When Han Li finally retreated back to the starting point, his tightly closed eyes slowly opened, and he let out a long breath. His gaze fell on one of the directions indicated by the footprints, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.
The sword array was indeed chaotic, with the surrounding heaven and earth filled with the power of the earth attribute laws. However, even if the laws of the earth attribute were present in the heaven and earth, there was still a certain flow and rhythm to them.
If the eye of the array or the axis of the array were in a certain position, the density of the laws of the earth attribute would also change. Therefore, Han Li had walked in all directions to observe the changes in the laws of the earth attribute as he moved.
As expected, in the direction to his right front, left front, and right back, Han Li felt the power of the earth attribute laws growing stronger as he walked further.
However, the changes in the right front and left front directions were far less intense than those in the right back direction.
Han Li's thoughts turned quickly, and he guessed that there should be an array eye in the right front and left front directions, and the axis of the array should be in the right back direction.
As soon as he had this thought, Han Li swung his six arms in a row, using the last bit of spiritual energy to strike down the yellow giant sword that was falling from the sky, and then turned around to head in the right back direction.
Although the general direction was now clear, the sword array was still extremely chaotic, and the power of the earth attribute laws was affecting the surrounding directions, making it seem like they were constantly changing. Han Li could only walk for a dozen steps before stopping to reorient himself.
After several rounds of this, the ground was left with a series of deep footprints, and finally, a eight-sided altar appeared in Han Li's field of vision.
Han Li walked closer, and his gaze fell on the eight-sided altar at the center of the sword array. He saw that the edges of the altar were inlaid with eight yellow goose egg stones, which contained the power of the earth attribute laws.
On each edge of the altar, a stone sword was inserted, like eight loyal generals guarding the altar, surrounding the eight-sided jade plate that was floating in mid-air.
The jade plate didn't have any power of the earth attribute laws, but instead had a series of complex patterns engraved on it, which seemed to be some kind of talisman.
As soon as Han Li approached, the eight-sided jade plate lit up with a blue light, and the white jade plate turned a dark green color. The goose egg stones on the altar also lit up.
Immediately after, Han Li heard a sound of swords ringing out from the eight stone swords on the altar.
His heart moved slightly, and his eight arms moved like a wheel of wind and fire, striking down the dark yellow giant sword that was falling from above.
Taking advantage of the brief moment before the next attack, Han Li's body suddenly flashed, and he rushed towards the altar.
With the support of the True Speech Treasure Wheel, Han Li's speed increased greatly, but due to the spatial pressure, he was still unable to move as quickly as he could outside the array.
Fortunately, the altar was in a special location, and within a radius of thirty feet, the dark yellow flying swords would not fall from the sky, otherwise they would destroy the axis of the array.
As Han Li approached the altar, he heard a sound of swords ringing out, and the eight stone swords on the altar suddenly shot up, their surfaces rippling with yellow light, and flew towards Han Li.
The eight stone swords seemed to be separate from the rest of the array, and were only there to guard the altar. Their movement was different from the rest of the array, and their speed was extremely fast.
As the flying swords flew out, they emitted a dark yellow light, and a series of illusory sword shadows split off from the swords, which then condensed into thousands of flying swords.
The power of the earth attribute laws was present on each of the flying swords, and their fluctuations were almost identical, making it impossible to distinguish which ones were the original physical flying swords.
Han Li saw this, and his body flashed with light as he returned to his human form. He made a sword gesture with his hand, and the thirty-six Cyan Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords on his body emitted a bright light, unfolding like a fan.
The Cyan Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords emitted a powerful sword energy, and a series of sword shadows burst forth from the swords, blooming in front of Han Li.
Han Li's expression turned solemn, his hands swiftly forming a hand seal, and a low shout escaped his lips.
As he pointed forward, the countless sword auras and sword lights erupted forth, covering the thousands of stone swords and engulfing them.
"Clang clang clang..."
In the midst of the intense clanging sounds, the sword lights and shadows shot out by the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword rapidly dissipated, and it took dozens of swords to neutralize a single stone sword, and even then, it was only the sword light that was neutralized.
However, the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword's sword lights were even more dense, and their numbers far surpassed the stone swords, allowing them to temporarily hold their ground.
Han Li's expression turned stern, his hands unceasingly forming hand seals, controlling the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword as it continuously pressed forward, forming a vast sword light net that forced the stone swords to retreat.
As the sword lights continued to dissipate, the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword's sword lights had already diminished by 90%, and the stone swords' sword lights had also been depleted, leaving only less than 30 swords remaining.
The collision between the two sides was still intense, the surging sword lights illuminating the air, and the thunderous roars shook the heavens.
Han Li gritted his teeth, his forehead gradually sweating with beads of sweat.
He suddenly let out a low shout, his body's immortal energy surging forth like a tidal wave, and the remaining Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword erupted forth at the same time.
All the flying swords' surfaces were surrounded by golden light, and countless golden electric lights flashed, instantly destroying more than half of the remaining stone swords, leaving only the original eight stone swords, which still hung in the air, pointing at Han Li.
At the same time, the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword's own sword lights had also dissipated, leaving only over 80 swords remaining.
Han Li's heart slightly calmed, and he took a large step forward, about to ascend to the altar.
But just as he did, a sudden change occurred!
The yellow goose egg stones embedded on the edge of the altar suddenly shone brightly, and a burst of light flashed.
The eight stone swords in mid-air suddenly shook, as if they had regained a powerful force, and their bodies burst forth with bright yellow light, shooting out rapidly, and directly shredding the remaining Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword's sword lights.
Thirty-six flying swords were heavily struck, and still managed to burst forth with a dazzling electric light, blocking seven of the stone swords, but ultimately, one stone sword slipped through, shooting towards Han Li's chest, mere inches from his vital point.
At the critical moment, Han Li suddenly reversed the rotation of his body's true word wheel, and his body rapidly shifted to the side, the stone sword grazing his ribcage and flying out, tearing open his waistband.
Han Li's heart was filled with lingering fear, and he hastily raised his hand to summon a flying sword, retreating a step back.
At this moment, a loud "crack" echoed, and the goose egg stones embedded on the edge of the altar suddenly dimmed, and then exploded, shattering into pieces.
The remaining seven flying swords hovering in mid-air seemed to have lost their spiritual energy, and they fell to the ground with a loud clatter.
Han Li saw this and knew that the stone's contained law energy had been depleted after countless years, and his mind finally relaxed slightly, taking a step forward to ascend to the altar.
However, he had only taken one step when his expression suddenly changed, and he hastily looked down at his waist.
He saw that the torn fabric of his robes had bloodstains seeping out, but the wound was not deep, only a scratch.
But when Han Li lifted his robes to examine the wound, he was shocked to discover that the wound was grayish-white, and when he touched it, it felt like rock, cold and hard.
He thought for a moment, and then realized that the flying sword's earth attribute law energy must have caused his wound to petrify.
Fortunately, the wound was not deep, and the sword had not pierced his body, so the petrified area was only about an inch in diameter.
After thinking for a moment, Han Li used his fingers to make a cutting motion, and cut off the petrified skin, and the newly formed wound began to heal on its own.
After taking care of the wound, he gathered up the remaining Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword, and was about to ascend to the altar when he heard a distant rumbling sound, as if someone had also found the location of the array's core and was rushing towards him.
He didn't hesitate, and took a step onto the altar, his hands surrounded by a blue glow, and he grasped the octagonal jade disk, pulling it out of the altar.
Han Li held the jade disk, his mind stirring, and he began to examine it.
After a moment, his eyes widened in surprise, and a hint of excitement flashed across his face, and he realized that the jade disk was actually the legendary Tian Tian Sword Array chart, said to have been taken out of the Tong Tian Sword Sect by the Ta Sui Immortal.
The complexity and intricacy of the sword array chart far exceeded his imagination.
He had only glanced at it briefly, and he knew that it was a rare and valuable treasure, and he quickly and carefully put it away.
The next moment, a loud "boom" echoed from the sky.
Han Li instinctively looked up, and saw that the Heaven Gate hovering in the sky was slowly closing, its surroundings shrouded in a yellow mist, and the void becoming increasingly indistinct. The yellow giant sword that had been falling earlier had disappeared, and the entire array had been completely dissolved.
The oppressive force that had been present for a long time was slowly disappearing, and the chaotic fog that had gathered around was temporarily not dissipating, but the subtle threads of earth attribute laws that were hidden within it could no longer be sensed.
Han Li slowly stepped down from the altar, flipped his hand, and took out a pill.
Just as he was about to take it, he heard a voice behind him: "Hehe, Han fellow, it's been a tough job breaking the array..."
Han Li turned his head to see Lei Yuze walking towards him with a smile.
As he approached, he saw the eight stone swords scattered on the ground, and with a wave of his sleeve, he calmly collected them one by one.
"If it weren't for everyone's help in entering the array, I wouldn't have been able to achieve this," Han Li said with a smile.
"Lei fellow, don't be too modest, the first credit for breaking the array belongs to you," Lei Yuze continued.
"Lei fellow, don't flatter me, even if I had a thick face, I wouldn't be able to bear it," Han Li said with a wave of his hand.
Lei Yuze's expression flashed with a hint of hesitation, and after a moment's thought, he spoke up: "Han fellow, I have something to ask of you, please grant me this favor."
"What is it, Lei fellow? Just speak," Han Li said, pretending not to know.
"At the time of breaking the array, you should have seen a sword array diagram, that is our Tongtian Sword Sect's lost treasure, I hope you can return it to its rightful owner. Of course, our Tongtian Sword Sect will also show the greatest sincerity and compensate you," Lei Yuze said with a bow.
Han Li's expression changed, and he furrowed his brow, looking surprised, and asked: "I've been trapped in the sword array since I entered, and I've only just managed to escape, but I didn't see any array diagram."
"Lei fellow, this sword array may be of high rank, but to you, it's just a powerful sword array, but to our sect, it has a special significance. If you can generously return it, I'm willing to give you a five-grade immortal artifact as a gift, and also invite you to be our Tongtian Sword Sect's unnamed benefactor, enjoying the treatment of an inner sect elder," Lei Yuze said, seemingly having anticipated this, his expression unchanged.
Such a reward would be a great treasure for anyone, and the offer of becoming a benefactor of the Tongtian Sword Sect was indeed a great show of sincerity, allowing Han Li to not be recorded in the ancestral hall, not having to be responsible for sect affairs, and not exposing his whereabouts, while also receiving a steady supply of elder's offerings.
However, for Han Li, these were all like useless chicken ribs, and after this, he wouldn't be able to stay in the Jin Yuan Immortal Realm, and he himself didn't know where he would go next.
Most importantly, the Tongtian Sword Array was really to his liking, and if he could use his Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword to deploy it, it would be a great help to him.
"Lei fellow's kindness is appreciated, but I really don't know what you're talking about, even if I coveted the benefits you mentioned, I couldn't possibly deceive you," Han Li said with a regretful expression.
"Lei fellow, did you really not see the array diagram on this altar?" Lei Yuze asked, his brow furrowed.
At the same time, he had doubts in his heart, could it be that it wasn't really here?
"There was nothing on this altar except for the eight stone swords, and I didn't even have time to check, before you took them away," Han Li said with a bitter smile.
Lei Yuze's expression was slightly frozen, and his eyes stared intently at Han Li, as if trying to see something unusual.
But Han Li was calm and composed, without any flaws.
"Lei fellow, if there's nothing else, let's take a look at the Su Yue Temple and see if there are any more restrictions," Han Li said, changing the subject.
Lei Yuze's brow furrowed, and he nodded after a moment's thought, then suddenly pinched his fingers together, and a chanting voice came from his mouth.
As the voice sounded, the white jade plate on his waist suddenly lit up, and a complex symbol appeared on it.
Han Li had already turned around, and suddenly felt a strange fluctuation coming from behind him, and when he looked down, he saw that the storage ring on his hand was flashing with a bright light.
The eight-sided jade plate was hidden in the storage ring.
"Lei fellow, you really don't want to return it?" Lei Yuze's voice came from behind him.
"Treasures in the secret realm, each person relies on their own abilities. I didn't fight you for those stone swords earlier, and that's already a show of goodwill, Lei fellow, why are you being so aggressive? If you're really not willing to give up, you can try to take it by force, I don't mind taking those stone swords back," Han Li said coldly, without turning his head.
After speaking, he walked through the square, and climbed up the stone steps of the grand temple, step by step.
Lei Yuze stood still, his expression solemn, and a complex expression flashed in his eyes.
At this time, the yellow clouds in the sky were slowly dissipating, and the figures of the other people were emerging from the fog, and they began to hurry towards this direction.
Lei Yuze glanced at Qi Mozi leading a group of demons, and sighed softly, suppressing the anger in his heart.
After all, his desire for the sword array diagram was born out of selfishness, and for him, there were more important things to attend to in the grand temple.
Han Li walked up the steps, his eyes fixed on the temple, and his heart was filled with a sense of excitement and trepidation.
What secrets lay hidden in the Su Yue Temple? He was about to find out.
As Han Li stepped onto the last stone step, he arrived in front of the grand hall, and upon a glance, his eyebrows furrowed.
Before him, every brick on the grand hall was engraved with a symbol, and every column had a symbol written on it, dense and intricate, forming a massive symbol array.
The symbol style wasn't too difficult to recognize, and it was mostly used to reinforce the grand hall, making the entire Hall of Time itself like a treasure, with a solidity that surpassed even some high-grade treasures.
However, the grand hall's entrance didn't have any restrictive arrays set up.
Han Li raised his hand, and with a push, the two heavy doors swung open.
He stepped over the threshold, entered the hall, and swept his gaze around.
He saw that the interior space of the grand hall was much larger than he had imagined, and directly in front of him, he could see a massive five-sided stone pedestal, with a broad base and a narrow top, resembling an overturned square cauldron.
The pedestal had five sides, each made of different materials, displaying the five colors of "gold, blue, cyan, red, and yellow", and in the center, a strange symbol was engraved, which seemed to be an altar.
Han Li looked from afar, and saw that on the top platform of the five-colored altar, a gold-colored oil lamp was placed.
The gold-colored oil lamp's column was slightly curved, resembling the stem of a lotus, and the lamp's body was like a lotus flower bud, with petals unfolding, and a central lotus-shaped wick, emitting a brilliant golden light.
The golden light emanating from the gold-colored lamp formed a half-spherical golden light shield, enveloping the entire altar.
Although Han Li was still some distance away from the altar, he could feel the powerful time law fluctuations emanating from the gold-colored lamp, like a tidal wave crashing against the shore, causing his heart to stir.
"This is the Time God Lamp? Such powerful law fluctuations..."
At this moment, a voice of admiration came from the side, and it was Jiao San and the others who had arrived and entered the grand hall.
Qimozi brought Xiong Shan and the five demon kings, and they also entered the grand hall.
As soon as they entered the Hall of Time, Qimozi's eyes immediately fell upon the Time God Lamp, and he stared at it intently.
While the demon kings didn't pay much attention to the Time God Lamp, they all looked at the five-colored altar, with a faint look of fear on their faces.
Just as everyone's attention was drawn to the interior of the hall, a black and white light flashed out from the ground outside the hall, silently and swiftly flew in, and disappeared into the ground.
Han Li shifted his gaze from the Time God Lamp, glanced at Qimozi and the others, and his eyes slightly sank.
"Brother Han, I have a proposal, let's temporarily put aside our differences in this Hall of Time, what do you think?" Qimozi suddenly transmitted a message.
"I also have the same intention," Han Li replied without hesitation.
As for Qimozi's proposal, he didn't take it too seriously, but he had also made up his mind that as long as the other party didn't initiate a conflict, he wouldn't take the initiative to attack, after all, the grand hall was currently a mix of dragons and snakes, with everyone having their own intentions, and if he were to start a conflict with Qimozi first, it would naturally be a hundred times more harmful than beneficial.
For Han Li, whether it was his feud with Qimozi or his private desires for the Time God Lamp, they all had to be put after his own safety, and no matter what the situation, preserving his life was the top priority.
"The Life Token is also there," Huo San said, arriving beside Han Li.
Han Li turned his gaze, and saw that in the shadow of the Time God Lamp's golden light, three palm-sized blood-red tokens were neatly arranged, with a strong life aura emanating from them.
Without needing to think, those should be the Life Tokens of Li Qimu and Qu Lin.
Next to the three Life Tokens, a triangular black iron token was placed, with a symbol engraved on it, but it was somewhat unclear.
Han Li noticed that Jiao San's gaze, aside from lingering on the Time God Lamp, was mostly focused on this object.
He wanted to ask, but after a moment's thought, he restrained himself.
On the top platform of the altar, aside from these objects, there was a golden book scroll, rolled up and tied with a golden thread, but it couldn't be seen if there was any title on it.
When Lei Yu saw the golden book scroll, his eyes flashed with excitement, and he exchanged a glance with Wen Zhong, who also nodded with a look of joy, seemingly something important to their Tian Tian Sword Sect.
Han Li's gaze swept across the crowd, and his heart suddenly rose with a question, what had happened to Qu Lin, who had entered the hall first?
Just as he was wondering, Qimozi suddenly spoke up, saying to the crowd: "Everyone..."
His words had barely left his lips when the entire great hall suddenly shook violently, and the previously opened doors closed on their own.
At the same time, the surroundings began to radiate a blinding golden light, and a powerful temporal law fluctuation enveloped the area, causing the surrounding void to distort.
Everyone felt as if they were wrapped in a golden space, and the flow of time around them slowed down significantly, while their thoughts and divine senses were severely restricted, making them feel sluggish.
Han Li didn't say a word, and with a swift hand seal, a brilliant golden light burst forth from his body, rapidly spreading to envelop everyone, including Lei Yuze.
Almost simultaneously, Qimozi also opened her spirit domain, enveloping Xiongshan and the five demons.
As everyone entered the temporal spirit domain, their thoughts and divine senses gradually returned to normal, but their movements were still severely restricted, making them feel less agile than before.
Just then, a massive circular light circle suddenly appeared on the ground in front of them, with a brilliant light emanating from within, and a series of blurry human figures emerged from it.
Han Li took a closer look and discovered that the figures were all Dao soldiers, each with a tall and slender build, wearing golden armor that seemed ill-fitting, and making a clanking sound as they moved.
These Dao soldiers appeared weak and frail, but each of them emitted a powerful aura.
What was even more astonishing was that these Dao soldiers didn't charge at them in a frenzy, but instead formed a series of orderly ranks, surrounding them layer by layer.
"What are they doing?" Lanyuanzi furrowed her brow, asking in confusion.
"Forming an array," Han Li replied calmly.
The Dao soldiers had already formed a special array, surrounding everyone in the center.
The Dao soldiers' golden armor glowed with a blinding light, and Han Li felt a sharp pain in his eyes, forcing him to narrow them.
He activated his Jiu You Mo Yan Shen Tong, and a purple light emanated from his eyes, making the dazzling light less piercing.
The others followed suit, using their own methods to counter the light, some using their spiritual eyes, others using artifacts to block the light.
Han Li scanned the area, seeing that the golden light was emanating from the Dao soldiers' armor, and that colorful symbols were appearing on their armor, flying off their bodies, and transforming into different colored lights that flowed back into their bodies.
As the lights entered their bodies, the Dao soldiers underwent strange transformations, with one group growing larger and more robust, another group growing even more massive, with their bodies covered in golden rock-like armor, and another group's armor melting away, revealing a flowing golden liquid.
The red light-infused Dao soldiers had flames erupting from their armor, while the golden light-infused Dao soldiers held golden spears with intricate patterns.
"This is incredible," Jiao San exclaimed, his eyes wide with wonder. "How can there be so many Dao soldiers with different attributes?"
"These Dao soldiers are already incredibly powerful, each with the strength of a Golden Immortal," Han Li said calmly. "And they're all imbued with the power of the five elements. This is impossible!"
"Ha! It seems I underestimated the old man, Wenhui, after all," Qimozi said with a chuckle.
"Lei Yuze, what's going on?" Lanyuanzi asked, turning to Lei Yuze.
"I...I don't know," Lei Yuze replied, looking surprised.
Although he should have been the most knowledgeable about the Suiyue Tower, the constant surprises had shown that even he didn't fully understand it.
"The Dao soldiers' attributes are changing due to the array and the five-element altar," Han Li explained. "They're responding to each other, creating this phenomenon."
"You mean that the Dao soldiers' attributes are being influenced by the five-element altar?" Jiao San asked, furrowing his brow.
It should be said that these Dao soldiers can borrow the power from the Five Elements Altar to strengthen themselves. Han Li said so.
Just as he was speaking, the dazzling golden light had retreated, and the five-colored Dao soldiers surrounding them had also begun to charge towards Han Li and the others, wielding their weapons.
Among them, the two Dao soldiers with water and wood attributes charged towards the group of demons led by Qi Mozi.
Han Li's pupils constricted slightly as he saw this.
These Dao soldiers seemed to be in disarray as they charged, but in reality, they were still based on the previous formation, making some adjustments, and their mutual attack and defense were perfectly coordinated, with no flaws to be found.
Lei Yu and the others also noticed this, and their expressions turned serious as they activated their magical techniques and formed a defensive stance to prepare for battle.
"The rest is up to you guys."
Qi Mozi spoke as he suddenly leapt forward, crossing over the demons, and with a wave of his sleeves, a golden light rolled out, and he actively charged towards the fire-attribute Dao soldiers.
As soon as he made his move, he summoned a golden flame torch to hover in front of him, seemingly wanting to use the power of time to immobilize the Dao soldiers.
However, he soon discovered that his time-based magical technique had no effect on these Dao soldiers.
On the other hand, Xiong Shan, who was following closely behind him, was affected by the flame torch's radiance and was frozen in place, unable to move.
"Hmph, so that's how it is." Qi Mozi's eyes scanned the golden lanterns on the altar, and he suddenly understood.
These Dao soldiers could borrow the power of the altar, and naturally, they could also borrow the power of the divine lanterns to resist the effects of time-based magical techniques.
Qi Mozi immediately retracted the golden flame torch and took out the black stone axe, swinging it horizontally towards the incoming fire-attribute Dao soldiers.
A loud "whooshing" sound erupted as the axe blade extended, sweeping across the fire-attribute Dao soldiers in a half-moon shape.
The fire-attribute Dao soldiers seemed to know the consequences and immediately halted their charge, quickly changing their formation. The flames on their armor's surface connected, forming a single entity, and the frontmost Dao soldiers simultaneously swung their knives.
A loud "boom" echoed as the air in front of the fire-attribute Dao soldiers trembled, and a massive wall of flames erupted, advancing towards Qi Mozi like a raging tide.
The flames burned through the air, creating a series of space whirlpools.
Almost immediately, a second wave of flames formed, followed by a third, and so on.
As the black axe shadow fell on the first wave of flames, over a dozen space whirlpools had already appeared.
The two forces collided, producing a deafening roar, and the first wave of flames shattered, while the axe shadow exploded, but still maintained its momentum, striking the second and third waves of flames.
The remaining flames and the exploded axe shadow were all consumed by the space whirlpools, leaving no trace.
However, before the sounds of the collision had completely dissipated, Qi Mozi's black stone axe had already become a black whirlwind, enveloping him, and he had broken through the multiple waves of flames, directly charging into the midst of the fire-attribute Dao soldiers.
On the other side, Bai Gu and Tong Shi, along with the other four demons, looked at the incoming wood-attribute Dao soldiers and involuntarily focused their attention on the Eagle Nose Demon.
"How to form the array, Second Brother, you arrange it," the Eagle Nose Demon said slowly, his arms crossed. "Just remember not to break the formation too early, let them scout ahead first."
He seemed to have no intention of taking action himself, instead letting the other four demons work together to defend against the enemy.
"Don't worry, Big Brother, I'll take care of it," Bai Gu said.
The other demons seemed to have already grown accustomed to this and didn't think it was a problem.
"Brothers, it's been a long time since we've exercised our muscles. Today, let's use the Four Symbols Affinity Array to counter them," Bai Gu said, his eyes flashing with a fierce smile.
"Good!"
"Time to warm up!"
Tong Shi and the others responded in unison.
As soon as they finished speaking, the four demons charged forward, their bodies enveloped in rolling black smoke, and their auras of ferocity surged, increasing by a hundredfold in an instant. In the black smoke, four ferocious beasts could be vaguely seen, with electricity flashing and thunder rumbling within, and flames flickering faintly.
Among them, the copper lion was in the lead, with the White Bone Pavilion behind, and the other two demons standing on either side. It was clear that they had formed a certain unspoken understanding, and although their attacks seemed independent, they were actually like one body.
The wood-attribute cultivators, who had rushed forward, were not afraid, with a burst of green light on their bodies, and their weapons suddenly falling to the ground, causing the earth to tremble violently.
The eagle-nosed demon's eyebrows furrowed, looking down, and saw a layer of green light spreading across the ground, and a layer of slippery green moss had grown, with roots and vines sprouting vigorously beneath it, suddenly breaking through the earth.
With a loud "boom", the ground beneath the demons' feet suddenly cracked open, and countless green vines burst out from the ground, piercing the Four Symbols Attached Array, causing the black smoke to surge and rumble.
"This is interesting, let's play together."
The eagle-nosed demon muttered to himself, stretching out his arms to both sides, and a layer of black flames suddenly appeared on his body. He then leapt up like a proud eagle, and plunged into the array.
At the same time, the battle between the other cultivators and the demons erupted.
The Blue Yuan siblings and the cultivators with flowing golden liquid on their bodies clashed, with the two of them flashing blue light, and their spiritual energy seemingly combined through some secret technique.
As they swung their four arms, a continuous flow of water burst forth from their bodies, constantly resisting the flowing golden liquid, and a white mist rose from the midst, releasing a bewildering fragrance that shook the soul.
At the same time, Lei Yu and Wen Zhong and Su Shengzi joined forces to deal with the stone giants, and the two sides were evenly matched.
The stone cultivators did not have any strange divine abilities, but their bodies were extremely sturdy and powerful, and under the support of their formation, they were even more formidable. Every time they were defeated, they could recover in a short time, like having a life of their own, making them very difficult to deal with.
Han Li, on the other hand, was currently working together with Jiao San and Huo San to deal with the cultivators holding golden spears.
These cultivators' armor was just as sturdy as the stone cultivators, and their spears were even more strange. Every time they stabbed out, the spiral golden light at the tip would shoot out like arrows, and the golden light was extremely sharp, able to tear through the void. Han Li, even though he kept a distance of tens of meters from the cultivators, the golden light they shot out could still pierce through to his vital points in an instant, making it difficult for him to defend against.
Moreover, these cultivators seemed to have little spiritual intelligence, but they were actually well-coordinated, like a well-disciplined army. Every time they attacked, they would have a follow-up move, forcing Han Li and the others to be on guard.
Just as Han Li suddenly shouted "Be careful!", Huo San was shocked, and his body suddenly twisted, barely avoiding the two golden spears that had transformed into a large sheet of golden light. However, he did not expect that above his head, another cultivator had jumped up, and stabbed downwards with his spear.
The spearhead's golden light flashed, and a large sheet of golden light rolled down, Huo San's body twisted to avoid it, but his shoulder was still pierced, and blood flowed out.
He glanced at the wound, and saw that it was not serious, so he continued to fight with the cultivators.
However, after a while, he discovered that his shoulder wound had not healed, and his entire arm had become heavy, as if filled with lead.
He was shocked, and quickly called out to Han Li and Jiao San, and took out a few medicinal pills, closed his eyes to meditate, but after a moment, he was shocked to discover that even after taking the medicinal pills, his wound was still bleeding non-stop.
Han Li saw this, and his heart moved slightly, his palm flipped, and he took out a yellow gourd, pouring out a yellow cloud that swirled and released a few yellow beans that rolled out, falling to the ground, and transforming into a few lightning cultivators, charging forward to fight with the golden-armored cultivators.
Han Li's cultivators were far inferior to the golden-armored cultivators in terms of level, but they had the advantage of numbers, and with Jiao San's cooperation, they could temporarily hold off the golden-armored cultivators' attacks.
"Fox Three, do not worry," Han Li said, as he flashed to Huo San's side.
"These cultivators' golden light is strange, a small wound is bleeding non-stop, and my arm is heavy, almost unable to lift it. Even the Clear Spirit Dan and other medicinal pills are ineffective." Huo San's brow was furrowed, and he said.
Han Li heard this, and his brow furrowed, his palm lifted, and a golden light appeared on his palm, gently touching Huo San's wound.
As the golden light flashed, the wound began to glow, and a small tree shadow appeared, with a dense time law fluctuation, and it was Han Li's Dong Yi Divine Tree.
The tree's shadow roots delved into Huo San's wound, and its branches swayed, stirring up layers of golden ripples, and a scorching sensation spread from the wound.
Huo San saw this, and exclaimed, "Ah!", and was shocked to discover that his arm was no longer as heavy as before, and the blood flow from the wound had stopped.
"Time is pressing, I have temporarily sealed the wound with time force, but later you will need to find another way to dispel this power." Han Li said quickly.
"This is enough, thank you." Huo San nodded, and thanked him.
(To be continued)
First set a small goal, such as remembering for one second: the reading website of Shu Ke Ju's mobile version
Han Li's figure shifted, and his gaze swept past the golden armored cultivators, landing on the five-colored altar. His expression was uncertain, as if he was pondering something.
"Is Fellow Daoist Han onto something?" Fox Three's eyes flashed, and he asked.
"These cultivators can borrow power from the altar," Han Li said. "If we don't find a way to block it, it will only get more troublesome."
Han Li's words were met with a nod from Jiao Three, who had also retreated from the battlefield. "Fellow Daoist Han, what method do you propose?"
"I want to try using my spiritual domain to isolate this connection," Han Li said. "However, my spiritual domain alone may not be enough. I need your help."
"Can I just release my spiritual domain?" Jiao Three asked.
"Not yet. First, let's focus on isolating these golden armored cultivators. If we can break one of them, the others will follow," Han Li said.
"Alright, let's do it," Jiao Three said.
"Not yet, I'll inform the others first," Han Li said, and he transmitted his voice to Lei Yuze and the others, telling them that he would be constricting his spiritual domain and asking them to be prepared.
After everyone acknowledged, Han Li nodded to Jiao Three.
Suddenly, a golden spiritual domain contracted, and a dark red spiritual domain expanded, their ranges almost completely overlapping. The golden armored cultivators were surrounded by the two spiritual domains.
As the spiritual domains constricted, Lei Yuze and the others felt a sudden sluggishness, and they frantically activated their internal spiritual energy to resist the temporal laws of the Years God Lamp.
Meanwhile, Han Li's spiritual domain and Jiao Three's spiritual domain merged, producing a strange aura. The light from both spiritual domains surged several times, and the aura emitted by them also increased greatly.
The golden armored cultivators trapped within the two spiritual domains saw the light on their golden spears dim, and even the golden light vortex on the spear tips began to disappear.
"It's working! Break through the formation quickly!" Han Li exclaimed, his heart filled with joy.
At his command, Jiao Three and Fox Three were also greatly invigorated, and with Han Li's cultivators cooperating, they quickly slaughtered the golden armored cultivators, creating a gap in the formation.
Just as Han Li was about to celebrate, a loud "rumble" echoed from the other side, and flames erupted into the air. It seemed that Qi Mozi's cultivators had also been defeated.
The cultivators on both sides were broken through, and the original five-element interdependence was disrupted. The remaining cultivators were unable to operate smoothly and were defeated one by one.
Han Li saw this and quickly gathered the remaining cultivators, taking a large step forward as he prepared to rush towards the altar.
However, just as he was about to do so, a black and white light suddenly erupted from the ground, and a black and white figure flew out silently. The figure flashed by, passing over the cultivators, and flew straight towards the altar.
Han Li's eyes narrowed as he watched the figure, and he discovered that it was a young woman dressed in a black and white silk robe. Her face was cold and expressionless, with a faint black and white aura surrounding her.
What surprised Han Li even more was that his gaze could lock onto the woman's figure, but his spiritual sense couldn't detect any aura from her. It was as if she was a mere illusion.
The others were also unaware of the woman's presence from the beginning.
"What is this thing...?" Jiao Three exclaimed in surprise.
"A puppet hiding the yin and yang laws? This is indeed rare. I wonder whose handiwork this is?" Qi Mozi sneered, her eyes scanning the surroundings quickly.
Lei Yuze and the others looked at each other in confusion, but they didn't have time to investigate further. They chased after the woman.
The black and white woman stretched out her hand, and a three-foot square taiji shield condensed from the black and white light on her palm. The shield resisted the suppressive force of the altar, allowing her to break through unimpeded.
Her hand landed on the three command plates belonging to Qu Lin, not on the golden scroll, the black iron plate, or the golden lamp.
"Stop!" Fox Three shouted, his hand flashing as he drew the Celestial Fox Blood Knife.
A blood-red arc of light shot out, resembling a blood-red crescent moon, and flew towards the black and white woman's back.
The woman didn't seem to react, but her other hand formed a strange hand seal, and a burst of black and white light erupted from her back. The light condensed into a massive taiji double fish diagram.
The blood-red arc of light struck the double fish diagram, and a blinding flash of blood-red light exploded. A fierce, razor-sharp power burst forth from the light, cutting through the surrounding void and causing the light to become distorted.
However, the next instant, the black and white light on the double fish diagram began to rotate rapidly, emitting a strange wave that transmitted a formless attractive force. The blood-red light was absorbed into the diagram, and it disappeared.
At the same time, the black and white woman's hand had already reached into the golden lamp, grasping for the three command plates.
But just as she was about to obtain them, a sudden change occurred! Only the translated text is provided below:
The golden lantern, shaped like a lotus flower, suddenly shook violently, and a blinding golden light burst forth from it.
The wick inside the lantern flared up, and the flame grew stronger.
With a loud "boom," a circle of golden flames erupted from the wick, spreading out in all directions like a tidal wave.
The black and white woman, who was closest to the lantern, was the first to be hit. She had just opened a layer of Taiji pattern in front of her, but the flames struck her with great force, sending her flying backward. She crashed into the temple door and fell to the ground.
As she struggled to get up, she rolled away and disappeared into the ground.
Lei Yuze and the others, who were chasing after her, were caught off guard by the sudden eruption of flames. They retreated in all directions, trying to avoid the flames.
Lan Yuansu pulled Lan Yan behind him and swung his hand, summoning a blue cloth bag that appeared out of thin air. The bag emitted a loud rumbling sound, and a blue mist burst forth, forming a water screen that blocked the flames.
The flames collided with the water screen, causing a massive explosion that sent Lan Yuansu and Lan Yan flying backward. They landed on the ground, with Lan Yan unscathed but Lan Yuansu spitting out a mouthful of blood.
"Brother, how are you?" Lan Yan asked, concern etched on her face.
Lan Yuansu waved his hand, indicating that he was fine, and stood up, putting the blue cloth bag away.
Compared to the two of them, the others were more severely affected by the flames. Even the five demons with thick skin were forced to retreat.
Xiong Shan, who had kept his distance from the altar, was the least affected.
On the other hand, Han Li and Qimozi were not affected by the flames at all. Instead, they took advantage of the situation to charge forward, continuing their approach to the altar.
Han Li's body was surrounded by five time law objects, which emitted a powerful time law force that allowed him to resist the flames and approach the altar.
Qimozi, who had only one golden torch floating in front of him, was able to release a time law force that was even stronger than Han Li's. He was also at a higher cultivation level than Han Li, and he reached the altar first.
His eyes were filled with golden light, and his pupils reflected the image of the lotus flower lantern.
"Ha ha, the Years God Lamp is finally mine!" Qimozi exclaimed, his face filled with joy.
As he spoke, his hand, which was wrapped in a layer of golden light, reached out to grab the lamp.
But the lamp didn't budge, as if it were rooted to the altar.
Qimozi's brow furrowed, and he summoned all his spiritual energy, causing his aura to surge wildly. He was at the peak of his cultivation level, and his power was unmatched.
Finally, the Years God Lamp was shaken by his massive force, and the lamp's body tilted slightly.
The golden oil inside the lamp spilled out, and a small drop of it was ignited by the wick, falling to the ground.
Qimozi's eyes widened in shock, and the golden torch in front of him flew to his chest, merging with his body.
At the same time, his arm, which was wrapped in golden light, was enveloped by a spiral-shaped golden flame that resembled a dragon.
The drop of oil that had fallen to the ground suddenly erupted into a fierce golden flame, which pounced on Qimozi's arm.
When the two flames, both of which contained time laws, met, a shocking scene unfolded.
The flames on Qimozi's arm only burned for a moment before retreating back into his body, but his arm was consumed by the flames, turning into a charred stump in the blink of an eye.
Taking advantage of Qimozi's struggle with the lamp, Han Li caught up to him and reached out to grab the other objects on the altar.
"No!" Qimozi cried out in alarm.
His charred arm broke off at the shoulder, but his other hand shot out to grab the remaining objects on the altar.
Han Li's hand swept past, grabbing the golden book scroll and two blood-colored tokens. Qimozi's hand, however, grasped the black iron token and the last blood-colored token.
The two of them didn't have time to fight over the objects, as they both retreated quickly, fleeing from the altar as the Years God Lamp continued to malfunction.
()
At this moment, countless golden light points appeared on the walls of the grand hall, flashing and extinguishing.
Suddenly, all the light points burst into a brilliant golden light, weaving together to form a thick golden light screen that enveloped the entire hall, including the floor and ceiling. The light screen was so dense that it seemed to have a physical presence, and its surface rippled with golden light waves, giving off an aura of unshakeable solidity.
The space within the grand hall became increasingly condensed, and its connection to the outside world was completely severed, forming a completely independent void.
At the same time, the flame on the altar's Years God Lamp surged again, its color changing to a golden hue, and the temporal laws it emitted became even stronger.
With a loud "whoosh", nine dragon-shaped flames shot out from the lamp's flame, pouncing towards Han Li and his companion.
Qimozi, who had been burned once before, didn't dare to entangle himself with these obviously more powerful dragon-shaped flames, and immediately retreated backwards.
Han Li was shocked by the changes around him, but his movements didn't slow down at all. He retreated even faster than Qimozi, flashing out of the area and landing on the ground several hundred feet away.
As soon as they landed, the nearby Dao soldiers swarmed towards them.
Although Han Li and his companions had broken through the Dao soldiers' formation, there were still many soldiers left, but without the formation's support, their power was greatly reduced.
Han Li grasped his sword seal and swung it, and a golden light flashed on his body. Innumerable sharp golden sword auras shot out from his body, exploding in all directions.
A series of dull sounds echoed through the air, and the nearby Dao soldiers were instantly knocked flying, clearing out a large area. However, more Dao soldiers continued to charge forward, undaunted.
"Brother Han, come here!" a voice called out.
Han Li looked over and saw that Huo San and Jiao San were standing with their backs against the wall of the grand hall, each holding a magical artifact that was repelling the Dao soldiers.
He moved his body and transformed into a golden light, flying over to join them.
"Brother Han, you're indeed powerful, but I wonder whose two life-bound tokens these are?" Huo San asked, his eyes fixed on the two blood-colored tokens in Han Li's hand.
Han Li looked at the tokens and saw that they were engraved with a small golden insect and a white horse, respectively.
Huo San's face fell, and he turned to look at Qimozi. Jiao San didn't look at Han Li's tokens, seemingly uninterested in them, and his eyes also turned towards Qimozi, a flash of strange light flickering in his gaze.
At this moment, Qimozi had already fallen to the ground near the five demonic creatures. His severed arm was still stained with a layer of golden light, which was writhing and spreading towards his shoulder, leaving a trail of charred flesh in its wake.
"Master, your arm!" Xiongshan exclaimed.
"It's just a minor injury, don't make a fuss!" Qimozi snorted, opening his mouth to spit out a small golden sword.
In an instant, the sword transformed into a golden light that wrapped around his shoulder, severing a small piece of flesh. The wound was covered by a layer of golden light, and not a single drop of blood flowed out.
As soon as the flesh was severed from his body, it "puffed" into a small cloud of ash that dispersed into the air.
Qimozi's face fell, and he flipped his hand to take out a fragrant green pill, which he swallowed. A green glow enveloped his severed arm, and a new arm condensed into existence, looking identical to the original.
Han Li shifted his gaze away from Qimozi and scanned the surrounding area, his mouth opening in a soft exclamation.
The Lanyue siblings were standing near the wall of the grand hall, fighting against the Dao soldiers.
However, Lei Yuzhe, Wen Zhong, and Su Shuqian were nowhere to be seen.
Han Li was about to cast a spell to search for them when the space above the altar suddenly fluctuated, and several figures appeared out of thin air. It was Lei Yuzhe, Wen Zhong, and Su Shuqian, along with a new figure – an old man wearing a Daoist robe and a feathered crown, with a cold and gaunt face.
The old man held a golden talisman the size of a palm, engraved with a golden lamp pattern identical to the Years God Lamp. The talisman emitted a powerful temporal law that was identical to the lamp's.
The old man shook the talisman, and a golden light shot out, entering the Years God Lamp. The lamp's flame immediately shrank back to its original state.
The people in the grand hall were all stunned by this sudden turn of events.
"Could it be that you are the Sect Master of the Tongtian Sword Sect, Dao Yin Zhenren?" Jiao San asked, his eyes filled with a mix of awe and trepidation.
"Dao Yin Zhenren!"
The others heard the name and were shocked, their faces filled with a mix of fear and reverence. Even Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yanzhi's eyes flickered with a hint of fear as they quietly retreated a few steps.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he thought back to the information he had gathered about the Tongtian Sword Sect. The Patriarch of the Tongtian Sword Sect, Dao Yin True Person, was renowned throughout the Jinyuan Immortal Realm, and his name was known to all. His reputation was even greater than that of the Palace Master of the Jinyuan Immortal Palace, Dongfang Bai.
This was not because of any other reason, but because Dao Yin True Person's cultivation had reached the Great Luo Realm, and his temperament was fierce and unyielding. He was known to be ruthless towards evil, and if one were to provoke him, he would not hesitate to disregard even the face of the Immortal Palace.
It was said that he had been in seclusion for many years, attempting to sever his mortal body and take his cultivation to the next level. It was unknown whether he had already succeeded.
But when did this Dao Yin True Person arrive here?
The entrance to the great hall had already been closed, and even a Great Luo existence could not easily sneak in. Or perhaps Dao Yin True Person was related to the black and white puppet woman from earlier?
However, Han Li stopped speculating, as Lei Yuze provided the answer.
He muttered to himself, raised his hand, and a silver light flashed before him, transforming into a spatial gate.
Han Li was familiar with this silver spatial gate, which was the exit of the spatial treasure.
The silver light flashed once, and three figures emerged from the spatial gate, standing at the top of the altar.
The three of them wore the attire of the Tongtian Sword Sect and appeared to be members of the sect.
The two men were an old man with a yellow face and a young man with red hair, while the woman was a beautiful young woman with a green crystal stone embedded in her forehead, giving her an otherworldly charm.
The three of them were not weak, and were all mid-stage Taiyi Realm cultivators.
"Lei Dao friend, I didn't expect you to have a spatial treasure on your person, hiding Dao Yin True Person and these fellow Daoists. What is the meaning of this?" Jiao San asked in a deep voice.
"Evil demons and heretics, you still dare to try to steal the treasure of our Jinyuan Immortal Realm? Today, this is the place of your downfall!" Lei Yuze did not speak, but Dao Yin True Person's face was filled with disdain as he swept his gaze across the people in the hall, his voice cold and detached.
Before he had finished speaking, he raised his sleeve, and a light flashed before him, producing a jade disk the size of a face basin.
The disk was divided into five sections, each with a different color: gold, green, blue, red, and yellow. Each section was inscribed with numerous talismans, and it appeared to be a treasure.
The crowd saw this and retreated several steps, their bodies radiating various colors of light as they revealed their guard.
But Qi Mozi saw the five-colored disk and revealed a look of surprise, raising his sleeve.
A light flashed before him, and another five-colored disk appeared, almost identical to the one in front of Dao Yin True Person.
Dao Yin True Person saw Qi Mozi's actions and a hint of mockery appeared on his lips. He pinched his fingers together, and his mouth began to chant a obscure incantation.
The five-colored disk in front of him immediately radiated a dazzling light, with the colors gold, green, blue, red, and yellow swirling around each other.
Qi Mozi also pinched his fingers together, attempting to activate his five-colored disk, but it remained still, his face changing color.
A loud rumbling sound shook the ground near the altar, and five massive jade pillars, each over a hundred feet tall, erupted from the ground. Each pillar was inscribed with dense array patterns.
Lei Yuze and Su Zhongyan immediately flew out, landing on the gold and blue pillars respectively.
The yellow-faced old man, the red-haired young man, and the beautiful young woman also flew out, landing on the yellow, red, and green pillars.
Only Wen Zhong remained, standing behind Dao Yin True Person with a look of nonchalance.
He gazed at the five people on the pillars, particularly Lei Yuze, and a hint of jealousy and dissatisfaction flashed in his eyes.
After the five of them sat down, they began to rapidly pinch their fingers together, and a dense array of talismans poured into the pillars beneath them.
The array patterns on the pillars radiated a brilliant light, and then a loud rumbling sound shook the air as the five pillars merged into five massive beams of light, shooting towards the sky and emitting a deafening roar that echoed throughout the great hall.
A massive energy erupted from the five-colored beams, sweeping towards the surroundings and creating a storm that ravaged the air. The stable void nearby began to distort and ripple.
The Dao soldiers in the great hall were like fallen leaves in a hurricane, swept up by the storm and crashing into the walls.
Han Li and the others stumbled backward, their faces pale, and were only stopped by the palace walls.
Only Qi Mozi remained standing, his face looking terrible as he rapidly pinched his fingers together, attempting to activate his five-colored disk, but it remained still.
"Don't be delusional, your five-element wheel may have been able to control the previous array, but it's impossible to control the current five-element void array!" Dao Yin True Person sneered.
"You've changed the structure of the array when you repaired the array eye!" Qi Mozi suddenly realized, his face pale.
"You're not stupid, but we've long expected that as soon as the Taishang Immortal Mansion appeared, the Heavenly Court would definitely send someone to intervene. How could we not have prepared?" Dao Yin True Person laughed loudly, his hands moving faster.
The five-colored pillars radiated an increasingly brilliant light, and the colors began to connect with each other.
()
“Wǔ Xíng Yān Kōng Dà Zhèn! Quick, don't let them activate this array!” Jiao San exclaimed, his face turning pale with shock as he overheard Dao Yin Zhenren and Qi Mozi's conversation.
As he spoke, his body's dark red glow intensified, and he forced his way through the turbulent air currents, charging towards the five-colored light pillars.
Han Li and Huo San, although they had never heard of the Wǔ Xíng Yān Kōng Dà Zhèn's name, saw Jiao San's frantic state and immediately followed him.
Dao Yin Zhenren coldly smiled, not showing any concern, and waved his hand holding the golden talisman.
In an instant, the Years God Lamp's flame surged once more, and the nine golden dragons reappeared, rapidly growing several dozen times larger, transforming into nine massive dragons that charged towards Han Li and the others.
Han Li and the others had just witnessed the golden dragons' power and hastily dodged.
Jiao San's mouth curled into a sly smile, and he let out a soft cry, waving his right hand.
A yellow glow shot out from his hand, a large earth-yellow seal, flying through the gaps between the nine dragons, and in an instant, it appeared before the five jade pillars.
Jiao San rapidly recited incantations, his jade finger pointing into the air.
A deafening boom echoed, and the earth-yellow seal burst forth with an astonishing spiritual pressure, while radiating countless earth-yellow rays, dazzling and difficult to gaze upon. Moreover, layer upon layer of mysterious yellow symbols swirled around its surface.
As the symbols flashed and disappeared, merging into the seal's body, the seal rapidly expanded, instantly transforming into a massive yellow seal the size of a small mountain, occupying nearly half of the hall's space, and with a force of a thousand pounds, it crashed towards the five jade pillars.
Compared to the earth-yellow seal, the originally thick five jade pillars now seemed like five chopsticks.
“Huang Tian Hou Tu Yin… unfortunately, you used it in the wrong place.” Dao Yin Zhenren's face remained calm, his fingers forming a seal, pointing at the yellow jade pillar.
The light pillar on the yellow jade pillar immediately split off, striking the earth-yellow seal.
The seal's surface radiance let out a "hiss" as it suddenly vanished.
The massive seal's size rapidly shrank, and in an instant, it returned to its original size, flying into the yellow light pillar, hovering above the yellow-faced old man's head, spinning rapidly.
“What!” Jiao San's eyes widened as he witnessed this scene, his face changing color.
“Hmph! The five immortal artifacts you took away were originally part of this array. Why else would we let you take them away so easily? Now, they're all back!” Dao Yin Zhenren's face revealed a cold smile as he glanced at the others, his hand slapping the five-colored round plate.
The five-colored round plate suddenly lit up, and the surrounding five-colored light pillars also lit up, rotating and flashing, emitting a summoning intent.
The giant mountain's massive ancient sword in Xiong Shan's hand suddenly radiated a brilliant golden light, shooting out with a "whoosh" sound, flying towards the gold-colored light pillar of the Wǔ Xíng Yān Kōng Dà Zhèn, despite Xiong Shan's attempts to control it.
The blue-colored small pouch in Lan Yan's hand also lit up, radiating countless blue lights, suddenly escaping his control, flying towards the blue-colored light pillar.
Almost simultaneously, the storage artifact on Lan Yuanzi's body flashed with a green light, and a two-foot-long emerald green staff suddenly appeared, flying towards the Wǔ Xíng Yān Kōng Dà Zhèn.
Han Li's fingers suddenly felt a surge of heat, and the next moment, a white glow appeared beside him, the white fireball floating in mid-air, rapidly flying towards the front.
His face sank, and his large hand grasped at the air.
A deafening boom echoed, and a golden giant palm appeared above the fireball, grasping at it, but the fireball's surface radiance suddenly intensified, and seven or eight white fire columns shot out, piercing the golden palm, and then rapidly twisting.
A faint "hiss" sound echoed, and the golden palm was easily torn apart, disintegrating into countless golden lights.
This series of changes occurred in an instant, and the white fireball barely paused before disappearing into the red light pillar.
The other three immortal artifacts also flew into the gold, blue, and green light pillars, hovering above Lei Yu Ce's head, spinning rapidly.
With the power of the five immortal artifacts, the five-colored light pillars lit up once more, radiating a terrifying law fluctuation.
Dao Yin Zhenren's face remained calm, his hand dropping the golden talisman, and he spat out several mouthfuls of essence blood, merging them into the five-colored round plate.
At the same time, his hands formed a wheel-like seal, and a torrent of incantations shot out, entering the five-colored round plate.
Lei Yu Ce and the others also spat out essence blood, merging them into the immortal artifacts above their heads, their bodies radiating dazzling lights, pouring into the immortal artifacts.
As Dao Yin Zhenren cast his spell, the five-colored round plate radiated a frantic flash of light, and then suddenly dimmed.
The surrounding five-colored light pillars also entwined each other, merging into a five-colored ball-shaped light screen, enveloping the altar and the people within.
This series of changes seemed complex, but it was completed in just a few breaths, and Han Li and the others were unable to intervene, everything was already over.
At this moment, a dramatic change occurred outside the Years Temple!
The five array eyes on the giant peak emitted a deafening boom, each shooting out a massive light pillar, far thicker than the ones inside the Years Temple, resembling five giant pillars supporting the heavens, piercing the sky. The sky's cloud layer immediately began to churn and surge, and the seventh layer of space also started to rumble and shake.
The primordial energy of the heavens and earth surged, like a tidal wave, towards the five pillars of light that held up the sky.
A gigantic, five-colored sphere of light, with the five pillars of light at its center, slowly emerged, enveloping the sky and the towering peaks below.
A massive and powerful energy emanated from the sphere of light, causing the surrounding void to shatter and collapse with a mere ripple.
Meanwhile, inside the Temple of the Ages, the storm that had been raging within had finally subsided, and all the fluctuations in the primordial energy had been absorbed into the five-colored sphere of light.
The sphere of light displayed a series of five-colored spiritual patterns, emitting a soft, gentle glow that seemed to lack any killing intent, as if it were a ordinary seal.
However, Han Li's gaze as he looked at the sphere of light was extremely solemn, and he felt a sense of trepidation.
The storage device in his possession, the Tianyan Sword Diagram, suddenly burst into radiant light, emitting a low hum as it faced the sphere of light, as if it were challenging it.
Han Li sensed the anomaly in his storage device, but he didn't have time to worry about it, given the urgent situation.
"Jiao San, you seem to be familiar with the Five Elements Void Array, what exactly is this formation?" Han Li asked, his voice barely audible to the three of them.
Hou San also turned to look at Han Li.
"The Five Elements Void Array is one of the Ten Great Ancient Formations, which has long been lost to the ages, so very few people know about it. I didn't expect to find one here. Although this formation appears incomplete, using the power of the five artifacts to improvise, it's still extremely powerful, and I fear we can't withstand it," Jiao San said, his face grim.
"What should we do? Are we going to be killed by that bull-nosed fiend?" Hou San asked anxiously.
"We can only fight to the death!" Jiao San said, his expression grave.
Hou San's face turned pale as he heard Jiao San's words.
Han Li's expression was also solemn, but he didn't seem to be despairing. He looked around, his mind racing with thoughts.
It was clear that Dao Yin intended to go all out, killing everyone, including the demonic beasts, and even Qi Mozi, in this place. However, Han Li didn't think that Qi Mozi and the five demonic beasts would really surrender.
If they could work together, the problem would be much easier to solve, but Dao Yin had already seen the situation and knew that the people present wouldn't cooperate.
"Qi Mozi, didn't you say you could control the Five Elements Void Array and the Temple of the Ages? What's going on?" the White Bone Demon asked, his voice cold and menacing.
The other demonic beasts also glared at Qi Mozi, except for the Eagle-Nosed Demon, who seemed calm.
Qi Mozi's expression turned dark, but he didn't speak.
The other demonic beasts had been confident in their abilities, and they had followed Qi Mozi to this place, expecting to easily kill Han Li and the others, and plunder their treasures.
Qi Mozi had promised to give them half of the treasures, but things hadn't turned out as expected.
The Blue Yuanzi and Blue Yan looked at the five-colored sphere of light and immediately retreated to a safe distance, but they didn't approach Han Li or Qi Mozi, seeming to distrust them.
Inside the sphere of light, Dao Yin had stopped casting his spell.
His face was pale, as if he had consumed a lot of primordial energy, but his expression was excited and frenzied, as he gazed at the five-colored sphere of light.
Dao Yin's gaze turned towards Han Li and the others, and a cruel smile spread across his face. He raised his hand, and the five-colored sphere of light burst into radiance.
A series of circular patterns appeared on the surface of the sphere, and countless orbs of light shot out, striking the people inside the temple with the force of a thunderbolt.
Each orb of light flashed with five-colored light, and each color emitted a force of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The five elements clashed fiercely, but didn't explode, instead emitting a deafening roar that shook the temple and made everyone's ears ache.
The people inside the temple turned pale, and they hastily set up their defenses.
The five demonic beasts, including the Eagle-Nosed Demon, the Copper Lion Demon, the White Bone Demon, the Blood Hand Demon, and the Turtle-Backed Demon, unleashed their black energy, revealing their true forms, and cast their spiritual domains.
The five black domains intertwined, forming a black, oval-shaped array, with the five demons sitting at its center. This was the Four Symbols Domain Array, their ultimate technique.
The array was incredibly powerful, with countless black lightning bolts, dark flames, and black symbols swirling within, making it nearly indestructible.
Moreover, the five demons spat out numerous, colorful magical artifacts, each emitting a powerful magical energy that flew around the array, increasing its might.
The Eagle-Nosed Demon and the others seemed to be angry at Qi Mozi for not keeping his promise, and they didn't include him in their array, leaving him outside.
Qi Mozi's expression turned dark, but he didn't speak.
The Blue Yuanzi and Blue Yan stood at a distance, watching the scene unfold, but they didn't approach Han Li or Qi Mozi, seemingly distrustful of them.
The five-colored sphere of light continued to radiate energy, and the people inside the temple were on the verge of collapse.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he thought of a plan.
Qi Mozi saw this scene, but he didn't panic, instead, he revealed a hint of cold smile.
A brilliant golden light burst forth from his body, enveloping the surrounding area, forming a golden spiritual domain that covered him and Xiong Shan.
This spiritual domain was incredibly dense, and from the outside, it was impossible to see what was happening inside. Only faint glows of treasures could be seen, as if Qi Mozi had taken out a protective treasure.
Lan Shi's siblings were skilled in the Water Law, and they were confident in their defensive abilities. They wouldn't have chosen to act alone if they weren't confident in withstanding the Five Elements Array.
But when they felt the power of the five-colored light balls, their faces changed, and they quickly opened their spiritual domains, intertwining them with each other.
A series of blue law crystals shot out from their bodies, entwining with each other, and merging into a blue vortex.
Next to the vortex, two domain spirits appeared, both with human upper bodies and snake lower bodies. They held two trident-like water spears, surrounded by blue light.
The two domain spirits rapidly moved around Lan Shi, their water spears dancing, releasing countless blue water bombs that swirled around them.
On the other side, Han Li and the others had already set up their defensive formations.
Hu San was the first to act, opening his spiritual domain and taking out the Heaven Fox Blood Knife.
He spat out a mouthful of pure blood, which merged with the knife, causing it to emit a dazzling blood glow. The knife's size increased by a hundred times, transforming into a massive blood-colored blade.
Hu San quickly formed a blood-colored knife array, covering the three of them.
At the same time, Jiao San's body glowed with a dark red light, and she opened her spiritual domain.
Four dark red crystal lights shot out from her body, landing on the four sides of the spiritual domain, forming four dark red pagodas.
The pagodas were inscribed with the characters for east, south, west, and north, emitting a massive amount of dark red light that intertwined with each other, forming a dark red light shield that protected the three of them.
At this moment, a massive golden light burst forth from Han Li's body, forming a time spiritual domain that enveloped the three of them.
A green light flashed, and the Xuan Tian Gourd appeared above Han Li's head.
The gourd emitted a gentle tremor, and 36 green bamboo swords shot out, surrounding the three of them and forming a defensive sword array.
Just as everyone had set up their defenses, countless five-colored light balls descended upon them.
The light balls, which had been relatively stable, exploded as soon as they touched the defensive formations, releasing a massive amount of energy.
The entire hall was filled with a blinding five-colored light, covering everyone's spiritual domains, divine abilities, and treasures.
The golden light shield surrounding the hall remained unmoving, as if it was a powerful seal.
Han Li and the others were also engulfed in the five-colored light, their defenses struggling to withstand the attack.
Hu San's blood-colored knife array was the first to be broken, shattering like paper.
The Heaven Fox Blood Knife reappeared, its blood glow dispersing, and it returned to its original size, emitting a mournful cry as it flew back into Hu San's arms.
Hu San's spiritual domain was also broken, and he stumbled backward, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
The five-colored light balls continued to surge forward, attacking Jiao San's dark red spiritual domain.
Jiao San saw Hu San's defenses being easily torn apart, and her eyes widened in shock. She let out a loud cry, and her dark red spiritual domain flashed brightly.
A series of dark red law crystals appeared, splitting into six, and forming six massive black holes that rapidly rotated.
The black holes seemed to connect to the depths of the underworld, and they emitted a massive devouring force that consumed many of the five-colored light balls.
The six black holes rotated, and the five-colored light balls were absorbed, their power neutralized.
However, the sheer number of five-colored light balls was too much, and the six black holes were unable to keep up. The spiritual domain shattered, and the black holes disappeared.
The five-colored light balls continued to attack, hitting the four dark red pagodas that formed the dark red light shield.
The pagodas glowed brightly, emitting a massive amount of law energy that rivaled Han Li's green bamboo swords.
The dark red light shield flashed rapidly, but it managed to withstand the attack.
However, the five-colored light balls' attack was too strong, and the dark red light shield only lasted for a few breaths before it shattered.
Jiao San's face turned pale, and she spat out a mouthful of blood, her aura weakening.
The five-colored light balls continued to attack, engulfing the four pagodas and the treasures within.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he formed a hand seal, releasing over 200 time law crystals that flew out of his body, swirling within the time spiritual domain.
The time spiritual domain, which had already been close to solidifying, became even more condensed. At the same time, a golden light flashed behind Han Li, and the True Speech Treasure Wheel emerged, spinning rapidly as it released countless golden ripples that merged with the Time Spirit Domain.
Boom!
The surging five-colored essence beams crashed into the Time Spirit Domain, immediately being enveloped by the power of the Time Laws, and instantly becoming motionless.
However, the energy of the five-colored essence beams was too great, causing the Time Spirit Domain and the True Speech Treasure Wheel to tremble violently. The subsequent waves of five-colored essence beams continued to crash into the Time Spirit Domain, causing its tremors to intensify, and it seemed on the verge of shattering.
Han Li had encountered this situation before in the Tongtian Sword Array, but the power of the Wuhang Void Array was far greater, and it had almost broken through his True Speech Treasure Wheel in an instant.
Han Li, though shocked, remained calm and pinched his fingers together once more.
His body was surrounded by a burst of golden light as the Disconnected Time Flame, the Eastern Yi Divine Tree, the Light Shadow Purification Bottle, and the Fantasy Hourglass, four law objects, simultaneously emerged and radiated dazzling golden light, merging with the Time Spirit Domain.
The Time Spirit Domain, which was on the verge of collapse, suddenly stabilized, completely sealing off all the five-colored essence beams that had entered.
Han Li pinched his fingers again, and the thirty-six Qingtong Bee Cloud Swords that formed the sword array around him began to rotate.
Instantly, countless sharp sword energies spun and sliced through the domain, shredding more than half of the five-colored essence beams.
At the same time, the emerald green aura surrounding the Xuantian Gourd above his head suddenly brightened, and a emerald green aura shot out from the gourd's mouth, sweeping towards the remaining five-colored essence beams in the domain.
These five-colored essence beams, which had been sealed off by Han Li's Time Divine Ability, were immediately enveloped by the emerald green aura and sucked into the Xuantian Gourd.
In an instant, the Time Spirit Domain was cleared of all five-colored essence beams.
The subsequent five-colored essence beams that continued to crash in were also sealed off and devoured.
The five-colored essence beams in the hall surged violently for a moment before finally dispersing.
The people in the hall reappeared, each with a different situation.
The Blue Clan siblings, Blue Yan and Blue Yuan, were near the entrance of the hall. Blue Yan's body was covered in blood, and her left hand, left foot, and half of her body were missing. She sat on the ground, staring blankly at a blue jade flower in her right hand.
Blue Yan's shoulders trembled slightly, and tears streamed down her face.
Blue Yuan was nowhere to be seen, leaving behind only two broken immortal artifacts.
The four-domain demon array formed by the Eagle Nose Demon and the others had also collapsed, and two of the demons, the Copper Lion Demon and the Blood Hand Demon, were nowhere to be seen, leaving behind only a few broken demon artifacts.
The Eagle Nose Demon, the White Bone Demon, and the Turtle Shell Demon were all severely injured, their faces filled with fear.
Next to them, a bright golden light flashed, and two figures appeared: Qi Mozi and Xiong Shan.
The two of them were unharmed, their clothes intact.
Inside the five-colored light screen, Dao Yin's face turned even paler, and Lei Yu's group was also affected, their auras greatly diminished.
Han Li withdrew his gaze from the surrounding crowd, pinched his fingers together, and put away the True Speech Treasure Wheel and the other objects.
Jiao San and Huo San stumbled, but managed to catch their breath.
Dao Yin, seeing that there were still many people alive in the hall, seemed surprised, and his eyes flashed with killing intent once more. He pinched his fingers together, pointing at the five-colored disk in front of him.
"Han Daoist, Liu Daoist, if we continue to passively take hits, we'll all die here. I have a plan to turn the situation around, but I need your help."
Jiao San saw Dao Yin's actions and immediately exchanged a message with Han Li and Huo San.
"You're talking about releasing the demon head from the altar?" Han Li's eyes flashed, and he immediately guessed Jiao San's meaning.
"What? Release that demon head? That person might be a Dao Ancestor, and it's a demon from the demon tribe. What if it attacks us after breaking free?" Huo San exclaimed.
"The current situation doesn't allow us to think too much. Besides, I have at least 70% confidence that I can prevent it from attacking us," Jiao San said.
Han Li heard this and felt a sudden surge of excitement.
For some reason, he felt that releasing the demon head was the best option, and even when he arrived at this place, he had this impulse, but it was suppressed.
After all, if they continued to passively take hits, the situation would only get worse.
The Wuhang Void Array's attack had been barely manageable, but as one of the top ten ancient arrays, it must have other attack methods.
If everyone in the hall was killed, Han Li wouldn't be confident in facing the Wuhang Void Array and the Tongtian Sword Sect alone.
As for the consequences of releasing the demon head, he didn't want to think about it.
(With the upcoming holiday, I'll only be able to update once a day. Please forgive me, and I hope you'll continue to support me!)
Here is the translated text:
“Do you have any thoughts on this, Brother Han?” Fox Three didn't respond to Crocodile Three, but instead turned his gaze towards Han Li and asked indifferently.
“Releasing the Black Heaven Demon God is indeed a high-risk move, but if Brother Crocodile has a way to control it, then it might not be a bad idea to use it to resolve our current predicament.” Han Li replied without hesitation, but for some reason, a strange sense of anxiety arose in his heart.
He slightly shook his head and forced himself to calm down.
“I think it's not a good idea. According to Lei Yu's information, the Black Heaven Demon God's power far surpasses ours. If we recklessly release it, we can't control the consequences. In my opinion, it's better to focus on breaking the Five Elements Void Array first and then have a good talk with Dao Yin and the others. It's more stable that way.” Fox Three looked at Han Li with a hint of surprise, seemingly not expecting him to agree with Crocodile Three's proposal.
“Brother Liu, you need to have some faith in me. But since you insist, let's focus on breaking the Five Elements Void Array first. If the situation doesn't improve, we can use the second step and release the Black Heaven Demon God.” Crocodile Three frowned, his expression slightly displeased.
“Alright.” Fox Three nodded, compromising.
“Regardless of whether we're breaking the Five Elements Void Array or releasing the Black Heaven Demon God, we need to first break through the light barrier in front of us. That's not an easy task.” Han Li suddenly spoke up.
“Don't worry about that, Brother Han. When I obtained the Heavenly Earth Seal, I left a hidden hand in it. If I use my magic to activate it, I can disrupt the law of the seal for five breaths. The Five Elements Void Array is based on these five fourth-grade immortal artifacts, so if the Heavenly Earth Seal is disrupted, the five-colored light barrier will definitely have a weakness.” Crocodile Three's eyes flashed with a cunning light, and his weak voice resonated in Han Li and Fox Three's minds.
Han Li was taken aback, looking at the five immortal artifacts behind the light barrier.
These five artifacts were originally only fourth-grade, but he had previously seen their incredible power and thought they had already reached third-grade.
He secretly sighed, realizing that he had been cultivating alone for years, even after joining the Wheel of Rebirth Temple. Although his cultivation had improved, his knowledge and experience were limited compared to someone like Crocodile Three, who was nurtured by a large organization.
“Do you think there's a problem with what I just said, Brother Han?” Crocodile Three noticed Han Li's expression change and asked.
“None, let's not delay. We'll act now.” Han Li shook his head and said.
Crocodile Three nodded, and the two of them briefly discussed their strategy.
With a loud "Boom!", Han Li's Time Domain suddenly burst forth, enveloping the entire hall and covering everyone in its light.
Then, Han Li and the other two flew out, charging towards the altar from three different directions.
Although they had exchanged many words, it didn't take much time, only 1-2 breaths.
The five-colored disk in front of Dao Yin suddenly lit up as he pointed his finger, and Han Li and the others flew towards it.
The three of them's protective light auras clashed with the void, producing a deafening roar as they sped towards the five-colored light barrier.
“Hmph, you're overestimating yourselves!” Dao Yin looked at the scene and smiled, his eyes gleaming with mockery.
Han Li's Time Domain had enveloped him, but his actions didn't slow down, and the five-colored light barrier's spirit light fluctuations remained the same.
Han Li's eyes widened as he saw the light barrier's five-colored spirit light surge and then flash wildly.
A loud "Boom!" followed, and another wave of five-colored light balls shot out from the light barrier, heading straight for Han Li and the others.
Perhaps due to Dao Yin's hasty casting, the number of light balls was significantly fewer than before.
However, the light balls' speed didn't decrease until they had traveled a short distance, slowing down by more than ten times.
Han Li watched the scene, his eyes widening in surprise, and then he looked at the Years God Lamp beside Dao Yin, suddenly understanding.
It seemed that the Years God Lamp was affecting the surrounding area, blocking the effects of his Time Domain.
A thought flashed through his mind, and his eyes lit up, realizing that the Years God Lamp was more mysterious than he had anticipated. If he could obtain it, the time law contained within it would be invaluable, and he could refine countless time law crystals from it.
He estimated that he could refine at least a thousand crystals from it, based on his previous experience.
The thought of obtaining the Years God Lamp sparked a strong desire in his heart, but he quickly suppressed it, reminding himself that he couldn't afford to be distracted by this now.
However, his heart still felt a sense of restlessness, but he couldn't focus on it.
He faced the incoming five-colored light balls, his body not stopping or defending, but instead, he raised his hand and waved it.
The Huaguang sword array appeared in front of him, welcoming the light balls.
Crocodile Three and Fox Three, however, stopped and retreated, their initial attack having been a feint to draw Dao Yin's attention and prevent Han Li from bearing the brunt of the Five Elements Void Array's attack alone. Moreover, those five-colored light balls, although fewer in number than before, were still not something they could withstand.
When Dao Yin saw the Tongtian Sword Diagram, his expression changed instantly, and he quickly made a series of hand seals.
The five-colored light screen flashed again, and the light balls flying towards Han Li immediately flew to the side, trying to avoid the Tongtian Sword Diagram.
Han Li felt a slight sense of relief in his heart, and as he had guessed, the Tongtian Sword Diagram was extremely important to the Tongtian Sword Sect. They were hesitant to destroy it.
As he thought about it, the golden light on his body flashed again, and his speed suddenly increased by several times, allowing him to instantly pass through the five-colored light balls and reach the five-colored light screen.
Han Li flipped his hand and put away the Tongtian Sword Diagram, then raised his hands and made a fierce gesture.
The over 200 Time Law crystals in his body flew out and gathered in front of him, and the golden light in the surrounding Time Domain also surged in wildly.
"Clang!"
A clear sound like the clash of gold and iron echoed through the air, and between Han Li's hands appeared a massive golden sword, 10 zhang long and half a zhang wide.
The sword's surface flashed with fiery golden light, and its golden hue flowed like a river, shining like a golden sun.
Then Han Li moved his arm, and the golden sword descended from above, its unstoppable momentum causing the air to distort and the surrounding space to seem to collapse.
Dao Yin saw the golden sword's power and his eyes narrowed, but then he sneered and made another hand seal.
The old man with the yellow face on the jade pillar quickly made a hand seal, and the Heavenly Earth Seal on his head flashed brightly, shooting out a thick yellow light that entered the five-colored light screen.
The light screen flashed again, and its thickness increased significantly.
At the same time, Jiao San, who had been flying backward, suddenly stopped and made a series of hand seals, and a dazzling dark red light appeared in his hands, flashing three times in quick succession.
The Heavenly Earth Seal on the yellow jade pillar's surface suddenly appeared a layer of dark red light, and the yellow light it emitted faded rapidly.
The old man with the yellow face was shocked, and then he quickly made hand seals, trying to activate the Heavenly Earth Seal, but it had no effect.
At this moment, the light on the five-colored light screen also dimmed, and the light screen near the yellow jade pillar became extremely thin, almost disappearing.
The five-colored light balls flying out suddenly shattered and dispersed, turning into points of spiritual light that vanished into thin air.
Before the old man with the yellow face and Dao Yin could react, Han Li's golden sword had already struck the thinnest part of the light screen.
"Rip!"
The light screen made a sound like tearing fabric, and Han Li's sword created a gap several zhang long.
Jiao San saw this and her face lit up with joy.
She quickly recited an incantation, and the dark red light on her body flashed wildly, and she also opened her spiritual domain, covering the entire great hall.
Then she twisted her body and turned into a dark red light, charging towards the gap in the light screen.
Almost at the same time, Huo San swung his hand and sent out the Heavenly Fox Blood Knife, and his body transformed into a gray-white light, attaching itself to the knife.
The Heavenly Fox Blood Knife let out a "whooshing" sound, transforming into a blood-red rainbow that shot towards the gap, faster than Jiao San.
Far away, Qi Mozi, Xiong Shan, and the Eagle-Nosed Demon King were watching Han Li's actions, and they all looked surprised.
"Big brother, those three have already broken through the great array's light screen. Now is the best time to break the Wuxing Yu Kong Great Array. Should we go forward and assist them?" The turtle-backed demon asked the Eagle-Nosed Demon King through a voice transmission.
"No need, let them fight each other to mutual defeat. Here, all the humans are untrustworthy. Now that they're holding back the great array, we can take advantage of the opportunity to find a way to leave this place." The Eagle-Nosed Demon King coldly gazed at Han Li and the others, then transmitted a response.
"But..." The turtle-backed demon's face showed hesitation.
"Big brother is right, this place is full of danger, and we should leave quickly. We shouldn't have listened to Qi Mozi's words and come here, which led to the death of Old Three and Old Four!" The white-boned demon said sorrowfully.
"Okay, let's quickly investigate the restrictions on the light screen and see if we can find a weakness." The turtle-backed demon said.
"You want to leave? You're not going anywhere, the three of you just stay here!" Just as the three demons were about to fly away, a cold voice sounded in their ears.
Before they could react, a solid golden spiritual domain descended, covering the three demons, and Qi Mozi's figure stood in the virtual space, a sneer on his face.
"Qi Mozi, what do you want to do?" The Eagle-Nosed Demon King shouted, his body surrounded by black energy, struggling fiercely.
Unfortunately, the three demons were covered by the golden spiritual domain, and their speed slowed down by more than ten times, and the surrounding golden spiritual domain was extremely solid, making their efforts ineffective.
()
Qí Mó Zǐ faced the Eagle-Nosed Demon's stern questioning, but simply laughed loudly, not responding, and with a flick of his hands, he made a seal.
The spiritual realm's golden light surged and converged above the Eagle-Nosed Demon's head, transforming into a several-dozen-zhang-tall golden figure.
This figure's lower body was a dragon, while its upper body was a middle-aged man with a thick, golden beard, and its chest was covered in dense, golden fur. It held a fire fan in its hand, and its face seemed to radiate endless majesty.
The middle-aged man's large hand stretched out, grabbing downwards towards the Eagle-Nosed Demon and his companions.
A thunderous sound echoed, and a massive pressure descended from the sky, crushing the three demons. They were like ants under the weight of a giant peak, unable to move or make a sound.
"I went to great lengths to lure you here, intending to capture you all at once. However, something unexpected happened, and two of you escaped. Still, the three of you will suffice."
Qí Mó Zǐ chuckled and raised his hand, and a blood-red staff flew out from behind him. The staff was adorned with a nine-headed demon dragon, seven of which emitted dazzling, blood-red light, while the remaining two were dim and unlit.
As the staff appeared, the surrounding air grew dark, and the sound of wailing ghosts filled the air. A chilling, blood-red energy emanated from the staff, which even the nearby spiritual realm couldn't block.
Qí Mó Zǐ muttered to himself, making a seal with his hand.
The staff emitted a blood-red light, enveloping the three demons. A blood-red energy burst forth from their bodies, merging with the staff, and the three demons' bodies rapidly withered away. The two dimly lit demon dragon heads on the staff began to shine with bright, blood-red light.
Meanwhile, Hàn Lì burst through the five-colored light curtain and swiftly entered the realm within. He raised his arm, and a piercing sword cry echoed through the air as a golden giant sword flew out, transforming into a golden sword rainbow that shot towards the yellow jade pillar.
"You dare to steal from me? You're seeking death!" Dào Yìn Zhēn Rén roared, pointing his hand at the golden talisman.
The talisman's divine lamp pattern flashed, shooting out a thick, golden light. The divine lamp pattern dimmed, and the temporal law fluctuations weakened.
The golden light merged with the Time God's Lamp, and the lamp's flame surged once more. Two golden flames shot out, and one of them transformed into a five-clawed golden dragon. The dragon's body was covered in golden armor, and its surface displayed intricate, temporal law patterns. It was several times more solid than the previous golden dragon.
The golden dragon charged forward, its speed incredible, and reached the yellow jade pillar before the golden giant sword. It swiped its claws, and a blinding golden light erupted as the two massive temporal law forces collided. The surrounding void reverberated with the sound of thunder.
The golden giant sword was halted by the dragon's claws, and then the dragon coiled its body around the sword, spewing out a stream of golden flames that fiercely struck the sword. The sword's surface glowed with intense golden light, and it began to melt at an alarming rate.
The other golden flame shot towards the five-colored altar, unfolding into a golden flame curtain that blocked the altar from view.
Hàn Lì's eyebrows rose slightly as he observed the scene, his body frozen in place.
Dào Yìn Zhēn Rén let out a sigh of relief, his eyes gleaming with a killing intent as he gazed at Hàn Lì. "You're overestimating yourself. You'll die!"
He raised his hand, and a dazzling white light shot out, striking Hàn Lì with incredible speed. The distance between them was short, and the white light seemed to appear instantly, covering Hàn Lì's body.
Hàn Lì's body glowed with a crystalline light as the True Extreme Membrane emerged, his arms crossing to defend himself. Simultaneously, his body flashed with golden lightning, and eight or nine bamboo swords flew out, weaving together into a golden sword curtain.
Since this place was near the Time God's Lamp, the spiritual realm's effects were nullified, and Hàn Lì couldn't be certain if his divine abilities would work. With time pressing, he had no choice but to rely on these defensive measures.
Before Hàn Lì could unleash more swords, the white light struck, shattering the golden sword curtain. The light continued to fly towards Hàn Lì, slamming into his crossed arms.
A deafening crash echoed through the air, and Hàn Lì's body was sent flying like a straw, crashing into the five-colored light curtain before finally coming to a stop.
His arms throbbed with pain, and his bones seemed to crack. He hastily activated the "Heavenly Execution, Prison Purification" technique, and the pain began to subside.
However, a white light erupted before his eyes once more, and the light, like a swift, deadly insect, shot towards him. The light was even brighter than before, and its intensity seemed to have increased. Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and his footsteps faltered as he hastily retreated to the side. At the same time, he swept his sleeve, and a ball of emerald-green light burst forth from his sleeve, enveloping the white light.
The white light was slowed down by the emerald-green light, and its radiance dimmed significantly. However, in the next instant, it suddenly burst forth with a myriad of steel needles-like fierce white light, tearing apart the emerald-green light and continuing to charge towards Han Li.
Han Li's pupils constricted, and he took advantage of this brief momentary gap!
He let out a loud shout, and the lightning-like radiance on his body flashed wildly. Thirty-six stalks of green bamboo flew out from his body, transforming into rays of lightning that entwined and killed the white light.
At the same time, he pinched his fingers together, and a golden light flashed on his body. His body suddenly grew several times larger, and golden fur sprouted from his skin, transforming him into a golden giant ape in an instant.
A series of deafening metallic clashes erupted, and the thirty-six stalks of green bamboo struck the white light, causing it to quiver violently.
The giant ape let out a loud roar, and its two arms struck out with immense force, its fists bursting with golden light that smashed onto the white light.
A thunderous boom shook the air!
The white light was finally forced back, and the golden giant ape stumbled backward, its fists covered in blood and flesh, as if they had been shattered by more than half.
At this moment, Han Li finally saw the true form of the white light, which was a small white sword.
The sword's design was somewhat peculiar, several times thicker than ordinary flying swords. The sword's tip and blade were dull and flat, looking ancient and strange, but it emitted an astonishing amount of law and spiritual energy, rivaling the five artifacts within the Five Elements Sealing Array.
As Han Li pondered, his body's spiritual energy surged wildly, and his injured hands rapidly recovered.
Meanwhile, Dao Yin's eyes widened in surprise, and he felt a sense of urgency, intending to use the white sword to heavily injure or kill Han Li once more.
Just as he was about to do so, two sharp whistles pierced the air, and two figures emerged from the gap in the light screen that Han Li had created. It was Jiao San and Hu San, who immediately charged towards the Five-Colored Altar.
Dao Yin's expression changed, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of panic. He no longer cared about conserving his spiritual energy and waved his hand.
A golden light burst forth from his body, expanding rapidly to form a golden spiritual domain that enveloped Han Li and the others.
A vast and powerful golden law emanated from within, far surpassing the law that Han Li and the others possessed. Before it could even touch them, the spiritual light on their bodies was already suppressed and dispersed.
Hu San's figure suddenly halted, and he flipped his hand to reveal the Heaven Fox Blood Knife. The gray-white light on his body surged, and a thunderous boom shook the air as a gray-white spiritual domain expanded.
He let out a low growl, and the gray-white spiritual domain rapidly contracted, transforming into a fist-sized gray-white light sphere.
The light sphere's gray-white crystal radiance surged wildly, and its powerful law energy fluctuations could be felt from a distance. In an instant, it merged with the Heaven Fox Blood Knife.
The Heaven Fox Blood Knife let out a soft hum, and the double-headed fox carvings on its blade emitted a layer of blood-red light. One of the four eyes on the carvings suddenly flashed with bright red light.
The Heaven Fox Blood Knife violently shook, emitting a thunderous knife cry as if it had finally awakened from a long slumber. A boundless power burst forth from within, and the knife's body radiated a blood-red glow that dyed everything within the light screen a deep crimson.
The figure of Shi Qing Hou appeared in the blood-red light, his hands pinching a spell that refused to stop. Countless blood-red talismans burst forth from the knife's body, swarming around him.
Hu San's eyes turned blood-red, and he let out a deafening roar, his hands holding the knife as he struck out with a single slash!
A blood-red light wave shot forth, containing an extremely powerful law energy that rivaled the golden spiritual domain. The wave crashed onto the golden spiritual domain, causing Shi Qing Hou's figure to suddenly expand to over a hundred meters tall. His hands burst forth with dazzling blood-red light, pressing down on the golden spiritual domain.
The golden spiritual domain's expansion was abruptly halted, unable to advance even a single step.
As the knife struck out, Hu San's face turned deathly pale, and his body lost all its gray-white light. He had clearly exhausted his spiritual energy.
He knelt on the ground, his hand trembling as he held the knife.
"What?!" Dao Yin's expression changed, and he let out a shout, waving his hand.
A white light shot forth, and the white sword suddenly grew to several dozen meters in size, transforming into a massive white sword that swept towards the three of them.
But just as it was about to strike, Han Li's figure appeared in front of the white sword, having transformed back into his human form.
He pinched his fingers together, and the golden giant sword that had been entwined with the golden fire dragon suddenly exploded, transforming into a golden sun that sent the golden fire dragon flying.
Over two hundred law crystals burst forth from the golden sun, disappearing and reappearing beside Han Li.
He muttered to himself, his hands pinching a spell as he waved them.
The two hundred law crystals intertwined and wrapped around each other, transforming into a golden giant sword that radiated a dazzling golden light. It stood before the white sword, ready to block its attack.
()
As the two massive golden swords clashed, a deafening explosion shook the void!
The white sword was blocked, but Han Li was sent flying backward, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his breath ragged.
His Time Law power was being severely suppressed by the Years God Lamp, and it was clear that he was still unable to face the attacks of the Great Luo existence head-on.
However, Dao Yin's eyes flickered with shock, clearly not expecting that his own fusion of law power would not be able to kill the young cultivator at the peak of the Taiyi Realm.
What surprised him even more was the endless array of methods that Han Li possessed.
Jiao San did not pay attention to the battle here, her body flashing like lightning as she charged towards the Five-Color Altar. In the blink of an eye, she arrived in front of the altar.
However, the altar was currently covered by a layer of flames formed by the Years God Lamp.
She muttered to herself, raising her hands.
A dark red crystal thread shot out from her body, weaving and entwining in front of her, as the dark red light in the surrounding spiritual domain rapidly gathered.
As the dark red crystal threads increased, Jiao San's face grew paler, her breath becoming unstable, as if her entire body's energy was being drained away.
Her eyes, however, shone with a determined light, her chanting speed increasing once more.
The void shook violently, as the dense dark red crystal threads wove together, a massive dark red circular shadow appeared.
The surface of the circular shadow was arranged with six black circular holes, in the shape of a hexagonal plum blossom, embedded with black light that swirled and rotated.
A strange and indescribable power emanated from the circular shadow, causing the stable void to tremble.
Jiao San let out a loud cry, her hands sweeping forward, as the dark red circular shadow shot out, rotating rapidly, and crashed into the golden flames.
A loud hissing sound erupted!
The golden flames trembled violently, as tongues of fire shot out from within, wrapping around the dark red circular shadow, but were immediately extinguished by the black light.
Dao Yin's heart was filled with urgency, his hands changing the spell, as he no longer bothered to kill Han Li, but instead cast several spells into the golden flames, making them burn even brighter.
Jiao San spat out a mouthful of blood, her body suddenly becoming limp and weak.
But the dense blood mist that erupted from her body was immediately absorbed by the dark red circular shadow, causing its rotation speed to increase rapidly, as a massive black light, accompanied by an invisible force, pressed down on the flames.
The surface of the flames was covered by the black light, and with a loud "whoosh", the flames exploded, scattering in all directions.
"Wheel of Rebirth!"
Dao Yin's eyes widened in shock.
He had never expected that the two Taiyi Realm cultivators before him would be cultivating the same three great supreme laws, Time Law and Wheel of Rebirth, and that their attainments would not be inferior to those of the Great Luo Realm cultivators.
Alas, all of this happened in the blink of an eye, and Lei Yu and the others were struggling to maintain the grand array, unable to lend a hand.
"Han Dao friend, now is the time, act quickly!" Jiao San shouted.
At this moment, she was as pale as paper, her body half-kneeling on the ground, the dark red circular shadow's rotation slowing down, on the verge of collapse.
Jiao San's words had barely left her lips when Han Li's body transformed into a flash of light, shooting out from the flames and piercing through the void.
However, he did not charge towards the altar, but instead towards the Years God Lamp on the altar.
"Han Dao friend, what are you doing?" Jiao San cried out in shock.
Han Li's eyes were filled with a crazed light, his pupils reflecting the image of the Years God Lamp, as if his eyes could no longer contain anything else.
"You're seeking death!" Dao Yin's eyes blazed with anger, as he shouted.
His voice was followed by a burst of energy, as he pointed a single hand at the Years God Lamp, and a golden tongue of flame shot out from his mouth, striking the lamp.
The Years God Lamp trembled violently, the oil within boiling over, as a wave of flames shot out, engulfing Han Li.
Han Li, however, seemed completely unaware, his desire having consumed his rationality, his face twisted in a crazed expression, as he activated the Five Elements Fantastical World technique to its limits.
The five Time Law objects appeared around him, forming a golden spherical barrier that enveloped him, as he charged into the flames.
As he entered the heart of the flames, the surroundings erupted in a cacophony of sound, the five Time Law objects being compressed by the flames, pressing in on him from all sides, as the golden barrier around him began to thin.
Han Li, however, gritted his teeth, his determination unwavering.
At this moment, he was identical to the previous Qi Mo, or perhaps even surpassed him. Only a few breaths later, the five Time Law objects finally couldn't withstand the flames, and the light screen they condensed was completely melted, leaving Han Li's body directly exposed to the flames.
A severe burning sensation arose, causing Han Li's eyebrows to furrow, and the light in his eyes dimmed slightly. However, he soon let out a cold snort, and his expression became resolute once more.
He saw his hand emerge from the flames, grasping the lamp post of the Years God Lamp, and prepare to pull it outward.
The flames on the lamp suddenly condensed into a single stream, like a dragon, and climbed up Han Li's arm, instantly engulfing his entire arm and half of his body.
In the intense flames, Han Li could clearly see the fabric of his robe, skin, and muscles on his arm melting away, leaving only his bones, which were also gradually turning black from the intense heat.
The unbearable pain was not something he couldn't feel, but at this moment, there was a voice in his mind, constantly comforting him:
"Just endure a little longer, and you'll get it... As long as you get the lamp, everything will be worth it..."
"Almost there, just a little more effort..."
"Get it, get it..."
Han Li's expression was dazed, and he muttered to himself: "Get it..."
As he spoke, his Heaven's Wrath Prison technique automatically activated, and all the true spirit blood vessels in his body began to boil, regardless of whether it would cause blood vessel backlash.
At this moment, he wanted to use all his strength to get the lamp.
Dao Yin True Person's hair stood on end, and his dao robe puffed out as he rushed towards the lamp, his body leaving a trail of afterimages.
Biao San, however, seemed to have mustered up some strength, and once again urged the magic seal, causing the dark red wheel to spin rapidly and fly towards the five-colored altar.
"Not good!" Dao Yin True Person cried out in alarm, but it was too late to turn back.
The altar emitted a five-colored light, attempting to resist the dark red wheel, but unfortunately, its power was limited, and it was easily crushed.
Accompanied by a loud explosion, a large hole appeared on the altar, revealing a dark and seemingly bottomless pit.
Almost simultaneously, Han Li's spiritual sea began to operate, and a bright, snowy lightning bolt appeared in his mind, clearing his spiritual platform.
"Brother Han!" a voice shouted, piercing his ears.
Han Li turned around, and saw Lei Yuze shouting at him: "You truly don't care about the lives of the Golden Source Realm's inhabitants, and for the sake of personal gain, you're willing to release that demon? The altar has been broken, and if you take the lamp, the demon will have no restraints!"
Demon? Personal gain? Inhabitants?
Han Li felt as if he had been struck by lightning, and his mind suddenly cleared. He looked at his situation and realized his mistake.
He quickly released his hand, which had almost turned into a dry bone, and retreated, but the flames that had engulfed his arm refused to let go, continuing to cling to him.
Han Li's mind moved, and he quickly took out the green gourd from his waist, tapped the bottom, and a green whirlpool appeared, sucking in the flames on his arm.
The flames entered the gourd, and its originally green skin was instantly burned red, taking a long time to recover.
Han Li hung the gourd back on his waist, looked at his charred arm, and felt a chill run down his spine, instantly drenched in cold sweat.
"What's wrong with me? Has someone controlled my mind?" he muttered to himself.
No, the problem wasn't here, but rather had been hidden long ago.
Han Li's mind quickly recalled the events since entering the Years Tower, and he was shocked to discover some clues.
He was certain that he hadn't been controlled, but rather, his desire had been subtly amplified throughout his journey, and he had been unaware of it.
Moreover, it seemed that everyone who had entered the Years Tower had been influenced by some kind of power, and their desires had been guided, growing larger and larger.
That's why they had been destroying the altar, collecting treasures, and ultimately aiming for the Years God Lamp. Anyone who had a desire for it would be guided to compete for it.
Han Li, now awakened, looked at the large hole on the altar, and his eyes narrowed.
As soon as the hole appeared, a "sizzling" sound came from within, and a thick, black smoke emerged, like a dragon's tail, and rose into the air, filling the entire hall with a dark, rolling mist.
Han Li's arm displayed the shadow of the Dongyi divine tree, and his muscles and skin began to repair themselves at a visible rate, but there were still hidden injuries that wouldn't heal in a short time.
He hovered in mid-air, his eyes shining with a purple light as he operated the Nine Underworld Demon Eye, gazing into the hole on the altar.
The darkness within seemed to be stirring, and a low, ominous voice whispered: "The Years God Lamp... will soon be mine..."
Deep within the altar, a massive underground space unfolded, with surging red light and crimson magma flowing everywhere. The magma converged into a dark red lake, emitting scorching hot smoke, and at its center, a massive black rock floated, surrounded by eight black rock pillars. Each pillar was covered in dense cracks, with the magma flowing through them, casting a flickering glow. On top of the pillars, golden chains were embedded, converging towards the center of the rock.
A gaunt, skeletal man knelt on the ground, his hair disheveled, his body emaciated to the point of near-skeletal. His chest, abdomen, shoulders, and arms were pierced by the golden chains, binding him to the center of the rock. Beneath him, ancient symbols etched into the ground emitted a powerful sealing force.
Han Li's gaze sank, and he felt a strange sensation, as if he was staring into a bottomless abyss of desire. He shook his head, dispelling the thought, but his eyes flashed with a sudden realization. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about this formation seemed off.
Just then, the gaunt man lifted his head, locking eyes with Han Li. His pale face twisted into a grotesque smile, revealing a row of snow-white teeth. Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and he hastily activated his cultivation technique, but found nothing amiss.
As the crowd watched in awe, a dark mist escaped from the edge of the black hole, flowing towards the group before disappearing. No one noticed this subtle event.
With the crisis averted, Dao Yin's attention returned to the altar.
"I'll settle this once and for all!"
He sighed, his eyes flashing with determination, and raised his hand to grasp the yellow seal. A droplet of blood fell onto the seal's surface, and it absorbed the liquid. Dao Yin began to chant, and the seal's inscription flashed with a yellow light, releasing a powerful earth attribute law.
Dao Yin used the blood refinement technique to forcibly break the seal's restriction and began to activate the Five Elements Devouring Void Formation.
The five treasures floating in the air radiated an unprecedented brilliance, and the five assistants, including Lei Yu Ce, felt their laws surging out like a tidal wave, absorbed by the formation. The five-colored light screen surrounding the altar began to shrink, covering only a few meters around the altar.
As the light screen enveloped the altar, the already damaged structure began to crumble, like an ancient, worn-out painting, disintegrating into dust. The black mist escaping from the altar's mouth was also absorbed, vanishing into nothingness.
"This is the true power of the Five Elements Devouring Void Formation... everything within its range returns to dust..." Qi Mozi murmured.
The five-colored light sphere slowly descended into the altar, enveloping the black rock, the stone pillars, and the gaunt man. The rock began to disintegrate, but the gaunt man's body remained intact, his gray hair disheveled, his face twisted in contempt.
Han Li's eyes locked onto the gaunt man, who suddenly turned his head and made a grotesque face at Han Li. Dao Yin's expression turned solemn, and he activated his cultivation technique, unleashing a torrent of energy.
The divine lamp's symbol flashed with a golden light, and the paper ignited, leaving behind a condensed gold flame. The flame flew into the lamp's lantern, merging with the flame inside.
The lamp's flame trembled, and a massive wave of energy erupted from its surface. A golden lightning bolt, surrounded by flames, flashed from the lamp's core, striking the five-colored sphere.
A deafening explosion shook the air!
The five-colored sphere's interior was filled with a blinding golden light, merging with the five-colored glow, and obscuring the space within. Inside the altar's great cave, multicolored light burst forth, and the sound of thunderous rumbling continued unabated. The sealed stone pillars, golden chains, and the withered man were all submerged in the light, disappearing from view.
After a long time, the five-colored sphere's momentum subsided, and the light dissipated. The void within was completely extinguished, and everything was reduced to nothingness.
Accompanied by a faint "plop" sound, the five-colored sphere burst open like a dream bubble, producing a circular rainbow in the void before vanishing.
"Dust returns to dust, earth returns to earth. After being sealed for so long, I can finally exterminate you completely."
Dao Yin Zhenren gazed at the scene, his taut expression finally relaxing as he exhaled a long breath. His entire body swayed slightly.
Lei Yu Ce and the others were like people who had been granted a great amnesty, each panting heavily as they sat down. After forcing down a medicinal pill, they continued to manipulate the seal, controlling the surroundings.
Their bodies' law energy had been almost entirely absorbed, and their spiritual energy had been greatly depleted. They could be said to have suffered a severe internal injury, but fortunately, the outcome was not bad, and they had finally exterminated the old demon.
"Earlier, you all rushed to break the seal and fight for the treasure, which was quite exhilarating. Now it's time to pay the price..." Dao Yin Zhenren's gaze shifted, looking at Han Li and the others as he spoke slowly.
Everyone's expressions changed slightly upon hearing his words.
Dao Yin Zhenren was a great Luo cultivator, and with the Years God Lamp in his possession, he could use the five-colored sphere's divine ability once more. Most of these people would not be able to resist him.
Qi Mo's eyes sank, and his gaze moved back and forth between Dao Yin Zhenren and Han Li, seemingly calculating how to avoid conflict with the former while also eliminating the latter, who posed a boundless threat.
Jiao San's brows were furrowed, and he stood with Huo San, both of them looking worried.
Just as everyone was lost in thought, a sudden change occurred!
Dao Yin Zhenren took a step forward, about to approach Lei Yu Ce and the others, when a white light flashed from his abdomen, and a nearly transparent, narrow blade suddenly protruded from his stomach, spewing forth a burst of blood.
Dao Yin Zhenren's eyes widened in anger, and he struck back with a palm, targeting the person behind him.
However, the person had already retreated rapidly, avoiding the palm and reappearing in the distance.
Everyone was shocked by this sudden turn of events, their faces filled with confusion as they looked at the person.
Lei Yu Ce cried out in disbelief, "Wen Zhong, what are you doing?"
Wen Zhong, standing behind Dao Yin Zhenren, heard the rebuke and his expression twisted, his eyes filling with resentment.
His attack had been too sudden, catching everyone off guard, and he had not even released a hint of killing intent or spiritual energy fluctuations.
Dao Yin Zhenren had just exhausted a large amount of true essence to kill the demon with the five elements' void array. His heart was still tense, and he had relaxed his guard, making him vulnerable to Wen Zhong's attack.
"Ha ha... what am I doing? You ask what I'm doing? I want to kill this biased and ruthless old Daoist!"
Wen Zhong's expression was manic, and he laughed uncontrollably.
"Why? Have you gone mad? He's our sect's master, and your teacher, too..." Lei Yu Ce was still trying to understand, his anger rising.
"Since he's our teacher, why did he only pass on the Tongtian Sword Array to you? With you, Lei Yu Ce, by his side, I'll always be a shadow, forever relegated to being a mere accompaniment. This is unfair, and I won't accept it... I won't accept it..."
Wen Zhong repeated "I won't accept it" over and over, his voice hysterical.
"Wen Zhong, you..." Lei Yu Ce's face was filled with pain, and he began to speak.
Dao Yin Zhenren's face was deathly pale, and his expression was even more unsightly. The transparent crystal knife had been stabbed into his abdomen, and he slowly pulled it out, spewing forth a mouthful of blood. His injuries were clearly severe.
Lei Yu Ce's eyes showed concern, and he wanted to continue scolding Wen Zhong, but Dao Yin Zhenren stopped him.
"Wen Zhong has a grudge, and I've known about it for a long time. I've spoken to him privately before, thinking that I had resolved his issues. But it seems he still harbors resentment, which is why he gave that demon an opportunity to strike."
Dao Yin Zhenren wiped the blood from his mouth and spoke.
"Master, what are you talking about?" Lei Yu Ce asked, confused.
"That demon's heart magic specializes in manipulating people's hearts and amplifying their inner demons. Wen Zhong seems to have been affected by it as well."
Dao Yin Zhenren sighed and continued.
Han Li heard these words and felt a chill run down his spine, as if he had realized something.
"Ha ha, ha ha... it's finally resolved, the hatred in my heart for so many years! Today, this knife has finally brought me satisfaction!"
Wen Zhong's laughter grew even more manic, and his face became increasingly twisted.
()
Dao Yin Zhenren slowly swallowed a golden pill, roughly stopping his injuries, and gazed at Wen Zhong.
Unexpectedly, the originally short-tempered and evil-hating him, now had no blame in his eyes, only pity.
At this moment, his figure suddenly blurred and disappeared from the original location, reappearing behind Wen Zhong.
Wen Zhong sensed it, his five fingers turned into claws, and he suddenly reached out to grab Dao Yin Zhenren's heart.
Dao Yin Zhenren's hand emerged, pressing down on Wen Zhong's arm, and pulling it down.
Wen Zhong felt a thousand pounds of pressure on his arm, and his entire body fell forward, landing on the ground.
Dao Yin Zhenren took advantage of the situation, bending down and lifting his other hand, pointing at Wen Zhong's right ear, and a crystal light like a steel needle pierced into it.
Wen Zhong, who was still struggling and roaring, suddenly froze, and then fainted.
Lei Yu Ce saw this scene, and his face relaxed, finally calming down.
But immediately, his face changed again, looking shocked at the broken altar's edge.
A black smoke suddenly appeared, swirling like a whirlwind, forming a black storm vortex, and a strong aura fluctuation was emanating from it.
Even Han Li, with his strong spiritual sense, couldn't determine when the smoke appeared.
The smoke swirled faster and faster, absorbing the surrounding air, and the black light inside grew stronger.
"Whoosh..."
With a gust of wind, the smoke finally condensed, and the vortex stopped.
A man with a slightly hunched back emerged from the dense black light.
Han Li's gaze condensed, carefully examining the man, and saw that his skin was as black as ink, his eyes were peculiar, with a purple glow in his left eye, and a green glow in his right eye, but it was hazy, like a veil.
The man's facial features were sharp, with high cheekbones, a sharp nose, and thin lips, making him look like a handsome middle-aged man, but his gray hair was disheveled, and his beard was thick and unkempt, making him look like an old man.
After appearing, the man immediately shrunk, hugging his knees, and sat down, muttering to himself, unclear and unrecognizable.
Just as everyone was confused, the man's back suddenly lit up with a black light, and a black vortex appeared.
Han Li and the others saw this, and their faces changed, their eyes widening in shock.
A black crystal thread emerged from their foreheads, twisting and flying towards the man's vortex.
Han Li's crystal thread flew out, and he tried to capture it, but it passed through his palm without feeling.
At the same time, the cultivators waiting outside the tower, saw their own crystal threads flying out, and they were shocked.
The threads flew towards the tower, and disappeared into the vortex.
The cultivators followed the threads, and saw them disappear, their faces filled with confusion.
But soon, many people began to leave the camp, dispersing in all directions.
In the tower, the remaining cultivators and monsters also had their crystal threads fly out, disappearing into the void.
All the threads, no matter where they came from, had the same destination, the black vortex on the man's back.
Han Li watched the threads flying into the man's body, and felt a strange sensation.
When the threads left his body, he felt a sudden lightness, as if something had been taken away.
But strangely, Han Li didn't know when the thread appeared in his spiritual sea.
His cultivation technique couldn't detect it.
In fact, everyone present had the same feeling, a sense of unease.
Before the threads left, they hadn't noticed anything, but after they left, they all felt a change in their mental state. Just a moment ago, everyone was still trying to figure out what was going on.
The crowd was still in shock when the middle-aged man's black vortex disappeared, and he stood up from the ground, yawning and stretching his waist.
His aura had surged to an unimaginable level, and his cultivation had reached the peak of the Great Luo Realm. Every move he made seemed to affect the void, causing ripples to spread out.
However, after he stopped yawning and retracted his arm, his aura gradually subsided, and there was no longer any unusual phenomenon around him. He looked like a ordinary, tattered madman.
But when he turned to face the crowd, Daoyin True Person's expression changed, and he exclaimed in shock:
"It's the Great Black Heaven Old Demon!"
Lei Yuce and the others heard this and their faces turned pale.
"Who are you..."
The middle-aged man, who was called the Great Black Heaven Old Demon by Daoyin True Person, scratched his head and said, but before he could finish, a golden fire pillar descended from the sky and struck him, sending him tumbling to the ground.
The fire pillar was surrounded by a thousand-fold gravity, causing the ground to crack and shatter. The sound of "crackling" echoed through the air.
Han Li looked over and saw that the Years of Life Lamp was wrapped in a crimson blood thread, and Daoyin True Person had used his own blood to activate the lamp, causing it to burst with energy and send the Great Black Heaven Old Demon tumbling into the ground.
The sound of "rumbling" continued for a while before gradually subsiding.
The attention of everyone in the hall was focused on the large pit in the ground, where a hot wave was rising, and the Great Black Heaven Old Demon's aura was suddenly no longer detectable.
Just as everyone was puzzled, a sighing sound came from the pit.
A figure emerged from the pit, its body moving in an extremely strange posture, and it floated in mid-air before suddenly appearing in front of Daoyin True Person.
Daoyin True Person was already on high alert, and he quickly threw out a spell.
A loud "whooshing" sound was heard!
The Years of Life Lamp shook violently, and the golden lotus petals on the lamp emitted a brilliant light. A wave of golden flames shot out, gathering in mid-air to form a rain of fire flowers that flew towards the Great Black Heaven Old Demon.
The demon did not dodge or avoid the flames, but instead charged forward, his fists glowing with a dense, black light. He swung his fists, and countless black fist shadows flew out.
The sound of "rumbling" echoed through the air as the fist shadows and flames collided. The originally intense flames were easily scattered by the demon.
However, after the flames dispersed, a new wave of colorful light emerged, and the Five Elements Void Array was activated once again, enveloping the Great Black Heaven Old Demon.
"Get out of the way..."
The Great Black Heaven Old Demon's voice was hoarse, and his tone was filled with impatience. He charged into the colorful light, his body shattering into a cloud of black smoke.
But before Daoyin True Person could relax, the black smoke had already condensed into a hand, which slapped Daoyin True Person's chest.
A loud "boom" was heard.
The remaining black smoke surged forward, and Daoyin True Person let out a pained cry as he was sent flying backward.
The black smoke continued to condense, and the Great Black Heaven Old Demon's body reappeared.
Daoyin True Person was already heavily injured, and this latest attack had left him on the brink of collapse. He spat out a few mouthfuls of blood and fell to the ground, unconscious.
Han Li and the others were shocked by this scene.
This Great Black Heaven Old Demon was not only unafraid of the Years of Life Lamp's flames but also seemed to be immune to the Five Elements Void Array's attacks.
Qimozu furrowed his brow, thinking to himself that he was no match for this demon.
After injuring Daoyin True Person, the Great Black Heaven Old Demon did not immediately pursue him. Instead, he looked at the Years of Life Lamp, which had suppressed him for so many years, and scratched his head, seemingly lost in thought.
Lei Yuce saw this and wanted to rescue Daoyin True Person, but he was afraid of provoking the Great Black Heaven Old Demon. He was covered in cold sweat, but he did not dare to make a move, fearing that he would enrage the demon.
"It's hard to get a good sleep, and yet I was still woken up."
Just as everyone's hearts were in a state of unease and the atmosphere was tense, Hei Tian Mo Zu suddenly stretched his waist, let out a yawn, and shouted.
Everyone was taken aback, unsure of what to make of it, when Hei Tian Mo Zu suddenly spat towards the direction of the Sheng Deng, cursing.
"Ah! Tai Sui old dog, you've been deceiving me for so long..."
"I'll ask you, where is my son? Tell me, where is my son now? If you don't say, I'll make sure you pay for it today..."
Hei Tian Mo Zu's face turned red with anger, and he suddenly began to rant and rave, his voice echoing through the air.
This scene left everyone, including Han Li and Lei Yu Ce, in a state of shock. The Hei Tian Mo Zu before them was completely different from the evil and cruel figure they had imagined.
"You won't say, is that right? Then I'll make you pay for it today!"
After finishing his rant, Hei Tian Mo Zu seemed to still be unsatisfied, and his body suddenly burst forth with energy as he charged towards the Sheng Deng.
Without the restraint of the Daoyin Zhenren, the original formation of the altar was mostly destroyed, and the Sheng Deng could only rely on its defensive instincts to release layers of golden light to block Hei Tian Mo Zu's attack.
Hei Tian Mo Zu's voice continued to shout and curse as he swung his fists at the Sheng Deng, and his body released a massive amount of black smoke that seemed to erupt like a volcano, causing the entire temple to shake violently.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he saw a massive shadowy figure emerging from the smoke, which seemed to be Hei Tian Mo Zu's true form as a demon. However, it was not a physical entity, but rather a manifestation of his aura.
Even so, the aura that emerged from the smoke was still shocking.
The shadowy figure seemed to have twelve arms, which moved up and down in the smoke, constantly attacking the Sheng Deng with powerful blows.
The Sheng Deng's golden light trembled, and the flames danced wildly as a large amount of oil spilled out, splashing everywhere and forming a sea of golden fire that almost engulfed the entire temple.
Han Li and the others were forced to retreat to the edge of the temple, avoiding the flames and smoke.
The temple continued to shake violently, and the shadowy figure in the smoke did not stop its attack, constantly pounding against the Sheng Deng.
The Sheng Deng was unscathed, but the temple was on the verge of collapse.
Finally, with a loud crash, the roof of the temple was torn open, and the original formation was destroyed.
As the temple collapsed, the restraints that held everyone in place were lifted, and they were able to escape.
Lei Yu Ce and the others quickly grabbed the unconscious Daoyin Zhenren and Su Jinzhu, and they all fled the temple.
However, as they emerged from the temple, they were met with a massive black lotus formation that surrounded the entire area, trapping them.
The black lotus petals were layered on top of each other, each one a thousand feet high, and the air above was filled with a dark cloud that seemed to have the same aura as Hei Tian Mo Zu.
The group from the Tong Tian Sword Sect had no choice but to charge forward, their swords shining brightly as they attacked the black lotus.
With a loud crash, the five-colored sword light shattered, but the black lotus remained unscathed.
"Can't you just let me sleep in peace?"
Hei Tian Mo Zu, who was still attacking the Sheng Deng, suddenly stopped and looked up, his brow furrowed in annoyance.
He stretched out his hand, and a giant black palm emerged from the void, grabbing the group from the Tong Tian Sword Sect and pulling them back.
The group was thrown back into the temple, and a series of black whips formed from the smoke, striking down at them with incredible force.
"You're disturbing my peace, you're absolutely evil! You think you can just leave?" Hei Tian Mo Zu's voice echoed from the smoke.
Han Li and the others were forced to return to the temple, hovering in mid-air.
"Brother Jiao, this Hei Tian Mo Zu's brain doesn't seem to be working properly..." Han Li whispered to Jiao, puzzled.
Jiao was also at a loss for words.
At this moment, the black smoke in the temple began to rapidly contract, flowing back into Hei Tian Mo Zu's body.
Hei Tian Mo Zu reappeared, his face twisted in anger as he looked at the still-intact Sheng Deng.
"Why can't I break this thing?" he muttered to himself.
His gaze then turned to the Wu Xing Yun Kong formation, which was still intact.
"Ah, what's this thing? It looks interesting. Let me play with it, hehe..." Hei Tian Mo Zu said, his voice filled with curiosity.
To everyone's shock, he jumped into the formation, his face filled with a puzzled expression.
"How do you use this thing..." "Oh, I remember now..." he said, slapping his palm after thinking for a while.
As soon as he spoke, his body suddenly radiated a brilliant light, and five columns of divine energy condensed behind him, like spider legs, extended out and landed on the five treasures: the golden long sword and the yellow large seal.
In just a few dozen breaths, the five treasures, which were not of low rank, were already partially refined by him.
Immediately, he whispered a few words, and the yellow large seal and the other treasures suddenly lit up with a brilliant light. The Five Elements Suppressing Void Array reactivated, condensing a five-colored light ball that enveloped the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor.
"What is he doing?" Han Li frowned, puzzled.
"Could it be..." Jiao San's expression changed, muttering to himself.
Qi Mozi's face was uncertain, his eyes wandering, as if thinking about something.
Just as everyone was puzzled, the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor suddenly clenched his hands, and a brilliant light burst forth from his palms, flying into the Five Elements Suppressing Void Array.
The five-colored light ball condensed by the array suddenly brightened, as if stimulated.
A power of void annihilation immediately spread within the light screen, and the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's body suddenly shattered, turning into a pile of black powder.
The hall was silent, with everyone stunned, finding it hard to understand what had just happened.
"Did this old demon... play himself to death?" Huo San muttered.
"He's not dead, he's indeed a crazy old man..." Han Li sighed, making a definitive statement.
As soon as he spoke, a black smoke suddenly rose from the five-colored light ball, condensing into a human figure, which was naturally the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor.
"Haha... refreshing, it's been a long time since I've taken a bath, this time..." The old demon's body had just appeared when he burst out laughing.
However, his words were cut short, as the five-colored light ball flashed again, and the power of void annihilation exploded, his body shattering once more, turning into powder.
But immediately, another cloud of smoke rose, and his figure recondensed.
"Can I finally get clean..." The old demon seemed to be continuing his previous words, but his body shattered again, turning into powder.
"He's definitely not right in the head..." This time, Huo San didn't dare to speak out loud, instead transmitting his thoughts to Jiao San and Han Li.
For a while, the Five Elements Suppressing Void Array rumbled continuously, the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's body shattering and recondensing repeatedly.
However, as time passed, his body became more solid, and the array's attempts to destroy him became increasingly difficult.
The Black Heaven Demon Ancestor began to frolic in the five-colored light screen, stretching his limbs and swimming in the void, completely disregarding the onlookers.
Finally, as the array's attacks weakened, the old demon himself grew tired.
"This thing is not worth playing with..." The Black Heaven Demon Ancestor muttered to himself.
He changed his hand seals, and his hands grasped the air, pouring divine energy into the treasures.
The treasures suddenly lit up, and five different colored lights burst forth, merging into the five-colored light ball.
The light ball's power surged, and a far stronger power of void annihilation exploded, the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's body shattering instantly, turning into powder.
At the same time, the light screen shook violently, and a series of visible void ripples spread within, as fist-sized five-colored light balls broke off from the screen and flew in all directions.
Although the light balls were small, they contained the array's true power of void annihilation.
Han Li and the others didn't feel they had the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's physical strength and cultivation, so they didn't dare to confront the light balls, instead choosing to dodge and hide.
The golden hall was filled with the sound of explosions, and the walls, which had been relatively intact, were now riddled with holes, on the verge of collapse.
Han Li had long since retreated, putting as much distance between himself and the remnants of the hall.
However, just as he narrowly avoided a five-colored light ball that had pierced through the wall, Qi Mozi suddenly appeared beside him, wielding the black short axe, and slashed at Han Li with a dozen swift strikes.
The sound of breaking air filled the void, as layers of black axe silhouettes enveloped Han Li from both sides, forcing him to reverse his True Speech Wheel, and his body suddenly leapt upwards.
But above him, a five-colored light ball was heading straight for him, leaving him no room to dodge.
The situation had become precarious!
At the critical moment, Han Li could only resort to using the full force of the Heaven Severing Prison Technique, lifting one arm and striking forward with a powerful fist.
A layer of golden ripples emerged from the tip of his fist, followed by a series of blurred shadows that transformed into multiple layers of fist silhouettes, each one welcoming the incoming five-colored light ball.
As the two collided, the golden ripple condensed fist silhouettes exploded one after another, but the time law contained within them was unable to stop the five-colored light ball's relentless advance, failing to buy Han Li much time.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he pinched his sword fingers, and the 36 green bamboo swords merged into a single entity in his hand.
He didn't have time to wield the sword, so he could only use his hand to block the sword's body, using the long sword to deflect the attack.
At the same time, a golden electric light burst forth from the sword's body, like a giant golden lightning bolt, wrapping around the five-colored light ball and hindering its progress.
A series of electric current sounds echoed out, as the golden electric threads on the sword's body continued to surge and dissipate, entangling the two in a seesaw battle.
Jiao San and Huo San saw this and immediately rushed to Han Li's side, standing behind him to prevent Qi Mozi from striking again.
However, Qi Mozi retreated after his attack, disappearing into the distance and landing on a massive boulder several hundred meters away, with Xiong Shan hiding behind it, his face filled with fear.
After a few moments, the five-colored light ball's power finally began to wane.
Han Li saw this and raised his sword, deflecting the light ball into the air.
"Qi Mozi..." Han Li's brow furrowed, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes as he gazed in Qi Mozi's direction.
Just then, a sudden change occurred.
A dark figure suddenly appeared beside Han Li, without any spiritual energy fluctuations or ripples, and grasped his sword-wielding arm.
The figure was none other than Hei Tian Mo Zu, who had mysteriously appeared from the Wuxing Yuankong Great Array, leaving Han Li and the others stunned.
"How is this possible..."
Han Li turned to look at Hei Tian Mo Zu, his throat drying up.
At this moment, Hei Tian Mo Zu's aura was even more majestic and refined, as if he had washed away his impurities in the Wuxing Yuankong Great Array, becoming even more pure and spirited.
"Heh heh, young one, I didn't expect you to still be able to use the Great Five Elements Fantasy Technique. Come, let's exchange a few blows..." Hei Tian Mo Zu said with a smile, his words devoid of any joking tone.
"Senior, please don't joke around, I'm no match for you." Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he tried to withdraw his arm, but to no avail, so he could only use the Nine Underworld Demon Eye to try and find an opening in Hei Tian Mo Zu's defenses.
However, Hei Tian Mo Zu immediately discovered his attempt.
"Heh heh, you actually know the Saint Tribe's Spirit Eye secret technique, how rare, how rare indeed..." Hei Tian Mo Zu's face showed a hint of normal expression, nodding his head.
Han Li's heart tightened at these words.
But Hei Tian Mo Zu's brow suddenly furrowed, and he continued, "Young one, who did you learn from? How do you know the Heaven Severing Prison Technique, the Saint Tribe's highest cultivation method?"
"Senior, you are all-knowing, I dare not hide it. My master is the True Word Sect's Mi Luo Old Ancestor, I don't know if senior has heard of him?" Han Li replied, his voice trembling with fear.
"Ah, that's right, your main cultivation method is the Great Five Elements Fantasy Technique, and your master is Mi Luo Old Ancestor, that fat monk. Heh heh, I guessed it correctly, I guessed it correctly..." Hei Tian Mo Zu's face lit up with joy, his eyes sparkling with delight.
He looked like a child who had just solved a puzzle, his excitement uncontainable.
"Senior, you are truly all-knowing, I am deeply impressed. But senior, since you have already confirmed the answer, please release me." Han Li quickly flattered, trying to appease Hei Tian Mo Zu.
Hei Tian Mo Zu was indeed pleased by Han Li's words.
"You young one may not look impressive, but your eyes are not bad. As for my knowledge, naturally, there are few people who can match it! Now, is there anything you don't understand? Come, ask me, I'll break the rules and enlighten you." Hei Tian Mo Zu released his grip on Han Li's arm, beaming with pride.
"I dare not trouble senior, I have nothing to ask." Han Li flexed his wrist, his brow furrowed in concern, unsure of what to do next.
"Impossible, I'm not someone who speaks nonsense! Since I told you to ask, you must ask!" Hei Tian Mo Zu's face darkened, his voice stern.
Jiao San and Huo San stood on either side of Han Li, mere meters away from Hei Tian Mo Zu, their eyes wide with shock, unsure of what to do next, stuck in an awkward situation. Not far away, Qi Mozi watched this scene, first slightly stunned, then a thoughtful expression appeared on his face, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
Lei Yuze and others were the most miserable, wanting to escape but unable to escape, and could only take advantage of Han Li being entangled with the Black Sky Demon Ancestor to secretly give Dao Yin a medicinal pill to guide his injuries.
"Since the senior has already spoken, I have a matter to ask, I don't know if the senior has seen a creature called the Golden Devouring Immortal?" Han Li suddenly remembered something and asked respectfully.
Regarding Qu Lin, who had disappeared after entering the seventh layer, Han Li had always been a bit worried.
Although the two had a prior agreement, the current situation was changing too quickly, making him feel a bit out of control.
"I've seen him," the Black Sky Demon Ancestor said without hesitation.
"Where?" Han Li asked quickly.
"It's been too long, I've forgotten. But that guy was quite resilient, I used to beat him up when I was bored, and as it happens, he hasn't appeared in a long time." The Black Sky Demon Ancestor frowned and said.
Han Li's heart moved, Qu Lin had mentioned that he had entered the seventh layer and was beaten up by an old madman.
"That's not right, senior, you've been imprisoned on the altar of the Time Temple, how could you have seen him?" Han Li questioned.
"You say I'm imprisoned? What nonsense! I just thought that place was quiet and no one would disturb me, so I could sleep peacefully, and I can come out whenever I want!" The Black Sky Demon Ancestor shouted angrily.
"Originally, it was my mistake," Han Li said, as if he had thought of something.
Earlier, when he had observed the inside of the altar through the opening created by Jiao San, he had felt that the seal imprisoning the Black Sky Demon Ancestor had some strange aspects, and now that he thought about it, he didn't know why, but the seal seemed to have lost its original effect.
After all, if the demon head was really imprisoned and his cultivation was being slowly drained away, the fluctuations inside the seal would not be so calm, but when he first saw it and scanned it with his divine sense, he indeed felt that the seal was too calm.
"This is a ridiculous question, you should ask something more challenging," the Black Sky Demon Ancestor scolded.
"More challenging?" Han Li asked doubtfully.
"For example, about cultivation problems, but... this seems to be not that difficult, this is a bit troublesome..." The Black Sky Demon Ancestor scratched his head, looking a bit troubled.
"I dare to ask, senior, when I was cultivating the Nine Yin Demon Eyes, the manual described 'reaching the ninth heaven and penetrating the ninth underworld', it can be seen that this spirit eye technique is extraordinary, why can't I see through many of the illusions and seals in the towers?" Han Li's eyebrows were slightly raised, and he asked with a try-it-out attitude.
"This question is not that difficult, but I can barely answer it. When you cultivated the Nine Yin Demon Eyes, did you introduce demonic energy?" The Black Sky Demon Ancestor waved his hand and asked.
"This spirit eye technique is based on demonic energy to purify the eyes, I naturally introduced it," Han Li replied truthfully.
"That's right, you cultivated a demonic technique, so you naturally used your own demonic energy, rather than borrowing external demonic energy, so it's not a problem with the purity of the demonic energy. So, the problem should be with the other spirit eye techniques you cultivated," the Black Sky Demon Ancestor said after a brief moment of consideration.
His expression was very serious and focused when answering the question, and he no longer had the crazy appearance from before.
"Senior, you are truly insightful, I indeed cultivated other spirit eye techniques," Han Li said, his heart slightly moved, and he praised again. He had previously cultivated the Bright Clear Spirit Eyes, and later, through cultivation, he had made some progress, and now it seemed that his two spirit eye techniques did have some conflicts.
"The cultivation paths of the two spirit eye techniques are fundamentally different, and there are some conflicts between them, just..." The Black Sky Demon Ancestor's next few words immediately resolved Han Li's doubts.
"Thank you, senior. I still have one thing I don't understand, I don't know why you sealed this place and left us here," Han Li asked, his mind now at ease.
But unexpectedly, the Black Sky Demon Ancestor was stunned when he heard this question.
He saw him rubbing his chin, walking back and forth, and falling into deep thought.
"What was I going to do? What was I going to do, I was going to..." A moment later, he sat down on the ground, muttering to himself.
Everyone saw this scene and couldn't help but feel a bit ridiculous.
After a while, the Black Sky Demon Ancestor seemed to suddenly remember something, and his face changed, revealing a look of urgency.
"I know, I know... I'm looking for my wife and child, have you seen them? Do you know where they are?" the Black Sky Demon Ancestor asked hastily.
Han Li heard this and looked at the man with disheveled hair, and his heart couldn't help but move slightly.
"Sorry, I don't know," he shook his head and said.
“Don't you know? How can you not know? How can you not know?” Hei Tian Mo Zu shouted loudly at Han Li.
“I know.” A voice suddenly came from beside, and it was Qi Mozi who walked out with a smile.
Before the words had even fallen, Han Li felt a black shadow flash before his eyes.
The next moment, Qi Mozi's shoulders were grabbed by a pair of rough, large hands, and he was lifted up.
Hei Tian Mo Zu appeared beside Qi Mozi in a ghostly manner, faster than anyone's reaction.
Qi Mozi was suddenly covered by a massive power, and with his Da Luo realm cultivation, he was unable to move, his smile frozen on his face, before he quickly regained his composure.
The others only reacted now, and they were shocked, scattering in all directions to get away from Hei Tian Mo Zu.
Han Li escaped from Hei Tian Mo Zu's grasp and retreated with Huo San Jiao and the others.
He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but his heart was filled with inexplicable worry about Qi Mozi's sudden words.
This disciple of Mi Luo Old Ancestor was cunning and calculative, and since he dared to speak up, it was certainly not a good thing. Hei Tian Mo Zu's mind was unstable, and who knew what kind of abnormal reaction he would have after hearing this?
But Han Li couldn't stop anything, and that old man valued his wife and child greatly. If he said something wrong, the consequences would be unimaginable.
“Do you know where my wife and son are? Tell me quickly!” Hei Tian Mo Zu shook Qi Mozi's shoulders violently, questioning him sternly.
“Your name is Shi Kong Mo, and your wife's name is Jin Ling, right?” Qi Mozi felt his shoulders were about to be crushed, and he forced a smile.
“Shi Kong Mo...” Han Li's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.
“Yes, you really know! Take me to find them quickly!” Hei Tian Mo Zu's face lit up with excitement, and his hands tightened their grip on Qi Mozi.
“Your cultivation is boundless, and I'm afraid I won't be able to take it. Please release me, and I'll tell you everything.” Qi Mozi was covered in cold sweat, and he quickly spoke.
“Ah, sorry, take me there quickly!” Hei Tian Mo Zu loosened his grip and released Qi Mozi.
“Shi friend, I know where Jin Ling and the others are, but I won't take you there.” Qi Mozi shook his head.
“What? You dare not take me there?” Hei Tian Mo Zu's face changed, and his eyes gleamed with ferocity as he reached out and grasped Qi Mozi's neck.
A powerful, almost tangible killing intent burst forth from his body, and the nearby air trembled violently, as if the surface of the water was disturbed.
Han Li and the others were enveloped by this killing intent, feeling as if they were standing naked in the icy cold, unable to move or resist.
“Shi friend, don't misunderstand, it's not that I don't want to take you there. Your wife and son are currently being suppressed by Chi Tian Xian Domain's Chi Rong Dao Zu. Shi friend, although you're unmatched in the Da Luo realm, you're still not a match for a Dao Zu.” Qi Mozi quickly spoke.
“What? That old woman Chi Rong Dao Zu! She's a fire source Dao Zu, and her power is among the top ten of all Dao Zu. I'm not her match right now.” Hei Tian Mo Zu's face fell, and he seemed to regain some rationality, releasing Qi Mozi.
“Shi friend, don't worry, I've made a deal with Chi Rong Dao Zu. If we bring two things to her, she'll agree to release Jin Ling and your son.” Qi Mozi carefully observed Hei Tian Mo Zu, then continued.
“What things? Tell me! Even if it's twenty things, I'll give them to her!” Hei Tian Mo Zu's face lit up with excitement, and he quickly asked.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he felt a sense of foreboding.
“They are the Years God Lamp and the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World' cultivation method. I came to this Tai Sui Xian Fu for the Years God Lamp, and I didn't expect to encounter someone who cultivates the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World' method. It seems that heaven is helping us, and Jin Ling and the others will be able to escape their predicament.” Qi Mozi glanced at Han Li, then spoke.
Han Li's face changed upon hearing this.
Huo San Jiao and the others also changed their expressions.
“Ah, this Years God Lamp is annoying, and it can't be destroyed. Taking it to exchange is just right.” Hei Tian Mo Zu said, and his body blurred as he appeared beside the Years God Lamp.
The five-colored altar had been destroyed, but the Years God Lamp still floated in mid-air, emitting a golden glow that permeated the surrounding darkness, like a lone light illuminating the darkness.
“Shi friend, do you have a way to take down this lamp?” Qi Mozi asked, startled.
Hei Tian Mo Zu had attacked the Years God Lamp repeatedly, but it remained unmoving.
“Hmph! It's easy for me to take down this lamp. Watch closely!” Hei Tian Mo Zu snorted, and his body transformed into five black shadows, each appearing around the Years God Lamp.
The five black shadows simultaneously reached out, and five black light palms shot out, grabbing at the air and tearing it apart.
“Rip!” The air seemed to tear apart like a curtain, and a circular spatial rift appeared around the Years God Lamp, with a diameter of several dozen meters.
The spatial rift was filled with turbulent, colorful energies that churned and boiled, emitting a deafening roar, like a massive wave crashing against the shore. A powerful suction force also emanated from the rift, pulling everything towards it.
The onlookers retreated in shock, afraid of being sucked into the spatial rift. But the five black shadows of Hei Tian Mo Zu stood beside the rift, seemingly unaffected. The Years of Godly Light floated in the void, unaffected by the turbulent flow of the void, remaining motionless as the void around it churned and boiled.
In the depths of the void, a network of golden lock-shaped talismans crisscrossed each other, forming a massive golden array that stretched out in all directions, its extent unknown.
At the center of the golden array was the Years of Godly Light.
"This is..." Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he beheld the golden array.
The others were equally astonished, having never imagined that the Years of Godly Light had such a thing behind it.
The five Black Heaven Demon Ancestors each extended a hand, emitting a light palm that stabilized the void rift, while the other hand formed a knife-like gesture, striking out.
Instantly, five massive black palm shadows shot out, their bodies a deep black, surrounded by a halo of demonic energy. Wherever they passed, there was no fluctuation of elemental energy, no power of the laws, no vitality, no ripple of any kind.
There was only a void, a void that could erode everything.
"Void and infinite, eroding all things... the demonic energy is being used to such an extent!" Qi Mozi's eyes lit up, muttering to himself.
Han Li's heart was stirred as he watched the five black palm shadows. His "Heavenly Executioner's Prison" and "Nine Abyssal Demon Eyes" were both demonic arts, but his use of demonic energy was far inferior to the Black Heaven Demon Ancestors' void-like palms.
If he could also use demonic energy to the same extent as the Black Heaven Demon Ancestors, he would be able to erode the magical instruments wielded by Qi Mozi and the others, gaining a significant advantage in battle.
The five palm shadows struck the golden array, causing the void turbulence along the way to disappear.
The five palm shadows seemed to slow down, and the five Black Heaven Demon Ancestors' hands had just struck out when the palm shadows landed on the five key points of the golden array.
The golden array suddenly erupted in a blinding flash of light, violently shaking.
A loud hissing sound erupted, and the golden and black light burst forth, causing the surrounding void to distort and change shape.
But it seemed that the golden light was no match for the rolling black energy emanating from the palm shadows, which quickly spread and eroded it.
The Years of Godly Light's flame trembled, and then burst forth in a massive, solid golden sea of fire, rolling out in all directions and engulfing the five black palm shadows.
Unfortunately, the golden sea of fire was a step too slow, and the five black palm shadows had already invaded and covered the golden array.
A tearing sound was heard, and the golden array was torn apart, creating five massive openings. The connection between the golden array and the Years of Godly Light was almost completely severed.
The entire golden array flashed violently, then exploded, shattering into countless golden spirit lights.
Outside the Years of Godly Light, the sky turned a deep golden color, and the clouds were also tinged with gold. The powerful fluctuations of the time laws caused the clouds to churn and boil.
The elemental energy of the world was in turmoil, and countless five-colored lights appeared, densely packed and stretching out as far as the eye could see, filling the entire world with an aura of grandeur.
However, the golden light did not last long, quickly fading away and disappearing.
At the same time, the time laws that had been present throughout the seventh layer of the Years of Godly Light also completely disappeared.
The lower six layers were the same, with golden light appearing and then quickly fading away, and the time laws returning to normal. From the outside, the golden flames on the top of the Years of Godly Light jumped and then disappeared.
In the ruins of the Years of Godly Light.
As the golden array collapsed, the Years of Godly Light also shook violently, its time laws and aura still strong, but no longer stable and unshakeable, flying out into the void.
At this moment, one of the Black Heaven Demon Ancestors waved his hand, emitting a black light that wrapped around the Years of Godly Light, pulling it back.
At the same time, the five Black Heaven Demon Ancestors dispersed the five black palm shadows, and retreated.
The massive void rift quickly closed, and the large hall returned to calm.
This entire process, from the Black Heaven Demon Ancestors' attack to the destruction of the Years of Godly Light's defenses and the seizure of the Years of Godly Light, took only two or three breaths.
The Black Heaven Demon Ancestors seemed to have finally revealed their true strength as a Demon Clan cultivator at the peak of the Great Luo Realm.
Han Li, who had been watching in awe, began to believe the seemingly arrogant words of the Black Heaven Demon Ancestors.
Not far away, Lei Yu and the others saw the Years of Godly Light being taken, and their faces turned ashen.
The five Black Heaven Demon Ancestors merged into one, looked at the Years of Godly Light in their hand, and chuckled, then flipped their hand and threw the Years of Godly Light towards Qi Mozi.
Qi Mozi caught the Years of Godly Light, a flash of excitement in his eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.
...
The young man, hand over a copy of the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" to me. Don't worry, I and Miro Old Ancestor are friends, and I won't let you suffer. This is the "Five Thunder Orthodox Scripture" that I obtained from an ancient relic, it's the ultimate thunder law of this realm, and it's not inferior to your "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique".
Hei Tianmo turned around and looked at Han Li, flipped his hand and took out a purple jade slip, tossing it over.
Han Li's face changed, and he stretched out his hand to catch the jade slip. In his heart, he was thinking of a countermeasure.
This Hei Tianmo was crazy and unpredictable, and couldn't be judged by normal reasoning. Now, he seemed to have believed Qi Mozi's words, and he needed to be cautious.
One wrong move, and he would provoke the other party's anger.
"Stone Senior, don't believe this person, Qi Mozi is a member of the Heavenly Court, and he's also the master of the Heavenly Prison. His words are probably false, and he wants to deceive you into going to the Heavenly Court, where the Heavenly Court's ancestors, even the Time Ancestor, will deal with you. We are members of the Wheel of Reincarnation Temple, and we are our own people."
Before Han Li could speak, a sudden voice came from the crowd, and Jiao San walked out, his face flashing with a red light, revealing his Wheel of Reincarnation Temple mask.
"Time Ancestor... ancient or modern!" Hei Tianmo's body shook, and unexpectedly, he didn't become enraged. His face, which was previously twisted in a frenzy, slightly returned to normal, and he seemed to regain some of his rationality.
"I'm a member of the Heavenly Court? That's a joke! Stone Senior has seen many things, and he should know what kind of person I am. You people from the Wheel of Reincarnation Temple are trying to stop me from rescuing Jin Ling and Shi Gongzi. What's your motive?"
Qi Mozi seemed to have anticipated that someone would say this, and his expression didn't change. He coldly smiled and said.
"If we look at the cultivation technique, it's indeed the "Breaking Time Flowing Fire Collection" from the True Words Sect, not a technique from the Heavenly Court."
Hei Tianmo looked at Qi Mozi, seemingly muttering to himself.
"Stone Senior, please understand." Qi Mozi immediately said, not giving Jiao San and Han Li any opportunity to interrupt.
At the same time, he raised his hand and waved it, and three dry corpses appeared in front of him. They were the three Eagle Nose Demon Devils.
"Stone Senior, these three demons were once your subordinates, but they betrayed you and caused you to be imprisoned. I killed them, and the other two have already died in the Five Elements Oblivion Array. You can also take revenge."
Qi Mozi said this to Hei Tianmo, trying to gain his favor.
Hei Tianmo saw the three demon corpses and became enraged, his face twisted in anger.
"Hmph! Ungrateful traitors! I treated you five as my own, and yet you betrayed me at the most critical moment! You should die!"
Hei Tianmo's body shook, and he slapped his palm, releasing a black light that exploded the three demon corpses, turning them into dust.
Han Li and Jiao San saw Qi Mozi trying to win Hei Tianmo's favor, and they exchanged a glance, both thinking that they were in a difficult situation. However, they didn't understand Hei Tianmo's nature, and they couldn't think of a way to win him over.
"Quickly hand over the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" to me, and I'll forget about your previous offense."
Hei Tianmo's face was still twisted in anger, but he turned to Han Li and said.
"If Senior wants my technique, I won't refuse. However, my "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" is incomplete, and my master only taught me the first half of the technique. I'm afraid that even if I give it to you, it won't be of any use."
Han Li's thoughts were racing, and he quickly said.
"What? Incomplete?" Hei Tianmo's expression changed, and he frowned.
"Senior, don't worry. Although I haven't learned the complete "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique", I know where the complete technique is. The True Words Sect has been destroyed by the Heavenly Court, and my master sealed the sect's high-level techniques in a certain location. However, that location is special, and one needs a powerful time treasure to enter. I came to the Tai Sui Temple to obtain the Sui Yue God Lamp, which will allow me to retrieve the second half of the technique. If Senior trusts me, please lend me the lamp, and I'll retrieve the complete technique within ten years. If Senior doesn't trust me, we can go together."
Han Li spoke quickly, not giving Qi Mozi any opportunity to interrupt.
Qi Mozi heard Han Li's words and secretly cursed him for being cunning, using his previous words to turn the tables.
However, Hei Tianmo's expression slightly improved after hearing Han Li's words.
"Han Li, I saw your master teach you the complete "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" back then. You dare to lie to Stone Senior? The technique is either in your storage treasure or your memory, and it's easy to check."
Qi Mozi saw Hei Tianmo's expression and felt that something was wrong, so he quickly said.
"Qi Mozi, you want to check my storage treasure? Feel free to take it, but I also want to see what's in your storage treasure. I believe there's something that can prove your identity."
Han Li heard Qi Mozi's words and smiled, taking down his storage treasure.
Qi Mozi was taken aback, and he secretly regretted his previous words. He had many Heavenly Court treasures in his storage treasure, including the Heavenly Prison master's identity token.
However, showing weakness now would undo all his previous efforts.
"Hmph! What's there to be afraid of? If we're going to check, then everyone should check, so that we can avoid someone with ulterior motives muddying the waters."
Qi Mozi coldly smiled and took down his storage ring, his words hinting at stirring up trouble.
He had two storage treasures, and this ring only contained some emergency items for battle. The Heavenly Prison master's identity token was in his other storage treasure, which was hidden.
Han Li might not be able to find it.
Hei Tianmo's mind was already muddled, and he grew impatient with the two people's argument.
Just as he was about to scold them, he suddenly turned around and looked outside. "What person is lurking outside, get out here!" Black Heaven Demon God sneered, raising his hand to grab at the void.
Below the halfway point of the towering peak, the heaven and earth's primal energy collapsed and gathered, instantly forming a massive black palm that covered the sky and blocked out the sun, grabbing at a certain location in the void with lightning speed.
That location in the void "exploded" with a loud noise, and a golden figure stumbled out, it was Qu Lin, caught by the black palm.
Before he could even try to struggle, the black palm disappeared into thin air, leaving Qu Lin to fall to the ground.
Inside the Hall of Ages, the void shook and the black palm reappeared, its size greatly reduced, and it released Qu Lin.
"Ah, it's you, little bug! Haha, it's been a long time since I've beaten someone up, my hands are itching, and you just happened to deliver yourself to my doorstep." Black Heaven Demon God's anger turned to joy as he saw Qu Lin, his figure flashing and disappearing.
Qu Lin's front was shaken by a void fluctuation, and Black Heaven Demon God reappeared, punching Qu Lin with a single fist.
Seeing this, Qu Lin's face revealed a terrified expression, and he let out a loud shout, his body flashing with golden light as he transformed into his true form, a massive golden beetle over ten feet in size.
Two sharp claws swung down, releasing a wave of golden light that intersected and formed a dense golden shadow, striking Black Heaven Demon God's body.
Black Heaven Demon God didn't dodge, allowing the golden light to strike him, but his body suddenly turned into a phantom, and the golden light passed through him without causing any harm.
Black Heaven Demon God's actions didn't change, and he continued to punch Qu Lin, striking the golden beetle's head.
A loud crash echoed out!
Black Heaven Demon God's fist suddenly turned solid, and he punched the golden beetle, sending it flying and crashing into the nearby wall, causing a massive shockwave.
The walls of the Hall of Ages were made of special materials, and although they didn't have any restrictive formations, they were still very difficult to break.
Tian Tian Sword Sect and the others happened to be standing nearby, and Dao Yin True Person hadn't woken up yet. Lei Yuze and the others saw this and quickly moved to the side, taking Dao Yin True Person with them.
The golden beetle crashed into the wall, fell to the ground, and looked around in confusion, as if it had been dazed.
A shallow fist print appeared on its incredibly hard exoskeleton, but it didn't crack.
"Ah, your shell is even harder now, great, let me loosen up my muscles!" Black Heaven Demon God's figure reappeared beside the golden beetle, and he punched it again.
The golden beetle's body flashed with golden light, and it suddenly shrunk to the size of a fist, transforming into a small golden insect. It shot forward with incredible speed, its wings buzzing.
"You think you can run?" Black Heaven Demon God's figure flashed, and he appeared in front of the golden insect, his fist striking it with lightning speed.
A loud crash echoed out, and the golden insect was sent flying again, crashing into another wall and causing a massive shockwave.
The golden insect's body was now half-covered in golden light, and its size returned to its original state. "Haha, it's been a long time since I've felt this good! It's been a long time since I've felt this satisfied!" Black Heaven Demon God said, nodding his head, his figure blurring and reappearing beside the golden beetle, punching it again.
The golden beetle was sent flying once more, crashing into a wall and falling to the ground.
This time, it was struck on the body, and its head wasn't dazed. As soon as it landed, it immediately prostrated itself on the ground.
"Senior Shi, Lord Shi, I was wrong, I shouldn't have been spying on you, please forgive me this time!" The golden beetle didn't try to escape, instead begging for mercy.
"No, I haven't had enough yet, what are you yelling about?" Black Heaven Demon God sneered, his figure reappearing beside the golden beetle, and he kicked it again.
He had just been annoyed by Han Li and Qimozi's words, which were related to his wife and children, and he could only endure it. But his heart was already burning with anger, and Qu Lin had unknowingly delivered himself to his doorstep.
The golden beetle became a sandbag, being beaten by Black Heaven Demon God's fists and feet, flying back and forth in the great hall.
Black Heaven Demon God didn't use any law attacks, only using his physical strength to punch and kick Qu Lin. Qu Lin's body was incredibly resilient, and he didn't take any damage, but his body was flying back and forth in the great hall, leaving behind a trail of golden light.
Everywhere it passed, a large crater would appear.
The entire seventh floor was in chaos, with rocks flying everywhere, and the sound of screams and explosions echoed through the air.
Han Li and the others had never seen such a spectacle before, a Da Luo realm cultivator chasing after a large golden beetle like a common street vendor.
Qu Xian tried to beg for mercy several times, but before he could even finish speaking, he was beaten senseless by the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's sudden and merciless attacks.
The onlookers were stunned, and they hastily dodged to the side to avoid being caught in the crossfire.
Because the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor had previously forbidden them from leaving, they didn't dare to venture too far, lest they incur his wrath. They could only awkwardly dodge and weave, looking utterly ridiculous.
Just then, a white light flashed from afar, and a middle-aged man in a blue robe appeared, riding a Lichi horse.
Upon seeing this man, Han Li, Huo San, and Jiao San's faces lit up with joy.
However, Qi Mozi's expression turned grave, and his eyes flashed with a hint of unease.
"Black Heaven, please spare him," the blue-robed man said, waving his hand to send a gray-white light towards the golden beetle, which had been knocked flying once again.
But the golden beetle's momentum was too great, and it shattered the gray-white light, crashing into a nearby wall with a loud "thud". The wall, already damaged, collapsed entirely.
"Lyu Zi, you old fellow, what brings you here? Do you think you can interfere with my affairs?" the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor asked, his expression gleeful as he beat Qu Xian senseless.
"Ha ha, I came to congratulate you on your escape, Stone," Lyu Zi said, bowing. "My Benming Yuanpai is here, and now that the Years Lamp's seal has been broken, I've come to retrieve it."
Lyu Zi's gaze swept towards the five-colored altar inside the temple, but his expression faltered as he took in the devastation.
The five-colored altar was now nothing but a pile of rubble.
Lyu Zi's eyes turned towards the others, and his gaze landed on Qi Mozi. His expression turned grave, and he seemed to be searching for something.
His Lichi horse also scanned the area, its brow furrowed as it failed to detect the Benming Yuanpai's location.
"You'll have to wait your turn, Lyu Zi," the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor said. "I still have business to attend to. You can search for your treasure later. Don't interfere with my affairs for now."
Lyu Zi's mention of Lyu Qi's name sparked a realization in Han Li. He recalled that Lyu Zi's techniques were identical to Lyu Qi's, and that Lyu Qi had been the one to sever Lyu Zi's three corpses.
Han Li shook his head, focusing on the present situation. His eyes darted towards Huo San, and he mouthed a few words.
Huo San nodded almost imperceptibly.
The Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's beating of Qu Xian continued, until the golden beetle was battered and bruised, its body covered in fist-sized indentations and golden blood flowing from its seven orifices.
Lyu Zi intervened, begging the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor to spare Qu Xian's life.
The Black Heaven Demon Ancestor relented, and Lyu Zi took advantage of the opportunity to retrieve the golden beetle.
As Lyu Zi turned to leave, he caught sight of Huo San and his eyes widened in surprise.
"Stone, I didn't know you had plans to rescue your wife and son," Lyu Zi said, his eyes gleaming with interest. "How did you find their whereabouts?"
Qi Mozi's eyes narrowed, and he subtly withdrew his hand into his sleeve. The old man pointed at Qí Mó Zǐ and said, "This friend told me that he would bring me to find Jīn Líng and the others."
Lǐu Zì Zài's eyebrows rose, and he exclaimed, "How could you trust this person, don't you know that he is the current master of the Heavenly Prison?"
Qí Mó Zǐ hastily defended himself, "I'm not a person from the Heavenly Court, I swear..."
Lǐu Zì Zài waved his hand, and a gray-white light flew out, transforming into a gray-white sphere. The sphere showed a scene of Qí Mó Zǐ previously collaborating with the White Bone Demon and the Copper Lion Demon, and the image of him taking out the Prison Master's token was clear. The sphere also transmitted the voices of the three people, without omitting a single word.
The old man's face turned cold as iron, and he glared at Qí Mó Zǐ. "You dare to deceive me?"
At that moment, a golden light burst forth from Qí Mó Zǐ's body, expanding rapidly and forming a golden domain. The domain was filled with flames-like spiritual light, and it was the Duan Shi Huo Jing, which enveloped everyone.
Everything within the Duan Shi Huo Jing suddenly froze, and everyone's bodies became immobile. However, Qí Mó Zǐ's body transformed into a golden light, and he flew out of the Taì Suì Temple ruins, shooting towards the distance.
The old man roared, "You think you can trap me with your Duan Shi Huo Jing?" His body emitted a massive amount of black light, which tore through the Duan Shi Huo Jing.
He reached out with his hand, and the sky outside the temple shook with a deafening roar. A massive black hand, covering half of the sky, reappeared, and it grasped towards Qí Mó Zǐ.
A massive force pressed down on Qí Mó Zǐ from all sides, reducing his speed. He was about to be caught by the black hand when he suddenly flashed with golden light, and his speed increased. The golden light enveloped the surrounding space, illuminating it like daylight.
The next moment, a massive golden light sphere, hundreds of feet in size, appeared. The sphere was covered in golden flames, resembling a golden sun, and it shot towards the black hand.
The two forces collided, causing a massive explosion. The black hand was blocked by the golden light sphere, and after a brief moment, it shattered and dissipated.
Qí Mó Zǐ's body fell from the light sphere, and he vomited blood from his seven orifices. He held onto the lotus-shaped candle tightly, and its spiritual light was much dimmer than before.
Qí Mó Zǐ muttered a few words, and his body stabilized. He turned around and continued to fly towards the distance.
However, the golden light sphere did not disappear. Instead, it expanded rapidly, and thin golden flames burst forth from it, piercing through the black hand and creating numerous small holes. The black hand, which was once so powerful, suddenly disintegrated.
The old man looked at the golden light sphere, his face filled with excitement, and he seemed to have forgotten about Qí Mó Zǐ.
The golden light sphere shrank, and a golden figure with a high crown appeared. Although its face was unclear, it radiated a powerful aura.
Léi Yù Cè and the others, who were hiding in the corner of the temple, saw the figure and were greatly encouraged.
"It's our ancestor!"
"All these years, our ancestor never truly left this tower that intimidates all demons and monsters!"
As they spoke, Léi Yù Cè and the others bowed towards the golden figure from afar.
The old man's face turned cold and serious, and he said, "I see, I was wondering why the candle's power was so great, even without anyone controlling it. It's because it contains a remnant of your spirit, Wén Tài Suì!"
The golden figure looked at the old man, its face solemn, and it did not speak.
The next moment, the black and gold lights on the two figures burst forth, and their massive auras collided in the air.
The already damaged Taì Suì Temple collapsed, but the ground remained intact, as if protected by the Five Elements Array.
Hán Lì and the others were blown away by the two massive auras and flew to a distant location, far away from the old man and the golden figure.
"Rumbling sounds..."
As the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor clashed with the Ta Sui's residual soul, the dark clouds in the sky grew thick, and although there was no lightning, a low rumbling sound could be heard.
The air around them was filled with a howling wind, and the ground trembled slightly, as if the entire Sui Yue Tower space was becoming unstable.
"Brother Han, the Sui Yue Lamp must not fall into Qi Mozi's hands, we must retrieve it," Jiao San said gravely to Han Li.
"Jiao San, Qi Mozi is a powerful cultivator in the Da Luo realm, not only is his strength formidable, but his cunning is also deep, and now that he has obtained the Sui Yue Lamp, he is like a tiger with wings, we should not pursue him now," Han Li replied with a hint of hesitation.
He had already shaken off the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's mind control, and no longer had the same fervor for the Sui Yue Lamp.
"Brother Han, you and Qi Mozi have a grudge, why are you retreating now?" Jiao San asked urgently.
"I do have a grudge with him, but the gap in our strength is too great, and the Sui Yue Lamp's movement has lifted the tower's restrictions, it's not safe to stay here, we should leave quickly," Han Li replied nonchalantly.
"To be honest, Brother Han, Qi Mozi not only has the Sui Yue Lamp, but also took the key item from our Wheel of Reincarnation Hall's mission, we must retrieve it. As a member of the Wheel of Reincarnation, you should also participate," Jiao San said, glancing at Qi Mozi's direction with a hint of anxiety.
"Jiao San, don't force me, this is not my task, although I am a member of the Wheel of Reincarnation, I am not qualified to participate in a task of this level," Han Li replied calmly.
Jiao San's face stiffened, not expecting Han Li to use her previous words to deflect her.
"Brother Han, if I'm not mistaken, there's a young man named Jin Tong who is quite close to you, his situation is not looking good," Jiao San said, her voice low and urgent.
"What do you mean?" Han Li asked, his expression unchanged, but his heart tightened.
"This is a long story, I'll explain later, but taking down Qi Mozi is crucial for your young friend, please don't hesitate, act quickly. Qi Mozi's cultivation of the Time Law is not to be underestimated, without your help, it will be troublesome," Jiao San said, her face anxious.
Just as they were speaking, Huo San had already caught up with Liu Zixin, who was chasing after Qi Mozi, as the latter had his life-bound token.
"Since that's the case, I'll help you, but afterwards, I'll take the Sui Yue Lamp, is that acceptable?" Han Li asked.
In reality, he had an unresolved grudge with Qi Mozi, and now that he had the chance, he wanted to kill him to eliminate the threat, but since Jiao San had asked for his help, he would have to play along and make her owe him a favor.
However, Jiao San's mention of Jin Tong's situation was unexpected, and Han Li's heart clouded over with a hint of unease.
"Alright, I agree, but Brother Han, please don't fight over the other items on Qi Mozi's body," Jiao San said, nodding without hesitation.
Han Li naturally had no objections.
After they agreed, Jiao San's body flashed with a bright light, and she took off in pursuit of Qi Mozi.
Just then, a silver light flew out from the ruins of the great hall, and it was the Jing Yan Fire Bird, carrying the Fire Pearl, one of the five artifacts that made up the Wu Xing Mie Kong Great Array.
"It seems that the great array is no longer stable without someone to control it," Han Li muttered to himself, and he took the Fire Pearl from the Fire Bird.
He glanced at the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor and the Ta Sui's residual soul, who were still fighting, and the terrifying shockwaves they were creating, and he shuddered slightly.
Just as he was about to leave, he saw Qu Lin and Li Qi Ma transforming into human form, searching for something in the ruins of the great hall.
He flew over to them, and said with a smile, "Don't just watch, come help me retrieve the lamp."
"Retrieve what lamp? Old Ancestor is busy, you go play by yourself, don't come and bother me," Li Qi Ma said, not even looking at Han Li, his voice impatient.
"Qu Dao friend, he won't help, what about you? We had an agreement earlier, to help me deal with an enemy, and now he's right there," Han Li said, pointing to the distance, where Jiao San and the others had already caught up with Qi Mozi.
"We had an agreement, and I won't go back on my word, but I have more important things to attend to, you have enough people to deal with him," Qu Lin said, without hesitation.
"Are you two...?" Han Li said, a smile spreading across his face.
Qu Lin turned to look at him, and Li Qi Ma put away his cigarette, and also looked at Han Li.
And that's when they saw Han Li holding two blood-red tokens, waving them casually at them.
"Ah, you're looking for these?" Han Li asked, his smile widening. Han Li had originally not planned to take out the two nameplates, especially the one belonging to Qu Lin, because having it in his possession would give him an ace up his sleeve when facing Jin Tong in the future.
To prevent them from sensing it, Han Li had added a layer of restriction to the nameplates and stored them in the Flower Branch Cave Heaven. However, he had to take them out now to get their help.
"Ah, good kid, you really have it," Li Qi said with a smile, his mouth wide open. "I told you before, if you can find back my old ancestor's nameplate, I'll definitely thank you heavily. Now it's time to fulfill that promise."
"Ah, Daoist Li, don't be in a hurry. The thank you can wait until I've dealt with Qi Mozi," Han Li said, flipping his hand to retrieve the two nameplates.
"You're a sly kid, not letting the rabbit go until you've released the hawk," Li Qi said, his face stiffening in anger.
"Then let's kill that person first," Qu Lin said, his brow furrowing.
The two of them finished speaking, and Li Qi's body was suddenly enveloped in a white whirlwind, disappearing from the spot.
Han Li and Qu Lin followed closely behind, chasing after him.
The group from the Tongtian Sword Sect had already retreated to a distance of several hundred li, taking advantage of the chaos. Daoyin Zhenren, who had been carried on Lei Yu's back, finally woke up.
He coughed lightly and turned his head to look behind him, seeing that the sky and earth had changed colors, and the entire space was in chaos.
"What's going on?" Daoyin Zhenren asked, his voice trembling.
"Master, you're awake?" Lei Yu exclaimed, quickly putting him down.
He roughly explained what had happened after Daoyin Zhenren had fainted, and Daoyin Zhenren's brow furrowed in concern.
"What? Old ancestor's residual soul has descended... Ah, this is a disaster... If the divine lamp is not in our hands, once it's moved, we won't be able to maintain the sealing power of the Years Tower. If the demons in the tower escape, we'll be the ones who brought chaos to the Jin Yuan Immortal Realm."
"Master, our current situation is already fortunate enough. We can't worry about too much right now," a senior disciple said to comfort him.
"No, the reputation of the Tongtian Sword Sect can't be ruined on my watch. The immortal lord's residual soul is still fighting against the Black Sky Old Demon, and I'll risk my life to retrieve the divine lamp and re-seal the demons in the tower," Daoyin Zhenren said, his face stern.
"Master, the divine lamp has been moved for a long time, and the demons in the tower may have already escaped. We have disciples from various sects stationed outside the tower, and they should be able to block them for a while. What we need to do right now is to quickly leave the Years Tower and the entire ancient relic space, and find a way to activate the immortal lord's last trump card," Lei Yu said urgently.
"You mean, destroying the Years Tower and the entire ancient relic space together?" Daoyin Zhenren asked, his expression calming down.
"If we let the demons in the tower escape into the immortal realm, many more people will die. It's a difficult choice, but it's the lesser of two evils," Lei Yu said, his face serious.
"If we don't do this, the consequences will be severe. These people who have entered the ancient relic space are already doomed. The divine lamp will eventually return to our sect, and we'll use it to restore our glory," Daoyin Zhenren said, his face stern.
Su Zhuqian opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately said nothing.
After they finished speaking, the group headed towards the edge of the seven-layer space, where they could exit the tower without the restriction.
After they left, a black rock not far from them suddenly rolled to the side, and a figure emerged from the ground. It was Xiong Shan.
He removed a golden talisman from his brow and carefully stored it away, then let out a long sigh.
"Those people from the Tongtian Sword Sect are going to destroy the entire ancient relic space. I need to leave immediately..."
He flipped his hand, and a golden long sword and a yellow earth seal appeared in front of him, which were the two immortal tools he had used to set up the Five Elements Concealment Array. However, their light had dimmed, and they seemed to have consumed a lot of energy.
"Fortunately, I have you two. This time, I almost lost my life, but at least I didn't come up empty-handed," he said, smiling as he carefully put away the sword and seal.
After that, he stood up and glanced at the chaotic battlefield in the distance, then spat on the ground and said, "You can continue playing. I'll leave first."
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a blue light flash by above him, and it seemed that the woman named Lan Yan was also flying away.
He furrowed his brow and followed suit, flying away from the chaotic scene.
At the same time, the outside of the Years Tower was already in a state of chaos.
The entire tower was beginning to show signs of massive cracks, with silver light flashing from within, and powerful spatial fluctuations emanating from it.
Before long, people began to emerge from the cracks, including humans, demons, and monsters, with varying shapes and cultivation levels, densely packed and blocking out the sky.
The disciples of the various sects stationed outside the tower were initially shocked, and wanted to retreat, but many of the people who emerged from the cracks attacked without hesitation, and the disciples were forced to defend themselves under the leadership of their respective leaders.
However, at first, relying on their numerical advantage, they were able to suppress some of the people who emerged, but as the number of people increased, some extremely powerful existences began to appear, and the balance of power began to shift.
Outside the Years Tower, the sound of killing and shouting shook the heavens, and both sides suffered heavy casualties, with blood flowing like rivers.
……
On the other side, Han Li and Qu Lin had caught up to the scene, and saw that Jiao San had already released the Wheel of Rebirth, covering an area of hundreds of miles.
Inside her dark red spirit domain, there was another layer of golden spirit domain, which was clearly released by Qimozi.
Lirixima, who had entered the two spirit domains, suddenly slowed down.
His eyes widened, and his four hooves galloped out, creating white whirlwinds that shot out from his feet, stirring up the surrounding space, and his speed increased dramatically.
When Han Li and Qu Lin entered the spirit domain, a golden light ball suddenly appeared, transforming into a layer of time spirit domain, covering an area of hundreds of miles.
As they approached, they found that Qimozi and the others had stopped fighting, and were standing facing each other.
"As long as you hand over the items you obtained from the altar, we can let you go, and you can leave on your own," Jiao San said, her hands forming a seal, but not attacking.
"Hmph, with the Years God Lamp in hand, I'm not afraid of you," Qimozi sneered.
"Qimozi, what about us?" Han Li sneered.
Seeing Han Li arrive with Lirixima and Qu Lin, Qimozi's expression changed, and he realized that he was no match for them.
Moreover, Qu Lin, Liu Zixin, and Lirixima were all powerful cultivators, and even with the Years God Lamp in hand, he was still at a disadvantage.
Just then, Qimozi suddenly remembered something, and a sly smile appeared on his face. He flipped his hand, and a blood-red token appeared in his palm.
"This life token is yours, isn't it? If you don't want me to destroy it, then kill him for me," Qimozi said, his eyes falling on Liu Zixin, and commanding him.
Liu Zixin's eyes flashed, and he looked at Han Li, a hint of hesitation on his face.
"You don't have a choice, believe me, I'll crush it," Qimozi said, his mouth twisting.
"Sorry..."
Liu Zixin's eyes flashed with anger, and he spoke, his body flashing towards Han Li.
"Old fox, sorry, but I won't let you kill him," Qu Lin said, intercepting him.
Lirixima hesitated for a moment, and then his body glowed with white light, transforming into a massive whirlwind that enveloped Qu Lin and Liu Zixin, and sent them flying out of the spirit domain.
"Haha, without them, do you dare to fight me?" Qimozi sneered.
Han Li and Jiao San exchanged a glance, and nodded to each other. The three of them spread out, surrounding Qimozi in the center.
"I admire your bravery, but I'm afraid you don't know the true power of the Years God Lamp," Qimozi said, his eyes scanning the three of them.
Han Li and the others felt a sense of unease, and their hearts tightened with a bad premonition.
"Let me show you," Qimozi said, his hands forming a seal.
The golden lamp shot out, floating in front of him, spinning rapidly.
Qimozi's hands formed a seal, and his aura surged, his clothes flapping wildly.
In front of him, a golden flame condensed, and a fire torch appeared, its flame flickering.
Qimozi's eyes fell on the fire torch and the Years God Lamp, and a crazed look appeared in his eyes. His hands formed a seal, and he shouted:
"Cut off time, cut off space, the fire will not be extinguished, the Years God Lamp will shine forever." As soon as the words left his lips, the lotus heart-like wick in the lantern on the lotus lake suddenly burst forth with countless golden rays of light, shining brightly in the sky like the sun. Rolling golden waves of light emanated from within, churning and surging like a sea of clouds.
"This is...not good, stop him quickly!" Han Li shouted, his voice stern.
As he spoke, he activated the Heavenly Executioner's Prison technique with all his might, and his palm shot out with a burst of golden light. The thirty-six bamboo swords merged into one, wrapped in dense lightning, and shot straight towards Qí Mó Zǐ.
Jiǎo Sān was a step slower, but he also swung his hand and struck out with a palm, releasing a flying eight-cornered token from his palm. The token was wrapped in a swirling dark red mist, which gathered into a massive fog wall that advanced towards Qí Mó Zǐ.
On the other side, Jiǎo Sān's Heavenly Fox Blood Knife had already been unsheathed, and hundreds of massive blood-colored blades sliced through the void, tearing apart the sky and falling towards Qí Mó Zǐ.
The three attacks were all incredibly powerful, and even a Daluo cultivator would not dare to underestimate them.
But Qí Mó Zǐ, who was at the center of the attacks, seemed completely unaware, and only manipulated the incantation, using all his might to activate the golden fireball, which landed on the Years of the Gods Lamp.
"Rumble rumble..."
Just as the golden lightning-wrapped bamboo sword was about to reach him, the dark red mist wall had already obscured the sky, and the Heavenly Fox Blood Knife's blades were about to fall, the golden fireball and the Years of the Gods Lamp finally merged into one.
In the instant they merged, a dazzling golden light burst forth, releasing a golden glow that was a hundred times more intense than sunlight, causing Han Li's vision to lose its effect.
Han Li only heard a loud rumble, which came from Qí Mó Zǐ's direction, and then he was pushed back by a violent gust of air, his body involuntarily retreating.
After stabilizing his body, he used his mind to connect with the bamboo sword, and with a wave of his hand, the sword flew back into his hand.
Han Li's eyes narrowed as he gazed in the direction of Qí Mó Zǐ, and in the midst of the rolling smoke and dust, a massive shadow stood upright, resembling a giant pillar that supported the sky.
But when the smoke and dust cleared, he finally saw that the object in the smoke was a golden oil lamp over a hundred feet tall, its pillar slightly curved, and its lamp resembling a lotus flower. It was unmistakably the Years of the Gods Lamp.
"This is...the Years of the Gods Lamp?" Jiǎo Sān's voice came from beside him.
Han Li turned his head and saw that she was only slightly disheveled, with no major issues.
"It seems he has used some secret technique to fully grasp the Years of the Gods Lamp, but under such hasty circumstances, it's impossible to maintain it for long. We should be cautious in our response," Han Li said, frowning in thought.
"I don't think it's that simple. This old fellow has enlarged the lamp, and the aura of the lamp is not only not wildly released, but it's actually restrained, which is abnormal in itself," Hú Sān said, flying back with a disheveled appearance.
Han Li listened, closed his eyes, and carefully probed for a moment, his face slightly changing.
"Hú Sān is right, Qí Mó Zǐ has merged the Years of the Gods Lamp with his spiritual domain, and the lamp has become like the domain spirit within his spiritual domain. It's not going to be easy to deal with," Han Li said, his eyes fixed intently on the lamp.
Just then, Qí Mó Zǐ's figure suddenly appeared on the surface of the massive Years of the Gods Lamp, standing on one of the lotus petals, looking down at the three of them with a smile.
"Haha...Han fellow, do you still have a few chances of winning?" Qí Mó Zǐ laughed loudly.
Without waiting for Han Li to respond, he suddenly pinched his fingers together, pointing at the lamp below.
The massive Years of the Gods Lamp suddenly shook violently, and the flames that covered the wick burst forth, shooting out countless golden flames in all directions.
Han Li and the others quickly scattered, avoiding the flames.
The golden flames landed on the ground, but they did not splash or disappear. Instead, they flashed with a golden light, transforming into a series of golden lamps, each about a hundred feet tall, resembling the Years of the Gods Lamp.
The golden lamps were densely packed throughout the spiritual domain, with one appearing every ten or so feet.
Han Li quickly discovered that after the appearance of the lamp's avatars, the fluctuations in the time law within Qí Mó Zǐ's spiritual domain had increased tenfold, and even with Han Li's time spiritual domain to counter it, their actions were still greatly hindered.
"Let's try this again..." Qí Mó Zǐ suddenly shouted from the lamp.
Han Li looked over and saw Qí Mó Zǐ's sleeves shaking, and the wide sleeves opening with a "whooshing" sound.
A fiery red glow surged from within the sleeves, and a dense cluster of red light points emerged, instantly covering a patch of sky.
"Not good, it's the Fire Age Fireflies!" Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he shouted loudly.
As soon as his words fell, the Fire Age Fireflies split into three groups, each rushing towards the three of them.
Hearing Han Li's warning, Jiǎo Sān and the others also realized that things were getting troublesome, and they quickly used their techniques to protect themselves.
Jiǎo Sān's robes shone with a silver light, and a dense array of symbols appeared on the surface, emitting a hazy glow that contained a layer of spatial law, resembling a barrier that enveloped her.
Hú Sān, on the other hand, had a layer of scaly armor appear on his body, with dense, glowing symbols that completely encased him.
Han Li saw the fireflies swooping down, and he didn't dare to be careless. A golden light flashed behind him, and the True Word Treasure Wheel appeared, spinning rapidly.
The fireflies flew near, and suddenly they were like hitting an invisible wall, their speed slowing down, and they were trapped in mid-air.
Han Li saw this and slightly relaxed, thinking of taking out the Xuan Tian Gourd to store the fireflies. But then he saw a shocking scene.
The fireflies on their bodies suddenly burst into a golden flame, and the light flashed, consuming the golden light emitted by the Treasure Wheel.
As the golden light was consumed, the fireflies' speed suddenly increased, and they approached Han Li.
The fireflies in front of him were clearly not on the same level as the ones he had seen before.
Han Li's situation took a turn for the worse, while Jiao San and Huo San's situation was even more dire.
Jiao San was surrounded by the fireflies, and the blue light on her robes was being eaten away, leaving her on the verge of collapse.
Huo San's situation was even more miserable, his silver armor unable to withstand the fireflies. He could only move his body to avoid them, but accidentally bumped into a lamp.
The lamp suddenly burst into flames, and a red dragon emerged, wrapping itself around Huo San's body.
Huo San was shocked, and his hand trembled as he swung his Tian Huo Blood Knife, striking the dragon.
The dragon's body was torn apart, and it dissipated into a cloud of fire sparks.
Huo San saw this and let out a sigh of relief, but as he moved, two more lamps burst into flames, and two more dragons emerged, biting down on his shoulders.
His body was suddenly slowed down, and he was trapped in place.
The fireflies surrounding him immediately swarmed forward, covering him completely.
Han Li saw this and tightened his fists, knowing that Huo San was in grave danger.
He saw Huo San's life force flowing away, and his body began to wither, his aura weakening.
Han Li gritted his teeth and swung his hand, releasing 36 Qing Bamboo Hornet Swords that flew out in a row.
The swords transformed into a net of green light, weaving together in mid-air, and swooped down towards the fireflies.
At the same time, Han Li retracted the True Word Treasure Wheel, reversing its speed, and his body suddenly accelerated, moving towards Huo San.
Without the Treasure Wheel's restraint, the fireflies' speed suddenly increased, and the net of swords could only block a portion of them.
Han Li didn't have time to worry about it, and he arrived at Huo San's side, using his Tian Xie Zhen Prison technique to infuse his arms with star power.
He struck the two lamps with a powerful blow, and the lamps exploded, releasing the two dragons that were binding Huo San.
However, the fireflies on Huo San's body suddenly flew away, and those that were chasing Han Li from behind formed a pincer movement.
Han Li was unable to avoid it, and hundreds of fireflies landed on his body.
He didn't have time to swat them away and tried to leave, but his feet were stuck in place.
The flames on the ground suddenly burst into bloom, and a strong temporal law fluctuation emerged, trapping Han Li in place.
The next moment, a ripple appeared in front of him, and Qi Mozi's figure emerged, grasping his collar.
"Finally caught you..." Qi Mozi sneered.
Huo San, who had just regained his freedom, saw this and changed his expression, shouting, "Han brother!"
On the other side, Jiao San, who was covered in fireflies, suddenly released a strong law of reincarnation, and the fireflies' flames dissipated, and they fell to the ground, entering a dormant state.
"Han Dao friend..."
Jiao San frowned, and her body flashed, rushing towards Han Li.
However, she had only moved a hundred feet when the lamps around her suddenly burst into flames, and dragons emerged, blocking her path. Qimozi gazed at Jiaosan and then glanced at Husan before focusing on Han Li, his voice dripping with mockery: "This time, no one can save you. Go die!"
As he spoke, he grasped Han Li's palm, and a burst of golden flames erupted, engulfing Han Li's entire body in an instant.
"Brother Han..."
Husan's eyes widened in rage as he lunged forward, his Celestial Fox Blood Knife flashing in the air. However, Qimozi casually waved his hand, and a wave of golden flames struck Husan's chest, sending him tumbling backward.
Jiaosan's eyes also blazed with fury, but he could only watch helplessly as Han Li was consumed by the flames.
Qimozi maintained his grip on Han Li's palm, holding him like a torch, as he watched Han Li's body slowly disintegrate into ashes.
The ashes scattered, revealing only black bone powder and no escaping Nascent Soul.
Qimozi sneered, his lips curling upward, and his palm beckoned behind him.
A burst of flames erupted, and a massive golden lotus bloomed, transforming into a colossal cage that sealed off the surrounding space.
Within the golden lotus, a tall figure emerged, and it was Han Li.
"You dare to use a substitute puppet in front of me again?" Qimozi turned to face the trapped Han Li, his face twisted in mockery.
Han Li, confined within the flames, was unable to move or speak, his face contorted in agony.
Qimozi didn't bother to waste words, his body flashing as he entered the golden lotus. His massive hand grasped Han Li's head, and with a slight exertion, his fingers began to whiten.
Han Li's head felt like it was about to explode, and he let out a blood-curdling scream.
Qimozi seemed to relish the sound, his grip tightening.
Han Li's face turned deathly pale, his eyes bulging with bloodshot orbs, as if they would burst at any moment.
Jiaosan's expression changed, and a dark red glow surged from his body as he raised his hand, sending a dark red token flying toward Qimozi.
The token expanded, and Jiaosan infused it with his internal law energy.
The token grew to the size of a door, blocking Qimozi's path, as dark red threads emanated from it, dispelling the surrounding divine lamp illusions.
Husan, who had managed to free himself, followed closely behind Jiaosan, his Celestial Fox Blood Knife radiating intense blood energy.
Qimozi turned to face them, his lips curling into a sneer.
"We're too late..." Jiaosan exclaimed in despair.
As he spoke, Qimozi's grip on Han Li's head tightened, and a burst of golden light flashed, causing Han Li's skull to shatter like a ripe melon.
"Brother Han..." Husan's eyes widened in horror as he let out a deafening roar.
Jiaosan's face also contorted in shock, his eyes filled with incredulity.
Qimozi ignored them, instead pulling out a four-to-five-inch golden figurine from Han Li's remains. The figurine's features were identical to Han Li's, and it was his Nascent Soul.
"Friend Han, you see... the Great Five Elements Fantasy Realm is still mine," Qimozi said, his face filled with triumphant laughter.
The Nascent Soul figurine didn't respond, only struggling to break free.
Qimozi didn't seem to mind, his eyes flashing with a black glow as two thin, black threads emerged from his pupils, wrapping around the Nascent Soul.
However, just as he began to soul-search, Qimozi's expression changed, and the black threads retracted, withdrawing into his eyes.
It was too late, though.
Han Li's lifeless body, which had been shattered by Qimozi, suddenly twisted and contorted, dispersing into nothingness along with the Nascent Soul figurine.
Meanwhile, a blue figure appeared beside Jiaosan, a faint smile on his face. It was the Great Luo Cultivator, Liu Ziyin.
Liu Ziyin's illusory law had combined with Jiaosan's Samsara law, allowing him to deceive Qimozi, who was within his own spiritual realm, at the cost of sacrificing a substitute puppet.
Just as the situation was unfolding, a white whirlwind swept in from the distance, and Liqima arrived in a flash, standing before Qimozhi.
On his back, a figure suddenly leapt down, and it was Han Li.
His body radiated dazzling golden light, and the true word treasure wheel spun with a loud whoosh, while the Time Cleansing Vessel floated above, releasing a sea of illusory sand that embodied the laws of time. All of these objects surrounded Qimozhi.
Almost simultaneously, the five Time Law Embodiments on the surface of the objects shone brightly, and threads of Time Law crystals shot out, merging and burning in mid-air, releasing a dazzling five-colored fusion light.
Qimozhi's expression froze in terror, and his face was petrified in an instant.
Next, his body began to float with layer upon layer of illusory shadows, and countless identical versions of himself appeared.
The first of these illusory shadows disintegrated, crumbling into dust and disappearing.
At this point, everyone, including Liu Ziyuan and Qu Lin, hovered hundreds of feet away, watching the shocking scene unfold before their eyes, and no one dared to approach.
Because they all discovered that Qimozhi's body was undergoing a terrifying transformation. His cultivation aura was slowly dissipating, and he was falling from the Great Luo Realm to the Taiyi Realm.
Han Li's situation wasn't much better. The five-colored fusion light seemed to have consumed too much energy, and it was gradually fading away.
Just as the five-colored fusion light disappeared, Han Li let out a loud roar:
"Old man, the time has come!"
As he spoke, his true spirit blood vessels and the Tianxia Town Prison Technique began to circulate, and a dark light enveloped his body. His figure transformed into a three-headed, six-armed demon, and he launched a punch and a claw at Qimozhi's dantian and heart.
Two muffled sounds echoed through the air.
The dragon claw formed from the true dragon blood vessels tore open Qimozhi's chest and crushed his heart, but the massive fist formed from the mountain giant ape was unable to pierce Qimozhi's dantian.
"The Great Luo Realm's physical body is indeed powerful..."
Han Li sighed inwardly, intending to strike again and destroy Qimozhi's dantian. But just as he was about to do so, a sudden change occurred.
A scorching aura burst forth from Qimozhi's dantian, and hundreds of fiery insects poured out, charging towards Han Li.
The area affected by the insects was instantly scorched, and Han Li's arm withered away.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and a small, silver figure with seven-colored flames appeared on his shoulder. It dove forward, transforming into a silver flame that engulfed Han Li's arm and the insects.
In that brief moment, a golden thread of Time Law crystals shot out from Qimozhi's dantian, wrapping around a small, golden figure with a resentful expression. It vanished in an instant, reappearing thousands of feet away.
Hou San saw this and was about to give chase, but Liu Ziyuan stopped him.
"He's using most of the Time Law crystals to escape with his nascent soul. Even Liqima can't catch up. Don't waste your energy."
Han Li's arm was still infested with the insects, but he reached out with his other hand and removed the storage ring and storage bracelet from Qimozhi's hand. He didn't refine or put them away.
On the other side, the Suiyue God Lamp, which no one had activated, returned to its original state and was put away by Hou San.
When everyone gathered together, Hou San spoke up, "Brother Han, as we agreed earlier..."
"I only wanted the Suiyue God Lamp, and that's all," Han Li replied, nodding his head. He tossed the storage ring and storage bracelet to Hou San.
Hou San was taken aback, then smiled faintly and handed the Suiyue God Lamp to Han Li.
The two of them each took the objects and examined them for a moment before putting them away.
"Brother Han, now that you've obtained the Suiyue God Lamp, my lifebound token should be returned to me, right?" Liqima asked, jogging up to Han Li.
Han Li was about to respond when a loud rumbling sound shook the air, and the entire void seemed to tremble.
Everyone's hearts skipped a beat as they turned to look at the area where the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor and the others were fighting.
A black light and a golden light were clashing at incredible speeds, causing the heavens and earth to shake with each impact.
The area near the Suiyue Palace had collapsed, and the void was torn apart, revealing a massive spatial rift that stretched across the sky. The entire seventh layer of space was in turmoil.
Fortunately, the spatial rifts were absorbing the shockwaves from the battle, preventing the seventh layer from collapsing.
The spatial rifts seemed to have no effect on the two combatants, who were fighting at the edge of the rifts. A deafening crash echoed through the air as the two beams of light suddenly parted, revealing the figures of Hei Tian Mo Zu and Jin Se Canshen.
"Hahaha! Exhilarating, exhilarating! It's been a long time since I've had such a thrilling fight!" Hei Tian Mo Zu laughed loudly, his black aura surging to new heights, enveloping half the sky and spreading outward in all directions.
Jin Se Canshen's golden aura also burst forth, clashing with the opposing black aura.
However, Jin Se Canshen's body had become much thinner, and the golden aura surrounding him was significantly dimmer than Hei Tian Mo Zu's black aura, which had enveloped him.
The remaining black aura continued to surge outward, spreading in all directions.
Han Li and the others, despite being far away, were still affected by Hei Tian Mo Zu's black aura.
"Thud, thud"
Their internal spiritual energy suddenly became chaotic, their hearts racing wildly, as if on the verge of explosion. Their vision also began to blur and distort, as if they were falling into an endless nightmare.
This was the sign of a heart demon eruption, which was impossible to suppress!
"Heart Demon Suppression Technique!"
Han Li's face turned pale as he hastily activated the remaining temporal law energy within him, protecting his entire body while flying away in a distant direction.
However, his internal spiritual energy was in a state of extreme turmoil, reducing his flying speed to less than 10% of its normal speed.
Moreover, the normally reliable temporal law, which had protected him, suddenly lost its effect, failing to suppress the heart demon's eruption.
Liu Zi, Jiao San, and the others also hastily activated their own law energies to protect themselves, flying away in a distant direction. However, their situations seemed to be the same.
Fortunately, the black aura had spread to Han Li and the others, and did not continue to expand further.
Although their flying speed was slow, they were able to escape the black aura's range, and the raging heart demon suddenly dissipated, restoring their spiritual energy to normal.
The group continued to fly a distance before stopping, their faces filled with shock and awe as they gazed at the towering black aura behind them. Liu Zi, Qu Lin, and Li Qi Ma's eyes also flashed with a hint of despair.
They had always known that their strength was far inferior to Hei Tian Mo Zu's, but they had not expected the difference to be so vast. Hei Tian Mo Zu had not even opened his spiritual domain, yet his law energy had still left them powerless.
If they were to engage in a life-or-death battle, they would likely be unable to withstand even a single move from Hei Tian Mo Zu, even if they joined forces.
Han Li gazed at the distant black aura, his eyes flashing with uncertainty, as if lost in thought.
Within the dense black aura, Jin Se Canshen's golden aura had been compressed to a range of several hundred feet, forming a dazzling golden light sphere.
The surrounding black aura churned and surged, slowly compressing the golden light sphere.
"Alas, you old man now only have a wisp of residual soul, and can't even unleash a fraction of your strength. It's pointless to continue fighting... Ah, forget it!" Hei Tian Mo Zu sighed, his right hand extending as a dark aura erupted from his palm, striking the void.
The golden light sphere surrounding Jin Se Canshen rippled, as nine enormous black palm prints suddenly appeared, each emitting an aura of nothingness ten times stronger than before. The black energy enveloped the surrounding void, causing it to distort and shatter.
The nine black palm prints transformed and struck the golden light sphere, instantly shattering it and sending Jin Se Canshen stumbling backward.
The nine palm prints paused, then continued to strike downward, but Jin Se Canshen's body suddenly rotated, unleashing ten long, crystal-like golden flames that shot out from his body.
Each golden flame emitted an extraordinary temporal law energy, incinerating the surrounding void as it passed through.
After unleashing the ten flames, Jin Se Canshen's already dim body became even more translucent, almost invisible.
Nine of the golden flames clashed with the nine black palm prints, producing a deafening crash as the palm prints were halted.
The final golden flame shot outward, tearing through the surrounding black aura and heading toward Han Li and the others.
The group was shocked, hastily scattering in all directions.
Han Li also retreated, but the Sui Yue God Lamp in his hand suddenly burst forth with light, stopping in mid-air as if rooted to the spot. Despite his efforts to pull it back, the lamp remained still, its surface etched with flickering, swirling runes.
A burst of golden flames erupted from the lamp, each flame transforming into a fire lotus that rotated and merged with the others, forming a sea of golden flames in an instant.
Han Li's face turned pale as he hastily released the lamp, disappearing from the spot before reappearing thousands of miles away, his brow furrowed in concern.
The Sui Yue God Lamp, which he had only just obtained, was now on the verge of being taken from him once again?
The last golden rainbow shot out with incredible speed, instantly piercing the golden flames and merging with them.
"Boom!"
A massive force of time laws burst forth from the golden flames, merging with the golden rainbow.
In the dark energy, the golden residual soul's body suddenly brightened, rapidly solidifying once more. At the same time, it raised a fist and struck out.
Rumbling sounds echoed through the air!
A multitude of golden flames, each several thousand feet long, shot out from the golden residual soul's fist, numbering over a hundred. They flew in all directions, emitting an aura of relentless destruction, capable of annihilating all things.
If one were to say what the most terrifying thing in the world was, it would be the unrelenting passage of time, which would ultimately lead to the downfall of all living things, including those who had transcended the bounds of time.
The over a hundred golden lights swept through the area, effortlessly tearing apart the nearby dark energy and the nine black giant palms, and then shot towards the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor.
The surrounding space was instantly enveloped by a massive force of time, rendering everything immobile, including the spatial rifts and the chaotic void energy within.
Even Han Li and the others, who had retreated to a safe distance, were caught in the time force, frozen in place and unable to move.
A series of complex changes occurred in an instant.
"Ten Directions Time Dao! Good! Good! Good! I didn't expect that even a residual soul like yours could unleash such a divine technique!" The Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's eyes lit up, and he burst into laughter.
As he laughed, his body radiated an intense black energy, causing the surrounding area to darken, devoid of any light.
At the same time, a black sword materialized in his hand, surrounded by a layer of black energy that seemed to shift and change, giving off an unpredictable and illusory aura.
"Lend me a sword, Heaven and Earth will weep!" The Black Heaven Demon Ancestor swung his arm, and the sword's shadow danced, unleashing over a hundred black sword shadows that resembled dragons.
The sword shadows emitted a cacophony of eerie and mournful sounds, causing those who heard them to tremble with fear and lose their minds.
The hundred sword shadows struck the golden rivers, creating massive shockwaves that shattered the surrounding space, creating large rifts.
The sound of the explosion echoed through the air!
The sword shadows and the golden rivers clashed, each unable to overpower the other.
The two massive forces of law collided, shattering the time force that had immobilized the surrounding space. Han Li and the others were instantly freed.
"Quickly, let's leave! The clash between these two peak-level existences is too intense, and we might get caught in the crossfire!" Liu Ziyu waved his hand, releasing a gray-white light that enveloped Huo San and shot towards the distance.
Han Li gazed at the golden rivers, sensing the time law aura emanating from them, and compared it to his own "Great Five Elements Illusory Realm Technique". The more he thought about it, the more he felt that it was profound and mysterious.
However, this was not the time to ponder the laws. He took one last look at the Time God Lamp, which was also radiating golden light, and then turned away, his body transforming into a golden rainbow as he shot towards the distance.
Huo San, Li Qimeng, and Qu Lin also quickly used their divine techniques to leave the area.
At this moment, the golden residual soul's hands formed a seal, and its body radiated an intense golden light, increasing its power by over tenfold.
The Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's eyes widened in surprise, realizing that the golden residual soul was willing to pay any price to increase its power.
Just as he was about to react, the golden rivers suddenly brightened, and a brilliant golden light shot out, destroying the black sword shadows and continuing towards the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor.
The Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's eyebrows twitched, but he remained calm, his body rapidly flashing around the area as he swung his black sword in all directions.
The black sword shadows flew out, forming a massive black lotus flower that easily resisted the golden rivers' attack.
The golden residual soul seemed unfazed, continuing to form seals with its hands.
A loud explosion echoed through the air!
The residual soul's body suddenly burst open, transforming into a blindingly bright golden light that engulfed the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor and the surrounding space, creating a golden world.
"You..." The Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's face changed for the first time.
But before he could react, the golden light suddenly reversed direction, forming a massive golden sphere that hovered in the air, several thousand miles in diameter.
The surrounding space was instantly restored to calm, and all the golden and black lights disappeared, leaving an eerie silence. Is this the Spirit Realm? Han Li flew away and sensed the situation behind him, turning his head back to look, his face filled with surprise.
On this golden planet, he indeed felt the aura of the Spirit Realm.
"This is a Spirit Realm of the Heavenly Person realm! It has transformed from the void to the real, its power far surpassing that of the Refining Spirit realm and the Creating Spirit realm! I didn't think that this remnant soul could actually deploy it! Not good, he's going to self-destruct the Spirit Realm and perish together with the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor! We must leave quickly!" Li Qi said, standing beside Han Li, but before he could finish speaking, his face suddenly changed and he let out a loud roar.
As soon as Li Qi finished speaking, his body flashed with white light, and with a "poof" sound, a large amount of white cloud energy erupted, enveloping Han Li and Jiao San.
At the same time, white cloud energy also appeared on Li Qi's four hooves, and with a sudden movement, his body transformed into a white phantom, its speed increasing several times as it shot towards the distance.
Qu Xian's and Liu Zixin's faces also changed, as if they had discovered something, and their bodies burst out with light.
Qu Xian's body rolled and suddenly transformed into a golden rainbow over a hundred meters long, breaking through the air and flying towards the distance. In the golden light, a giant golden insect with spread wings could be seen.
The golden rainbow's speed was incredibly fast, and in an instant, it reached the edge of the horizon and then disappeared without a trace.
Liu Zixin opened his mouth and spat out a ball of gray-white light, which transformed into a gray-white light door over a meter tall. The light door had many silver patterns on it, emitting a powerful spatial energy.
He took Fox San and stepped into the light door, and their bodies instantly disappeared without a trace. The gray-white light door also flashed and disappeared.
As soon as the three of them disappeared, a brilliant golden light suddenly appeared on the golden planet in the distance, making it impossible to look directly at it. The planet's surface also had numerous flame-like patterns.
Moreover, a powerful aura that could destroy the heavens and the earth emerged from the golden planet, and before it could even explode, the surrounding void began to violently tremble.
A deafening explosion shook the heavens and the earth!
The golden planet burst open, transforming into a massive golden light halo that expanded rapidly towards the surroundings, its power so great that it could shatter the void. The space fragments and the surrounding void's chaotic flow were all engulfed by the golden light halo.
Inside the golden light halo, countless golden lights surged and formed massive whirlpools, seemingly capable of crushing and devouring everything.
The collapsed giant peak below was also affected, its fragments melting and being engulfed by the golden light halo, unable to resist its power.
The golden light halo expanded rapidly, causing the entire seventh layer of space to violently shake and tremble, with massive spatial cracks appearing everywhere, on the verge of collapse.
Han Li and the others had already flown a considerable distance, but their speed was still slower than the golden light halo's expansion. They were soon caught up.
Li Qi let out a strange cry, and his body's white light surged again. Two enormous white wings appeared on his back, with countless white cloud patterns flashing on them.
His speed increased several times, surpassing the golden light halo's expansion speed.
However, the entire seventh layer of space was beginning to collapse, and spatial cracks were continuously appearing in front of them, forcing Li Qi to constantly dodge and weave, affecting his progress and causing the two to maintain a similar speed.
The surroundings were chaotic, and Qu Xian and Liu Zixin's whereabouts were unknown.
"This won't do, Li Qi, I'll use my spatial transmission technique to escape to the sixth layer!" Han Li flipped himself onto Li Qi's back, his hands forming a seal.
A burst of golden lightning erupted from his body, expanding and forming a lightning array that enveloped the three of them.
He chanted a spell, and the lightning array rapidly rotated, with more lightning patterns appearing on its surface.
Because this time, he was transmitting three people, including Li Qi, a great demon, which required more effort.
Li Qi flew away with all his might, glancing at the lightning array around him, feeling the clever combination of lightning and spatial energy, and his eyes lit up.
A brilliant golden lightning flashed by, and the lightning array finally took shape. At this moment, the golden light halo was still behind them, not having caught up.
Han Li's face lit up with joy, and he was about to activate the lightning array to transmit.
But just as he was about to do so, the surrounding space emitted a deafening explosion, completely collapsing.
Han Li's body sank, and in an instant, he fell into the endless void's chaotic flow.
The void's chaotic flow surged forward, mixed with massive space fragments, easily tearing apart the lightning array.
The lightning array was only a transmission array, without any defensive power.
Han Li was swept away by the void's chaotic flow and flew off Li Qi's back, being pulled into the endless void's chaotic flow.
Li Qi and Jiao San were also swept away by the flow, their bodies disappearing without a trace.
Han Li felt a sensation of weightlessness, with the void's chaotic flow constantly surging forward, his ears filled with the sound of thunder, and his mind racing.
The void's chaotic flow in this place was extremely powerful, and even with his current strength, he could only barely maintain his balance, and because the space had completely shattered, there were many massive space fragments in the void's chaotic flow.
Han Li let out a low shout, and his body radiated a five-colored glow. He flipped and rolled on the spot, and a loud, clear cry echoed out.
A massive, hundred-zhang-long five-colored phoenix emerged, which was Han Li's Tian Feng transformation. It flapped its wings and flew forward, moving with great care.
Han Li wasn't concerned about the void turbulence, but the spatial fragments were extremely sharp and even the Great Luo existence was wary of them.
Han Li had just fought a battle with Qi Mozi, and his internal time law power had been depleted. He didn't dare to make a hard collision, so he activated his Tian Feng to control the spatial divine ability, carefully avoiding the spatial fragments.
At this moment, a loud rumbling sound came from behind, and the golden light halo swept forward once again.
Han Li's heart was shocked, and his body suddenly radiated a surge of black light. The Tian Feng transformation was engulfed by the endless black light, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed Tian Sha giant.
The three heads were no longer true dragons, giant apes, or other powerful true spirits, but had transformed into a Qing Luan, a Lei Peng, and a Tian Feng.
Han Li's body moved, and his surface radiated a cyan airflow, silver lightning, and five-colored light. The three different spirit lights simultaneously erupted from his body, shooting towards the rear.
With a swift movement, the giant transformed into a phantom and flew forward, its speed shocking and exceeding that of Li Qi's full-speed flight.
Han Li could only desperately avoid the spatial fragments in front of him, but he was still hit by some of them.
The sound of explosions echoed out, and blood splattered from his body.
Fortunately, the giant's body was extremely sturdy, and the True Extreme membrane protected him. Han Li didn't suffer too much damage.
He fled desperately, managing to create some distance between himself and the golden light halo, allowing him to breathe a sigh of relief.
The golden light halo rolled forward, chasing after him, but its speed began to slow down, seemingly exhausting its power.
Han Li saw this and his face lit up with joy.
But at this moment, a muffled, earth-shaking sound came from behind!
The golden light halo suddenly burst open, transforming into countless golden light waves that surged forward, their speed exceeding that of before.
Han Li was instantly caught up in the golden light waves, and his heart was filled with shock.
He activated the Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong, increasing the True Extreme membrane's thickness, and simultaneously released over a dozen defensive immortal artifacts that transformed into layers of light to protect his body.
But the next moment, Han Li realized he had overreacted, as the golden light waves didn't have much destructive power. They simply pushed him forward, and the scenery in front of him became blurry.
The spatial fragments around him were also pushed forward, so they didn't cause much harm to Han Li.
The golden light waves pushed him forward for a distance before quickly dissipating.
Han Li's body stabilized, and he let out a sigh of relief.
He looked forward, and a hint of joy flashed across his face. The three-colored spirit lights on his body flashed, and he was about to shoot forward like an arrow.
But he hesitated, his gaze sweeping towards a nearby location, and after a moment's hesitation, he flew forward.
A few breaths later, Han Li arrived at a location with void turbulence.
In the midst of the void turbulence, a blue figure struggled, and it was none other than Lan Yan.
Her body was covered in injuries, and her left arm had been severed at the shoulder. Her hair was disheveled, and her face was pale, looking extremely pitiful.
Moreover, Lan Yan's protective spirit light had grown extremely dim, seemingly having exhausted her immortal energy. She could barely move forward, only able to weakly resist the void turbulence's impact.
At this moment, the void turbulence in front of her fluctuated, and a door-sized spatial fragment shot out, flying towards Lan Yan.
Lan Yan's face changed, and her body's blue light faintly lit up as she tried to dodge to the side.
However, her current state was extremely poor, and despite her best efforts, she only managed to move slightly to the side, still within the spatial fragment's attack range.
Just as Lan Yan was about to be struck by the spatial fragment, a black light flashed, and Lan Yan's figure suddenly disappeared.
The spatial fragment flew past, striking nothing.
A few hundred zhang away, a black figure emerged, and it was Han Li's giant transformation, holding Lan Yan in one hand.
"Are you Fellow Daoist Han?" Lan Yan looked at Han Li with a shocked expression, her voice filled with hesitation.
Han Li nodded calmly, his other hand forming a seal as he released a green light that merged into Lan Yan's body.
Lan Yan's body suddenly radiated a green glow, and her injuries began to heal rapidly. Her protective spirit light also brightened.
Her face relaxed, and she flew out of Han Li's hand, taking out a medicinal pill and ingesting it. Her pale face regained some color.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist Han, for saving my life," Lan Yan said with a complex expression.
Han Li replied calmly, "It was just a small act of kindness. Since you've recovered somewhat, you should continue on your own from here."
Han Li wasn't a heartless person, and he had some admiration for Lan Yan. Seeing her on the verge of collapse, he had helped her.
Moreover, Han Li had been influenced by the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's heart magic, causing him to do some dark deeds. He was still wary of his own heart, and it was better to act with a clear conscience.
Han Li continued to fly forward, and Lan Yan watched him go, a hint of gratitude in her eyes. Han Li wouldn't let Lan Yan follow him, but he had already helped him, which was enough.
Lan Yan looked in the direction Han Li had flown, gritted his teeth, and a blue glow burst forth from his body, shattering the surrounding chaotic void and propelling him forward.
Han Li flew swiftly, covering a great distance in a short time, and soon arrived at a region ahead.
The chaotic void was incredibly vast here, with an abundance of spatial fragments scattered throughout. A massive white scar, dozens of miles long, hung suspended in the air, and the spatial fragments were flying out from it. Through the scar, one could vaguely see the outside landscape.
Han Li's heart leapt with joy, and he formed a hand seal, causing his body to be enveloped in a dark, ink-like glow. The dark energy churned violently, accompanied by a series of deafening roars and the sound of bones cracking, but it soon subsided, and the dark energy re-entered his body, revealing his transformed form.
Han Li's massive demon form had transformed once more, with three heads that had become a true dragon, a giant ape, and a Kun Peng. His body was now even more robust and majestic, and his previous injuries had completely healed.
At the same time, over 900 dark, glowing apertures burst forth from his body, shining in harmony with the dark energy.
A massive energy wave erupted from his body, causing the surrounding chaotic void to violently fluctuate, and clearing out a large area.
The giant demon didn't immediately fly towards the white scar, as the spatial fragments nearby were too numerous. Instead, his body was enveloped in a dark glow, and six fists burst forth with intense black energy, striking the white scar with countless fist silhouettes.
The sound of explosions echoed through the air!
Each fist silhouette struck a spatial fragment, causing it to shatter and release a massive, rolling black glow, accompanied by a deafening roar.
The spatial fragments were instantly shaken, and they flew out in all directions.
Han Li's eyes widened with excitement as he witnessed this scene.
Having seen the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor's exquisite control over dark energy, he began to experiment with his own control, using the small techniques he had learned from the Golden Spirit Domain's self-destruction. It seemed to be effective.
Han Li flew forward slowly, his six fists continuously striking out.
The spatial fragments near the white scar were constantly being shaken, and he soon arrived at the scar.
Han Li's six fists burst forth with black energy once more, and he combined them into a single, massive fist silhouette that struck the white scar.
A deafening roar echoed through the air!
The massive fist silhouette shattered, releasing a gigantic black glow that rolled out, clearing out the surrounding spatial fragments.
The giant demon then let out a mighty roar, and his six fists struck the white scar once more.
Another deafening roar echoed through the air!
The white scar violently shook, and the area where the fists struck shattered, revealing a massive hole.
Han Li's face lit up with joy, and he formed a hand seal, causing his body to shrink back to its normal size. He then flew out of the hole.
Outside the hole was a vast, misty valley, with a grey, ominous sky. This was the location of the Years Tower.
The tower stood tall, but its top layer had been destroyed, and a chaotic, swirling vortex had formed, like a tornado.
The cultivators from the various factions had vanished, and only a few who had escaped were lingering nearby, observing the scene from a distance, seemingly fearful of the tower's current state.
Han Li took in the surroundings, his heart slightly at ease.
But then, his brow suddenly furrowed, and he turned to look behind him.
A massive spatial hole was floating in the air, with countless chaotic voids swirling within. A blue figure burst forth from the hole, landing near Han Li. It was Lan Yan.
Her body was covered in new injuries, and her blue glow had dimmed significantly. She panted heavily, exhausted.
She took out two blue talismans, formed a hand seal, and activated them, causing the talismans to fuse into her body. Her panting stopped, and her complexion improved.
"I didn't have time to thank you earlier, but I must thank you, Han Daoist, for not holding a grudge and saving me. I will definitely repay this debt in the future," Lan Yan said, her face serious.
"It's nothing, Lan Daoist. Don't worry about it," Han Li replied, his voice calm.
Lan Yan shook her head, "It may be nothing to you, but it's a great debt to me."
Han Li didn't say anything else, and instead, he took out a medicinal pill and swallowed it, looking around for the figures of Jiao San and others.
Lan Yan gazed at Han Li deeply, then flew away, landing in the distance, and closed her eyes to meditate.
Han Li didn't pay attention to Lan Yan, his divine sense spreading out to search for the figures of Jiao San and others, his brow furrowed in concern.
But he couldn't find any traces of them.
…… "With their strength, nothing unexpected should happen inside, right?" Han Li guessed.
At this moment, a loud rumble echoed through the air near the Years Tower, and a large spatial rift appeared, spewing out three figures - Jiao San, Li Qi Ma, and Qu Lin.
The three looked a bit disheveled, clearly injured, especially Jiao San, who was half-covered in blood. Fortunately, none of them were in mortal danger.
"Brother Han, you're safe... We were worried about you when we lost you earlier, but it seems that was unnecessary," Jiao San said with a hint of joy, exhaling a sigh of relief.
"Thanks for your concern, Brother Jiao. I just managed to escape by luck. You should take a moment to rest; this place isn't safe for long," Han Li replied, nodding at Jiao San.
Li Qi Ma and Qu Lin, seeing Han Li unharmed, also relaxed and sat down, trying to stabilize their injuries.
……
At the Jin Yuan mountain range, in the Qing Si Valley.
It was late afternoon, and the ancient village hidden in the lush green mountains was bustling with people preparing their last meal of the day. Smoke drifted lazily from the chimneys of the low-roofed houses.
The village elder was sitting at a low table in front of his home with a few familiar old friends, sipping rough, homemade wine and waiting for his wife to bring out the dishes.
Suddenly, a loud "boom" shook the air!
The entire Qing Si Valley trembled violently, and the village elder's table shook, spilling wine from the cups.
"What's going on? Can't they just leave us alone?" the village elder complained, holding onto the wine jug and cups.
"These gods and immortals are always causing trouble, why can't they just leave us be?" a dark-skinned old man sitting across from him said.
"Uncle, I heard that a treasure appeared in the Qing Si Valley, and many gods and immortals came to fight over it. Later, many of them disappeared, and the remaining ones sealed off the area. Now, no one can get in," a middle-aged man said.
"I don't care what they're doing, as long as they don't ruin our spring water," the village elder said, worried.
As they spoke, another loud "boom" shook the air.
They had no idea that the brief moment of calm was their last.
……
Inside the White Head Valley, the rumbling sound grew louder, and the ground shook more frequently.
In the depths of the valley, two massive boulders shaped like the character "ren" were surrounded by cultivators from the Tong Tian Sword Sect, all wearing tense expressions and staring intently at the space below the boulders.
Suddenly, a ripple of light appeared in that space, and five or six figures emerged from it.
The people surrounding the boulders saw the figures' faces and immediately relaxed, bowing and greeting them:
"Welcome back, Elder..."
The figures who appeared were none other than Lei Yu Ce and the others.
Dao Yin's face was still pale, and his expression was anxious. Lei Yu Ce and the others also looked worried, and the waiting crowd immediately sensed that something was amiss.
"Chen Chuan, how's the task I assigned to you coming along?" Dao Yin asked, scanning the area.
"Reporting to the master, I followed your instructions and set everything up half a month ago. I've double-checked, and everything is in order," a tall, dark-bearded man replied, bowing.
"Give me the Dragon Tooth Key, and you can all leave," Dao Yin said, his brow furrowed.
Chen Chuan's brow furrowed slightly, but he didn't dare question the master's orders. He handed over a half-moon-shaped blood-red jade pendant, bowing.
"Master, you're too injured. Let us handle this," Lei Yu Ce said, his expression serious.
"Stone brother, must we really use this?" Chen Chuan asked, bowing to Lei Yu Ce.
"The demon-slaying plan failed, and the God's Lamp wasn't recovered. The Years Tower has been lost, and if we delay any further... the prisoners inside will break free, and the entire Jin Yuan Immortal Domain will face a disaster," Lei Yu Ce said gravely.
"Activating the Dragon Tooth Annihilation Array requires someone to catalyze it from within. Once the array is activated, it will explode in ten breaths, releasing most of its energy into the secret realm. However, the remaining energy will still destroy the surrounding mountains and rivers, and half of the Jin Yuan mountain range will be buried. With your current state, can you guarantee your safe escape?" Dao Yin asked, his brow furrowed.
"Don't underestimate me, Master. I still have the power to protect myself. You all should leave first," Lei Yu Ce said with a hint of a smile, his eyes falling on Su Xiao Qing.
"Dao Yin, is there really no other way? Our sects, the Tian Shui and Tong Tian, are both located in the Jin Yuan mountain range. If we do this, we'll be affected as well. What about the countless innocent lives in the surrounding areas? Must they suffer this disaster?" Su Xiao Qing asked, her brow furrowed.
The others, including Chen Chuan, fell silent, clearly sharing her concerns. Dao Yin Zhenren's face showed a hint of hesitation, but he ultimately let out a soft sigh and said, "You don't know, we're in a difficult situation, we have no choice but to..."
"Let me explain," Lei Yu Ce took over, "The Dragon Tooth Annihilation Array is not set up by the Jin Yuan Xian Palace, but directly by the Heavenly Court. They demanded that we destroy the entire secret realm, to preserve the Jin Yuan Mountain Range, we took the risk of entering the secret realm, wanting to kill the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor and retrieve the Years of Life Lamp."
Su Xiao Qing's expression changed slightly, she also understood the weight of an order from the Heavenly Court.
"Originally, if the plan succeeded, we could have used the Years of Life Lamp to suppress the demons in the Years of Life Tower one by one, but unfortunately, it failed, now we have to use the Dragon Tooth Annihilation Array," Lei Yu Ce continued.
"If the demons in the tower escape, the Heavenly Court will definitely intervene, it won't be just a simple matter of killing demons, our Tong Tian Sword Sect will be in danger, the Tian Shui Sect will also be held accountable. In this situation, some sacrifices are unavoidable," Dao Yin Zhenren sighed and said.
Just as he finished speaking, a loud rumbling sound echoed through the valley, the ground shook even more violently than before.
"Bad, the Years of Life Tower is about to collapse, we must act immediately, we can't delay," Dao Yin Zhenren's expression changed, he said.
"Please, Master, take everyone and leave, I'll take care of activating the array," Lei Yu Ce said, clasping his fists.
"Alright, this matter is entrusted to you, you must return safely," Dao Yin Zhenren said, seeing Lei Yu Ce's determined expression, he no longer hesitated.
He handed the half-moon shaped jade pendant to Lei Yu Ce, who took it and felt the warm, complex patterns on it, his eyes lit up slightly as he nodded heavily.
"Take care," Su Xiao Qing said, turning to look at Lei Yu Ce as they parted ways.
Lei Yu Ce smiled and nodded.
Then, Dao Yin Zhenren led the others out of the White Head Valley, flying away quickly.
Su Xiao Qing glanced at the small village in the distance, surrounded by smoke and twilight, and sighed softly.
After the others left, Lei Yu Ce flew up, hovering in the air, his hands clasped together, holding the Dragon Tooth Key, his mouth chanting incantations.
As he chanted, the entire White Head Valley began to shake, thick, half-arc shaped stone pillars burst out of the ground and mountain walls, extending outward.
In a short while, the entire valley was filled with hundreds of black stone pillars, each one engraved with dense, ancient symbols, emitting a dark red glow, containing a fierce, burning energy and a suppressed, fluctuating spiritual energy.
Lei Yu Ce held the jade pendant, feeling the energy emanating from the surroundings, and couldn't help but feel a bit dry-mouthed.
But time was pressing, he couldn't hesitate, he gritted his teeth, and with a changed hand seal, he threw the Dragon Tooth Key out.
The key flew up, its blood-red light flashing, like a crescent moon hanging in the air.
The crescent moon flashed with light, and the symbols on the stone pillars below began to flash in sync.
"Open!" Lei Yu Ce chanted, his hands parting, and he shouted.
The crescent moon suddenly burst into a brilliant light, shattering into countless blood-red crystals that scattered toward the stone pillars.
The crystals landed on the pillars, and the symbols on them began to glow.
"Ten breaths, nine breaths, eight breaths..."
Lei Yu Ce counted his breaths, his body shooting out like a bullet, fleeing the valley.
A flash of light followed, and Xiong Shan appeared, riding the golden sword, his speed almost matching Lei Yu Ce's.
"Four breaths, three breaths..."
"One breath..."
"BOOM!"
A deafening explosion shook the sky, and the White Head Valley was bathed in a sea of red light, countless wolf-tooth shaped light pillars burst out of the ground, the earth shook, and the surrounding mountains trembled.
The village of Yu Liang was instantly annihilated, its residents torn apart by the gale, their buildings and homes reduced to dust.
Almost half of the Jin Yuan Mountain Range was ravaged, the cities and towns built upon it were destroyed, the sects and monasteries were reduced to rubble, and countless lives were lost.
Near the Years Tower.
After a short rest, Li Qi Ma and Qu Lin's faces relaxed a bit.
"Brother Han, you previously asked me to help you with something, and I've already assisted you. Now, you should return my Natal Essence Card, right?" Qu Lin stood up and said to Han Li.
"Of course," Han Li replied, taking out Qu Lin's Natal Essence Card and tossing it over.
"Hey, Brother Han, what about mine? According to our agreement, you should also return my Natal Essence Card, right?" Li Qi Ma saw Han Li only return Qu Lin's card and not his, and his expression turned unpleasant.
"Brother Li Qi Ma, you previously said that if I retrieved your Natal Essence Card, you would give me a reward. You wouldn't forget, would you?" Han Li took out Li Qi Ma's Natal Essence Card but didn't hand it over, instead caressing it in his hand.
"You didn't mention it, and I almost forgot. But it's good that you're straightforward, no need for beating around the bush." Li Qi Ma laughed and spat out a mouthful of air.
A white light flew out of his mouth and landed in front of him, transforming into a large white flag with wind cloud patterns etched onto it. The flag emitted an extremely powerful wind law fluctuation.
Without even activating the treasure, the air currents within several hundred miles began to churn and surge, forming a massive whirlpool.
"This Wind Flag is a magical artifact I carefully refined in the past, reaching the fifth-grade level. It can accelerate flight and has the effect of trapping people. It's one of my most precious treasures, and I'm giving it to Brother Han as a reward for retrieving my Natal Essence Card." Li Qi Ma looked at the white flag, and a hint of reluctance flashed in his eyes, but he still handed it over to Han Li.
"This flag is indeed extraordinary, but to unleash its power, one needs to have the wind law. I don't cultivate the wind law, so it's useless to me. Please take it back, Brother Li Qi Ma. As for the reward, I'd like to exchange it for something else." Han Li glanced at the white flag and sent it flying back to Li Qi Ma with a wave of his hand.
"What...what do you want from me, Brother Han?" Li Qi Ma asked, taken aback.
"I don't want any of your treasures, Brother Li Qi Ma. I just want you to agree to one condition." Han Li smiled faintly.
"What condition?" Li Qi Ma asked.
"I can see that you possess the True Spirit bloodline, belonging to the True Spirit clan. I suppose you've heard of the two True Spirits, Ba Xia and Zhu Yan?" Han Li changed to transmitting his voice.
"I know a bit about them. They're extremely rare and powerful True Spirits. What do you want to do with them, Brother Han?" Li Qi Ma asked, curious.
"I want to ask you to help me find a vial of their True Spirit essence blood. That will be the reward I seek." Han Li said.
He had already obtained ten types of True Spirit bloodlines, and he was missing the last two, which were Ba Xia and Zhu Yan. However, he was being pursued by the Heavenly Court and didn't have much time to search for them. Li Qi Ma, with his True Spirit bloodline, would be more suitable for the task.
"Brother Han, you make it sound easy, but these two True Spirits are almost extinct in the True Immortal Realm. Where would I even find them? And even if I do, it won't be easy to obtain their blood essence. Moreover, Ba Xia and Zhu Yan are extremely powerful True Spirits; it's not easy to extract their blood essence." Li Qi Ma transmitted his voice.
"I know it's not easy to find these two True Spirit bloodlines, but I'm counting on you to try your best. If you encounter any difficulties, feel free to contact me for help." Han Li took out a transmission array plate and handed it to Li Qi Ma along with his Natal Essence Card.
Li Qi Ma's eyes flickered as he accepted the transmission array plate and Natal Essence Card.
"You're giving me your Natal Essence Card just like that? Aren't you afraid I'll take it and run?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I trust my judgment of people, and I can see that you're not someone who would go back on your word." Han Li smiled faintly.
Besides, finding the remaining two True Spirit essence bloodlines wasn't a matter of great importance. If Li Qi Ma didn't fulfill his promise, Han Li could always put up a reward in the Wheel of Reincarnation and search for them himself.
"Brother Han, you trust me so much, and I appreciate that. Alright, I'll try my best to find them." Li Qi Ma's eyes gleamed with determination as he stored the transmission array plate, Natal Essence Card, and Wind Flag.
As Jiao San watched Han Li and Li Qi Ma converse, her eyes sparkled, but she didn't ask any questions.
Just then, a loud explosion shook the air, and the nearby void shattered once more!
Two figures flew out of the void, and it was Liu Zi and Huo San.
They had both suffered different degrees of injury, but they seemed to be fine. Seeing Han Li and the others, they flew over immediately.
"Brother Liu, you're safe!" Jiao San exclaimed.
But before she could finish speaking, another sudden change occurred!
A loud rumbling sound came from the front, and the sixth layer of the Years Tower suddenly collapsed, releasing a massive space storm that swept Han Li and the others away.
The space storm was accompanied by spatial rifts that cut through the air, and the group hastily retreated to avoid them. However, the spatial rifts were too numerous and too sudden, and Huo San was caught off guard, his right arm sliced off by a rift. His arm exploded into a shower of blood.
The others quickly increased their speed to escape, and even Lanyan, who was cultivating in the nearby valley, was startled and flew over to join the group in their retreat. No one else seemed surprised by the appearance of Blue Color.
Fortunately, the spatial storm didn't spread too far and began to converge, and no one else was injured.
Before anyone could say anything, a loud explosion echoed from the Time Tower once again, and the fifth layer also burst open.
Then came the fourth layer, the third layer, the second layer, and even the first layer, all bursting open in succession...
The entire Time Tower disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only a spatial storm that wildly cut and devoured everything around it.
This spatial storm contained an extremely terrifying power, with an extraordinary strong spatial force surging within it, far surpassing the void turbulence Han Li had experienced before.
Han Li even felt that even if he still had his time law power and his spiritual power was at its peak, being swept up in this spatial storm would be a fatal outcome.
The entire space here was also shaken by this terrifying spatial storm, violently shaking, and the ground was trembling.
"What a terrifying spatial force, fortunately we escaped in time, otherwise we would have really died without a burial place." Qu Lin said with a lingering fear.
His physical body was incredibly strong, but he felt he couldn't resist the power of this spatial storm.
"The Time Tower's various layers have opened up independent spaces, and the entire Time Tower can be considered a spatial artifact, and a high-grade one at that. This self-destruction is naturally not trivial." Liu Zai said.
"Shi Dao friend is still inside, he was trapped by the residual soul of Wen Tai Sui's Heavenly Man Realm spirit domain and self-destructed. Now he's been swept up in this terrifying spatial storm, and it's likely that he's in grave danger." Li Qi Ma looked towards the front of the violent storm and sighed.
"Heavenly Man Realm spirit domain self-destruction, its power is not trivial, enough to threaten any Mahayana existence. What's more, Wen Tai Sui's residual soul used a time spirit domain. Shi Dao friend had just escaped, his power shouldn't have fully recovered, and it's likely that he's already..." Liu Zai also sighed.
Jiao San's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and his eyes flashed with a hint of anxiety.
"Hmph! That old madman dying is for the better, every time I see him is unlucky." Qu Lin snorted.
"You little bug, who are you saying died for the better? Just a moment ago, you weren't beaten, and your skin is itching again?" A sudden voice echoed in everyone's ears, and it was Hei Tian Mo Zu.
Qu Lin's body trembled, and his eyes frantically looked around, his face turning pale.
At this moment, a strand of black light flew out from everyone's body, gathering in one place.
Han Li and the others were shocked, and they quickly used their magic to investigate their internal situation, but found nothing out of the ordinary.
The onlookers in the distance also had a strand of black light fly out, gathering towards this place.
All the black lights merged into one, forming a black figure, which was Hei Tian Mo Zu.
Qu Lin saw this scene, and his face turned even paler, standing still and not daring to move.
"Shi Dao friend, your heart magic law has reached the realm of Phantom Heart? It's said that once the heart magic law reaches this realm, one can be indestructible. Even if the physical body and divine soul are killed, one can be reborn in the heart devil of others, and cannot be killed!" Liu Zai said with a look of disbelief.
"Heh heh, that's natural, Wen Tai Sui's suppression of me for so many years has allowed my heart magic law to advance even further!" Hei Tian Mo Zu said with a smile.
"Shi Dao friend's divine powers are boundless, we truly admire him greatly." Jiao San and the others flattered.
Hei Tian Mo Zu was praised by everyone, and he couldn't help but laugh loudly, feeling extremely pleased.
Han Li looked at Hei Tian Mo Zu, and his eyebrows suddenly moved, noticing something.
This person had revived, but the aura he emitted was far weaker than before, and it seemed that this rebirth came with a price.
Qu Lin saw Hei Tian Mo Zu's attention being diverted, and he secretly let out a sigh of relief, quietly moving his body to hide behind the crowd.
"You little bug, where do you think you can escape to?" Hei Tian Mo Zu suddenly turned his attention to Qu Lin, his eyes turning cold, and his body disappeared.
Qu Lin's face changed, and his body flashed with a golden light, instantly transforming into a Devouring Gold Immortal form.
He had just transformed when Hei Tian Mo Zu appeared in front of him, punching him and sending him flying.
Golden shadows flashed, and fist winds raged.
Qu Lin was beaten by Hei Tian Mo Zu, flying through the air, and his cries of pain echoed.
However, Hei Tian Mo Zu's current power was much weaker than before, and although he was still beating Qu Lin, the damage was much less than before.
Moreover, Qu Lin was being beaten this time because of his own big mouth, and it was somewhat deserved, so Han Li and the others didn't try to stop it.
The void storm at the Years Tower finally subsided, disappearing without a trace after a brief period of intense turbulence. The surroundings returned to calm, as if nothing had happened, except for the massive, dark pit that now scarred the ground, a testament to the recent events.
The pit was shrouded in darkness, its depths unknown. Han Li's eyes suddenly lit up, as if he had discovered something, and he immediately darted towards the pit, disappearing into its depths.
A few breaths later, he shot out of the pit, holding an object in his hand – the Years Lamp. Despite having endured the spatial storm, the lamp showed no signs of damage, although its flame had been extinguished, and the temporal law fluctuations it emitted had weakened significantly.
"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Han, on recovering the Years Lamp," Jiao San said, bowing his head, "though it seems to have suffered some damage."
"I'm already satisfied with having retrieved the lamp," Han Li replied, putting the lamp away.
Hei Tian Mo Zu, the Black Sky Demon Ancestor, returned at this moment, his face flushed with excitement, while Qu Xuan, the Horned Dragon, trailed behind him, his face pale and resentful.
"Fellow Daoists, although we've escaped the Years Tower, we're still within the Tai Sui Immortal Mansion. Judging from the mansion's spatial structure, I estimate it won't last much longer. The destruction caused by the tower's collapse is already immense; if the entire mansion were to collapse, the consequences would be catastrophic. We should leave as soon as possible," Jiao San said, looking at the group.
The others nodded in agreement.
"Leaving this place is a given, but how do we do it? You don't have the necessary cultivation to sense it, but the entire Tai Sui Immortal Mansion is currently being enveloped by a massive spatial force. Breaking through won't be easy," Liu Zi said, glancing at the group.
Jiao San smiled faintly, about to respond.
Just then, a group of people appeared in the distance, flying towards them. There were only 20-30 people, with the others either having fallen or gone elsewhere. The group was diverse, consisting of humans, demons, and other creatures, all of whom looked emaciated and wretched, as if they had been starved for a long time.
Han Li's brow furrowed as he gazed at the group.
Although they didn't possess any law energy, their auras were immense, comparable to those of Tai Yi realm cultivators. Li Qi and the others exchanged wary glances.
"Fellow Daoists, are you also people who were sealed within the Years Tower? What brings you here?" Jiao San asked, his expression unchanged.
"We were imprisoned for countless years, and now that we've finally escaped, we don't want to die here. Can you take us with you when you leave?" a human with red hair and a gaunt face asked, his eyes pleading.
The others also begged for their help.
"Don't worry, we won't abandon you. We've met by chance, and we'll leave together," Jiao San said, his voice loud and clear.
The group thanked him, relief written on their faces.
"Jiao San, you seem to have a way to leave this place," Liu Zi said, turning to him.
"I came here to complete a task for the Wheel of Reincarnation, so I naturally have a way to leave. However, setting it up will take some time," Jiao San replied, producing a stack of silver array flags and disks, each emitting powerful spatial law fluctuations.
"The Great Transference Array! The Wheel of Reincarnation is indeed wealthy and powerful," Liu Zi exclaimed, his eyes shining with admiration.
Jiao San smiled faintly, about to begin setting up the array.
Just then, the entire mansion's spatial structure began to violently shake, the cracks in the sky growing larger and brighter. A dazzling golden light burst forth, illuminating the surroundings.
The ground trembled, and massive fissures appeared, the mansion's structure beginning to collapse. Han Li and the others quickly flew upwards, their faces pale.
"How can this be? The mansion's spatial structure should have been able to withstand this for at least two or three more days. Could someone be interfering?" Jiao San exclaimed, his expression changing.
"Never mind the reason, quickly set up the array! We'll resist the surrounding shocks and won't let them affect you!" Liu Zi urged.
"Alright!"
Jiao San nodded, and began setting up the array with swift, precise movements. His hands moved in a blur as he deployed the array flags and disks, which shot out and inserted themselves into the nearby void, forming a silver array.
A brilliant silver light burst forth, creating a massive silver pillar that shot upwards, supporting the surrounding space. The others flew to the periphery, surrounding Jiao San and protecting him from the turbulence.
In the distance, three figures stood in the void, watching Han Li and the others with an air of detachment, unaffected by the surrounding chaos. Half a day later.
The turmoil in the Jin Yuan mountain range finally subsided, and the entire mountain range gradually calmed down.
Dao Yin Zhenren and his group hovered tens of thousands of miles away, looking down at the earth below, their faces filled with distress, unable to bear the sight.
Below, the Jin Yuan mountain range, on the left, still had its majestic mountains and lush forests, but on the right, the mountains were broken, the rivers had changed course, and the peaks were overturned, with all living things dead and silent, and the landscape was scarred.
"Living beings are suffering, this is a great sin!" Dao Yin Zhenren's eyes were filled with sorrow, and he sighed heavily.
"Master, this is not our fault, this is the will of the Heavenly Court, we cannot disobey. Moreover, we have tried our best, but unfortunately, we were not successful." Chen Chuan saw the situation and frowned, trying to comfort him.
At this time, everyone's gaze looked far away, and they saw a figure in the distance, flying towards them through the layers of smoke and dust.
"Lei Shixiong..." Chen Chuan's eyes flashed with joy, and he said.
The person was indeed Lei Yuzce, but at this time, he was also covered in dust, looking somewhat disheveled.
Everyone knew the reason, so they didn't say anything more.
Su Xianxian saw the situation and stood beside him, not saying anything.
...
Just then, the sky above the original Qing Si Valley suddenly shook, and a rift opened up.
A silver light flashed, and over 40 figures emerged from the rift.
The first person to appear was a man with tattered clothes and disheveled hair, looking somewhat crazy. As soon as he appeared, he shouted loudly: "Good guy, you're still making such a big commotion with just a wisp of residual soul..."
This person was none other than the Great Black Heaven Demon Ancestor.
Behind him, the people who appeared were also covered in dust, looking disheveled, including Han Li and Jiao San, as well as the 30 or so Tai Yi realm cultivators who were originally imprisoned.
"It's been so many years... finally... finally, we're out!"
"We're free... we're finally free!"
Han Li and the others didn't say anything, but the 30 or so Tai Yi realm cultivators from various tribes were filled with excitement, and some even cried tears of joy.
"Thank you, benefactor, for saving us from the brink of disaster!"
"Thank you, benefactor, for saving us from the brink of disaster!"
Someone shouted, and the others followed, bowing down to Jiao San.
"You don't have to do this, it was just a small effort. What are your plans now?" Jiao San waved his hand and said.
"We were imprisoned for so many years, and we don't know what the situation is like outside. Our original sects may not even exist anymore... it's likely that we have nowhere to go." The red-haired, thin man smiled bitterly and said.
The others also sighed in unison.
"If you have a place to go, you can leave now. If you don't have a place to go, you can follow me later, and I'll arrange a place for you." Jiao San said again.
At this time, except for the 7 or 8 people who bid farewell to Jiao San, the remaining 20 or so people chose to stay.
Han Li didn't pay attention to the conversation between Jiao San and the imprisoned cultivators.
At this time, he was hovering high in the air, looking down at the earth below, his face filled with a difficult expression. The land below was scorched, and the mountains were gone, leaving behind only a vast, barren wasteland.
The original White Head Valley had been completely destroyed, turned into a massive crater hundreds of miles in diameter.
The crater was filled with ravines and gorges, and the rocks had been shattered into black powder. The surrounding area was devoid of any living creatures.
The massive mountain range that had once stretched across the land was now gone, almost completely flattened, leaving behind only a small, black mountain range that was still emitting smoke and flames.
Standing beside Han Li, Lan Xian's face turned white, and she couldn't speak.
"Who could have done this? The entire secret realm has been completely destroyed, and the mountain range has been almost completely flattened!" Jiao San asked, looking at the desolate landscape.
"Judging from the situation, it's likely that the Tong Tian Sword Sect is involved. But did they really need to do something so drastic?" Han Li was also puzzled, and he muttered to himself.
"It's unlikely, the Tong Tian Sword Sect is based in the Jin Yuan mountain range, and even if their sect is not here, this place is still related to them. They wouldn't do something so reckless, without considering the consequences." Huo San thought for a moment, shaking his head.
"Not necessarily, the Tong Tian Sword Sect and the Tian Shui Sect were able to rise to power in the Jin Yuan immortal realm because of their strong abilities, but also because of their loyalty to the Heavenly Court. If not for this, the Jin Yuan immortal realm, a mid-sized immortal realm, would not have been entrusted to the care of the Eastern White, a Tai Yi peak cultivator." Jiao San's eyes narrowed, and he said.
"Even so, it's hard to believe that they would be so ruthless. It's likely that the Heavenly Court was involved." Han Li pondered for a moment, and then said.
Hei Tian Mozhu showed little interest in the conversation between Han Li and the others.
He seemed excited about what he saw, constantly looking around, and after a while, he came to the edge of the deep pit and squatted down, stroking his chin as if thinking about something. Suddenly, his body flashed and he plunged straight down into the pit.
On the ground, there were still houses-sized rocks and fireballs, and Hei Tian seemed to be very interested in them. He walked around the fireballs, occasionally stretching out his hand to make a gesture of roasting.
Just as Han Li and the others were talking, a sudden spatial fluctuation came from the void not far away.
A flash of light, and three figures stumbled out.
Han Li and the others had just gone through a big battle, and their nerves were still on high alert. Seeing the sudden appearance of these people, they all had a strong aura of spiritual energy, as if they were about to engage in a fierce battle.
The three people seemed to be frightened as well. The leader, an old man with copper coin scales on his body, had a flash of crystal light, and six snow-white ice crystals appeared, releasing a cold aura.
The tall, green-skinned man beside him, who looked like dry tree bark, seemed to be afraid of the cold aura and quickly dodged to the side. A green light surrounded him, and countless green roots grew out from under his feet, piercing into the scorched earth.
The old man in gray robes, on the other hand, seemed more normal, but his clothes were fluttering without wind, and a golden wave pattern was rippling out from his body.
Just as everyone was about to draw their swords, Liu Zijian suddenly spoke up: "Hua Yangzi, aren't you Hua Yangzi?"
This sudden question made Han Li and the others feel a bit surprised, and even the three people opposite them were taken aback.
The old man in gray robes frowned, carefully looked at Liu Zijian, and then said in surprise: "Liu Zijian, Liu friend... is it really you?"
Liu Zijian smiled wistfully and said: "It's me. I didn't expect to meet you again after so many years."
Hua Yangzi shook his head and said: "Fate is really unpredictable. Fate is really unpredictable..."
Han Li and the others didn't immediately put down their guard, but instead looked at the two of them with strange expressions.
"Don't worry, Hua Yangzi is an old friend, not an enemy," Liu Zijian said, putting away his divine abilities.
Hua Yangzi saw this and waved his hand, signaling the two people beside him to put away their divine abilities as well.
Only then did everyone calm down and approach each other.
"I didn't expect to see you again after so many years..." Hua Yangzi sighed and said.
"I also didn't expect it. I've been searching for you for many years, but I never thought I'd see you again," Liu Zijian said.
"What happened to you back then? You disappeared in the Mo Hai Xian Domain, and I went to look for you, but I couldn't find any news of you. I only knew that you went to explore a secret realm at the bottom of the Wang Cen Hai, but then you vanished," Liu Zijian asked.
Hua Yangzi said: "I was invited by an old friend in the Mo Hai Xian Palace to explore a secret realm in the Chi Long Hai Gou. But I was betrayed and captured by the palace, and then I was imprisoned in the Xian Yu and later sealed in the Sui Yue Tower. I only escaped when the tower was affected by some changes."
Liu Zijian was shocked: "What? You were also imprisoned in the Sui Yue Tower? I didn't know that."
Hua Yangzi looked at Liu Zijian with a puzzled expression: "You were also imprisoned in the tower? I didn't know that either."
Liu Zijian asked: "Why are you looking at me like that? Don't you believe me?"
Hua Yangzi said: "It's not that I don't believe you, but as a cultivator of your level, if you were captured by the Heavenly Court, your cultivation shouldn't be so... unstable. Didn't they extract your law energy?"
Liu Zijian looked at him carefully and said: "Extract law energy? Did the Heavenly Court do that to you? No wonder I see that your cultivation is still at a high level, but it's not very stable."
Hua Yangzi nodded and said: "Not just me, many cultivators in the Xian Yu were treated the same way. Our law energy was extracted, and then we were thrown into the Sui Yue Tower." "Speaking of which, back then you didn't submit to the Heavenly Court, but you were still on good terms with them, and you could be considered a carefree wandering immortal. Why would they take action against you? Is there something special about your Law Threads?" Liu Zixin frowned and asked.
"If we talk about the power of the Law, it's all about cultivating and understanding the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. Even if they share the same origin, they each have their own unique understanding. Who doesn't have something special about them? But the Heavenly Court doesn't seem to care about this. They've captured many cultivators, including humans, demons, and magical creatures, and even the spirits of plants and trees. The power of their Law Arrays doesn't have any commonalities, and this whole thing is full of mysteries." Huai Yangzi shook his head and said.
"Huai Yangzi, senior, what is the purpose of the Heavenly Court extracting your Law Threads?" Jiao San couldn't help but ask.
Han Li was also very curious about this, and when he saw Jiao San ask, he perked up his ears to listen.
"I don't know... from the beginning to the end, we didn't know what they wanted to extract so many Law Threads for. Compared to this, I find it even more strange that your Law Threads weren't extracted," Huai Yangzi shook his head and said.
"We don't know either, we only remember that we were imprisoned in the Immortal Realm for a short time before being tricked by Wen Tai Sui into being taken to the Years Tower. After that, we were imprisoned until now. Ah, where were you imprisoned in the Years Tower?" Liu Zixin asked.
"I was imprisoned in the seventh layer of the Years Tower, along with many other cultivators. We were all sealed underground and were in a state of semi-hibernation. I don't know how many years ago, the restrictive power of the tower suddenly loosened, and we slowly recovered our Law Threads, but we couldn't move freely," Huai Yangzi said.
"Ah, I was imprisoned in the fifth layer, no wonder we never met. Hehe, we've been in the same place for so many years, if not for today's events, who knows when we would have met again?" Liu Zixin glanced at the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor, who was still playing with fire in the giant pit, and said.
Han Li listened to the conversation between the three, and his expression didn't change much, but his heart was shocked.
The Heavenly Court, as the most authoritative official power in the True Immortal Realm, shouldn't do anything too outrageous. If what Huai Yangzi said was true, and they dared to do something so bold, yet remained undiscovered, then their plans must be huge.
Unfortunately, the clues were too few, and he couldn't guess anything.
"Everyone, excuse me for saying this, but this place isn't exactly a good place to be. I think we should leave as soon as possible. Whatever we need to discuss, we can do it later," Han Li said after thinking for a moment.
"That's right. We've made a big commotion here, and I believe the Heavenly Court will send someone to clean up soon. Let's leave first and discuss our plans later," Jiao San nodded in agreement.
"What are your plans, senior?" Liu Zixin asked Huai Yangzi.
"Now that things have come to this, I don't have anything to hide. Back then, the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall wanted to recruit me, but I didn't accept. For the sake of self-preservation, I didn't want to get involved. Now, I don't know if the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall will still accept me, or if they'll even want to," Huai Yangzi sighed and said.
"If you want to join the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall, I can introduce you," Jiao San said with a smile.
As soon as he said this, the twenty or so people who had been planning to follow Jiao San were taken aback, and some of them looked at each other uncertainly. After a moment, they shook their heads and fell silent again.
"Ah, you're from the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall?" Huai Yangzi looked at Jiao San with surprise.
Jiao San just smiled and didn't respond.
"If not for them, we'd still be imprisoned in the tower," Liu Zixin said.
"Ah, I see. It seems I owe them a debt of gratitude. I'll follow you to the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall," Huai Yangzi said, his expression changing to one of determination.
"Good, good, good. Let's go," Huai Yangzi said, and then turned to the two people beside him and asked, "What about you, Mo Xu and Wu Qi?"
"We're in a similar situation to yours. We've also been imprisoned for a long time, and we're also looking for a way out. Why don't we join the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall together?" Wu Qi, the old man with the green skin, smiled and said.
The dry tree-like man just nodded and grunted in response.
"Brother Han, what are your plans? Will you join us in the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall?" Jiao San asked Han Li.
"After what happened today, I've realized that I have too many grudges against the Heavenly Court. The sooner I join the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall, the sooner I'll have a powerful ally. But this time, don't just give me a title as a Wheel of Reincarnation Disciple," Han Li shook his head and said.
"Perhaps it's fate that you have a deep connection with our Wheel of Reincarnation Hall. This time, you've helped me greatly, and our Hall Master is also very fond of you. Who knows, maybe you'll even get to meet him in person," Jiao San smiled and said.
"That's great. But earlier, you mentioned something about the Golden Child. I'm still waiting for an explanation," Han Li said with a smile, and then asked in a transmission, "What's going on with the Golden Child?"
"This matter... is not convenient to discuss right now. I can only tell you that the Golden Child is currently imprisoned in the Nine Yuan Observatory," Jiao San hesitated for a moment before responding.
Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he asked in a transmission, "What's going on with the Golden Child being captured by the Nine Yuan Observatory? Can you at least tell me that?"
Here is the translated text:
"Speaking of this matter, I happen to know some things. It's said that your little friend is quite talented, using herself as bait to lure out the Nine Yuan Sect's Golden Devouring Spirit, which had been nurtured for many years. Although she successfully devoured it in the end, she was discovered by the Nine Yuan Sect and was caught by several high-ranking cultivators. She's now being held captive within the sect."
Jiao San replied, "Han Li, you don't need to worry too much. The Golden Devouring Spirit is a rare and precious treasure, and the Nine Yuan Sect won't mistreat her. They'll probably take good care of her, but she won't be able to regain her freedom for the time being."
Han Li listened to her words and understood the underlying meaning. Once the Golden Devouring Spirit gained her freedom, it would be the day she was tamed by the Nine Yuan Sect.
Han Li wasn't too concerned about this, as he knew that taming the Golden Devouring Spirit wouldn't be an easy task. He was more worried that the Golden Devouring Spirit's stubborn nature would get her into trouble.
Although the Golden Devouring Spirit's physical body was nearly indestructible, it wasn't invincible. With the Nine Yuan Sect's deep resources and potential other methods, Han Li couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.
After all, the Golden Devouring Spirit had accompanied him for most of his cultivation journey and held great significance for him. He wouldn't sit idly by and watch her suffer.
"Anyway, our next task at the Reincarnation Hall will be related to the Nine Yuan Sect. If you're willing to participate, Han Li, you can use this opportunity to rescue the Golden Devouring Spirit."
Jiao San saw Han Li's contemplative expression and continued, "The rules of the Reincarnation Hall are clear. Some things can't be revealed yet, and there's still a long time before the task begins. You can use this time to improve your cultivation."
Han Li asked, "What's the task?"
Jiao San replied, "I'm not at liberty to disclose the details yet. But I can tell you that it's related to the Nine Yuan Sect. As for the Golden Devouring Spirit, she's being held captive within the sect."
Han Li thought for a moment before asking, "Jiao San, do you have a map of the Golden Source Sacred Realm? Could you give me a copy?"
Jiao San's eyebrows furrowed, and she replied, "Han Li, you don't need the map. You're not planning to go to the Nine Yuan Sect, are you?"
Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he replied, "I just want to gather some information. I won't do anything reckless."
Jiao San smiled and said, "Han Li, you're misunderstanding. The Golden Source Sacred Realm is not what you think it is. There are many sacred realms in the mortal world, and most of them are small and unknown. The Golden Source Sacred Realm is a small realm that shares the same name as a larger realm."
Han Li asked, "Are there different sizes of sacred realms?"
Jiao San replied, "Most cultivators below the Golden Immortal realm don't know about this. The entire realm is divided into three levels: thirty-six top-level realms, five hundred mid-level realms, and three thousand small realms. However, the exact number is unknown, as no one has the time to count them."
Han Li asked, "I've heard of the Middle Earth Sacred Realm. Is it one of the thirty-six top-level realms?"
Jiao San replied, "Yes, the Middle Earth Sacred Realm is the first of the thirty-six top-level realms. The Golden Source Sacred Realm is also a well-known realm, and the Nine Yuan Sect's mountain gate is located within it. The small Golden Source Sacred Realm we're currently in was originally part of the larger realm, but it was separated during a great upheaval in the heavens and earth."
Han Li nodded and said, "I understand now."
Just then, Jiao San's eyes flashed, and she suddenly attacked Blue Color with a palm strike, hitting her in the chest. Blue Color stumbled backward, coughing up blood.
The others were shocked, but they quickly understood the situation. Blue Color struggled to sit up, her face filled with terror.
Jiao San prepared to attack again, but Han Li intervened, blocking her path.
"Jiao San, this person is a disciple of the Nine Yuan Sect. We can't let her go," Jiao San said.
Han Li replied, "Even so, she doesn't deserve to die."
Jiao San said, "Han Li, this woman has been with us for too long. We can't guarantee she won't reveal our secrets if she returns to the Nine Yuan Sect. You're being too soft-hearted."
Han Li thought for a moment before saying, "Earlier, she and her brother made a promise to me. They didn't betray me even when they were pressured by the old woman. I think she's a trustworthy person. If she promises not to reveal our secrets, I can spare her life. I'll just need to plant a soul seal on her later."
Jiao San suggested, "Why bother? Let's just kill her and be done with it."
Han Li's expression turned serious, and he said, "Jiao San, if you consider me a friend, please do me a favor and spare her life."
Jiao San looked at Han Li and Blue Color, then nodded and said, "I understand... Fine, I'll spare her life."
Han Li bowed and said, "Thank you."
He then turned to Blue Color and said, "You don't have a choice right now. I'll plant a soul seal on you, and as long as you don't betray me, you'll be safe."
Blue Color didn't speak, but she nodded and looked pitiful.
Han Li began to plant the soul seal, and a thread of crystalline light emerged from his brow, entering Blue Color's forehead. As Han Li was casting his spell, Jiao San's figure flashed by, arriving at the bottom of the deep pit.
Hei Tian Mo Zu was playing with the flames, completely absorbed in his own world, and when he saw her follow him down, he suddenly became annoyed, raising his hand to slap her.
"Shi Qianbei, don't move, I have something important to discuss with you," Jiao San exclaimed, also taken aback.
"Key, what key do you have? Take it out and let me see..." Shi Kong Mo's raised hand hovered in mid-air, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"Shi Qianbei, you've been searching for your wife and child, I might be able to help you," Jiao San said, taking a deep breath.
Shi Kong Mo's expression changed in an instant, his face filled with anxiety, repeatedly asking, "Do you know where they are? Do you know where they are? Where are they?"
"I don't know where they are, but I might be able to help you find them," Jiao San said, her expression softening slightly.
Shi Kong Mo's face turned cold, his eyes flashing with a fierce light, and he growled, "Huo Tai Sui once deceived me with similar words, if you dare to do the same, I'll make you suffer a fate worse than death."
Jiao San's forehead broke out in cold sweat as she hastily replied, "I wouldn't dare."
Shi Kong Mo's expression eased, and he began to laugh maniacally, "Haha, haha, haha... You wouldn't dare, that's good, that's good..."
His eyes returned to normal, and he quickly regained his usual eccentric demeanor, as if the fierce expression had never existed.
"Then, Shi Qianbei, why don't you follow me back to the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall?" Jiao San ventured.
"Return, return, find people, find people..." Shi Kong Mo chuckled to himself.
The two of them returned to the surface, where Liu Zi Yin greeted them, saying, "Thank you for rescuing me, I should have returned to the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall with you, but I have some other matters to attend to, please excuse me."
"Are you returning to the Savage Wilderness Domain with Huo San?" Jiao San asked, glancing at Huo San in the distance.
Liu Zi Yin nodded, "Yes, that's right."
"It's no problem, the Hall Master has already instructed me about this," Jiao San said.
Liu Zi Yin's eyes narrowed slightly, a hint of surprise flashing across his face, but he didn't ask any further questions.
"Brother Han, will you be returning to the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall with me?" Jiao San asked, turning to Han Li.
"I'll pass for now, Brother Han, I have some matters to attend to, I won't be returning with you just yet, but our previous agreement still stands, I'm willing to join the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall and participate in the hall's tasks," Han Li replied with a smile.
Jiao San's eyebrows furrowed slightly, but she quickly smoothed out her expression, saying, "If that's the case, then I wish you a smooth journey, Brother Han, I'm sure we'll meet again soon."
After bidding farewell to everyone, Jiao San departed with Hei Tian Mo Zu and Huai Yang Zi, leaving first.
Liu Zi Yin, accompanied by Li Qi Ma and Huo San, stood aside, seemingly discussing something.
Han Li merely glanced at them before turning his attention back to Qu Lin.
"Brother Qu, what are your plans? Will you continue to travel with me?" Han Li asked with a smile.
"I originally intended to, but now I might have to change my mind," Qu Lin replied, smiling.
"Oh? Why is that?" Han Li asked, curious.
"After this incident, combined with your previous actions at the Golden Origin Immortal Palace, I think your reputation has already spread throughout the Heavenly Court, if I continue to travel with you, wouldn't I be drawing attention to myself, making it easier for others to surround and attack me?" Qu Lin shook his head, "That wouldn't be wise."
"You make a good point," Han Li nodded in agreement.
In reality, after their previous encounters, both of them had realized that the other was not someone to be underestimated, and neither of them wanted the other to remain by their side, so they were in agreement.
Han Li also knew that Qu Lin had his own calculations, as a Devouring Gold Immortal, he should be able to sense the presence of others of his kind, and now that they were in the outside world, he would be able to find his own way.
"Since that's the case, then let's part ways for now, Brother Qu, we'll meet again in the future," Han Li said, cupping his hands in a gesture of farewell.
Qu Lin bid farewell and departed, his figure disappearing into the distance.
"Brother Lan, are you planning to return to the Jiuyuan Observatory?" Han Li asked, transmitting his voice to Lan Yan.
Lan Yan's expression changed slightly, and he nodded.
"Then, Brother Lan, would you be so kind as to accompany me for a while? I also need to head to the Great Golden Origin Immortal Domain," Han Li said.
Han Li, I have something I don't understand, you're now a thorn in the eye of the Heavenly Court, how can you still dare to go to the Great Jin Yuan Xian Domain?" Lan Yan asked, finding Han Li's actions difficult to understand.
"You can't think of things that the Heavenly Court might not have thought of. There's a saying, isn't there? The most dangerous place is often the safest place." Han Li smiled and replied.
Lan Yan naturally knew this was a evasive statement, but seeing Han Li unwilling to reveal the true reason, he tactfully stopped asking.
At this time, Lichi Ma suddenly ran over, saying:
"Kid, this time we've been through thick and thin together, Old Ancestor thinks you're pretty good, consider joining us in returning to the Barbarian Domain?"
"Thanks for the recognition, but I still have some things to take care of, so I won't be traveling with you." Han Li smiled and cupped his hands.
"Alright! Take this, if you need anything in the future, just come to the Barbarian Domain to find me." Lichi Ma suddenly raised his hoof, and a snow-white light flashed out, landing in front of Han Li.
Han Li picked it up and took a look, discovering a palm-sized round scale, snow-white and covered in layered water patterns, emitting a fierce and savage aura.
"Thanks." Han Li briefly examined it before putting it away.
Then, he bid farewell to Lan Yan and the others, and flew off.
Once their auras had completely disappeared into the distance, Lichi Ma, who had been gazing into the distance, suddenly flashed his eyes, and his entire body shone with snow-white light. Countless white air currents swirled around him, enveloping him completely.
Fox Three watched in amazement, his face full of puzzlement.
Only to see Lichi Ma gradually stand up straight, his body shrinking, and transforming into a human shape.
After all the light and air currents dissipated, a tall, handsome young man appeared, wearing a white robe, with snow-white long hair tied up in a high bun, looking elegant and extraordinary.
"Earlier, I was presumptuous, offending the Young Master, please forgive me." The young man said, bowing and cupping his hands.
"Uncle Liu, no need to be like this, earlier I was the one who instructed you, you did nothing wrong." Lichi Ma, now in his human form, walked over and helped Liu up, saying.
"What...what's going on here?" Fox Three was completely stunned, his face full of shock.
"Let's go, I'll explain on the way." Lichi Ma smiled and waved his hand.
As he did, a snow-white light flashed out, and a three-layered snow-white tower ship appeared out of thin air, its upper floors adorned with intricate carvings, looking magnificent and luxurious.
The three of them flew up and landed on the tower ship.
Without seeing Lichi Ma do anything, the tower ship was lifted up by a series of white air currents, transforming into a white flash of light, and disappearing into the distance.
...
Three years had passed.
In the northern outskirts of the Jin Yuan Mountain Range, a dark red spirit boat sped across the sky above a winding river.
The spirit boat was not small, with two layers of pavilions built on top.
At this time, Jiao San, wearing a long blue dress, stood at the railing of the second floor, gazing out at the empty space.
"Master Huai Yang, now that we've left the Jin Yuan Mountain Range, I'll need you to propel the spirit boat. I'll be closing up for a while." Jiao San said, looking back.
"Don't worry, Jiao San, I'll take care of it." Huai Yang, standing on the spirit boat's deck, replied.
"Thanks." Jiao San cupped her hands and turned to enter the pavilion.
As she did, she raised her hand and pointed at the air above her head.
A dark red light shot out from her finger, striking a dark red token suspended above her head.
The light entered the token, which began to spin rapidly, and a layer of light expanded out, enveloping the entire pavilion.
Jiao San saw this and sat down cross-legged, her hands forming a strange hand seal, and her mouth began to chant.
Suddenly, complex symbols lit up beneath her, like red ribbons flowing out from her body, then rising up the light curtain, circulating and repeating.
Jiao San was surrounded by a hazy light, her body becoming indistinct, as if shrouded in multiple layers of illusions.
Her eyes flashed red, and her pupils constricted, her gaze becoming empty and hollow, as if her soul had been extracted, leaving behind an empty shell.
But then, a smile appeared on her lips, and her eyes closed, plunging her into darkness.
When she opened her eyes again, the scene before her had changed, and she found herself in a strange, gray space.
The space was empty, except for a winding river flowing through it. Jiao San's figure seemed to be floating in mid-air, her hands moving as if she were swimming through the air, propelling herself forward with a gentle motion. She was hovering above one of the dark red rivers, moving upstream.
There were five rivers in total, each with its own unique color and scenery. Some had turbulent waters, while others were calm and serene. One of the silver rivers had a gentle current, with small water droplets and glowing orbs floating within it, as if containing images that flickered and danced.
Jiao San only dared to glance at it briefly, not daring to linger her gaze, lest she be drawn into the river by an unseen force.
She continued upstream, eventually seeing all the rivers converge into a single source. The river was murky and turbulent, with a dark red stone bridge spanning its width.
The bridge was smooth and natural, resembling a crystal stone platform. The river flowed beneath it, dividing into six separate streams.
Jiao San's eyes fell upon the bridge, and her brow furrowed in surprise. She spotted a woman in black, sitting on the riverbank with her back to Jiao San, her feet submerged in the dark red river. The woman's face was hidden, and Jiao San couldn't see her features.
Jiao San didn't dare to look more closely, as there was a figure standing on the bridge, casting a shadow over the six streams. The man was dressed in a thick, heavy cloak, with a large hat on his head, and a fishing rod in his hand. He seemed to be fishing in the murky waters.
Jiao San's figure floated above the bridge, but she couldn't descend, remaining suspended in mid-air.
"Greetings, Lord," Jiao San said, her voice solemn and respectful.
The man on the bridge was none other than the famous Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth.
"What news do you bring?" Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth asked, without turning to face Jiao San.
Jiao San recounted the events of the past, telling him everything that had transpired.
When she finished, Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth remained silent for a moment, then spoke, "Stone Empty Ink is no ordinary person. You must be cautious in your dealings with him."
Jiao San frowned, "Do you think he's pretending to be mad?"
Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth shook his head, "Whether he's pretending or not, as long as he doesn't target us, it's of no concern. However, we must assist him in finding his wife and child. All resources within the temple are at your disposal."
Jiao San nodded, "Yes, Lord."
Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth continued, "Now that we've found what we were looking for, we can set our plans in motion. This should keep the Heavenly Court busy for a while."
Jiao San replied, "I'll begin making arrangements as soon as I return to the temple."
The two fell silent, until Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth suddenly spoke up, "What do you think of him, based on your own judgment?"
Jiao San replied, "From my interactions with him, I believe he's exceptional in terms of strategy, courage, and abilities. He will certainly be a valuable asset in the future. I hope to include him in our plans."
Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth nodded, "You may proceed as you see fit."
Jiao San bowed, "Yes, Lord."
Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth continued, "You must have used up a significant amount of your law crystal threads to use the Wheel of Rebirth's secret technique. This will serve as compensation for your losses."
He flicked his wrist, and the fishing rod in his hand jerked upwards, pulling out a dark red crystal thread from the water. A dark red glow emanated from it, and Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth plucked it out of the water.
He manipulated the glow, transforming it into a dark red pearl. With a flick of his finger, the pearl shot towards Jiao San, striking her brow and disappearing into her body.
Jiao San's figure flew backwards, her eyes blacking out as she lost consciousness.
In the inner chamber of the dark red spirit boat, Jiao San's eyes snapped open, and she sat up, gasping for air. Her body was drenched in sweat, and her eyes were wide with shock.
As she regained her composure, Jiao San touched her brow, feeling a slight pain, but also a cool, soothing sensation. She sensed the presence of the Wheel of Rebirth's law within her, and her heart was filled with joy.
However, her mind soon turned to the mysterious woman sitting on the riverbank, and she felt a surge of curiosity. Who was that woman, and what was her relationship with Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth?
At this moment, in a certain place in the Jinyuan Immortal Realm, a dark green flying boat streaked across the sky, heading towards the front with incredible speed.
The flying boat was vaguely shaped like a dragon, as if a dark green dragon was soaring through the sky. Its speed was so fast that it was almost impossible to comprehend, and it covered a distance of tens of thousands of miles in the blink of an eye. Cultivators with lower cultivation levels couldn't even detect the flying boat's trail.
Inside the flying boat sat two figures, Han Li and Lan Yan, but they had changed their appearances.
This dark green flying boat was one of the treasures Han Li had obtained from Xi Zhan's storage magical instrument. When Xi Zhan self-destructed his demonic dan, his body was reduced to ashes, but Han Li managed to snatch the storage magical instrument at the critical moment.
This flying boat was a wood and wind dual-attribute magical instrument, and its rank was not low. It had already reached the sixth-rank magical instrument level, and not only was its flying speed extremely fast, but it also possessed strong concealment properties, surpassing any flying boat Han Li had previously owned.
Lan Yan stood at the front, controlling the flying boat's progress.
Han Li had set up a restriction within Lan Yan's body, allowing him to sense her every move, so he wasn't afraid of her causing any trouble.
He sat at the rear of the flying boat, crossed his legs, and cultivated, with golden light flashing around him. The power of the time laws surged within him.
After more than three years of rest and recuperation, Han Li's internal power of the time laws had recovered to a small extent, which made him feel somewhat at ease.
He held a few jade slips in his hand, and his divine sense was probing within them.
After a long time, Han Li withdrew his divine sense, and his expression turned somewhat solemn.
These jade slips were the materials he had collected from the Wheel of Reincarnation, related to the Jinyuan Immortal Realm and the Jiuyuan Observatory.
He had collected a lot of information about the Jinyuan Immortal Realm, but the Jiuyuan Observatory was extremely strict in its management, and very little information had been leaked out. He had tried his best to find more, but only managed to gather some scattered and useless information.
"Lan Yan, don't bother controlling the flying boat for now. I have something to ask you," Han Li said, looking at Lan Yan in front of him.
"I don't know what Han Li wants to ask," Lan Yan replied, stopping her control of the flying boat and walking over to Han Li.
Along the way, Lan Yan had been extremely obedient, not saying anything she shouldn't say, and not doing anything she shouldn't do. She had been following Han Li's orders faithfully.
"I want to know some information about the Jiuyuan Observatory," Han Li asked directly.
"Please ask, Han Li. I will definitely tell you everything I know," Lan Yan replied, her beautiful eyes flashing.
"Your answer is quite straightforward, Lan Yan. As far as I know, the Jiuyuan Observatory's rules are extremely strict, and leaking the sect's secrets is a serious offense. Aren't you afraid?" Han Li raised an eyebrow.
"Your strength is far beyond mine, Han Li. Even if I refused to answer, you would still be able to find out through other means. So, I might as well cooperate with you. I only hope that you can keep it a secret that I told you this information," Lan Yan replied in a low voice.
"You and your senior brother are quite similar, Lan Yan. Don't worry, as long as you answer my questions honestly, I won't trouble you," Han Li said, nodding.
Lan Yan's expression flashed with a hint of sadness when Han Li mentioned Lan Yuanzi, but it quickly disappeared, and she nodded her head in gratitude.
"According to rumors, the Jiuyuan Observatory has a Dao Ancestor sitting in power. How many Dao Ancestors are there?" Han Li asked.
"Dao Ancestors are extremely rare. Even though our Jiuyuan Observatory is a major sect in the True Immortal Realm, we only have one Dao Ancestor, who is the founder of our sect," Lan Yan replied.
"What about the number of Da Luo Realm cultivators?" Han Li asked, nodding.
"My cultivation level is not low, but I'm not a core disciple of the Jiuyuan Observatory. I'm just a scattered cultivator who joined later and was assigned to be a Shadow Guard, executing secret missions. My position in the sect is not high, and I don't know much. However, as far as I know, there are fifteen Da Luo Realm cultivators in the Jiuyuan Observatory, including the sect master, two deputy sect masters, four great envoys, and eight great elders. However, the Jiuyuan Observatory has many secrets, so there might be other Da Luo Realm cultivators," Lan Yan said.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise when he heard this.
The Jiuyuan Observatory actually had so many Da Luo Realm cultivators! No wonder Jiao San had told him to increase his strength before rescuing his friend. With his current strength, rushing into the Jiuyuan Observatory would be like throwing an egg against a rock.
"What about the strength of the cultivators who were sent to capture me? What is their position in the sect?" Han Li asked, thinking for a moment.
"Miao Fa Xian Zun is one of the four great envoys of the Jiuyuan Observatory. He has already severed one of his corpses and has reached the middle stage of the Da Luo Realm," Lan Yan replied.
"Middle stage of the Da Luo Realm..." Han Li's pupils constricted. After entering the Great Luo realm, every advancement in realm would bring about a drastic change in power, and with his current multitude of methods, facing a Great Luo realm early-stage cultivator, as long as the opponent wasn't too powerful, he could hold his own using his mastery of the time law combined with various methods. However, facing a Great Luo realm mid-stage cultivator was a completely different story.
He immediately asked Lan Yan some questions, and Lan Yan answered in detail, allowing Han Li to gain a preliminary understanding of the Nine Yuan Sect.
The more he understood, the more Han Li's heart chilled.
The Nine Yuan Sect's power was far beyond his expectations, and it was not comparable to the previous few immortal palaces. It was a truly massive entity, and rescuing Jin Tong from it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, with just his own strength.
However, no matter how difficult it was, he had never thought of retreating. He was determined to rescue Jin Tong.
Han Li finished asking his questions and sent Lan Yan to continue controlling the flying boat. He then sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique", trying his best to recover the time law.
...
In the unknown distance, in the Zhongtu immortal realm, the Heavenly Court.
Countless towering immortal mountains stood upright, stretching to the horizon, with countless immortal pavilions on top of them. The mountains were connected by rainbow-colored bridges, and colorful auspicious clouds floated in the air. The palaces floated in mid-air, surrounded by immortal aura, and cranes flew about.
The various radiant lights emanating from the immortal mountains and pavilions were so bright that they seemed to push away the light from the sky, making it seem like this was the gathering place of all the light in the world, without a single shadow.
In a certain part of the Heavenly Court, a thick white cloud mist filled the air, constantly changing shape. Sometimes it condensed into giant dragons that fought each other, and sometimes it transformed into thousands of white horses that galloped by. It was as if it was a boundless white ocean, with waves crashing against the shore.
Above the white cloud mist, a massive palace stood like a city.
The palace was entirely white, with countless giant talismans inscribed on its walls, and some talismans seemed to be floating and dancing in the air. The palace was surrounded by many white-armored soldiers, each holding a weapon, and their bodies seemed to be made of white cloud mist.
Each soldier's aura was extremely powerful, rivaling that of a ordinary Taiyi cultivator. The weapons they held were of the highest quality, emitting a faint law fluctuation.
On the palace gate, which was hundreds of feet high, a golden plaque hung with the four characters "White Cloud Dao Palace" inscribed on it. The characters seemed to be floating and dancing, as if they might fly off the plaque at any moment.
Inside the palace, on the high platform, a white figure sat, but despite being close, its face and body were blurry and unclear, giving off an extremely ethereal feeling. It was as if its true body was in the depths of the void, and only a projection was visible.
A power that was almost comparable to the Heavenly Dao emanated from the white figure, filling the entire palace. Time and space seemed to be under its control.
At this moment, a person stood on the palace platform, a virtual body formed from golden flames. It was Qimozi.
"...I activated the Years God Lamp and used the residual soul mark left by the Years God to destroy the Stone Empty Ink, and the Years Tower collapsed. I heard that the Tongtian Sword Sect then detonated the entire Years God immortal realm space. Those people should not have been able to escape. However, Han Li, Liu Ziyin, and others are extremely powerful, and with the help of Stone Empty Ink, a Great Luo peak cultivator, they might have found a way to escape. I hope that you will send someone to the Jinyuan immortal realm to confirm their fate, in preparation for future events." Qimozi said respectfully to the white figure.
"I have received the report from the Tongtian Sword Sect, but they couldn't clarify some of the details. It seems that the situation was as you described. However, according to what you said, it was just a coincidence that you got involved in the Years God immortal realm?" A distant voice came from the white figure, without any emotion.
"Yes, the Heavenly Vessel was an item that the Supreme Lord ordered to be retrieved. I was chasing after Han Li to retrieve the vessel when I coincidentally encountered the Years God immortal realm. However, why did the Years God immortal realm appear in the small Jinyuan immortal realm, and why were there so many prisoners inside? I don't understand. Wasn't the Years God..."
The white figure suddenly interrupted Qimozi, "Don't ask about the Years God's affairs."
"Yes, I was wrong to ask," Qimozi said hastily, his heart trembling.
"With your current strength, why couldn't you retrieve the Heavenly Vessel?" the white figure asked again.
"Han Li, although he is still in the Taiyi realm, has already mastered the 'Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique', which can counter my 'Time-Cutting Flame Collection'. Moreover, he has also comprehended the 'Five Elements Phantom World' divine ability. At that time, the Years God immortal realm's Wheel of Rebirth and the Barbarian Realm's powers were also involved. I was unable to retrieve the Heavenly Vessel and was even destroyed by them. Please, Supreme Lord, punish me for my failure!" Qimozi's eyes flashed with a hint of pain as he said this.
"Was it really because the opponent's strength was too great, or did you have ulterior motives and miss the opportunity? As far as I know, you have been searching for the 'Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique' for a long time and even sent your disciples to retrieve it."
The white figure's words were like a cold wind, and the temperature in the palace dropped suddenly.
"I was wrong to hide the truth! I did indeed want to obtain the 'Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique' from Han Li. However, I would never dare to prioritize my own interests over the Supreme Lord's affairs. This time, I truly failed because the opponent's strength was too great. Please, Supreme Lord, investigate and punish me!" Qimozi's face turned pale, and he knelt down, his voice trembling with fear.
The white figure's finger tapped gently on the armrest, and the silence in the palace seemed to grow thicker.
A massive pressure filled the palace, like a giant invisible beast.
Qimozi's face turned even paler, and his virtual body began to tremble.
"Never mind, with that old lunatic Shi Kongmo around, you losing control is nothing to worry about. However, the Pantian Bottle is a treasured item that the Supreme One requires, and currently, the Heavenly Court is busy preparing for the Bodhi Banquet, so there aren't many people available to send. Moreover, the Jinyuan Fairy Realm is within the jurisdiction of the Jiuyuan Observatory, so sending someone else to investigate wouldn't be suitable. Therefore, the task of investigating the Pantian Bottle still falls to your Heavenly Prison. Don't fail again, do you understand?" The white figure fell silent for a moment before continuing, their tone softening, and the pressure in the hall dissipating.
"Yes, I understand. I will immediately dispatch all the monitoring fairy messengers to the Jinyuan Fairy Realm to investigate Han Li's situation. This time, I will definitely retrieve the Pantian Bottle." Qimozi's face lit up with joy, and he continued to pursue Han Li, hoping to seize the opportunity to snatch the "Great Five Elements Fantasy World Secret". He happily agreed.
"There's no need to be so loud and showy, just keep it low-key. You've destroyed your physical body, and later, I'll send someone to deliver a Tianhuo Sacred Lotus to help you rebuild your dao body." The white figure added.
"Thank you for the great kindness, sir!" Qimozi's face lit up again, and he bowed deeply.
"Dismissed." The white figure waved their hand, speaking indifferently.
Qimozi bowed again, preparing to leave.
Just then, a red cloud flew in from afar, without announcing its arrival, and directly entered the great hall. It flashed and transformed into a red-haired woman.
The woman appeared to be around twenty years old, with skin as white as jade, eyebrows and eyes as beautiful as a painting, and a captivating aura. She was dressed in a long, red dress that tightly wrapped around her slender figure, making one's heart yearn for her.
However, despite her beauty, the red-haired woman's expression was filled with an unbridled arrogance, as if she was a blooming, fiery rose that wouldn't allow anyone to approach her.
"Ah, isn't this Qimozi, the prison master? I heard you suffered a defeat and had your dao body destroyed. I thought it was just a rumor, but it seems it's true." The red-haired woman glanced at Qimozi with a mocking gaze, her voice clear and melodious, yet filled with ridicule.
Qimozi's eyes flashed with anger, but he suppressed it.
"Greetings, White Cloud." The red-haired woman didn't say anything else, turned to the white figure on the high platform, and bowed casually, without the same level of respect as Qimozi.
"Ah, it's Chi Meng, no need to be so formal. How was your trip to the Green Forest Fairy Realm?" The white figure smiled warmly at the red-haired woman.
"Everything went smoothly, sir. I completed the tasks you assigned, and procured three thousand Green Heart Fairy Fruits, six thousand Earth Mother Coiled Peaches, and ten thousand Red Spiral Jade Fruits. They've all been delivered to the Hundred Treasures Department." The red-haired woman's lips curled up, and she spoke.
"That's good, these items will be used for the upcoming Bodhi Banquet. We can't afford any mistakes." The white figure nodded.
"Sir, please don't worry, I personally inspected all the fairy fruits, and they're all of high quality." The red-haired woman bowed.
"Chi Meng, you're diligent, and I trust you. This trip to the Green Forest Fairy Realm was tiring, so take a rest." The white figure nodded, speaking again.
"It was just a trip, sir. I don't feel tired at all. I overheard you and Qimozi discussing the Pantian Bottle earlier. Isn't it the same treasure that was stolen from the Jiuyuan Observatory?" The red-haired woman's eyes sparkled with interest.
Qimozi and Chi Meng didn't get along, and he was about to leave when he heard this, his expression changing.
"That's right, it's the same item. The Supreme One has ordered its retrieval, and you're interested in this matter?" The white figure asked.
"Of course, I'm interested, sir. I received a message from my grandmother, asking me to inquire about this matter." Chi Meng smiled lightly.
"Ah, Chi Rong, the Daoist friend? Has she come out of seclusion?" The white figure was surprised.
Qimozi's body trembled, seemingly intimidated by the name.
"Grandmother came out of seclusion a few years ago and asked me to greet White Cloud, sir." Chi Meng glanced at Qimozi with disdain.
"Ah, Chi Rong, please, you're too kind. I've been managing the Heavenly Court's affairs for many years, but I'm not good at it. There are many areas where I've been remiss. If Chi Rong were to take over, it would be a great relief for me, and I could finally take a break." The white figure chuckled.
"White Cloud, sir, you're joking. You've managed the Heavenly Court for many years, and the great fairy realms have reduced their conflicts, and the world is prospering. If another Daoist were to take over, they wouldn't be able to do as well as you. My grandmother once said that among the many Daoists in the Heavenly Court, White Cloud's abilities may not be the strongest, but his governance skills are unmatched." Chi Meng smiled.
"Ah, Chi Rong, you're flattering me." White Cloud laughed.
"Since Chi Meng is interested in the Pantian Bottle, Qimozi, you can tell her about the situation." White Cloud instructed.
"Yes, sir." Qimozi hesitated for a moment before agreeing and explaining the situation with Han Li.
"Ah, I see. So, this Han Li is an interesting person. He's only been in the immortal realm for a few tens of thousands of years, and he's already reached such a high level. His cultivation speed is truly remarkable." Chi Meng's lips curled up, revealing a hint of interest.
"Chi Meng, you don't know, the Pantian Bottle is a treasure of the heavens and earth. With it, one can seize the heavens and earth's creation, so it's not surprising that Han Li's cultivation speed is so fast." White Cloud spoke slowly.
"Ah, I see. White Cloud, sir, Qimozi's dao body has been destroyed, and it will take time to recover. Moreover, he's already failed to capture Han Li, and the other people in the Heavenly Prison wouldn't be able to do any better. Why not let me handle the task of capturing Han Li and retrieving the Pantian Bottle? I'll definitely bring them back to you, sir." Chi Meng suggested.
"Chi Meng, the task of retrieving the Pantian Bottle has already been assigned to me, sir. Last time, I was careless, but this time, I'll bring the Extinguishing Golden Wheel, and I'll definitely complete the task successfully." Qimozi interjected, his voice urgent.
"Qimozi, you don't even have a dao body, how can you complete the task? Rebuilding your dao body and solidifying your cultivation will take time, and by then, Han Li will have escaped. You can't possibly wait until you're fully prepared before going after him." Chi Meng ridiculed. Qi Mozi's eyebrow twitched, and she was about to speak when
"Qi Mozi, Chi Meng said something reasonable, you haven't formed your Dao body yet, so just stay in the Heavenly Court to rest for now." Bai Yun Daozu suddenly raised his hand, stopping Qi Mozi from continuing.
"Yes." Qi Mozi stood there, looking somewhat unwilling under Bai Yun Daozu's gaze.
"Chi Meng, since you volunteered, the task of capturing Han Li is now yours, but Qi Mozi has already failed once, you absolutely cannot fail again." Bai Yun Daozu looked at Chi Meng and said seriously.
"Don't worry, White Cloud Elder, I'm not like some people, you can just wait for my good news." Chi Meng smiled and with a flicker of her body, transformed into a red cloud and flew away, disappearing from sight.
Qi Mozi didn't stay for long, quickly taking her leave and departing, leaving only Bai Yun Daozu in the grand hall.
"Chi Meng, your hand is getting longer and longer, hehe..." Bai Yun Daozu stood up, chuckling coldly before turning and walking towards the back of the hall.
...
At this moment, in another part of the Heavenly Court, a palace made entirely of semi-transparent pink crystal stood.
A green-robed woman sat within, none other than Miao Fa Xianzun.
Her face was somewhat somber as she gazed at a dark red jade tablet in front of her, upon which was a faint image of a yellow earth toad.
However, the jade tablet had already cracked and shattered into several pieces.
Two green-robed attendants stood beside her, their faces filled with fear.
"How are the life tokens of Lan Yuanzi and Lan Yan?" Miao Fa Xianzun slowly asked.
"Lan Yuanzi's life token has also cracked, but not completely shattered, as for Lan Yan's life token, there's no abnormality, but we've been unable to contact her, it's likely that she's been captured." One of the green-robed attendants hastily replied.
Miao Fa Xianzun's eyes narrowed upon hearing this, and she didn't speak for a moment.
"Saint Envoy, the Observatory Master has also heard about this, and just sent a message, expressing great anger at our failure to retrieve the Heaven's Vessel." One of the green-robed attendants hesitated before speaking in a low voice.
"I know, you can go now." Miao Fa Xianzun's eyebrows furrowed, and she waved her hand.
The two green-robed attendants bowed and quickly retreated.
"Han Li... it seems I underestimated you, in that case, I'll take action myself, and see just how capable you are." Miao Fa Xianzun stood up, speaking slowly.
As soon as she finished speaking, her figure flickered, and she vanished into thin air.
...
In the northwest border of the Xiao Jin Yuan Xian domain, the land was flat, and the soil was fertile, with a higher population density than the Jin Yuan mountain range, and many sects were present. The first sect of the Xiao Jin Yuan Xian domain, the Tong Tian Sword Sect, was located here.
Further northwest, the endless sea stretched out, with rich spiritual energy, but it was also extremely turbulent, causing massive storms to frequently occur, earning it the name "Stormy Sea". The Stormy Sea was abundant in resources, attracting many people to seek treasure, and its popularity was unmatched.
On the coast, a massive city stood, named Jin Yuan City.
Jin Yuan City covered an enormous area, and its interior was extremely prosperous, being the number one city in the Xiao Jin Yuan Xian domain.
The city's prosperity was due to the Stormy Sea attracting many treasure seekers, but the main reason was the presence of an inter-domain transmission array within the city, connecting the Xiao Jin Yuan Xian domain to the Da Jin Yuan Xian domain, with countless people traveling between the two domains, creating the city's prosperity.
Outside Jin Yuan City, a massive square stood, covering an area of tens of miles, filled with people coming and going, bustling with activity.
Every moment, a beam of light would fly in from the distance, landing on the square, or people would depart from here, flying towards the distance.
A beam of dark green light flew in from the distance, stopping on the square, and a dark green flying boat appeared, with two figures standing on it, Han Li and Lan Yan, who had finally arrived after ten years.
"Not bad, the number one city in the Xiao Jin Yuan Xian domain is indeed impressive." Han Li gazed at the seemingly endless Jin Yuan City, nodding in praise.
"This Jin Yuan City... is still passable, but when Han Li arrives at the Da Jin Yuan Xian domain and goes to the Ji Yuan City, he'll know what a truly great city is." Lan Yan smiled and said.
"Oh, is that so? Then I'm looking forward to it even more." Han Li said indifferently, putting away the dark green flying boat, and flying towards Jin Yuan City.
The Golden Spring City was vast and sprawling, with countless people entering and exiting the city every day. In addition to the city gate, there were many entrances on the city's defensive barriers, making it convenient for cultivators to come and go.
Han Li and his companion flew into the city from a mid-air entrance, and they saw that the city was filled with people, with many cultivators flying about. The city's streets were wide and clean, with many large shops and buildings that seemed to be a far cry from the mundane world.
Some of the larger shops were even built in mid-air, giving off an otherworldly aura. Han Li recognized some of the shops as belonging to powerful factions, such as the Bai Zao Mountain and the Sheng Long Temple. He even saw a shop belonging to the demonic realm, the Guang Yuan Zhai.
If he had come here before, Han Li might have been interested in browsing the shops, but now his mind was preoccupied with the news of the Golden Boy's capture. He ignored the shops and flew straight to the city center.
After a few breaths, a golden tower appeared in front of him, floating in mid-air. The tower was the location of the inter-domain transmission array that connected the Golden Spring Domain to the larger domain.
The tower's entrance was closed, and the square in front of it was empty and quiet. Han Li and his companion landed on the square, and Han Li's eyes scanned the area, noticing that several divine senses had swept over them.
"What's going on?" Han Li's companion, Lan Yan, asked, noticing the strange atmosphere. "When we came here before, this place was bustling with people. Why is it so empty now?"
Han Li's brow furrowed, not just because of the situation, but also because he had detected several divine senses that had swept over them. He was about to investigate when he suddenly stopped, his expression calm as he walked towards the tower.
Two golden-armored guards stood at the entrance, their cultivation at the Golden Immortal level. Han Li couldn't help but feel that the Golden Spring Domain was much more prosperous than the smaller domains he had visited before.
"What brings you two here?" one of the guards asked, his expression neutral.
Han Li and Lan Yan had suppressed their cultivation to the Golden Immortal level to avoid drawing attention. "We want to use the inter-domain transmission array to go to the larger Golden Spring Domain," Han Li said with a smile.
"I'm afraid that's not possible," the guard replied. "The transmission array has been malfunctioning for some time and is currently closed. You'll have to come back another day."
Han Li's eyes narrowed. "What's wrong with the transmission array?"
The guard shrugged. "We're not sure. When it's fixed, we'll make an announcement. You can check the news on the Celestial Stacks."
Han Li's mind was racing as he thanked the guard and flew towards the Celestial Stacks, a large building floating in mid-air. Lan Yan followed quietly behind him.
Inside the golden tower, four cultivators in golden robes sat in a large hall, each with a small white orb floating in front of them. The orbs displayed the images of Han Li and Lan Yan, who were now flying towards the Celestial Stacks.
The cultivators were all from the Heavenly Court, and they seemed to be monitoring the situation. "According to our information, the target's divine sense is extremely powerful," one of them said. "We can't let our guard down."
Another cultivator nodded. "It's been over a decade since we lost track of Han Li. I wonder if he's found another way to leave the Golden Spring Domain."
A third cultivator, a gray-haired old man, looked at the others. "Don't worry, we'll find him eventually. We just need to be patient."
The others nodded in agreement, their eyes fixed on the orbs as they continued to monitor the situation. The other three nodded in agreement, focusing their attention on the white orbs in their hands.
Just then, the round-faced middle-aged man's brow furrowed, and he let out a low hum. The white orb in front of him also flickered erratically.
"What's wrong, Brother Liang?" the eagle-nosed man asked, looking over.
"It's nothing, just that controlling the Turning Wheel Orb is exhausting for my divine sense. In the past, I was injured during a mission, and my divine sense was damaged. I'm having trouble supporting it," the round-faced middle-aged man said with a hint of embarrassment.
The eagle-nosed man's brow furrowed slightly as he sensed the fluctuations in the round-faced middle-aged man's divine sense. It was weak and unstable.
"Since Brother Liang is injured, why don't you take a rest first? We have half a day before our shift changes, and the three of us can handle the investigation," the gray-haired old man said, lifting his eyelids.
"Four people investigating is not much different from three people investigating," the middle-aged woman added.
The round-faced middle-aged man gave them a grateful glance before looking at the eagle-nosed man.
"Since Brothers Tian and Liu have said so, Brother Liang should take a rest first and focus on recovering. I hope this situation doesn't happen again in the future," the eagle-nosed man said after a moment of consideration.
"Yes," the round-faced middle-aged man replied, putting away the white orb and leaving.
...
At this moment, Han Li and Blue Color were mixed in with the crowd, entering the Immortal's Stair.
He didn't know that his caution had allowed him to avoid a danger.
The Immortal's Stair was much larger than those in other immortal realms, but the layout was similar.
On either side of the stair were shops selling various elixirs, immortal artifacts, and spiritual materials, all of high quality, attracting many cultivators.
In the center of the stair, a massive blue stone wall stood, covered in task postings. This was the Task Stone Wall of the Immortal's Stair.
Behind the Task Stone Wall, a platform stood, also over a thousand feet tall, with a massive banner hanging from it. The banner was filled with various figures, and it was the Heavenly Extermination List.
The area around the Task Stone Wall and the Heavenly Extermination List was crowded with people, their faces filled with excitement, as if they had seen something thrilling.
Han Li's heart stirred, and he swept his gaze over the Task Stone Wall and the Heavenly Extermination List. His face changed.
He saw that his ranking on the Heavenly Extermination List had skyrocketed, almost reaching the top ten, and his name had been changed to Han Li.
The description of his crimes had also been added to: Han Li, member of the Turning Wheel Temple, cultivator of forbidden techniques, participant in the assassination of the North Cold Immortal Palace's Palace Master Xiao Jincheng, the Golden Source Immortal Palace's Palace Master Dongfang Bai, collaborator with the Demon Realm, destroyer of the Golden Source Mountain's spiritual vein roots, causing the mountain's collapse and the suffering of countless living beings. Death is not a concern, reward of 50 million Immortal Yuan Stones!
The Task Stone Wall also had a task posted by the Heavenly Court, to capture Han Li, detailing his various abilities, such as his possession of the Thunder Attribute's Blue Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword, his body bearing demonic energy, his ability to use the Demon Realm's Nine-Yin Demon Eye, his transformation into a Heavenly Demon, and his mastery of the Time Law.
The task also mentioned that Han Li was currently in the Golden Source Immortal Realm, and that even if he couldn't be caught, anyone providing information about him would receive a generous reward.
Jiao San, Huo San, and others who had participated in the Taichang Immortal Palace's incident didn't have any changes in their situation on the Heavenly Extermination List, and there were no tasks to capture them on the Immortal's Stair. It seemed that all the attention was focused on Han Li.
"Who is this Han Li, that the Heavenly Court is offering a reward of 50 million Immortal Yuan Stones for his capture? Ah, it's been a long time since the Heavenly Extermination List has seen such a large reward!"
"50 million Immortal Yuan Stones! With that kind of reward, I'd find a secluded spot to cultivate for a thousand years, and I wouldn't emerge until I reached the Taiyi Realm!"
"Ha! You're just a small fry, with that kind of reward, you'd be better off finding a spiritual vein to establish a sect and become a sect leader!"
"Those who can make it onto the Heavenly Extermination List are not people we can touch. Don't get too greedy, or you'll end up losing your life!"
"Hehe, Brother Qin is right, Immortal Yuan Stones are great, but you need to have a life to spend them."
"Ah, it's true, why bother with this? Let's just watch the excitement and leave it to others."
"This Han Li is clearly a ruthless character, a true fiend. We're just minor cultivators, let's not get involved."
"You didn't see it? He's a member of the Turning Wheel Temple, and the Golden Source Mountain's collapse was caused by his collaboration with the Demon Realm!"
"The Golden Source Mountain's collapse was a disaster, countless ordinary people and sects were destroyed. This person's crimes are truly heinous!"
The crowd around them was abuzz with discussion and criticism, with some people taking out their communication devices to contact their sects and inform them of Han Li's existence.
Some people even began to secretly investigate the surrounding area, as the reward of 50 million Immortal Yuan Stones was too enticing.
Han Li, the situation is not good, we should leave here quickly." Lanyan's voice echoed in Han Li's mind, her eyes scanning the surroundings.
Han Li had set up a powerful seal in her mind, if Han Li was killed, she would not survive either.
Han Li saw everything, and immediately felt the urge to leave the Golden Spring City, but the next moment he remembered that the Cross-Domain Transmission Array was closed, and the investigation he had sensed in front of the Golden Tower. His anxious and heavy heart suddenly became calm, and his thoughts became clearer than ever.
"You don't need to panic, just pretend nothing happened." Han Li's voice echoed in Lanyan's mind, his face completely calm, with a hint of a smile as he gazed at the Task Stone Wall, his expression even showing excitement like the people around him.
Lanyan looked at Han Li's changing expression, slightly startled, but for some reason, she felt that Han Li's words had a calming effect, and her expression also unconsciously returned to calm.
Han Li walked around the Task Stone Wall and the Exterminating Gods List, looking at it with many onlookers.
He and Lanyan were both wearing masks from the Reincarnation Hall, disguising their true appearances. Even if the opponent was a Great Luo existence, as long as they didn't investigate carefully, it would be difficult to discover their true identities.
Just now, their expressions had changed for only a moment, and then immediately calmed down. If no one was closely watching them, it would be impossible to notice anything unusual.
Moreover, they had just arrived in the Golden Spring City, and hadn't done anything to attract attention. The small crack just now should have gone unnoticed.
However, Han Li didn't expect that at this moment, in the depths of the crowd, a pair of eyes was staring at them, which was the round-faced middle-aged man from the Golden Tower.
"These two people are indeed suspicious, the man didn't react to the investigation of the Turning Wheel Pearl, but his divine sense still showed a slight fluctuation. Although it can deceive others, it can't deceive my Soul-Searching Eyes. Unfortunately, I arrived a step too late, and couldn't see their complete reaction to the Exterminating Gods List. If I had, my judgment would have been more certain." The round-faced middle-aged man's eyes showed a peculiar, dim glow, staring at Han Li and Lanyan.
Han Li walked around the Task Stone Wall for a while, then nodded to Lanyan, and mixed in with the crowd, quietly leaving.
Outside the Task Stone Wall, the two immediately flew towards a distant exit.
A figure also walked out of the Task Stone Wall, gazing at the two people's backs, which was the round-faced middle-aged man.
"They're leaving, it seems these two are indeed suspicious. Should I notify those people? No, just finding a suspect won't get me much reward. Lin'er's divine orifices are naturally withered, and I need a large amount of divine yuan stones to cure her. I must first confirm this person's identity, and make sure it's absolutely safe, before reporting it!" The round-faced middle-aged man flipped his hand, taking out a purple, round bead, his face changing, and then putting the bead away, his body turning into a faint, black shadow, chasing after Han Li and Lanyan.
Han Li and Lanyan quickly arrived at an exit of the Golden Spring City, paid the exit fee, and flew out of the city.
"Ah..." Han Li secretly let out a sigh of relief, his heart slowly calming down.
"Let's go!" He waved his hand, releasing a stream of blue light that enveloped the two of them, flying towards the distance.
This was the Golden Spring City, and the Ink Dragon Flying Boat was obtained from She Chan's storage artifact. Although the chances of being recognized were small, he didn't dare to take the risk.
With Han Li's speed, they flew out of the city's range in an instant, and only then did he slow down, finally stopping.
"Han Daoist, this place isn't safe enough, why didn't you leave?" Lanyan asked in surprise.
"Of course, we'll leave, but there's something to take care of first." Han Li smiled slightly.
He had barely finished speaking when he suddenly turned around, charging towards a small hill in the distance, his hand grasping at the air.
"Boom!" A loud explosion sounded!
The hill's surface fluctuated, and a small mountain-sized, golden giant palm appeared, grasping the hill.
The hill immediately collapsed, like tofu, and the ground was dug out into a massive, hundred-meter deep pit.
At this moment, a black figure shot out of the pit, fleeing towards the distance, which was the round-faced middle-aged man.
This person's aura was completely exposed, and he was a Taiyi realm cultivator, but only at the early stage.
"You still want to run? You've been following us for so long, did you think I didn't notice?" Han Li coldly snorted, his arm moving.
The golden giant palm disappeared, and then reappeared in front of the black figure, its five fingers closing in a flash, trapping the figure.
The round-faced middle-aged man's body exploded with a loud bang, but instead of blood and flesh flying everywhere, he transformed into hundreds of black lights, shooting out in all directions at extreme speeds.
Han Li's eyebrows rose, and he couldn't sense the opponent's true body, as if he had truly transformed into countless bodies, hiding in each black light.
However, he didn't panic, and instead, he single-handedly made a seal.
A golden light flashed, and the True Word Treasure Wheel appeared behind him, its golden ripples rapidly expanding, instantly covering the surrounding area, trapping all the black lights.
The black lights, trapped by the golden ripples, stopped moving, frozen in place.
After more than a decade, his time law had fully recovered, and seemed to have strengthened a bit.
Han Li then waved his sleeve, releasing countless golden lightning bolts, forming a lightning cage that trapped all the black lights.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he began to chant a spell, his voice echoing through the air, as he prepared to deal with the black lights. "Destroy!" He flashed a cold glint in his eyes and snapped his fingers in the air.
The lightning cage suddenly burst forth with a brilliant light, then exploded with a deafening crash, as if a sun had burst, instantly extinguishing all the dark light.
A faint, mournful cry echoed from the lightning, only to be drowned out immediately.
Having finished, Han Li let out a sigh of relief.
That person's law should be a type of shadow law, which was naturally restrained by his lightning law, and coupled with the True Words Treasure Wheel, the opponent had no chance of escape.
Han Li retracted the True Words Treasure Wheel, and the golden ripples and golden lightning around him quickly dispersed.
"Brother Han, who was that person? Could it be a scout from the Heavenly Court, who has discovered us?" Lan Yan asked, still in a daze, with a mixture of admiration and alarm.
"Eight out of ten, but it's fine, he won't be leaking our information anymore," Han Li smiled faintly.
He could sense that the round-faced middle-aged man was not a split-body or the like, but a living, breathing cultivator.
He had exterminated him with lightning speed, and their information should not have been leaked.
However, to be cautious, they should still leave quickly.
"That's good," Lan Yan said, letting out a sigh of relief.
Han Li waved his hand and summoned the Ink Dragon Flying Boat, lifting the two of them into the air, and swiftly flew towards the distance, disappearing in an instant.
At this moment, in a secret courtyard within the Golden Spring City, a green-haired girl stood quietly, admiring a flowerbed in front of her, none other than the Miao Fa Xian Zun.
Just then, footsteps echoed from outside, and a green-clad girl entered.
"Saint Envoy, there's a message," the girl said softly.
"Ah, have you really found news about Han Li this time, or is it just another false lead?" Miao Fa Xian Zun asked, without turning around, still sniffing a pink flower in her hand.
"This time, the message is from our undercover agent in the Heavenly Court, who personally brought it, saying that there's even a recording of their encounter, so it should be true, but he wants to meet with you in person," the green-clad girl said.
"Ah, then let him come," Miao Fa Xian Zun said, tossing the flower aside, and turning around.
The green-clad girl nodded and quickly left, bringing a black-clad figure with her, who was none other than the round-faced middle-aged man, but his face was deathly pale, looking as if he had suffered a great blow, yet his expression was still excited.
"I pay my respects to Miao Fa Xian Zun," the round-faced middle-aged man bowed.
"Do you have news about Han Li?" Miao Fa Xian Zun asked, looking at the round-faced middle-aged man.
"Yes," he said, then took a deep breath, and recounted the events of discovering Han Li's anomaly in the Golden Tower, then following him to the Immortal Stacks, and finally, their encounter outside the city.
"This is the recording of our encounter," the round-faced middle-aged man flipped his hand, producing a black orb, with a light flashing within, showing the scene of their encounter.
"True Words Treasure Wheel! Lightning Law! No mistake, although his appearance is different, he's definitely Han Li," Miao Fa Xian Zun exclaimed, her eyes shining brightly.
The round-faced middle-aged man saw Miao Fa Xian Zun's reaction and let out a sigh of relief.
To verify Han Li's identity, he had paid an extremely heavy price, and if he had made a mistake, he would have suffered greatly.
"Where is he now?" Miao Fa Xian Zun asked, standing up.
"I used the Soul Rending Technique, leaving behind a split-body, and with my true body, I encountered him outside the Golden Spring City, he should think that he's thoroughly killed me, and preserved the information, so he won't use extreme measures to escape. Moreover, it's only been less than half an hour since our battle ended, with your abilities, even if he uses some means to try and escape, he shouldn't be able to escape your grasp," the round-faced middle-aged man said, taking out a map of the Golden Spring City, marking a location, which was where he and Han Li had encountered each other.
"Not bad, you're very thorough, and consider all aspects, Green Rui, bring him down, and reward him heavily," Miao Fa Xian Zun said, a hint of satisfaction on her face.
The round-faced middle-aged man was overjoyed, and thanked Miao Fa Xian Zun, before following the green-clad girl out of the courtyard.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's side had a flash of blue light, and two sixteen-year-old girls appeared, both wearing blue silk dresses, and looking identical, yet they were twins.
"Saint Envoy, since we've already obtained Han Li's information, to prevent the leak of information, should we...?" one of the girls asked, her hand slicing across her neck, her eyes cold.
"No need, this person is just a small-time opportunist, let's detain him for two days, and then release him, if we let people know that we're untrustworthy, and even kill people to silence them, who would be willing to work for our Nine Yuan Sect in the future?" Miao Fa Xian Zun said.
"Still, you're considering the long-term, Saint Envoy," the blue-clad girl said.
"These small matters don't need to be managed, now that we've finally found Han Li's information, capturing him is the top priority," Miao Fa Xian Zun waved her hand, and a blue light enveloped the two girls, flying towards the distance.
Near the small courtyard of the Miao Fa Xian Zun, a wine shop stood.
In a private room within the wine shop, a woman with red hair sat, none other than Chi Meng.
In front of her were arranged over a dozen wine jugs, more than half of which were empty.
"It seems that Miao Fa, that flat-chested woman, has already found Han Li's whereabouts." Chi Meng held a wine cup and gazed out the window of the private room, watching the distant blue light of Miao Fa Xian Zun, a smile playing on her lips.
"Chi Meng, your ingenious calculations, did you already guess that Liang Fa was a spy for the Jiu Yuan Guan, and that you were just playing along?" In the private room stood another person, the eagle-nosed man from the Golden Tower.
"I didn't know, but here in the Jin Yuan Xian Domain, this is the territory of the Jiu Yuan Guan, and no matter how we try to clean up our personnel, we will still be infiltrated by the Jiu Yuan Guan. It's pointless to waste our efforts, so let's just let things develop, and as long as we keep a close eye on Miao Fa, she will naturally find Han Li for us." Chi Meng drained the wine cup in her hand and spoke calmly.
"Your wisdom is profound, but won't this allow Miao Fa to take the initiative, and if she captures Han Li in a flash, won't that be disastrous?" The eagle-nosed man asked worriedly.
"You don't have to worry, Han Li has been able to evade the pursuit of the Heavenly Court for so long, and he even destroyed the body of Qi Mozi, so he is definitely not a simple character, and won't be caught so easily." Chi Meng smiled calmly.
"Yes." The eagle-nosed man nodded, still looking worried.
"Miao Fa has already left, let's follow her." Chi Meng raised her hand and waved it, a red light enveloped the two of them, and they chased after Miao Fa Xian Zun.
...
In the Jin Yuan Xian Domain, a green mountain range floated in the air, and a golden lightning array appeared, with two figures flashing into existence within it - Han Li and Lan Yan.
After leaving the Golden Spring City, they first used the Mo Long Fei Zhou to speed away for a distance, and then Han Li put away the Mo Long Fei Zhou and used the Wan Que Kong Ji technique to hide all of his spiritual energy, using only his Xian techniques to travel.
The spatial pressure of the Jin Yuan Xian Domain was much smaller than that of the Ji Lin Kong Jing, and Han Li's speed was extremely fast, not inferior to that of the escape light.
After that, Han Li used the Lei Guang Fa Zhen to transmit himself over a dozen times, and finally arrived at this place.
This place was already very far from the Golden Spring City, and Han Li had done his best to erase any traces that could be tracked, so he should be safe.
Han Li looked in the direction of the Golden Spring City, a thoughtful expression on his face.
The Heavenly Court's pursuit of him was so severe, and if he wanted to use the cross-domain transmission array to go to the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain, it would be too reckless.
For now, it was better to follow Jiao San's advice and close up for a period of time to cultivate.
Han Li's cultivation had already reached the peak of the Tai Yi realm, and he had prepared everything for advancing to the Da Luo realm. It was time to make a breakthrough.
If he could advance to the Da Luo realm, his strength would undergo a qualitative leap, and his chances of rescuing Jin Tong from the Jiu Yuan Guan would increase greatly.
Han Li looked around, nodding to himself.
He had carefully studied the map of the Jin Yuan Xian Domain over the years, and this place should be in the northwest region of the Jin Yuan Shan, in the Qing Zhou Shan mountain range, which was remote and had no special spiritual materials or demonic beasts, and few people came here, making it a suitable place to close up and cultivate.
Han Li flew down and stopped at a secluded mountain peak, waving his hand.
A number of sword auras flew out, quickly digging a cave into the mountain wall, and then slightly carving it out, creating a cave dwelling.
He then set up layer upon layer of restrictions around the cave, covering the entire cave and the surrounding mountains, making it as secure as possible.
These restrictions all contained the power of various laws, and even if a Da Luo existence were to attack, they could resist for a while.
"Lan Daoist, I will be closing up here for a period of time, and you can rest here for a while as well." Han Li said to Lan Yan.
"Yes." Lan Yan hesitated for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Han Li nodded, turned around, and entered the secret room.
Lan Yan looked at Han Li's back, stood silently for a moment, and then walked into a room and sat down.
Han Li entered the secret room, and with a wave of his hand, a layer of red restrictions appeared around the room, protecting it tightly.
He then raised his hand again, and a silver-white flame shot out from his sleeve, falling in front of him - it was the Jing Yan Tong Zi.
The Jing Yan Tong Zi's flames were still mostly silver, but some of them had begun to turn white, and the flame law fluctuations emanating from its body were much stronger than before.
Han Li's face showed a hint of joy.
The Jing Yan Huo Niao had been secretly refining the white fire bead over the years, and its strength had increased again.
"I will be closing up for a period of time, and I won't have time to take care of Lan Yan, so you keep an eye on her in secret. If she makes any suspicious moves, immediately take action and eliminate her." He said, his smile disappearing, and a cold glint appearing in his eyes. Jingyan Tongzi nodded, and the Ah-ah-ah voice replied, transforming into a silver glow that entered the surrounding crimson seal.
Although Lanyan might not have any malicious intentions, his current progress in reaching the Great Luo Realm was too significant, and Han Li couldn't afford to be careless.
Unfortunately, Ti Hun was still in the Huazhi space, closed off and unable to refine the Wusuo Ghost King's power within his body. If he had her protection, Han Li would be even more at ease.
However, with Jingyan Tongzi watching over him, Han Li felt a sense of relief and focused his mind, closing his eyes and sitting still.
Time passed slowly, and half a day went by.
Han Li opened his eyes, having adjusted to the optimal state.
He flipped his hand, and a white incense burner appeared in front of him, with a silver incense stick the width of a finger and three inches long inserted into it.
After lighting it, a faint white smoke wafted out, resembling the morning mist in a mountain valley, exceptionally pure and carrying a subtle, intoxicating fragrance.
This was the Conghun incense, which was extremely beneficial for refining the spirit and increasing the chances of successfully advancing to the Great Luo Realm.
Han Li then took out three jade bottles and placed them beside him. One of the jade bottles contained a white pellet, which was the Xuanzhen pellet given to him by the Crab Daoist. This was the most crucial item for advancing to the Great Luo Realm.
The other two small bottles contained a golden spiritual liquid and three green pellets, respectively.
These items were all obtained through Han Li's tireless efforts and were treasures that aided in advancing to the Great Luo Realm.
Han Li first took the jade bottle containing the golden spiritual liquid, tilted his head, and dripped a few drops into his mouth.
Suddenly, a brilliant golden light burst forth from his body, and the time law within him began to churn like boiling water. The Zhenyan treasure wheel, the Duan time fire, the Guangyin pure vessel, the Dongyi divine wood, and the Huanchen hourglass all appeared, revolving rapidly around his body.
Han Li's eyes lit up, and he quickly took the jade bottle containing the green pellets, swallowed one, and closed his eyes to operate the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Technique".
As for the Xuanzhen pellet, he didn't rush to consume it, as it was necessary to wait until the crucial moment.
Han Li quickly closed his eyes, and the golden light on his body intensified, gradually enveloping his entire body.
A massive temporal energy churned within the secret room, causing the room to rumble and shake.
In another room within the cave, Lanyan suddenly opened his eyes, gazing towards Han Li's closed-off secret room, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes before he closed them again.
At this moment, in a certain location within the Jin Yuan mountain range, a blue glow appeared in the sky above a swamp.
A blue aura shot forth from the distance, stopping above the swamp, and the figures of the Miao Fa Xian Zun and two blue-clad maidens appeared.
"Saint Envoy, Han Li has escaped to this place, and the spiritual energy fluctuations have suddenly ceased," one of the blue-clad maidens said, holding a blue crystal basin that reflected the surrounding environment.
Within the basin, a faint green glow appeared, stretching from the distance to this location, but it suddenly vanished.
"It seems this person has hidden his aura, using another method to continue on his way," Miao Fa Xian Zun said, raising an eyebrow.
"The Mirror Water Basin can no longer detect his trail. Perhaps Saint Envoy, you will need to personally investigate from now on," the blue-clad maiden said.
Miao Fa Xian Zun waved her hand, and a blue glow burst forth from her mouth. Her hands formed a seal, and the blue light churned, producing a blue crystal thread that floated within it.
The thread then converged, forming a blue, vertical eye the size of a millstone, which gazed outwards.
A series of blue light waves flashed within the eye, appearing extremely mysterious.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's hands formed a seal, urging the blue eye to continue searching. At first, she was confident, but as time passed, her expression slowly darkened, revealing a hint of disbelief.
"How is this possible? Even if it were a Great Luo Realm cultivator at the same level as me, hiding their aura would be impossible. Han Li's concealment technique is surprisingly advanced, this is impossible!" Miao Fa Xian Zun muttered to herself, once again amplifying the blue eye's power and searching the surroundings.
In reality, Miao Fa Xian Zun had overestimated Han Li. If he continued to use his spiritual energy to advance, no matter how he hid his aura, he would still be detectable by Miao Fa Xian Zun's secret technique.
Han Li had merely employed the "Wan Qian Kong Ji" technique, hiding his spiritual energy within his body and remaining still, using only his physical strength to advance. Lanyan was directly placed within the Huazhi space, leaving no trail behind.
Miao Fa Xian Zun didn't consider that Han Li possessed such advanced techniques, and her search for spiritual energy fluctuations was naturally fruitless.
However, Miao Fa Xian Zun's Water Emperor's Divine Eye technique was indeed formidable. After searching for a while, she finally discovered some faint spiritual energy remnants within Han Li's body, such as the lingering energy of the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword.
These remnants were extremely weak and intermittent, and even with Miao Fa Xian Zun's abilities, she could only follow these faint energy trails, slowly and painstakingly advancing.
A Chi Meng and the Eagle-Nosed Man followed from a distance, their faces filled with impatience at the slow pace. However, they didn't possess the skills to search for Han Li's trail, and could only rely on Miao Fa Xian Zun.
Inside the Azure Mountain sect's cave, Han Li was still in seclusion, attempting to break through to the Grand Luo Realm.
Time passed like a whirlwind, and three years had gone by in the blink of an eye.
The golden light within Han Li's secret chamber grew stronger, and despite the restrictions, it began to seep out.
Powerful time law fluctuations rippled through the cave, causing the various restrictions to hum and vibrate.
Lan Yan, who had been affected by the time law fluctuations, had long since stopped her cultivation and was quietly waiting for Han Li to emerge.
As for Han Li's goal in seclusion, she had also vaguely guessed at some of it, and her heart was filled with complex emotions.
If Han Li succeeded in breaking through to the Grand Luo Realm, his power would increase greatly, although she didn't know what he was planning, it would certainly be unfavorable to the Nine Yuan Sect.
However, if he succeeded, his personal safety would increase greatly, and Lan Yan would also be relatively safe.
Moreover, if Han Li broke through to the Grand Luo Realm, her own usefulness to him would decrease, and with Han Li's personality, he might quickly release her.
If Han Li failed to break through to the Grand Luo Realm, she would have to continue living in danger, and her own time with Han Li would be greatly prolonged, and she wouldn't know when she would be free.
Lan Yan's emotions were complicated, and she couldn't say whether she hoped Han Li would succeed or fail.
Just as she was entangled in her thoughts, a loud explosion came from Han Li's secret chamber.
A massive time law fluctuation erupted, sweeping through the entire cave like a raging tide, causing the various restrictions to vibrate and shatter, with almost half of them destroyed.
Lan Yan was also affected by the time law fluctuation, and she was knocked back, only stopping when she collided with the cave wall.
She looked towards Han Li's secret chamber, where the golden light had disappeared, and she knew that Han Li's attempt to break through to the Grand Luo Realm had failed. She let out a sigh, seemingly feeling a little regretful.
"It seems I still hope he succeeds..." Lan Yan raised an eyebrow and murmured to herself.
Inside the secret chamber, Han Li's brow was furrowed, and his face was solemn.
Just as Lan Yan had guessed, his attempt to break through to the Grand Luo Realm had ended in failure.
The failure itself wasn't a problem, as his cultivation hadn't been damaged, but he couldn't find the reason for his failure.
Han Li's body currently had over 200 time law crystals, which was the same number that ordinary Grand Luo Realm cultivators could comprehend and condense. The time law power should be sufficient, and his Heavenly Eye had already opened 359 apertures, his physical body was extremely strong, and his divine soul was much stronger than that of an ordinary Taiyi Realm cultivator due to his cultivation of the Refine Soul Technique. The fire of the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Realm Technique" was also sufficient.
He should have met all the conditions, and there was no reason for him to fail.
Han Li sank into thought, carefully recalling his attempt to break through to the Grand Luo Realm, and gradually became certain that the problem lay with the time law crystals.
Just as he was about to break through to the Grand Luo Realm, everything was going smoothly, but the over 200 time law crystals suddenly became disordered, causing his body's spiritual energy to become chaotic, and everything fell apart.
"Could it be that the time law crystals are still too few?" Han Li wondered.
If the problem lay with the time law crystals, he couldn't think of any other reason.
This problem wasn't unsolvable, and he could find some treasures that contained time law power and use the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Realm Technique" to refine them.
However, treasures that contained time law power were rare, and it wouldn't be easy to find them.
Moreover, he currently had over 200 time law crystals, but it still wasn't enough. He didn't know how many more he needed to break through to the Grand Luo Realm, and he would need a lot of time law power.
"Ah, I forgot about the Years God Lamp, which contains a great amount of time law power. If I can extract a small portion of it, it should be enough." Han Li suddenly slapped his forehead and took out the Years God Lamp he had obtained not long ago.
The lamp's flame was still extinguished.
Along the way, Han Li had tried several times to re-ignite the flame, but he had been unsuccessful.
Although the Years God Lamp hadn't been lit, it still emitted a strong time law fluctuation.
Han Li immediately activated the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Realm Technique", and the True Word Wheel and other objects reappeared.
He rapidly formed a hand seal, and five time law powers entwined and compressed, forming a large golden light circle.
Han Li narrowed his eyes, and with a virtual press of his hands, the golden light circle shrunk again, transforming into a golden ring that rotated rapidly, emitting a powerful devouring power.
Han Li's face showed a hint of joy, but it quickly disappeared, and he pointed with his finger.
The golden ring shot out, enveloping the Years God Lamp, and rapidly rotated.
A powerful devouring power enveloped the Years God Lamp, attempting to extract the time law power within.
However, the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Realm Technique", which had never failed before, failed this time. No matter how the golden ring rotated and devoured, the time law power within the Years God Lamp remained unmoving. "Could it be that the grade of the Years God Lamp is too high?"
Han Li thought for a moment, then once again activated the golden ring for a moment, but it was still futile, and he stopped. He made a guess in his heart, but he wasn't too surprised.
Because this situation had happened before, that was when he obtained the golden disk from the True Words Sect ruins.
Han Li had also tried to use the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Realm Technique" to extract the time law power from the golden disk, but it ended in failure.
Now the Years God Lamp had also failed, it seemed that this lamp was similar to the golden disk, a treasure of a similar grade.
The golden disk might be even higher, because Han Li could barely control the Years God Lamp, but the golden disk, he couldn't even budge.
Han Li played with the Years God Lamp, secretly smiled bitterly, and put it away.
He immediately fell silent for a moment, then took out the Wheel of Reincarnation mask and posted a high-priced collection task for treasures containing time law power.
Han Li had been killing people and stealing treasures for years, and he had a large number of immortal yuan stones, so he didn't need to worry about immortal yuan stones.
Now, apart from the Wheel of Reincarnation, he couldn't think of any other way to collect treasures containing time law power, so he could only wait slowly.
After doing all this, Han Li closed his eyes and sat still for a moment, then once again activated the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Realm Technique", trying to find other problems. A dazzling golden light enveloped his body.
Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, half a year had passed.
In the secret room, Han Li was sitting cross-legged, surrounded by a layer of golden light, and the five time law embodiment objects were floating around him, surrounding him, and the entire secret room was filled with a layer of time law fluctuations.
Just then, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes, and his eyebrows furrowed.
He stood up, and the five time law embodiment objects flashed with light, entering his body, and his figure disappeared in an instant.
The next moment, Han Li had already arrived outside the secret room, standing behind Lan Yan.
Lan Yan was shocked, and Han Li grasped her neck, a golden rune like a snake climbed up, wrapping around her body, making her stiffen and unable to move.
"Sorry, Lan fellow cultivator..."
Han Li's voice had just fallen, and a loud rumbling sound came from all around.
The mountain peak where his cave was located was directly blown open by a massive force, and half of the mountain peak was overturned, revealing the entire cave to the bright sunlight.
Han Li still held Lan Yan's neck, and looked up at the sky.
A huge crystal throne was floating in the air, shaped like a lotus flower, crystal clear, and on it sat a woman in a green dress, with skin as white as jade, and a slender figure, naturally, it was Miao Fa Xian Zun.
Her hand was propping up her left cheek, and her eyebrows were slightly furrowed as she looked at Han Li, with a hint of disgust in her eyes.
Han Li felt a wave of aura fluctuations from her, and his pupils slightly contracted, this person seemed lazy and high-sitting, but the pressure she gave him was even more terrifying than Qi Mozi.
Behind her, two twin maids in blue silk dresses were standing, both around 18 years old, with delicate features, one holding a treasure canopy umbrella, and the other holding a peacock feather fan, their auras were not weak, comparable to Tai Yi early-stage cultivators.
"Hehe, I thought that someone who could make Xie Yan stumble would be an amazing character, but it turns out that you're just a despicable person who uses weak women as a shield? It's really disappointing..." Miao Fa Xian Zun sneered.
"Senior, you're speaking unfairly. This Lan fellow cultivator isn't a weak woman, she didn't yield to me no matter how I pressured her, and she even tried to kill herself several times. I was forced to use a restriction. As for using her as a shield, isn't that also because of senior's overwhelming power, and I had no choice?" Han Li said with a pretentious tone.
Lan Yan heard Han Li's words, and she understood that he was trying to clear her name, and she felt a bit guilty.
"A prisoner of war, what's the point of not dying?" Miao Fa Xian Zun sat up slightly, her expressionless face scanning Lan Yan.
The next moment, a layer of white frost appeared on Lan Yan's pale cheeks, and she was covered in a layer of pale blue ice crystals, unable to move.
Han Li's fingers flashed with silver light, and a wave of silver flames surged out, barely resisting the frosty aura spreading from Lan Yan's body, and he retreated.
However, his figure had just retreated a hundred feet when he felt the sky above him darken, and the treasure canopy umbrella flew in, covering him.
Han Li's toes tapped the air, and his figure flashed to avoid it.
The maid holding the umbrella stood on the umbrella's surface, her figure swaying and dancing, like a whirling dervish, and the umbrella followed her movements, always covering Han Li's head.
The other maid holding the fan flashed to Lan Yan's side, raised her hand, and the layer of ice crystals covering Lan Yan was dissolved, and she was pulled up, and thrown back to Miao Fa Xian Zun's side.
"Disciple greets Miao Fa Xian Zun." Lan Yan's figure stabilized, and she bowed down, saying.
"Is Lan Yuanzi dead or alive?" Miao Fa Xian Zun asked, without looking at her.
"Brother..." Lan Yan's nose twitched as she mentioned Lan Yuanzi.
"Alright, if it weren't for the fact that I have some acquaintance with your master, you'd be a dead man by now. Fortunately, you still have some integrity and didn't humiliate our Jiumen Pavilion's reputation in front of bandits. Go stand aside for now." Miao Fa Xian Zun said in a low voice, reprimanding him.
Lan Yan immediately stood up and stood behind the crystal throne, standing upright with his hands clasped together. However, his eyes gazed at Han Li with a hint of concern.
On the other side, the female servant who had thrown the fan at Lan Yan had already caught up, and with a swift swing of her fan, a burst of green wind swept towards Han Li.
Han Li dodged the wind while avoiding the treasure umbrella, but he didn't have time to evade the wind. As it approached, he didn't dodge or avoid it, instead, he directly faced it head-on.
Just as the wind was about to strike him, the True Speech Treasure Wheel in his body suddenly reversed, attempting to use the wind's momentum to escape quickly.
When he realized that his opponent could approach him so closely without being detected, Han Li was certain that his opponent's strength was far beyond his own, so he didn't have the idea of fighting back to the death. He only wanted to escape as quickly as possible.
However, when he came into contact with the green wind, he suddenly felt something was off.
Han Li felt his body become light, as if his bones had become numb, and he didn't rush away as he expected. Instead, he was lifted by the wind and involuntarily flew upwards.
At the same time, the treasure umbrella above his head descended, releasing a powerful attractive force that directly pulled Han Li's body into it.
As soon as he approached, he was bound by the symbol chains on the umbrella handle and tied to it.
The umbrella's surface closed, and with a "whoosh", it enveloped Han Li's entire body.
Han Li, trapped inside, felt his body's spiritual energy being completely sealed, and he couldn't muster any strength.
The female servant who had thrown the fan saw this and stretched out her hand, and the green umbrella, which had already closed, shrunk in size and flew back to her. She grasped it with both hands and held it in her arms.
The female servant who had thrown the fan also turned around and returned to her position.
"It's so easy to capture him..." Lan Yan watched the scene, and for a moment, he couldn't believe it.
"A mere thief like you, and you two siblings couldn't even take him down together. You even lost a servant, what a joke!" Miao Fa Xian Zun sneered, saying.
Lan Yan's throat moved slightly, but he didn't say anything.
At this moment, the female servant who had been holding the treasure umbrella suddenly frowned and looked down at it.
The umbrella's surface was fluctuating, as if Han Li was struggling inside.
"Even a Great Luo Immortal can't escape from my master's Town Yuan Luo Heaven Umbrella. What makes you think you can struggle out?" she mocked.
However, as soon as she finished speaking, she let out a cry of surprise and threw the umbrella away.
A wisp of blue smoke emerged from the umbrella's surface, and a small hole was burnt out. A cluster of seven-colored flames protruded from the hole, resembling a seven-colored flower.
The flames suddenly shot upwards, and a small silver flame person emerged from the hole. It stretched its arms and expanded its body, transforming into a giant silver flame bird.
As it spread its wings, a burst of intense flames shot out, flying towards Miao Fa Xian Zun and the others.
The female servant who had thrown the fan saw this and swiftly waved her fan, dispersing the flames.
At the same time, Han Li's figure emerged from the umbrella and flashed away, fleeing towards the distance.
The silver flame bird followed closely behind, transforming into a silver flame that shot forward.
"Hmm, it seems that the flame bird that ingested the seven-colored fire sand is quite rare... but wanting to escape from my grasp is still a foolish dream." Miao Fa Xian Zun watched Han Li flee, but she didn't rush to chase him. Instead, she stood up slowly and said.
As soon as she finished speaking, her slender hands clasped together in front of her, and her palms flashed with a crystalline light, becoming transparent and ice-like.
"Condense"
Her lips moved slightly, and a faint white mist emerged from her mouth.
In an instant, the surrounding air within a radius of tens of thousands of miles froze, and a thin layer of mist spread out, causing the entire space to become icy.
Han Li had already fled tens of thousands of miles away, but as he sensed the changes in the surrounding air, he didn't dare to hesitate. He quickly absorbed the silver flame bird into his body and accelerated his speed, fleeing even faster.
However, as the sounds of the freezing air grew louder, a massive ice crystal wall suddenly rose from the ground, blocking his path and piercing the sky.
Han Li's mind moved, and he activated the Tianxia Town Prison Technique, causing his body's spiritual energy to surge. His hands shone with a bright light, and he punched the ice crystal wall with all his might.
The sound of the impact was deafening!
Han Li's fist glowed with a white light, and the ice crystal wall cracked, releasing a massive amount of energy. The entire ice crystal city wall shook violently, and the center of the wall suddenly sank, with ring-shaped cracks spreading outward from the point where Han Li's fist had struck. However, the majestic city wall somehow withstood the impact, not shattering or collapsing.
Han Li's heart was filled with anxiety, and he wanted to add another punch to break through the wall. But his face suddenly changed.
Above the sky, snowflakes began to swirl and dance, and a whirlwind blew a cluster of snowflakes onto the city wall. A faint white light flashed, and a slender green figure appeared, revealing the majestic figure of Miaofa Xianzun.
As soon as her feet touched the city wall, a layer of white light spread across the wall, and the cracks on the wall began to heal. Within a few breaths, the wall had returned to its original state.
"You can't escape from my spiritual domain," Miaofa Xianzun said coldly, looking down at Han Li. "Surrender, and you'll suffer less."
Han Li ignored her words and rapidly reversed the rotation of his True Speech Treasure Wheel. As he did so, his body shape shifted, and his hands quickly formed a series of hand seals, preparing to summon the Thunder Array technique to escape.
However, before the thunderous light could appear, a massive six-sided snowflake ice crystal enveloped Han Li, its blue crystal light flashing. Six blue rays of light shot out from the crystal, and Han Li found himself surrounded by six white crystal walls.
The crystal walls emitted a intense cold aura, and Han Li's thunderous light was extinguished. The space around him seemed to freeze, and his connection to the surrounding environment was severed.
At the same time, the crystal walls flashed white, and a layer of light appeared on their surface, transforming them into six silver mirrors.
Each mirror reflected an image of Han Li, but with different expressions and movements. Some were cold and unforgiving, while others smiled or ignored him.
Han Li's eyes flashed with purple light as he used his Nine Yin Magic Eyes to examine the mirrors. However, he found that the images were mere illusions, lacking any spiritual energy.
Convinced that the mirrors were just illusions, Han Li's heart calmed, and he activated his Heaven's Wrath technique. He raised his fist and struck one of the mirrors.
However, as he did so, the images on the mirrors also moved, swinging their fists at Han Li. "You think these illusions can stop me?" Han Li roared.
His arm shook, and his fist struck the mirror with increased force. The mirror shattered, but the other mirrors responded by unleashing a barrage of fists, each one striking Han Li with tremendous force.
Han Li's body shook violently, and his bones felt like they were being shattered. The mirrors' cold aura intensified, and his body began to freeze.
Han Li's eyes flashed with determination, and he activated his Heaven's Wrath technique and True Spirit Bloodline. His body suddenly expanded, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed demon.
"Break!" Han Li roared, his three heads and six arms striking the mirrors with incredible force.
The mirrors shattered, and a massive energy burst forth, causing the surrounding environment to shake. However, the mirrors quickly repaired themselves, and the illusions resumed their attack.
Han Li's body was battered by the relentless assault, and he stumbled backward, his vision blurring. The mirrors' cold aura intensified, and his body began to freeze.
As the illusions continued to attack, Han Li's body began to weaken. He realized that he couldn't break through the mirrors and decided to retreat.
Miaofa Xianzun's voice echoed outside, "You can't break my ice-sealed mirrors with your current cultivation. Surrender, and I'll spare your life."
Han Li's body slumped, and he sat on the ground, motionless. He knew that he couldn't defeat the mirrors and could only wait for an opportunity to escape.
Han Li ignored the words of Miao Fa Xian Zun and continued to activate his technique, resisting the increasingly cold air around him. He glanced around at the six ice mirrors surrounding him.
After a moment, he suddenly had an idea and raised his hand, and a small, seven-colored flame appeared in his palm. A small, silver flame man emerged and floated in his hand.
Han Li then looked around at the ice mirrors and saw that only his own reflection was visible, with no sign of the Jing Yan Huo Niao.
"It seems that this ice mirror, condensed from the power of ice attributes, cannot reflect the image of fire attributes. That makes things easier," Han Li thought to himself, and raised a finger to point at one of the ice mirrors.
The silver flame man moved in tandem with Han Li's thoughts and transformed into a flame that wrapped around his arm and shot out from his fingertips, drilling into the mirror like a fire drill.
As expected, the seemingly indestructible ice mirror began to melt, its surface rippling like a lake.
"Hmph! You think you're so great with your Jing Yan Huo Niao, but you won't have the chance to come out again," Miao Fa Xian Zun said, her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance, as she descended towards the ice mirror.
Just then, the air around them suddenly shook violently, and a warm breeze blew in from the southeast.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's descent was halted, and she flew back up to the ice crystal city wall, gazing out into the distance.
A figure clad in red was approaching from the southeast, riding a cloud of flames.
As the figure moved, the sky behind her changed, with a massive wave of flames rolling in like a tidal wave. The air in the surrounding space grew hotter and more oppressive.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's expression turned cold as she sensed the figure's aura.
The figure in red stopped in front of the ice crystal city and gazed over at Miao Fa Xian Zun.
"Ah, I thought it was someone else. It's Miao Fa Xian Zun! I'm looking for a fugitive from the Tian Xian Bang. Have you seen him?" the figure asked, pretending to be surprised.
"There's only one person here, a prisoner from the Jiuyuan Guan. I've already apprehended him, and you can look elsewhere for your fugitive," Miao Fa Xian Zun replied coldly.
The figure in red was none other than Chi Meng Xian Zi, who had also come to capture Han Li.
"That's quite a coincidence. The person I'm looking for is also a wanted fugitive on the Tian Xian Bang. Since you've caught him, it's only fitting that you hand him over to me. I'll make sure to reward you and the Jiuyuan Guan for your troubles," Chi Meng Xian Zi said with a smile.
"Things don't work that way. Since I caught him first, I'll take him back to the Jiuyuan Guan for trial. Once we've finished questioning him, we'll hand him over to you. Isn't the Tian Xian Bang supposed to be strict about following rules?" Miao Fa Xian Zun retorted.
"Ah, but are you certain you've caught him?" Chi Meng Xian Zi asked, her eyes glinting with amusement.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's expression changed, and she frowned.
Behind the ice crystal city wall, a swarm of red fire ants suddenly emerged from the ground, surrounding the ice mirror that held Han Li captive. The ants were covered in a sticky, flaming substance that burned everything they touched, leaving deep gashes in the ground.
The ice mirror, however, was imbued with the power of ice attributes, and the fire ants were unable to penetrate it. The ants' flames were extinguished, and they were frozen into ice crystals.
Despite this, the sheer number of ants made them a formidable force. Han Li, trapped inside the ice mirror, was unaware of the commotion outside, but he continued to try and break free using the Jing Yan Huo Niao's power.
Just as his body was about to be frozen solid, his finger, wrapped in silver flames, finally broke through the ice mirror.
Han Li's eyes lit up, and he summoned all his strength to punch through the broken ice mirror.
The sound of shattering ice filled the air as the six ice mirrors surrounding Han Li broke apart, and he emerged from the wreckage.
Han Li saw that the ice mirror shards were still intact, and a new wave of fire ants was approaching him. He didn't have time to react, and he leapt into the air, attempting to flee.
As he did, he caught sight of Miao Fa Xian Zun's figure, surrounded by a whirlwind of snow and ice, descending from the city wall to pursue him. Han Li's heart was shocked, and he quickly reversed the True Speech Treasure Wheel inside his body, his figure rapidly retreating to avoid the attack.
At this moment, behind the Miao Fa Immortal, another figure appeared, a fiery red person who was chasing after him with a smile on her face, shouting loudly:
"Since the Immortal couldn't capture this person, then let's see who's first and who's last...!"
As soon as she finished speaking, a golden light flashed beneath her feet, and the entire cloud of fire seemed to ignite, shooting out flames that carried her figure forward, instantly surpassing Miao Fa Immortal and keeping pace with Han Li.
Han Li's heart was filled with despair, he really hadn't expected that a Da Luo middle-stage cultivator would already be giving him a headache, and now another Da Luo middle-stage cultivator was also claiming to want to kill him.
Chi Meng chased after him and raised her hand, her five white fingers grasping, and a flame dragon appeared in her palm, its mouth open wide as it bit towards Han Li.
Although the flame dragon hadn't immediately approached, its intense burning power had already invaded the surrounding space, causing it to distort slightly.
Han Li felt his breathing become stifled, and his figure, which had been advancing, was slowed down by the invisible force in front of him.
Just as he was about to be enveloped by the flame dragon's intense flames, a silver flame rose from his shoulder, rushing towards his arm.
Han Li immediately raised his hand and waved it, and a giant fire bird's head appeared on his arm, its mouth open wide as it bit towards the flame dragon.
The Jing Yan Fire Bird's bite was so powerful that it bit off half of the dragon's head, and its body retreated back.
However, the flames on the dragon's body didn't immediately disappear, but instead continued to struggle violently, spewing out flames everywhere.
Han Li felt his entire arm burning, the pain unbearable, but he could only grit his teeth and endure.
Seeing the Jing Yan Fire Bird's actions, Chi Meng's expression didn't change, but instead, she smiled and said: "Ah, you actually have a Jing Yan Fire Bird, and it's even swallowed a seven-colored fire sand... this little guy, I'll take him..."
As soon as she finished speaking, she condensed her gaze, and her body's flames surged, her figure instantly approaching Han Li.
As soon as she drew near, Han Li felt his skin burning, his blood boiling, and his body's spiritual energy becoming increasingly unstable.
Han Li's face turned red, his eyes filled with bloodshot eyes, and his body's spiritual energy became more and more violent.
"Young people should be hot-blooded, come... let me add some fuel to the fire." Chi Meng smiled and said, her hands weaving a spell.
As she spoke, Han Li felt the temperature around him rise by at least ten times, a white light bursting forth from beneath his feet, covering an area of a thousand meters, with a three-legged golden crow's figure appearing in the center, surrounded by intense flames.
Han Li's figure was instantly engulfed by the flames, as if he had been thrown into a alchemist's furnace, unable to escape no matter how hard he struggled.
Fortunately, the Jing Yan Fire Bird had already transformed into a layer of flames that covered his body, protecting him from the intense heat.
However, even so, Han Li still felt the heat unbearable, his soul on the verge of shattering.
Just as he was about to be consumed by the flames, a clear cry suddenly echoed through the air!
A giant ice phoenix appeared out of thin air, its wings spread wide as it flew towards them, its wings creating a whirlwind that carried extreme cold and snow.
The flames surrounding Han Li immediately sensed the ice phoenix's approach and began to rotate violently, shooting out flames that clashed with the ice phoenix.
In an instant, the surrounding air was filled with steam, and the temperature dropped rapidly.
"Immortal Miao Fa, it seems that the Nine Yuan Sect is determined to oppose me, and oppose the Heavenly Court?" Chi Meng's eyebrows rose, her gaze fixed on the approaching Miao Fa Immortal, her voice cold.
"I had already captured him, but you ruined the rules, so don't blame me for retaliating." Miao Fa Immortal's face remained expressionless, her voice cold.
"Fine, since we're not willing to give in, let's settle this between us. Whoever wins gets to take him away, and whoever loses will retreat, how about that?" Chi Meng smiled.
"Exactly what I had in mind." Miao Fa Immortal glanced at her, her voice even.
As the two of them spoke, Han Li's body began to calm down, the flames surrounding him weakening.
Han Li felt his body relax, but his heart remained tense.
This was his only chance!
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Han Li's eyes narrowed, and his internal Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong was fully activated, stirring up his true spirit bloodline.
A dark light flashed around him, and a layer of demonic energy surged forth.
Immediately, a silver lightning bolt burst forth from the demonic energy, and a massive figure emerged from the rolling mist.
It was a giant flying bird, over a hundred feet long, with three different giant bird heads. The central head was that of a Lei Peng, with silver electric threads wrapped around its skull. The left and right heads were those of a Tian Feng and a Qing Luan, respectively, with flames and swift winds swirling around them.
The three-headed bird's body was covered in blue and red feathers, with seven red flames swirling around its tail. Its two massive silver claws gleamed with a sharp, knife-like edge, and its body was surrounded by a halo of silver lightning.
As the bird spread its wings, two whirlwinds erupted beneath, sending two massive waves of energy crashing through the air. The bird's tail feathers burst forth with red flames, and its body was surrounded by a frenzy of silver lightning.
In an instant, the bird's body vanished from the white light disk, reappearing tens of thousands of miles away.
This was, of course, Han Li, who had fused his Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong with the true spirit bloodline of the Lei Peng, transforming into a demonic creature.
"Ah, he's escaped..." Chi Meng frowned, sensing something amiss.
Miao Fa Xian Zun saw this and didn't bother to continue fighting, his body dissolving into a flurry of snowflakes that dispersed into the air.
"Heh, it seems he has some real skills! This is interesting, very interesting!" Chi Meng's mouth curled into a smile, and she didn't seem too concerned.
With a light tap of her foot, the crimson clouds beneath her erupted into a blaze of fire, and she chased after Han Li at incredible speed.
Han Li was fleeing for his life, his speed far surpassing that of ordinary cultivators, and even rivaling that of the Lei Zhen technique. Moreover, his speed was more sustainable, making him nearly unbeatable in a chase.
However, before long, the air in front of him began to distort, and a fierce wind picked up, causing the temperature to drop. The sky darkened, and a thick layer of white fog rolled in, shrouding the area in a freezing mist.
Han Li's three-headed bird form charged into the storm, but the winds were too strong, and his speed was greatly reduced.
He was caught off guard by the sheer scale of Chi Meng's spiritual domain, which seemed to be capable of manipulating the very fabric of reality.
Just as Han Li was about to be trapped, he unleashed a burst of energy from his true spirit and immortal spirit, letting out a sharp cry.
The three heads of the bird opened their mouths, and a blue whirlwind, a silver lightning bolt, and a red flame erupted forth, merging into a dazzling rainbow-colored beam of light that shot forward.
The beam pierced through the storm, creating a massive opening in the fog, and Han Li's bird form flew through it, emerging on the other side.
As he broke through the storm, Han Li's vision expanded, and he saw that the landscape had transformed into a winter wonderland, with snow-covered mountains stretching as far as the eye could see.
"Han Li, you're just a small-time Tai Yi realm cultivator, but you have quite a few tricks up your sleeve. Where will you run now?" Miao Fa Xian Zun's voice echoed through the air once more.
Before Han Li could even react, a faint shadow began to coalesce in front of him, stretching from the ground to the sky.
Han Li's eyes widened as he realized it was the same ice crystal wall that had blocked him earlier. His heart racing, he activated his true mantra, and his speed increased by a factor of two.
The ice crystal wall began to spread a layer of frost, which crystallized into solid ice in an instant, covering half of the wall.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he dove towards the lower half of the wall, which was still unfrozen.
However, the frost was too fast, and the wall was about to be completely sealed.
Just as all hope seemed lost, the Lei Peng's eyes flashed with silver lightning, and two silver lightning balls shot out from its claws, striking the base of the ice crystal wall.
The resulting explosion shattered the wall, creating a massive opening that Han Li flew through, his wings beating fiercely as he soared into the sky and disappeared into the distance. "How could this be..." Miao Fa Xian Zun's expression changed, and a flash of anger crossed her face.
At this moment, she suddenly discovered that Chi Meng, who had been chasing her, was nowhere to be seen.
Han Li burst out of the ice crystal city wall, but his mind was still on high alert, and the True Speech Treasure Wheel in his body continued to reverse, causing his divine spirit power, true spirit power, and law power to simultaneously and violently deplete.
Under the combined effect of these three forces, the distance between him and Miao Fa Xian Zun was slowly increasing.
But before he could even feel a sense of relief, a sudden change occurred in the void ahead!
A blinding sunbeam suddenly refracted forward, bursting into a dazzling white light in the void, and a vibrant red dress appeared, wrapped around a slender figure.
Han Li's three true spirit heads couldn't withstand the intense light, and he involuntarily narrowed his eyes.
The next moment, a series of loud, resonant sounds like the Yellow Bell and the Great Lyre echoed through the air, and a massive, semi-transparent light shield descended from the sky, enveloping Han Li's massive body and pressing him towards the ground.
Han Li's wings flapped wildly, and his body suddenly shot forward, colliding with the semi-transparent light shield.
A low, humming sound echoed through the air, and the light shield shook violently, with a layer of dense, glowing runes appearing on its surface, emitting a series of strange, pulsating waves that struck Han Li, causing his divine spirit to shudder and his body to fall to the ground.
After falling, Han Li's body flashed with light, and he returned to his human form.
The semi-transparent light shield that had enveloped him also flashed with light, rapidly shrinking to the size of a small house.
Han Li looked around, seeing that the semi-transparent light shield was like an upside-down bowl, with countless runes etched into its surface, covering the entire shield.
On top of the shield, eight red crystal fire dragons were coiled, their bodies surrounded by swirling clouds of flame, all with their heads facing outward, as if ready to strike.
Han Li could sense the powerful fire attribute law power emanating from the dragons, and he guessed that this object was likely a high-grade divine artifact.
After the semi-transparent light shield had restrained Han Li, Chi Meng, dressed in a red skirt, flew down from the sky.
"Tsk, tsk, you look quite ordinary, don't you? You've been running away the whole time, and you don't even know how to deal with the waste from the Jin Yuan Xian Palace. They actually let you get away, and now you're trying to escape again? You're really losing face for the Heavenly Court."
Han Li ignored her words, and a purple light flashed in his eyes as he activated his Spirit Eye divine ability, carefully examining the divine artifact in search of any weaknesses that could help him escape.
"I'm telling you, don't waste your energy, this Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield is a genuine fourth-grade divine artifact. Even a Mahayana cultivator would find it hard to escape, let alone you, a mere Taiyi cultivator. Why bother trying to escape? You might as well just surrender and avoid some unnecessary suffering."
Han Li examined the shield and found that it was surrounded by a powerful law power, with no weaknesses to be found.
At this moment, Miao Fa Xian Zun arrived, and upon seeing the scene before her, her brow furrowed.
"Hey, you're too late, this person is already my captive," Chi Meng said with a smile.
"Is that so? I don't see him wearing a collar or being bound by you. If you're saying that you've only managed to restrain him, then I've already done that before," Miao Fa Xian Zun said, her face expressionless, as she glared at Chi Meng.
"You and I can't settle this, so why don't we finish the fight we started earlier and see who comes out on top? That way, we can decide what to do with him."
"Too much nonsense!" Miao Fa Xian Zun said, her body flashing forward as she flew into the sky.
Chi Meng was about to chase after her, but she suddenly seemed to remember something, and turned to Han Li, saying, "Don't think about trying to escape or play any tricks, or you might end up losing your life. I'm not as cruel as Miao Fa, and I don't want you to die just yet."
After finishing her words, she flew off into the sky.
The two women disappeared into the clouds, and the air was filled with an intense, oppressive energy, as if the very heavens themselves were being torn apart.
The sky was divided into two halves, with one side a deep, fiery red, and the other a cold, snowy white.
Han Li listened to the thunderous sounds above, but he didn't have time to look.
He composed himself and reached for the Xuan Tian Gourd at his waist, pouring out its contents and pointing the mouth of the gourd at the bottom of the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield, where it touched the ground.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he took a deep breath before slapping the bottom of the gourd. The gourd responded with a loud rumble, and a green light swirled around the opening, forming a vortex that shot out a dark green beam of light.
The beam struck the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield, causing a massive explosion that released a cloud of dark green mist. The shield trembled violently, its surface inscriptions glowing bright red, but it remained unscathed.
To Han Li's dismay, the five red crystal dragons on top of the shield suddenly came to life, their eyes flashing with golden light as they opened their mouths and spewed forth a stream of sticky, oily flames that engulfed the entire shield.
Han Li was immediately engulfed in the flames, and a wave of intense pain washed over him, forcing him to cry out in agony. His body, strong as it was, couldn't withstand the heat.
The Flame Bird, sensing Han Li's distress, flew out on its own and transformed into a layer of flames that surrounded Han Li's body, protecting him from the intense heat.
Despite this, Han Li still felt like he was being roasted alive. The Flame Bird, while protecting Han Li, also condensed its energy into a massive bird's head that shot out silver flames to counter the falling flames.
The two flames clashed, creating a fiery vortex above Han Li's head. Han Li's anxiety grew as he realized that the Flame Bird was not absorbing the flames as it usually did, but instead was using its own flames to resist the attack.
He quickly connected with the Flame Bird's mind, learning that the flames possessed a unique fire attribute law that made it impossible for the Flame Bird to absorb. Instead, the Flame Bird was being suppressed by the flames.
As Han Li's concern grew, the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield's inscriptions flared up once more, and the remaining four crystal dragons descended, surrounding Han Li from all sides and unleashing a torrent of flames that engulfed him.
The Flame Bird let out a fierce cry, its silver light flashing as it abandoned its resistance to the flames above and focused all its energy on protecting Han Li.
However, the combined might of the nine dragons was too great, and the Flame Bird's powers were slowly being drained away. Han Li's heart sank as he realized that the shield was also absorbing the Flame Bird's energy.
The Flame Bird and the nine dragons clashed, with Han Li using his Thirty-six Bamboo Bees Cloud Swords to attack the shield. The swords flashed with lightning, striking the shield with incredible force, but it remained unbroken.
As time passed, the Flame Bird's silver flames began to dwindle, while the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield's power grew stronger. Han Li felt his body being slowly incinerated, his soul on the verge of being consumed by the flames.
Just as all hope seemed lost, the Flame Bird suddenly spat out a white fire bead that hovered above Han Li's head, releasing a brilliant white light that infused the Flame Bird's silver flames with newfound strength.
The silver flames surged upward, repelling the red flames and creating a temporary reprieve for Han Li. He recognized the white fire bead as the fire attribute treasure he had obtained in the Tower of Time, which he had thought was already absorbed by the Flame Bird.
However, his relief was short-lived, as the red flames began to press in once more, and the nine crystal dragons closed in on the white fire bead, their jaws open wide as if to devour it.
The white fire bead's light began to falter, and the flames within the shield contracted, forming a red fire cocoon that engulfed Han Li. The temperature inside the cocoon was so intense that Han Li's skin began to crack and dry out, as if it was about to shatter at any moment.
The Flame Bird, seeing its master's distress, released a burst of colorful flames, with the red and orange flames separating and merging with the white fire bead. The bead's light surged, and it transformed into a white fire cocoon that shielded Han Li from the nine dragons' flames. Han Li slightly caught his breath, seeing the refined flame bird sacrifice two clusters of seven-colored dan sand fire, its aura greatly diminished, and feeling guilty and regretful in his heart. His mind was in turmoil, but he didn't know how to break through the current predicament.
Just then, a voice filled with anger suddenly came from his chest:
"Are you stupid, can't you even run away when you can't win? You're wasting the ultimate divine art of traversing time and space, it's infuriating me..."
"Who's talking?" Han Li's heart skipped a beat.
The voice just now seemed both far and near, somewhat unclear, but he vaguely felt a sense of familiarity.
After a moment of thought, Han Li's face revealed a look of sudden realization, and he hastily reached into his chest and pulled out the Palm Heaven Bottle.
He looked at it, and the small bottle seemed unchanged, with no abnormalities.
However, at this moment, the bottle's surface suddenly flashed a dark green light, and two black eye beads the size of beans appeared, looking at him with a very human-like expression.
Han Li subconsciously pulled the bottle away, but when he saw the two black eye beads staring at him with anger, he quickly brought it back to his chest.
"Bottle Spirit, was it you who just spoke?" Han Li hastily asked.
"Who else could it be? A great Luo cultivator and a mere fourth-grade immortal artifact, and you're being forced to this extent, it's truly shameful." The bottle spirit's two eye beads moved, and a somewhat unclear voice came out.
"Just now, you said I could use the divine art to escape, this junior isn't unaware of it, but if I were to use my physical body to escape, wouldn't the Palm Heaven Bottle be left behind, falling into someone else's hands?" Han Li opened his mouth, but didn't know how to refute, and could only say.
"Is your life more important, or is the Palm Heaven Bottle more important?" the bottle spirit asked.
"My life is important, but the Palm Heaven Bottle has been with me for many years, it's equally important, and I absolutely cannot abandon it. Moreover, even if I were to temporarily escape with my physical body, I would still have to return here, and I wouldn't be able to escape in the end." Han Li didn't hesitate, and immediately replied.
The bottle spirit heard these words, and after a moment of silence, seemed to be very pleased with Han Li's words, and said:
"Very well, with your words, I won't regret appearing to save you this time. In the past, when you used your physical body to traverse time and space, the Palm Heaven Bottle would be in a state of no master, and would stay in the original location, as a coordinate for your return. But I can make the Palm Heaven Bottle traverse time and space with you, and the time experienced during the traversal will synchronize with the outside world. However, without a coordinate, you won't be able to return to the original location afterwards."
"Is it possible, please hurry and cast the spell." Han Li heard these words and was overjoyed, and immediately said.
"Don't be in a hurry to rejoice, this method can be used, but the cost is not small. Just to bring the small bottle into the River of Time, it requires the consumption of thirty time law crystals. Remember... it's consumption, and once used, it will be gone." the bottle spirit said.
The acquisition of time crystals was extremely difficult, and this time, thirty crystals would be consumed at once, and unlike the time dao patterns that could be restored, anyone who had to make this decision would find it hard to bear.
However, Han Li looked at the refined flame bird, which was still struggling to resist the nine dragon's attacks, and didn't hesitate, and immediately said:
"Please teach me, senior."
"There's nothing to teach, you just need to summon the crystal wall, and the rest will be taken care of by me." the bottle spirit said.
Han Li nodded, and immediately used his hands to seal the incantation, activating the Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique. A layer of time law power fluctuations suddenly appeared around him, and five time law objects materialized, floating in mid-air.
As the surfaces of these objects flashed with dao pattern lights, the time crystals wrapped around them absorbed the time law power from the surroundings, condensing into a massive golden ring, which was the Time Ring.
As soon as the Time Ring appeared, a group of time dao patterns flew out from the True Speech Treasure Wheel and other objects, landing on the golden ring.
A series of extremely powerful time law fluctuations suddenly emanated from it.
The Myriad Law Immortal and the Red Dream, who were engaged in a fierce battle in the sky, sensed the fluctuations coming from below, and immediately realized that something was amiss. They stopped their fight and flew down towards the ground.
From a distance, they saw a cluster of dark green light suddenly appear within the nine dragon's divine fire, shining like a green sun, and radiating a dazzling green light.
The surrounding void began to violently shake, and a series of strange, visible ripples appeared, as a massive light vortex emerged from the void.
A giant crystal wall then materialized in front of Han Li, who stood in front of it, recalling the refined flame bird into his body, and enduring the intense heat of the divine fire. He turned around and saw the Myriad Law Immortal and the Red Dream rapidly approaching, and with a flash of his body, he directly plunged into the vortex on the crystal wall.
The Myriad Law Immortal and the Red Dream watched as the vortex swirled, and Han Li was swallowed up by it.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's expression suddenly changed, but when she saw the shrinking green light, her eyebrows twitched again, and a hint of uncontrollable surprise flashed in her eyes.
"It's... the Pan Tian Bottle!" she exclaimed in her mind, her body suddenly accelerating as she rushed downwards.
But in the next instant, a golden ring separated from the green light, and thirty time crystals detached from it, turning into a powder that flew into the green light.
The green light suddenly condensed and rapidly expanded, transforming into a small, dark green bottle, which flew into the crystal wall vortex along with the golden ring and disappeared.
"No..." Miao Fa Xian Zun's eyes widened in horror as she watched the treasure her sect had been searching for slip away before her eyes, and she let out a hysterical cry.
Chi Meng also looked on with a gloomy expression, withdrawing the Nine Dragon Divine Fire Shield as he tried to get a closer look at the crystal wall.
But before they could approach, the crystal wall began to fade away, eventually disappearing into thin air, leaving behind only a faint residual energy.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's anger reached its peak as she glared at Chi Meng, her eyes blazing with fury.
If not for this woman's meddling, she would have already returned to her sect with Han Li and the Pan Tian Bottle, achieving the greatest merit in nearly a thousand years. But now, it was all ruined.
"The target is gone, and there's no point in continuing to fight... let's stop this meaningless struggle," Chi Meng said, her brow furrowed in concern.
But before she could finish speaking, a barrage of icy arrows descended upon them, freezing the surrounding environment in an instant.
"Do you think I'm a clay Buddha, to be so easily swayed by your words?" Chi Meng's pride and anger flared up, and she took a step forward, her hands weaving a spell.
The world around them descended into chaos once more.
Lan Yan and Miao Fa Xian Zun's maid, who had been watching from a distance, didn't dare approach, intimidated by the sheer scale of the battle.
"I wonder how Han Li is doing..."
Lan Yan's thoughts were interrupted by a pang of guilt towards the sect, and he could only sigh inwardly.
...
Meanwhile, Han Li's figure appeared on the barren plain.
Below him, a vast river flowed from the horizon, stretching out for thousands of miles without end.
The river was filled with countless water droplets that glowed like tiny orbs, flowing endlessly with the current.
Han Li's anxiety was palpable as he waited, and suddenly, a golden and green light appeared in the distance, hurtling towards him.
The golden light transformed into a ring, which flew onto Han Li's finger, while the green light coalesced into a small, dark green bottle that landed in his hand.
"Kid, what are you doing? With the Pan Tian Bottle, your time-based abilities will be depleted quickly. Hurry up and choose a water droplet to travel through," the bottle spirit warned.
Han Li hesitated, unsure of where to go.
After a moment's thought, he remembered his struggles with the Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue, and how he had been unable to break through despite his efforts.
Since he could travel through the water droplets, why not visit the True Speech Sect again and seek guidance from the venerable Mi Luo?
"Bottle spirit, can you take me back to the True Speech Sect before its destruction?" Han Li asked.
"It's not a problem, but the Pan Tian Bottle will require time-based energy to support it, which means we'll need to consume time crystals," the bottle spirit replied.
"More time crystals?"
Han Li's heart sank at the thought of consuming more time crystals, having already lost thirty earlier.
"The amount of time crystals required depends on the distance we need to travel. The farther back we go, the more time-based energy we'll need. To return to the True Speech Sect before its destruction, we'll need at least twenty time crystals," the bottle spirit explained.
Han Li hesitated, but eventually steeled himself and said, "Let's go."
"Wait..." the bottle spirit said.
As soon as the words left its lips, the golden ring on Han Li's finger flashed, and twenty time crystals detached from it, flying towards the Pan Tian Bottle and merging with it.
The bottle glowed with a soft, green light, and a series of ripples spread out from it.
Before long, a water droplet on the river's surface began to glow, floating towards Han Li.
"This is it," the bottle spirit said.
Han Li's consciousness reached out to the water droplet, trying to glimpse the image within.
But the water droplet suddenly flared with light, emitting a massive, devouring energy that pulled Han Li in with a loud "whoosh."
Han Li felt himself being pulled through space and time, his vision blurring as he lost consciousness. Han Li's eyes suddenly opened, and he found himself standing in a simple room.
The room was not large, with two small windows and simple furnishings. A wooden desk and chair were placed by the window, with a teapot and cup on top. The other half of the room had three beds, with the bedding neatly arranged.
On the wall opposite the beds hung a large banner with a portrait of a monk with large ears, which was none other than Miro Old Ancestor.
Han Li looked around and saw that this was likely a room shared by several disciples of the True Speech Sect. There was no apparent danger, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
A faint golden ring floated above his head, covered in dense time dao patterns. There were over 1,600 groups of patterns. The Heavenly Vessel was suspended in the center of the ring, but its spirit was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps due to the influence of the golden ring, the Heavenly Vessel appeared blurry.
Han Li's eyes narrowed as he took in the scene, and he quickly pushed open the door and walked out.
Outside was a small courtyard, similar to many others in the area. There were hundreds of such courtyards, built on the side of a massive white mountain peak. The courtyards were surrounded by white jade palaces that stretched as far as the eye could see, with more palaces floating in mid-air.
Han Li was familiar with this place, having visited once before when his divine sense had traversed the area. This was the True Speech Sect's main sect, but the last time he had visited, the Heaven's Court was attacking the sect, and the area was filled with smoke and destruction. Now, however, it was clean and tidy, with a majestic atmosphere.
In the air, True Speech Sect disciples in white robes flew by, looking prosperous and thriving.
Han Li quickly formed a seal, and his body flashed with spiritual light as he transformed into nothingness to avoid being seen.
He paused for a moment, then dispersed his divine sense to explore the surroundings.
A moment later, Han Li's face lit up with joy, and he flew towards the peak of the white mountain, using the Infinite Void Silent Technique to conceal his presence.
After a few breaths, he landed in front of a two-story pavilion on the mountain peak. Next to the pavilion stood a black stone stele with the words "Cang Gong Pavilion" inscribed on it.
The area was quiet and deserted, with only an old man with white hair sitting in meditation in front of the pavilion. He was the guardian of the pavilion.
The old man's cultivation was not ordinary, having reached the middle stage of the Taiyi realm.
Han Li landed silently, and the old man seemed to sense something, suddenly opening his eyes and looking around in confusion.
However, Han Li's Infinite Void Silent Technique was too profound, and his concealment technique was also a mysterious art that he had learned earlier, combined with the mysteries of the "Law of Heaven and Earth". As a result, although they were close, the old man could not sense Han Li's presence.
Han Li smiled slightly, formed a seal, and shot out several crystal chains from his fingertips, aiming at the old man's head.
The chains left Han Li's body and immediately became visible.
The old man's face changed, and he was about to jump up, but the chains were too fast, and they entered his forehead before he could react.
The old man's movements froze, and he remained in a half-standing, half-sitting position.
Han Li quickly subdued the old man, carefully sensing the surroundings, and found no signs of trouble. He breathed a sigh of relief and took the white token from the old man's hand.
With a slight sense of the token's power, he walked to the pavilion and formed a seal to activate the token. A white light shot out, entering the pavilion's door.
The door immediately emitted a layer of white, crystal-like light, with countless symbols and talismans flashing on its surface.
Han Li formed another seal, and another white light shot out, entering the light screen. The symbols and talismans on the screen quickly disappeared, and the light screen itself vanished. The pavilion's door creaked open.
Han Li smiled, about to enter the pavilion, but suddenly stopped and turned to the old man. He formed a seal, and five thin black lights shot out from his fingertips, entering the old man's body.
The old man's expression relaxed, and he regained some of his normal movements, sitting down in a meditative position.
This was a puppet technique that Han Li had learned from the Crab Taoist during his time in the Accumulated Scales Realm. Although it was not as powerful as true puppetry, it was sufficient to control the old man's divine sense and prevent him from revealing any secrets.
With that done, Han Li entered the pavilion, closing the door behind him. The door's light screen flashed again, re-sealing the entrance.
Han Li didn't pay attention to the situation at the entrance of the pavilion, and instead looked inside.
The first floor of the pavilion was not large, and there were rows of ancient wooden bookshelves, with over 20-30 of them. Each bookshelf was filled with dense rows of ancient texts, jade slips, and other items, all neatly arranged. These texts were all related to cultivation techniques and secret arts.
The texts on the bookshelves were also shrouded in a layer of white light, similar to the seal on the entrance of the pavilion.
Han Li gave a rough glance and his heart was filled with joy. This place was indeed similar to a scripture repository of a sect, just as he had guessed.
He had finally returned to the True Speech Sect after much difficulty, and he didn't want to leave empty-handed.
Ever since he arrived in the True Immortal Realm, he had been investigating the history of the True Speech Sect due to some unresolved matters. The more he investigated, the more he was shocked.
Although the True Speech Sect was located in the Black Earth Immortal Domain, which was not a large domain, its research into the Time Law was exceptional, especially the insights of the old ancestor Mi Luo. This made the sect's reputation in the True Immortal Realm not low.
Now, he had spent 50 Time Law crystals to come here, and although the reason was to escape those two Grand Luo Realm cultivators, he had to gain something from this trip. Otherwise, it would be a great loss.
Actually, he had always been self-taught in the cultivation of the Time Law, one of the three supreme laws. Although his progress was much faster than others due to the Heavenly Vessel, if he could find one or two texts left behind by the True Speech Sect's ancestors, he could gain some insights.
The Time Law was a profound and difficult law, but it was also the most fundamental law in this realm.
Even ordinary people, or even a tiny ant, could not escape the Time Law in their entire lives. The fate of living beings, the birth and death of all things, the changes of the mountains and rivers... all these were governed by the Time Law.
So, every cultivator who cultivated the Time Law, no matter how long they took, would have some insights to share. Even a single sentence could help someone gain a sudden understanding.
Han Li thought for a moment, then quickly walked through the bookshelves, occasionally stopping to open the seal on a bookshelf with his white token, and browsing through the texts. He quickly flipped through the texts on the first floor, but his joyful expression gradually disappeared.
The texts on the bookshelves were indeed exquisite, but they were all cultivation techniques and secret arts at the Golden Immortal or True Immortal level. Although there were some texts that discussed the Time Law, they were mostly superficial and didn't touch on the essence of the law.
"It seems that this is a scripture repository, and the texts here are all low-level cultivation techniques," he thought to himself, stopping his browsing and walking up the stairs to the second floor.
The second floor also had many bookshelves, but fewer than the first floor, with only around ten. The bookshelves were filled with texts and jade slips.
Time was precious, and Han Li quickly began to browse through the texts.
The texts on the second floor were slightly higher in level than those on the first floor, but they were still not very high. Most of them were Golden Immortal texts, and occasionally there would be a Taiyi Realm text, which was still not very useful to him.
Han Li quickly flipped through the texts on the second floor, but his gains were not great. He sighed and was about to leave.
The golden ring on his head, which displayed the Time Law pattern, had already faded by one-tenth. Every minute was precious.
He suddenly stopped and looked at a bookshelf next to him, which was slightly asymmetrical in its placement.
Han Li's eyebrows rose, and he pushed the bookshelf back, using his divine sense to scan the area. A look of joy appeared on his face.
He stretched out his hand and gently tapped the wall behind the bookshelf, and a small compartment opened up, revealing a small golden box.
Han Li's heart moved, and he was about to open the box, but a layer of golden light appeared on the box, blocking his hand. The box was sealed.
Han Li was taken aback, then his expression turned thoughtful. He raised his hands, and two golden lights appeared, which he used to grab the box again.
The golden light on the box interacted with the golden light on Han Li's hands, and the box's light was quickly crushed.
The box opened with a click, revealing a golden jade slip inside.
Han Li's eyes lit up, and he took the jade slip, using his divine sense to enter it.
He immediately lit up, and the jade slip contained a divine ability called "Immortal Golden Cloud".
According to the jade slip, this was a defensive divine ability based on the Time Law.
Moreover, this "Immortal Golden Cloud" was not an ordinary defensive divine ability, but the first defensive divine ability of the True Speech Sect, known as the "invincible" defense.
However, the requirements to cultivate this divine ability were extremely harsh. Firstly, one's Time Law cultivation had to be extremely strong, otherwise, one would not be able to withstand the powerful energy of the "Immortal Golden Cloud".
Secondly, one had to have a very high understanding of the Time Law, otherwise, one would not be able to comprehend the profundity of this divine ability.
Lastly, the cultivator had to have at least 300 Time Law crystals in their body to provide enough Time Law energy to activate this divine ability.
Han Li's face revealed a bitter smile. The first two requirements were not a problem for him. The "Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique" was the most top-notch time cultivation technique, and his understanding of time laws was already very deep, so there shouldn't be any major problems, but needing 300 time law crystals was a bit of a hassle.
He currently only had 150 time law crystals in his body, barely reaching half of the "Immortal Golden Cloud" requirement, and even without the recent incident with the bottle spirit, it was still far from enough.
However, being able to find such a time divine technique, he was already quite satisfied.
He flipped his hand and put away the jade slip and golden box, then restored the wall and bookshelf to their original state, so as not to be discovered.
After doing all this, Han Li didn't linger and went downstairs, just as he was about to open the attic door to leave.
A golden light shot over from a distance, landing in front of the Cang Gong Pavilion, revealing a rough and burly man with a mid-stage Taiyi Realm cultivation.
"Friend Jiang, your Cang Gong Pavilion is still so deserted," the rough and burly man laughed.
Han Li's face changed slightly, and he quickly and secretly activated the puppet secret technique.
"I don't usually have many visitors here," the white-haired old man looked up at the burly man and said indifferently, not getting up to greet him.
"Friend Jiang, don't mind, Chen is not making fun of you, the Heavenly Court is getting more and more pressing, and my Tianxing Temple has also had very few disciples come recently. Although our achievements may be average after the thousand-year guard period, it's still better than those elders who were sent out, I've heard that many of them have already fallen," the rough and burly man said, not noticing the white-haired old man's unusual behavior.
The two of them seemed to have a fairly close relationship.
"Hmm, what brings you here, Friend Chen?" Han Li controlled the white-haired old man to ask.
"I didn't come for anything major, today the Patriarch is lecturing on the Observing Sun Peak, and I came to invite Friend Jiang to listen," the rough and burly man said.
Han Li's eyes lit up when he heard this.
The Patriarch? Could it be Miro Old Ancestor? His cultivation technique was also the "Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique", and although he might not necessarily lecture on the "Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique", his insights would definitely be related to it, and he couldn't miss this opportunity.
As soon as he thought of this, he felt a surge of excitement, but his control over the white-haired old man's movements didn't falter.
"Thank you for the invitation, Friend Chen, but I have some things to attend to, so I might be late," the white-haired old man said.
"Alright, I'll go ahead first, Friend Jiang can come as soon as he's finished with his business. Although our Patriarch's cultivation technique is different from ours, it's still good to listen to his lectures," the rough and burly man said, then bid farewell and left, turning into a golden light that shot off into the distance.
The attic door creaked open, and Han Li walked out, raised his hand, and the white-haired old man got up and walked back into the Cang Gong Pavilion.
Then he snapped his fingers, and a crystal light struck the white-haired old man's brow.
The old man's body violently shook, and he fell to the ground, entering a deep sleep.
Han Li smiled slightly, threw the white command token next to the old man, and closed the door.
He had just used the secret technique to shock the white-haired old man's divine soul, putting him into a deep sleep that would last at least four or five days, and wouldn't affect his future actions.
After doing all this, Han Li immediately flew in the direction the rough and burly man had gone, and soon arrived at a towering emerald-green mountain, with lush green trees and strange rocks, looking quite unusual.
"Here..." he looked at the mountain, and a glimmer of unusual light flashed in his eyes.
This mountain was not unfamiliar to him, and he had actually seen it three times before. The first time was when he first activated the Palm Heaven Bottle and saw Miro Old Ancestor lecture, and the location was at the peak of this mountain.
The second time was when he went to the True Speech Sect ruins, and he had passed by this mountain.
Who would have thought that he would come again today?
The emerald-green mountain towered into the clouds, and the peak couldn't be seen. A long stone staircase extended from the peak to the foot of the mountain.
At this moment, the staircase was filled with True Speech Sect disciples, all of whom were listening intently.
The lecture had already begun, and the sound of Miro Old Ancestor's voice echoed from the peak, each word like a precious pearl, giving people a sense of mystery and profundity.
The nearby heavenly energy was trembling with Miro Old Ancestor's voice, and the sky above was filled with flowing lights, sometimes turning into endless storms, sometimes turning into blazing fire rain, and sometimes turning into icy windstorms, changing endlessly.
Han Li looked at the sky, and his brow furrowed again, feeling that the scene before him was somewhat familiar, but he shook his head and flew quietly towards the mountain peak.
However, he didn't fly all the way to the peak, and instead found a place to sit down halfway up the mountain, so as not to get too close and be discovered by Miro Old Ancestor.
From here, he could already see the scene at the peak, with Miro Old Ancestor sitting in the center, surrounded by five disciples, including Qi Mozi and Mu Yan.
Next to Mu Yan was a fat and shiny old mouse, standing on its hind legs and looking at Miro Old Ancestor.
Han Li saw this situation, first stunned, then no longer thinking about it, and concentrated on listening.
He initially had a somewhat casual expression, but after listening for a moment, his face gradually became focused, and finally revealed a look of being intoxicated.
Milo Laizu was not talking about the secrets of the "Great Five Elements Fantasy World Secret" at this moment, but Han Li could hear that every word was closely related to the "Great Five Elements Fantasy World Secret".
The oral formula of the "Great Five Elements Fantasy World Secret" flowed through Han Li's mind, and with Milo Laizu's lecture, it mutually confirmed and deepened his understanding of the technique. The originally unclear places gradually had a feeling of sudden enlightenment.
Time passed bit by bit, and in the blink of an eye, more than half a day had passed.
Milo Laizu's lecture suddenly stopped, and Han Li was suddenly startled, looking up at the peak, but it was Mu Yan who opened his mouth to ask a question.
Seeing this scene, Han Li secretly admired Mu Yan, who had someone to ask for guidance.
He had listened to Milo Laizu's lecture and had a deeper understanding of the "Great Five Elements Fantasy World Secret", but at the same time, he had many doubts about the technique, unfortunately, he had no one to ask.
Milo Laizu casually answered Mu Yan's questions and continued to lecture.
Han Li quickly continued to listen, comprehending the technique.
Milo Laizu lectured for a while, then suddenly stopped again, looking at a place in the void with a look of surprise.
Mu Yan and the others also woke up from their trance-like state, looking in that direction with anger on their faces.
"Who dares to sneak a peek?" Mu Yan suddenly stood up, shouting.
Milo Laizu's lips moved slightly, and a formless force surged out, hitting the void.
The void "boomed" and shattered, and the formless force immediately penetrated into the depths of the void, forming a faintly visible path, extending to unknown places.
A faint, brittle sound came from the depths of the space channel, as if something had shattered.
Han Li saw this scene, and his eyebrows twitched.
Wasn't this the same scene as when he had sneaked a listen to the lecture, and was discovered by Milo Laizu? No wonder he had found the lecture familiar.
Milo Laizu raised his hand again, and a golden light shot out, sweeping past the shattered void.
The shattered void instantly recovered, returning to its original state.
"Sit down, don't be alarmed," he said calmly.
Mu Yan and the others heard his words, and their expressions returned to calm, sitting down.
"Master, who was sneaking a peek? Could it be someone from the Heavenly Court?" Qimozi frowned and asked.
Milo Laizu's face was calm, and he shook his head, not speaking, but his gaze turned, looking at the middle of the mountain.
In the middle of the mountain, Han Li's heart skipped a beat.
Although Milo Laizu had only glanced at him casually, and he was still in a hidden state, using the "Wan Kong Xuan Ji" technique, he knew that Milo Laizu was looking at him.
His hiding and secrets were all useless in front of Milo Laizu.
"Milo Laizu has discovered me, should I escape?" Han Li's heart was shocked, and he instinctively wanted to flee.
But on the mountain peak, Milo Laizu retracted his gaze, no longer paying attention to Han Li, and began to lecture again.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and he was about to flee, but his body stopped.
He didn't understand Milo Laizu's true strength, but judging from the feeling of that one glance, Milo Laizu was far more powerful than Hei Tian Mo Zu. If he wanted to catch him, he wouldn't be able to escape.
Since that was the case, he might as well be more relaxed, and besides, he was cultivating the "Great Five Elements Fantasy World Secret", and was half a true disciple of the Zhenyan Sect. Even if he was caught by Milo Laizu, he shouldn't be harmed.
Thinking this, Han Li's heart calmed down, and he sat down, continuing to listen.
Milo Laizu lectured for another half day, and then announced the end of the lecture.
The Zhenyan Sect disciples below bowed respectfully to the mountain peak, and then left, Mu Yan and the others also did the same, and soon the mountain peak was left with only Milo Laizu.
"Come out," Milo Laizu said calmly after a moment of silence.
Behind Milo Laizu, the void flashed, and Han Li's figure appeared out of thin air.
"I pay my respects to Elder Milo!" he bowed.
Milo Laizu slowly turned around, looking Han Li up and down, a smile on his face, and said, "Not bad, not bad."
"I, a junior, happened to be here, and heard Elder speaking, feeling the profundity, so I hid my tracks and listened, I hope Elder won't blame me," Han Li said, being looked at by Milo Laizu in a way that made him feel inexplicable.
"This is nothing, you have cultivated the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Secret', so you are naturally a disciple of the Zhenyan Sect, listening to me lecture, what's wrong with that?" Milo Laizu asked with a smile.
Han Li wasn't surprised that Milo Laizu had discovered his technique, and Milo Laizu's smile was kind and without hostility, making him feel a sense of relief.
"Was the person who sneaked a peek at my lecture also you? And you, although you are in the present, are not a person of the present, this world actually has a treasure that can traverse time and space, it's simply unbelievable," Milo Laizu said with a sigh. Han Li's heart was shocked, and he couldn't believe that Mi Luo Lao Zu had seen through everything with just one glance.
His mouth twitched slightly, but he didn't say a word.
The Palm of Heaven was his greatest secret, and he naturally wouldn't tell Mi Luo Lao Zu.
"You can rest assured, I won't take your treasure. This treasure is extraordinary, and you should be careful to keep it safe," Mi Luo Lao Zu said with a smile, as if he had seen through Han Li's concerns.
"I dare not," Han Li replied in a low voice.
"What's your name?" Mi Luo Lao Zu asked, his eyes shining with a hint of kindness.
"I'm Han Li," Han Li replied after a moment of hesitation.
"Ah, Han Li... your name is not bad. Are you willing to become my disciple?" Mi Luo Lao Zu asked with a smile.
His words were like a sudden storm, leaving Han Li stunned.
"I've been very strict in accepting disciples, and so far, I've only taken six. However, a wise person once told me that I would have seven disciples in my lifetime, and the last one would inherit my legacy. You are the only one in the world, besides me, who has mastered the 'Great Five Elements Illusion Technique'. It seems that you are the seventh disciple destined to inherit my legacy," Mi Luo Lao Zu said with a nostalgic expression.
Han Li listened, his eyes wide with shock, but he quickly regained his composure, his eyes flashing with a hint of uncertainty.
Mi Luo Lao Zu's words were tempting, but Han Li wasn't willing to bow down immediately.
"Han Li, you don't have to make a decision now. Come with me to the True Word Sect and take a look," Mi Luo Lao Zu said with a gentle smile.
"I will follow your instructions," Han Li replied, nodding his head.
Mi Luo Lao Zu nodded, seemingly satisfied with Han Li's respect, and then waved his hand.
A golden light shot out from his hand, unfolding into a golden pathway that stretched out before them, leading into the depths of the void.
"Come," Mi Luo Lao Zu said to Han Li.
Han Li looked at the golden pathway, his eyes flashing with excitement, and then stepped onto it.
As soon as his feet touched the pathway, a strange temporal law force erupted from beneath his feet, enveloping his body.
The scenery around him began to change rapidly, and he felt himself being pulled into a temporal tunnel.
Han Li's heart was shocked, but the next moment, the changing scenery around him suddenly disappeared.
He found himself standing in a golden space, and his eyes widened in shock.
He looked up at the sky, and his eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
Since he had cultivated the "Heavenly Executioner's Prison Technique" and merged the true spirit bloodline's power within him, he had gained a deeper understanding of the true spirit bloodline.
The Tian Feng bloodline was the first true spirit bloodline he had merged, and he had a deep understanding of its power. He was also more sensitive to spatial forces.
He could feel that the golden space he was in was far away from the previous location, far exceeding the limits of his Thunderbolt Array's transmission. Mi Luo Lao Zu's golden pathway had brought them here in an instant.
What shocked Han Li even more was that he hadn't felt any spatial force fluctuations.
"This is the True Word Sect's 'Ten Directions Great Path' technique, which can also achieve spatial displacement. However, it doesn't use spatial forces, but rather temporal forces," Mi Luo Lao Zu explained.
Han Li's heart was shocked once again.
In the True Immortal Realm, the major cities and sects had all set up spatial restrictions to prevent people from using spatial displacement techniques to sneak in. But if one could master this "Ten Directions Great Path" technique, wouldn't they be able to easily bypass those restrictions?
"Who would have thought that there was such a technique in the temporal laws?" Han Li exclaimed.
"The True Word Sect has been researching temporal laws for countless years, and we have numerous techniques. The 'Ten Directions Great Path' is just one of them. Since you're interested in temporal law techniques, come with me," Mi Luo Lao Zu said with a smile, waving his hand to release a golden light that enveloped Han Li.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and he allowed himself to be carried away by Mi Luo Lao Zu, gazing at the surrounding golden space.
This place seemed to be a secret realm similar to the Tai Sui Immortal Palace, with majestic buildings that towered above, more magnificent than the ones he had seen in the True Word Sect.
Many True Word Sect disciples were cultivating here, as if this was another True Word Sect.
"This is the True Word Mystic Realm, a realm created by the True Word Sect's ancestors. This is the true foundation of the True Word Sect," Mi Luo Lao Zu explained, his voice filled with pride.
"Indeed, it's magnificent," Han Li replied, nodding his head.
As he looked around, his eyes suddenly widened in shock.
He had been so caught up in his conversation with Mi Luo Lao Zu that he hadn't noticed the temporal law fluctuations in the space around him, similar to the ones in the Tai Sui Immortal Palace's Sui Yue Tower.
However, the temporal forces in the Sui Yue Tower were intended to weaken the prisoners, whereas the ones here were different, without any malicious intent. They were accelerating the flow of time in this realm.
The time flow rate around him was about 50% faster than outside, and as Mi Luo Lao Zu moved forward, the time flow rate increased.
Two times, three times, five times, ten times...
As they moved forward, Han Li's expression became increasingly shocked.
Milo Laozu's speed was far beyond Han Li's, and he flew over tens of millions of miles in a short time.
However, the golden space was enormous, and there was no sign of reaching the end.
After flying for an unknown amount of time, Milo Laozu suddenly moved and descended, landing in front of a golden giant peak.
The golden giant peak was majestic and towering, reaching into the clouds and covering half of the sky, like a golden giant beast standing proudly.
The entire peak emitted waves of golden light, and each stone emitted fluctuations of the time law, gathering together to form a boundless and overwhelming flow of law, filling the entire area.
Han Li followed Milo Laozu down and had not even stood firm when he felt an indescribable force of law pressing down on him.
He stumbled backward, taking two steps before stabilizing his body, and looked at the golden giant peak in shock, taking a deep breath.
"These golden stones... are all Xu Mi Xuan Star Stones!"
He had cultivated the time law, and was familiar with various materials containing the power of time law. The golden giant peak before him was entirely composed of a material called Xu Mi Xuan Star Stone.
Xu Mi Xuan Star Stone was a very rare material for the time law, said to be produced in the endless starry sky outside the Nine Heavens. A small piece could be sold for a high price, and the giant peak before him was entirely composed of Xu Mi Xuan Star Stone. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would have found it hard to believe.
"This Xu Mi Golden Mountain is the center of the True Words Mystic Realm, and was brought back by the eleventh generation leader of the True Words Sect, Tian Shi Zhen Ren, from the Nine Heavens outer domain." Milo Laozu slowly opened his mouth.
"The True Words Sect's foundation is indeed deep and unfathomable, worthy of being an existence that can rival the Heavenly Court." Han Li let out a sigh, and once again sincerely praised.
The flow of time here was even faster, reaching hundreds of times that of the outside world.
He did not know how the True Words Sect had achieved this, but if he could also master this technique, wouldn't it be equivalent to having hundreds of times more time to cultivate?
Thinking of this, Han Li's heart was stirred.
"Brother Han, you flatter me too much, follow me." Milo Laozu smiled and stepped forward.
There were not many buildings around the golden giant peak, only a large palace at the foot of the mountain, also made of Xu Mi Xuan Star Stone, shining with golden light, and looking exceptionally majestic. However, there was no sign or plaque at the entrance, and he did not know what was inside.
The palace gates were closed, with a "卍" symbol on either side.
Milo Laozu came to the palace gates, and a layer of golden light appeared on his thick palm. He pressed it against the "卍" symbols.
The palace gates suddenly burst forth with a surge of golden light, and four golden divine shadows emerged from the light.
The first divine shadow was a tall and sturdy man in golden armor, with a square face, holding a giant axe in one hand and a giant shield in the other. He looked full of endless majesty.
The second divine shadow had a golden beak on its mouth, with eight golden wings on its back, and a golden crystal crown on its head. It was peculiar that it had three feet, like a tripod.
The third divine shadow was a small girl with two short wings on her back, and a shining light halo on her head. She was chubby and looked adorable.
The little girl held a small golden bow and arrow in her hand, with a heart-shaped arrowhead. It looked like a child's toy.
The fourth divine shadow was a beautiful woman with six arms, each holding a different musical instrument, including a guqin, a bell, a sheng, a pipa, a bell, and a drum. With a slight movement, she produced a beautiful and pleasant sound.
As soon as the four divine shadows appeared, they looked at Milo Laozu, their faces filled with vigilance and a killing intent.
Milo Laozu muttered to himself, and countless golden symbols flew out of his mouth, merging into the four divine shadows.
The four divine shadows' eyes slowly lost their hostility, and they flew to either side, standing on either side of the palace gates. The gates slowly creaked open.
"Let's go." Milo Laozu made a gesture to Han Li, and stepped forward into the palace.
Han Li did not hesitate, and followed behind.
The first thing he saw inside the palace was a vast hall, hundreds of feet in size. The floor in the center of the hall was engraved with dense, intricate golden patterns, including images of the sun, moon, and stars, forming a complex and grand array.
Bright golden light and golden symbols burst forth from the array, and it was peculiar that all the light and symbols were confined within the array, without spreading out, only swirling and flashing within the array.
Next to the grand golden array stood two stone pillars, one white and one gold.
The golden stone pillar was also made of Xu Mi Xuan Star Stone, and was connected to the ground without any gaps. It was engraved with flame-like golden patterns. On the white stone pillar were also inscribed patterns, but they were silver in color. At the top of the pillar was a black hole, and faintly visible black light flickered within.
A stream of immortal stones flew out of the hole, forming a torrent of immortal stones that poured into the golden array, instantly dissolving into pure immortal spirit energy that merged into the array.
At the same time, a golden pillar emitted waves of flame-like golden light, each containing the dense power of the time laws. These also merged into the golden array.
Under the stimulation of the vast immortal spirit energy and the power of time, the grand golden array began to operate, emitting golden orbs the size of human heads that flew out of the array, containing countless golden talismans that emitted intense time law fluctuations, flying towards the high places.
Above the golden array, a golden disk floated, inscribed with patterns, and at its center was a thumb-sized protrusion with a golden pointer inserted.
The golden orbs merged into the disk, and the golden pointer spun rapidly.
Waves of golden light emanated from the disk, merging into the surrounding void.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he beheld the scene.
He was surprised for two reasons: first, he discovered that the source of the accelerated time flow within the True Speech Mystic Realm was the grand golden array before him.
More accurately, it was the golden disk above the array.
Han Li's second reason for surprise was that the golden disk was the same one he had obtained from the True Speech Sect's ancient ruins.
"Han, you must have noticed that the time flow within the True Speech Mystic Realm is different from the outside world. The source of this is the golden disk, which possesses the divine power to change the time flow. One day outside is equivalent to a month or even a year within the realm. It is because of this disk that our True Speech Sect has become so powerful," said Mi Luo Old Ancestor, his eyes shining with bright light.
Han Li glanced at Mi Luo Old Ancestor, his heart filled with admiration.
With this time difference, one's cultivation speed would be dozens or even hundreds of times faster than others. It was no wonder that the True Speech Sect had become so powerful.
"This golden disk is indeed extraordinary, but it seems that activating it requires the consumption of vast amounts of immortal stones and time laws. And this array looks very unusual," Han Li said, his gaze falling on the golden and white stone pillars beside the array.
Mi Luo Old Ancestor smiled. "This array is called the Light-Time Heavenly Array, one of the ten ancient arrays. Only this array can activate the golden disk. As for the consumption, immortal stones are not a problem, but the time laws are the real challenge. Fortunately, our sect has the Mustard Seed Golden Mountain, which contains almost infinite time laws, allowing us to sustain the activation of the golden disk."
Han Li's heart sank as he listened.
Creating such a time difference space required such a massive consumption of resources, even the True Speech Sect's power was stretched to its limits. As for him, it was even more hopeless.
Even if the golden disk were in his possession, it would be a distant hope.
"The consumption of activating the golden disk varies from person to person. The True Speech Mystic Realm is too vast, and changing the time flow for the entire realm is a massive undertaking. However, if one only wants to change the time flow for a small space, the consumption would be much smaller," Mi Luo Old Ancestor said, his eyes glinting with a hint of meaning.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he heard this.
Mi Luo Old Ancestor's words seemed to carry a hidden meaning, as if he had discovered that the golden disk would eventually fall into Han Li's hands.
"The golden disk is just the beginning. Let's go, I'll take you to the deeper part of the hall," Mi Luo Old Ancestor said, walking towards the depths of the hall.
Han Li followed, his brow furrowed in thought.
As they passed through the hall, they came to a long corridor, and ahead of them, two paths diverged.
The right path emitted dazzling light, and powerful law fluctuations emanated from it, as if it contained powerful immortal artifacts, including time artifacts.
The left path was much quieter, with no unusual phenomena.
"The right path is our True Speech Sect's treasure hall, where many immortal artifacts are stored. Let's go to the left path, which leads to the cultivation hall, where our sect's cultivation methods and divine techniques are stored," Mi Luo Old Ancestor explained, leading Han Li towards the left path.
They soon arrived at another golden hall, several hundred feet long and shaped like a rectangle, with a height of only a few dozen feet.
The walls of the hall were lined with empty grid cells, each containing a book or a jade slip, covered by a golden light screen.
Each grid cell had a metal plaque beside it, inscribed with golden characters that marked the contents of the book or jade slip.
"The Day and Night Qiankun Cultivation Method", "The Four Seasons Mystic Light Spectra", "The Wujing Tianyin Divine Technique", "The True Speech Great Hand Seal", "The Extinguishing Time Divine Light"...
Han Li's eyes lit up as he disregarded the intricate cultivation methods and focused on the time law divine abilities.
"This 'True Word Great Hand Seal' is a demonic subjugation divine ability of the True Word Sect, cultivated with the power of time laws to create a great hand seal that contains nine layers of light circles. It can store different types of time law powers within the light circles, and the more it stores, the greater its power. When used against an enemy, the True Word Great Hand Seal can unleash nine strands of time law power simultaneously, leaving no defense unbroken."
"This 'Extinction Time Divine Light' is also an attacking divine ability that condenses time law power into a demonic subjugation divine light, with enough power to pierce through the void."
"This 'Heavenly Lock Earth' is a restrictive divine ability that can imprison all things in the world when cultivated to the extreme."
The inscriptions on the stone tablets next to the formations only had the names of these divine abilities, without any detailed explanations. Miro Old Ancestor then explained the effects of these divine abilities to Han Li.
The more Han Li listened, the more he became excited and shocked. The time divine abilities here were extremely profound, containing various secrets of the heavens and the earth, exceeding his imagination.
Moreover, there were countless time law divine abilities here, with over a hundred varieties.
Han Li even saw the "Reversal True Wheel" and "True Word Heaven and Earth" divine abilities he had cultivated before.
"I see that young friend Han has already learned the 'Reversal True Wheel' and 'True Word Heaven and Earth' divine abilities, but only reached the initial or middle stages, and didn't cultivate them deeply. What a pity. These two divine abilities have great potential, and you didn't manage to tap into them." Miro Old Ancestor looked Han Li up and down, suddenly saying.
"Oh, please, Miro Old Ancestor, point out my mistakes." Han Li asked hastily.
"The 'Reversal True Wheel' divine ability has a single effect, and its cultivation depends on how much one can accelerate themselves. You, young friend Han, probably accelerated yourself by ten or twenty times, right? If one cultivates the 'Reversal True Wheel' to a high level, they can accelerate themselves by hundreds or even thousands of times." Miro Old Ancestor smiled faintly.
"Hundreds of times! Thousands of times!" Han Li gasped.
"The 'Reversal True Wheel' divine ability has a single effect, but its power is immense, and it's considered the strongest auxiliary divine ability of the True Word Sect. However, this technique puts a great burden on the physical body, and one must strengthen their physical body to cultivate it. I see that your physical body is already extremely strong, but the 'Reversal True Wheel' is only cultivated to such a shallow level, what a pity." Miro Old Ancestor looked at Han Li with a puzzled expression.
Han Li's heart pounded with excitement and self-reproach.
He had cultivated the "Reversal True Wheel" to accelerate himself by ten or twenty times, thinking it was enough, and didn't research it further. After obtaining the "Great Five Elements Fantastical World Secret" cultivation method, he focused on cultivating it, and didn't think about other time divine abilities, let alone the "Reversal True Wheel".
"As for the 'True Word Heaven and Earth' divine ability, it's a divine ability that manipulates the heavens and the earth, and its power is immense. I used it earlier to demonstrate its power. This divine ability requires a strong divine sense, and the stronger the divine sense, the greater its power. Your divine sense is extremely strong, surpassing others of the same level, and comparable to a Mahayana existence. With such a strong foundation, your 'True Word Heaven and Earth' divine ability is still in the realm of illusions, what a waste." Miro Old Ancestor shook his head.
"If it can be cultivated to a high level, it's still quite useful, right?" Han Li had spent a lot of effort on the "True Word Heaven and Earth" divine ability, and felt a bit displeased.
"The 'True Word Heaven and Earth' divine ability is not an illusion divine ability, and it can only deceive ordinary people. If it encounters someone who has studied illusion laws, it's useless, and can be broken with a single move. Don't continue to waste your efforts in the wrong direction." Miro Old Ancestor said, with a hint of reprimand.
Han Li didn't get angry, as Miro Old Ancestor was genuinely pointing out his mistakes. He nodded in response and continued to walk forward, observing other time divine abilities.
He now understood the potential and power of the "Reversal True Wheel" and "True Word Heaven and Earth" divine abilities, and they were both suitable for him.
However, he hadn't cultivated these divine abilities deeply, and his enthusiasm had cooled down significantly.
Han Li suddenly stopped in his tracks, looking at a divine ability - the "Immortal Golden Cloud" he had recently obtained.
"This divine ability is the first defensive divine ability of the True Word Sect, and once cultivated, it can repel all evil. However, the cultivation conditions for this divine ability are extremely harsh, and you shouldn't try to cultivate it lightly, even though you have obtained the cultivation method." Miro Old Ancestor spoke up.
"You knew all along..." Han Li was shocked.
"Of course, as soon as you entered the True Word Sect, I knew. If I didn't have this ability, how could I control the True Word Sect?" Miro Old Ancestor said calmly.
Han Li's face turned red, realizing that he had been under Miro Old Ancestor's observation all along, and he had thought he wouldn't be discovered. He was indeed arrogant.
He thought back to his previous actions, and realized that he had been too reckless and arrogant. He had planned to go to the Ninth Heaven Observing Platform alone, without considering that he was being hunted by the Heavenly Court and the Ninth Heaven Observing Platform. If not for the Bottle Spirit's timely intervention, he would have fallen into their hands and met a terrible end.
His cultivation progress had been rapid, and his time law abilities had improved greatly, but his mental state had not kept up. He had made such an unwise decision, and it was fortunate that he had been saved. Han Li let out a gentle sigh, as if expelling all his pride and arrogance, and his heart felt like it had been splashed with cold water, restoring its calmness.
He continued walking forward, examining the various divine abilities, and soon arrived at the deepest part of the hall.
The last grid, however, was empty, but the inscription on the plaque beside it read "Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique". There was no scripture for the Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique.
Not only that, but the "True Word Transformation Wheel Scripture", "Cutting Time Flowing Fire Collection", and other five branch cultivation methods were also nowhere to be seen.
"The Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique is the True Word Sect's treasure, passed down through oral tradition, not written down." said Miro Old Ancestor.
"Ah, I see." Han Li responded with a raised eyebrow, nodding his head.
But he was puzzled, because in the later generations, the "True Word Transformation Wheel Scripture", "Fantasy Chen Treasure Classic", and "Water Deployment Four Seasons Technique" were all written down as scriptures, and were widely circulated.
However, after the True Word Sect was destroyed by the Heavenly Court, it was possible that the sect's scriptures were scattered, leading to this.
"We've finished looking at the cultivation methods and divine abilities, Han young friend, let's go to the treasure hall and take a look." said Miro Old Ancestor with a smile.
"I'm willing to follow your lead." Han Li replied, nodding his head.
The two of them turned around and arrived at the treasure hall beside them.
The layout of the treasure hall was similar to that of the scripture hall, with grids carved out of the walls, containing various magical artifacts. There was a set of hundreds of golden flying swords, a golden copper mirror radiating precious light, a five-colored gourd, and a white silk net as soft as clouds.
However, unlike the scripture hall, each magical artifact in the treasure hall had a nurturing formation array set up beside it.
The quality of these magical artifacts was extremely high, with the worst being a six-grade magical artifact, and the best being comparable to Han Li's white fire bead. Two of them were even time magical artifacts.
But Han Li had just experienced a moment of introspection, and his heart had become completely calm, so he was not moved by these magical artifacts. He took a rough glance and then walked out.
"Han young friend, my True Word Sect has other extraordinary places, would you like to take a look?" Miro Old Ancestor invited him again.
"No need, I've already understood the True Word Sect's strength, which is indeed extremely powerful. However, I'm used to traveling alone, and I won't be able to stay here for long, so I'll pass on the matter of becoming a disciple." Han Li shook his head, and after a moment of silence, he bowed and said.
The golden circular wheel's time pattern now only had a small half remaining, and he could only stay here for two more days. Even if he became a disciple of the True Word Sect, Miro Old Ancestor would not have much time to guide him.
Moreover, the True Word Sect and the Heavenly Court had a deep-seated grudge, which could not be resolved unless one side was completely destroyed.
Although the True Word Sect was powerful, it was still far inferior to the Heavenly Court.
If he became a disciple now, he would gain some benefits, but he would also be completely entangled in the True Word Sect and the Heavenly Court's unending feud, which would be more harm than good.
Miro Old Ancestor listened to Han Li's words with a calm expression, without showing any anger or surprise, as if he had already expected Han Li to respond in this way.
"It seems that Han young friend is indeed a very calm person, and was not dazzled by the cultivation methods, divine abilities, and magical artifacts. Very good." Miro Old Ancestor said with a smile, without showing any anger towards Han Li's refusal.
Han Li saw this and raised an eyebrow.
"Han young friend does not want to get involved in the struggle between my True Word Sect and the Heavenly Court, but you do not understand the Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique well enough. As long as you cultivate the Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique, whether or not you join the True Word Sect, you will not be able to escape the Heavenly Court's relentless pursuit. Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, you already have some grudges with the Heavenly Court, and are even being pursued by them, right?" Miro Old Ancestor said calmly.
"How did you know?" Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and he asked back.
"I can sense that you have the aura of the Refining God Technique and the Wheel of Reincarnation mask on you, and that mask is not an ordinary member, but rather a Wheel of Reincarnation son. Furthermore, you cultivate the time law, which is what the Heavenly Court fears the most. Your relationship with the Heavenly Court is already clear." Miro Old Ancestor said with a shallow smile.
"Senior's eyes are indeed piercing." Han Li was silent for a moment, then nodded his head.
"So, whether or not you join my True Word Sect, it will not affect the Heavenly Court's attitude towards you. In fact, the Heavenly Court has already determined that you are a disciple of the True Word Sect." Miro Old Ancestor said again.
Han Li did not speak, but his face sank.
Han Li, it would be better for you to join the True Speech Sect. Your "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" is not bad, but it has many drawbacks. Right now, the five strands of time law within you are still weak, so you don't feel much. But when these time laws become stronger, various problems will arise, and you will be torn apart by the chaotic time laws, exploding and dying.
Miro Old Ancestor looked Han Li up and down, then spoke again in a calm tone.
Han Li's face changed several times, quickly becoming extremely serious.
Actually, after hearing Miro Old Ancestor's words, he had gained a deeper understanding of the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" and had already vaguely felt that the five strands of time law within him were not quite right.
Specifically, where was the problem, he still couldn't confirm, but Miro Old Ancestor's words were definitely true.
"Miro Senior's words are reasonable, so I will join the True Speech Sect." Han Li was silent for a moment, then raised his head and said, before preparing to give Miro Old Ancestor a bow.
"You and I are friends from different eras, so there's no need for these empty formalities." Miro Old Ancestor was overjoyed to see Han Li agree to join the True Speech Sect, and he reached out with a strand of invisible energy to hold Han Li's body, not allowing him to bow.
Han Li saw this scene and revealed a surprised expression.
"I may have taken you, Han Xiao You, as a disciple, but your abilities are not ordinary, and you will likely soon break through to the Great Luo Realm. You and I are nominally master and disciple, but we can treat each other as friends." Miro Old Ancestor smiled again.
Han Li heard these words and was truly surprised.
In the True Immortal Realm, the relationships between masters and disciples of various sects were all very strict, and the True Speech Sect was an ancient sect with strict rules and customs, especially emphasizing respect for one's elders. What did Miro Old Ancestor mean by this?
Although he couldn't understand, Miro Old Ancestor not allowing him to bow was exactly what he wanted.
Han Li had been used to traveling alone for many years, and if he had to kowtow to someone, even if it was his master, he would feel a bit awkward.
"I dare not, since I have taken you, Senior, as my master, I must naturally receive the master-disciple etiquette." He said respectfully.
Miro Old Ancestor also didn't insist on this matter, and instead pulled Han Li to sit down.
"Han Li, since you come from the future, what is the situation with the True Speech Sect in your time?" Miro Old Ancestor asked seriously.
"In my time, the True Speech Sect was long ago destroyed by the Heavenly Court. According to my investigations, it was the Heavenly Court's Time Ancestor who personally took action." Han Li hesitated for a moment, then said.
"Is that so..." Miro Old Ancestor heard these words, and his expression didn't change, as if he had already expected this.
"There's another matter, Master. Qi Mozi is not reliable, and he had already betrayed the sect and joined the Heavenly Court. And the destruction of the True Speech Sect is likely related to him, so please be cautious." Han Li hesitated again, then said.
"If it's heaven's will, there's no need to try to change it, or else who knows what will happen?" Miro Old Ancestor listened to these words, and his expression remained unchanged, before speaking calmly.
Han Li heard these words and was about to open his mouth to say something.
"Who can guarantee that stopping him will definitely prevent the destruction of the True Speech Sect, and that the situation will be better? Alright, don't worry about the True Speech Sect's affairs, you said you don't have much time to stay here, so quickly use the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" and let me take a look at the problems within." Miro Old Ancestor raised his hand to interrupt Han Li's words, then said.
Han Li didn't say anything else, and instead began to use the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique".
The True Speech Treasure Wheel, the Time-Cutting Fire Torch, the Time-Purifying Vase, the Phantom Hourglass, and the East Yi Divine Tree all appeared, surrounding his body and slowly rotating.
This time, he was seeking Miro Old Ancestor's guidance, so he used the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" with all his might. The True Speech Treasure Wheel and the other objects not only had the time law lines shining brightly, but also had time law crystals appearing.
The fifty time law crystals that had been consumed by his previous time-traveling were mostly from the Time-Cutting Fire Torch, and now there were only over a hundred time law crystals left on the Time-Cutting Fire Torch.
The True Speech Treasure Wheel had thirty or so time law crystals wrapped around it, and the Phantom Hourglass, the Time-Purifying Vase, and the East Yi Divine Tree all had very few time law crystals, only a few roots.
Miro Old Ancestor looked at the True Speech Treasure Wheel and the other objects, nodded, and then shook his head.
Han Li saw Miro Old Ancestor's expression change, and he told him about the problems he had encountered during his usual cultivation, as well as his previous failure to break through to the Great Luo Realm. Then he cupped his hands and said, "Please, Master, point out the way."
"Time laws are one of the three supreme laws, surpassing the other three thousand great paths, and everything in the world cannot exist independently of them. The Five Elements are the foundation of all things in the world, and the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" is actually using the most ordinary Five Elements principles to explain the supreme time laws, which is the simplest and most fundamental principle." Miro Old Ancestor fell silent for a moment, then spoke slowly. Han Li listened attentively, his eyes fixed on the old man.
"Water nourishes from below, fire blazes from above, metal is sharp, wood transforms, earth is thick, these five elements are not limited to the five elements law, they are also reflected in other laws, including the time law. The five elements cycle, generating and restraining each other, repeating endlessly, yet never dying. The 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique' is precisely the pursuit of this great principle, regardless of the passage of time, I will continue to cycle and repeat, standing firm in the river of time, forever unchanging." Mi Luo Old Ancestor continued.
Han Li's heart felt as if a lamp had been lit, and he felt a sense of awakening from a dream.
He had always been puzzled by the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique', which was clearly a time cultivation technique, yet it produced five divine abilities with obvious five elements characteristics, namely the True Word Treasure Wheel, the Time Purification Bottle, the Illusion Hourglass, the Dong Yi Divine Tree, and the Fire Age Sprout. It turned out that the technique was using the five elements principle to explain the time principle.
"Therefore, the most important thing in cultivating the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique' is balance, the five elements generate and restrain each other, if you can't grasp the balance, you will be harmed instead. Your current cultivation is uneven, the time law crystal threads on the Fire Age Sprout are numerous, but the Time Purification Bottle, the Illusion Hourglass, and the Dong Yi Divine Tree have very few. With such an imbalance, how can you successfully break through to the Great Luo Realm?" Mi Luo Old Ancestor said.
"Ah, I see. However, it's not easy to increase the time law crystal threads on the Time Purification Bottle, the Illusion Hourglass, and the Dong Yi Divine Tree. Treasures that contain time law power are hard to find, and it's even harder to find ones that are similar to the Time Purification Bottle, the Illusion Hourglass, and the Dong Yi Divine Tree. May I ask, Master, do you know of any other ways to increase the time law crystal threads?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
"The 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique' can refine the time law power within external objects, condensing it into time law crystal threads, this is a remarkable divine ability. Other time cultivation techniques can only be slowly comprehended, and the time law crystal threads can only be increased by advancing one's cultivation realm. You have already surpassed others by a huge margin, yet you are still not satisfied." Mi Luo Old Ancestor glared at Han Li, scolding him.
"Yes, disciple understands. However, in my original time and space, the Heavenly Court is pursuing me relentlessly, and I need to rapidly increase my strength. The True Word Sect has a deep foundation, and even the Sumeru Golden Mountain is a treasure that can communicate with the heavens. Master, can you grant me a few treasures that contain time law power, so that I can refine them and increase my strength?" Han Li asked, smiling.
"You little scamp, you're actually thinking of taking advantage of me. I do have some materials, but there may be some restrictions on crossing through time and space, you may not be able to bring them back to your original time and space." Mi Luo Old Ancestor said slowly.
Han Li was taken aback, he hadn't thought of this problem.
"However, it's worth a try." Mi Luo Old Ancestor said, after a moment of contemplation, and then waved his hand.
Three objects appeared beside him, a piece of ancient wood with a pale blue color, a broken water-blue long spear, and a yellowish-brown circular stone.
All three objects emitted strong time law fluctuations, which were no weaker than the Fire Age Sprout's crystal threads.
"Thank you, Master, for granting me these treasures." Han Li's mind was still reeling from Mi Luo Old Ancestor's words, but he was still delighted to see the three treasures, and he quickly stored them away.
"The path of cultivation requires patience, you must proceed step by step, and not rush forward recklessly. Your body's time law power is very turbulent, this is precisely because you have been cultivating too quickly. In the future, you must spend more time in quiet contemplation, to make up for this deficiency." Mi Luo Old Ancestor said.
"Yes." Han Li replied solemnly.
"Disciple has another question, regarding the cultivation of the spiritual realm. I have already cultivated the spiritual realm for many years, but I am still at the initial level, and have not been able to enter the creation realm and the transformation realm. What is the reason for this?" He shook his head, and asked again.
"Time law is the supreme law, its power is overwhelming, crushing all other laws beneath it. However, the heavens are balanced, and advancing in the time law realm is more difficult than other laws. The spiritual realm cultivation is the same. This problem can only be solved by you yourself, you must continue to comprehend the time law, and I have no other methods to help you." Mi Luo Old Ancestor shook his head.
Han Li nodded slowly, and then continued to ask questions, some regarding the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique', some regarding magical artifacts, and others regarding various aspects of cultivation.
Mi Luo Old Ancestor's cultivation was profound and unfathomable, his insights into the laws, divine abilities, magical artifacts, and other aspects were equally profound and unfathomable. No matter what questions Han Li had, Mi Luo Old Ancestor was able to provide answers, pointing out the key points of cultivation, and giving Han Li a sense of clarity.
Before long, the golden wheel's time law pattern had almost disappeared.
Although only a short period of time had passed, Han Li's understanding of the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique', the time law, and the entire cultivation system had already surpassed his previous level.
Han Li and Mi Luo Old Ancestor were still seated in the grand hall, facing each other.
Han Li no longer asked any questions, and Mi Luo Old Ancestor also remained silent, as if he knew that Han Li was about to leave.
"Thank you, Master, for your patience and guidance, disciple has benefited greatly." Han Li bowed respectfully.
"You have become my disciple, so I naturally must guide you in your cultivation. Unfortunately, time is limited, and I am also regretful. However, since you have the ability to traverse time and space, you should have the opportunity to return in the future, and I still have many things to teach you about the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique'." Mi Luo Old Ancestor sighed, and said.
(Note: I'll be writing a short story called "Refining the Sword" during my leisure time, and it will be uploaded in October.)
Han Li heard this and couldn't help but smile wryly. "Is that so?" Mi Luo Old Ancestor's eyebrows moved slightly as he flipped his hand and took out a golden jade book, handing it to Han Li. "This is my experience and understanding of the Time Law, take it with you."
Han Li's heart was filled with joy as he accepted the jade book and put it away. "Thank you, Master."
Mi Luo Old Ancestor's expression turned solemn as he said, "As for the things you saw earlier, if you can bring them back, that's good, but if you can't, remember to go to a place called Yan Luo's Manor after you return to your own time."
Han Li was taken aback, "Yan Luo's Manor? What is that place? What do I do there?"
Mi Luo Old Ancestor smiled slightly and didn't explain. Han Li's brow furrowed, his master's words and actions were always mysterious and hard to understand.
Han Li didn't think too much about it and asked again, "Master, I have one more thing to ask, can you give me a copy of the 'Light and Shadow Heaven's Array' chart?"
Mi Luo Old Ancestor nodded and handed Han Li a jade slip. Han Li's eyes flashed as he took the slip and his divine sense entered it, quickly memorizing the contents.
As Mi Luo Old Ancestor said, the array chart wasn't complicated, and Han Li soon memorized it.
Just as Han Li finished memorizing the array chart, the last thread of time law on the golden ring above his head flashed and disappeared.
The golden ring suddenly expanded several times, and a dark, swirling vortex appeared above Han Li's head.
A massive force burst out from the vortex, enveloping Han Li's body and pulling him in.
"Han Li, the 'Great Five Elements Fantasy Technique' is a heaven-shaking and earth-shaking technique, after cultivating it, you can change the heavens and the earth, the Time Law Ancestor has always tried to get his hands on it, and other law ancestors also covet it, you must be careful..." Mi Luo Old Ancestor stood up and said.
Han Li's body was enveloped by the dark vortex, and he couldn't move or hear Mi Luo Old Ancestor's words. His consciousness faded to black.
...
After a dizzying spin, Han Li's vision cleared, and he saw a bright white light. His body, which had felt weightless, regained control, and his feet touched the ground.
The Palm Heaven Bottle also appeared and floated into his arms.
After standing still for a moment, Han Li looked around and saw that his vision was still a bit blurry. He sat down, closed his eyes, and took a few deep breaths before opening them again.
This time, Han Li's divine sense stabilized, and he saw his surroundings clearly.
Han Li found himself sitting on a cliff overlooking a vast expanse of blue sky and white clouds.
At this moment, he looked at his right hand and saw that he was still holding the jade slip that Mi Luo Old Ancestor had given him. However, the slip was being enveloped by a strange power and was rapidly fading away.
Han Li's face changed, and he seemed to remember something. He quickly took out the three materials that Mi Luo Old Ancestor had given him, the golden jade book, and the golden box he had taken from the Cang Gong Pavilion.
These items were also fading away, and after a few breaths, they disappeared without leaving any trace.
Han Li saw this and didn't seem surprised. "It seems Master was right, these things can't be brought back."
He thought that his gains from this trip were already enough, and the disappearance of these items didn't matter.
However, Mi Luo Old Ancestor had told him to go to Yan Luo's Manor, a place he had never heard of. He could only investigate later and see what Mi Luo Old Ancestor was up to.
Han Li didn't think about it anymore and continued to look around.
"Good kid, after such a long time of physical time-travel, you're the first to return without the Palm Heaven Bottle as a coordinate, and you only had a brief moment of instability before recovering," the bottle spirit's voice suddenly said.
"Bottle spirit, thank you for your help this time," Han Li said, taking out the Palm Heaven Bottle and responding.
"Enough with the formalities, I'm going to rest for a while and recover. You kid, take care of yourself and don't die," the bottle spirit said, blinking its eyes impatiently.
"Do you know where we are now?" Han Li asked.
"I don't know, but it's not the mortal world," the bottle spirit replied. The atmosphere around you should have already been explored, the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy and the Immortal Realm are quite different, I suppose it's likely to be in the Barbaric Realm, specifically where... this ghost knows. The Barbaric Realm is vast, even the known Three Thousand Immortal Realms may not be comparable, and the number of True Spirits and Demonic Beasts living there is countless, so I remind you to be careful..."
The voice of the bottle spirit grew fainter and fainter until it completely disappeared.
As its voice faded away, the two bean-sized eyes on the bottle also disappeared.
Han Li sighed helplessly, and put the bottle back into his chest. He stood up and walked to the edge of the cliff, gazing out at the vast expanse below. As far as the eye could see, there was only endless yellow sand, with occasional mountain ranges rising and falling, and patches of red-brown gobi desert visible, but very little green vegetation.
"Never mind, let's find a safe place to settle down and cultivate for a while," Han Li thought to himself.
He flew off into the distance, his body transformed into a streak of blue light as he sped towards the heart of the desert.
...
After flying for over a month, the endless sand finally gave way to a lush green oasis.
Han Li had encountered many sand beasts along the way, but hadn't stopped to rest until he reached the edge of the oasis, where he planned to take a short break before continuing on his journey.
However, just as he was about to sit down and meditate, he suddenly furrowed his brow and gazed out at the other side of the mountain, where a fierce battle was unfolding.
Han Li hesitated for a moment before suppressing his own spiritual energy and hiding his presence, then flew off towards the battle.
As he drew closer, he heard the sound of wild beasts roaring and the clash of spiritual energy. When he crested a small hill, he saw a chaotic scene unfolding below.
Two tribes of barbarians were locked in fierce combat, their numbers in the tens of thousands.
One tribe was made up of people with human bodies and rhinoceros heads, their skin as black as ink, with silver horns on their noses and metallic sheens on their skin. They wielded massive stone axes and fought with a ferocity that seemed almost bestial.
The other tribe was smaller, but more agile, with tiger-like bodies and cloud-like markings on their skin. They had no weapons, but their claws were sharp and deadly.
The two tribes clashed in a frenzy of blood and steel, their battle raging across the plain.
Han Li watched from a distance, his eyes scanning the battlefield. In the center of the chaos, he saw a giant rhinoceros-like creature, over ten meters tall, locked in combat with a cloud-marked tiger.
The two creatures were clearly the leaders of their respective tribes, and their battle was a clash of spiritual energy and martial prowess.
Just as Han Li was observing the battle, the cloud-marked tiger suddenly sniffed the air, its eyes narrowing as it caught Han Li's scent.
The rhinoceros-like creature also stopped fighting, its eyes fixed on Han Li.
"It seems we have a human," the tiger growled, its voice low and menacing.
The rhinoceros-like creature also turned its attention to Han Li, its eyes flashing with anger.
"I'm just passing by," Han Li said, trying to defuse the situation.
But the two tribes didn't care. With a fierce cry, they charged towards Han Li, their warriors abandoning their battle to attack the lone human.
Han Li sighed, knowing he had stumbled into trouble. He flew up into the air, planning to leave, but then thought better of it. He decided to ask the tribes about their location, hoping to gain some information.
With a swift motion, Han Li flew down towards the two tribe leaders, his body glowing with spiritual energy.
The rhinoceros-like creature swung its massive axe, unleashing a wave of bloody energy that threatened to engulf Han Li. The cloud-marked tiger, meanwhile, unleashed a burst of speed, its paws barely touching the ground as it chased after Han Li.
The two creatures worked together seamlessly, their attack covering all angles. Han Li's eyes narrowed as he realized he was in a tight spot.
The rhinoceros-like creature's axe seemed to fill the entire sky, its energy waves crashing down on Han Li like a tidal wave. The cloud-marked tiger, meanwhile, was hot on his heels, its claws snapping wildly as it tried to catch up.
Han Li's pupils constricted as he realized he was in grave danger.
In the face of the blood-red blades that filled the sky, Han Li not only didn't retreat, but instead, the green light on his body surged, accelerating his forward charge, directly crashing into the blades.
However, the chaotic blades didn't cut him to pieces as everyone had imagined. Han Li relied on his physical body to directly shatter all the blades, taking a step forward to trample the silver-horned giant rhino below.
The giant rhino's heart was initially shocked, somewhat surprised by the strength of this human's physique. However, upon sensing that his aura wasn't particularly strong, it didn't feel threatened, and instead, raised its axe to meet Han Li again.
Han Li stepped on the giant axe's blade, and the star power within him suddenly erupted, causing the ground to emit a loud rumble.
With a crisp sound, the giant axe's blade split open, shattering into countless spider web-like cracks.
The silver-horned giant rhino, which was holding the axe, felt a numbness spread throughout its body, causing its legs to bend, and it knelt down under the pressure.
Han Li took advantage of the momentum, his body flashing as he dodged the cloud-patterned tiger's sneak attack, brushing past it, and grasping the back of its neck. With a gentle squeeze, a surge of power entered its body, rendering it unable to resist.
He held the cloud-patterned tiger, which had gone limp, and stepped down again, his foot landing on the silver-horned giant rhino's shoulder, forcing it to kneel down once more.
This entire scene seemed to unfold slowly, but in reality, it happened in the blink of an eye, during Han Li's brief ascent and descent. Even the majority of the two tribes' people didn't have time to see what was happening, only to find that their leaders had been subdued.
The two tribes' people, who had rushed towards the mountain ridge, returned, surrounding Han Li, and shouted for him to release their leaders.
Han Li ignored them, holding the cloud-patterned tiger with one hand, and asking:
"What tribes are you from? Why are you fighting here?"
The cloud-patterned tiger, which was powerless, looked up at Han Li with a gaze filled with hatred and anger, but didn't respond.
"I think you should know what the soul-searching technique is. Don't force me to use it, the feeling is unbearable." Han Li's face turned cold, his voice icy.
Upon hearing this, the cloud-patterned tiger's body trembled slightly, but still didn't speak.
"Not seeing the coffin, not shedding tears..."
Han Li sneered, raising a finger to poke the tiger's forehead, and a crystal thread emerged, writhing like a snake, extending towards the tiger's brow.
"We are the Cloud-Patterned Tiger Tribe, and they are the Silver-Horned Rhino Tribe. We're fighting because of an ancient feud between our tribes." It wasn't the cloud-patterned tiger that spoke, but the silver-horned giant rhino, which was being pressed down by Han Li.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this, and he thought to himself that there seemed to be more to the story.
"You're speaking up for your sworn enemy, it's clear you don't want me to use the soul-searching technique on him. This can only mean one thing: you're trying to hide something from me..." Han Li looked at the silver-horned giant rhino, his voice cold.
The rhino's heart was filled with fear and regret, and it could only silently curse its own misfortune.
Humans are indeed cunning and deceitful!
Han Li didn't hesitate, pointing his finger at the cloud-patterned tiger's brow.
A crystal light emerged from his fingertip, and a crystal thread shot into the tiger's head.
"Roar..."
The silver-horned giant rhino let out a loud roar, and the two tribes' people, who had been fighting, suddenly stopped, and like a tidal wave, they charged towards Han Li, disregarding their leaders' safety.
Han Li's mind stirred, and a green light burst forth from his body, as thirty-six green bamboo swords shot out, transforming into thirty-six golden lightning pillars, encircling him within a radius of several hundred feet.
The golden lightning pillars emitted a dazzling light, and massive golden lightning balls burst forth, jumping between the swords, creating a deafening crackling sound.
These barbaric creatures were already afraid of heavenly lightning and earthly fire, and Han Li's golden lightning wall blocked their path, causing them to hesitate and not dare to advance.
Han Li took advantage of this opportunity to quickly search the cloud-patterned tiger's soul.
A moment later, his eyes flashed, and he slowly withdrew his finger, his expression becoming somewhat strange.
From the cloud-patterned tiger's memories, Han Li learned the true reason behind the two tribes' conflict.
The silver-horned giant rhino hadn't lied; the two tribes indeed had an ancient feud, having fought for millions of years in this barbaric region. However, the direct cause of their current outbreak of conflict was not this.
Thirty years ago, the True Spirit King, who had always been revered as the common master of the Barbarian tribes, suddenly issued a decree to hold a Blood Sacrifice Conference in the Barbarian Sacred Temple of the Eight Desolations, summoning all the tribes that still possessed the ancient Eight Kings' bloodline to gather at the Eight Desolations Mountain.
These ancient Eight Kings were the eight True Spirit Kings who ruled the Barbarian Domain in ancient times. However, due to some unknown event in the history of the Barbarian Domain, the original eight True Spirit Kings had already declined, leaving only one True Spirit King.
The descendants of the other True Spirit Kings also had different fates. Some were still powerful and ruled over a domain, while others, although no longer in power, had widespread descendants and influence. As for those who were less fortunate, their bloodline might have been severed, making it difficult to track them down.
This Blood Sacrifice Conference was originally the most grand gathering in the history of the Barbarian Domain, but due to the Eight Kings' bloodline not being complete, it had not been held for tens of millions of years.
As soon as the news of the True Spirit King's decision to reconvene the conference spread, it was like a stone thrown into a pond, causing a massive stir throughout the Barbarian Domain. Every tribe in the domain considered it an honor to participate in the conference.
The Silver Horned Rhinoceros and Cloud Patterned Tiger tribes were no exception. However, they had no connection to the bloodline of the Barbarian Eight Kings, and even the strongest tribes in the domain, not to mention the powerful Barbarian Hundred Clans, were not qualified to participate in the conference.
Of course, these two remote tribes had not expected to participate in the conference in the first place. After all, the tribes that still possessed the bloodline of the eight True Spirit Kings were mostly part of the Barbarian Hundred Clans.
However, due to an unexpected event, the Silver Horned Rhinoceros tribe discovered a young beast outside their territory, which contained the bloodline of one of the Barbarian Eight Kings.
The young beast seemed to have suffered severe injuries and was still in a deep sleep, being protected by the Silver Horned Rhinoceros tribe.
Just as the Silver Horned Rhinoceros tribe was preparing to secretly transport the young beast to the Eight Desolations Mountain, the news was leaked, and their arch-nemesis, the Cloud Patterned Tiger tribe, found out.
The Cloud Patterned Tiger tribe was unwilling to let the Silver Horned Rhinoceros tribe gain an advantage, as this would mean their own tribe would face extinction. Therefore, they took the opportunity to attack the Silver Horned Rhinoceros tribe and seize the young beast.
Han Li's palm loosened, and the Cloud Patterned Tiger leopard he had captured fell to the ground, unconscious.
"Where is the young beast you rescued?" Han Li asked, looking down at the Silver Horned Rhinoceros giant who was being pressed down by him.
The giant rhinoceros remained silent, but a strange light flashed in his eyes.
Han Li was startled and quickly pressed his palm on the giant's head, saying, "You're trying to self-destruct your soul, aren't you? You're really ruthless towards yourself."
"You'll never get any information from me," the Silver Horned Rhinoceros giant retorted, his mouth filled with blood.
Han Li's palm shone with a crystalline light, protecting his spiritual sea and soul from the giant's self-destruction.
"Your tribe has tens of thousands of people, and you think self-destructing your soul will be of any use? If I want to find the young beast, no one can stop me. I'm not willing to kill you, but you're forcing me to take drastic measures," Han Li said, his brow furrowed.
When Han Li said this, the Silver Horned Rhinoceros giant calmed down slightly, but then he said, "You humans are full of tricks, and I won't believe you. You might as well kill me."
"Believe it or not, I have no ill intentions towards the young beast. I just want to ask you some questions, and if you answer truthfully, I'll let you go," Han Li said.
Seeing that Han Li had not killed the Cloud Patterned Tiger leopard and had stopped him from self-destructing, the Silver Horned Rhinoceros giant began to believe him.
"Is this true?" he asked, still uncertain.
"Your tribe's location in the Barbarian Domain is where?" Han Li asked.
The Silver Horned Rhinoceros giant hesitated, seemingly not expecting Han Li to ask this question.
"We belong to the Earth Dragon tribe's subordinate territory, located in the southwestern edge of our territory," he replied after a brief pause.
Han Li was taken aback by this answer, as was the Silver Horned Rhinoceros giant.
"How is the Barbarian Domain divided? What is the relationship between your region and the great immortal domains?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed.
"Our Barbarian Domain is boundless, and the division of our territory is based on the territories of the various great tribes. For example, the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox tribe's territory, the Great Peacock tribe's territory, and so on. The Earth Dragon tribe's territory is located between the Golden Source Immortal Domain and the Lingtai Immortal Domain," the Silver Horned Rhinoceros giant replied.
"The Golden Source Immortal Domain, which borders the Lingtai Immortal Domain, isn't that the same domain where the Nine Yuan Observatory is located?" Han Li muttered to himself.
He hadn't expected that his physical body had traveled to a location near the Golden Source Immortal Domain.
As he thought about this, Han Li's mind began to wander, and he had an idea.
However, he quickly suppressed this idea, remembering his previous encounter with the ice and fire woman, who had pursued him relentlessly. He realized that his current strength was still far from that of a true mid-stage Deity Transformation cultivator, and that venturing into the Golden Source Immortal Domain to gather information about the Golden Boy would be suicidal.
As Han Li's eyes seemed to glaze over, the silver-horned giant rhino's body shifted slightly.
Han Li's gaze snapped back into focus, and he lifted his foot, lightly stomping it down. The silver-horned giant rhino was immediately pressed back down into the earth.
"I said I wouldn't kill you, but you should also preserve your own life," Han Li said calmly.
The silver-horned giant rhino's body trembled, not daring to move again.
"What kind of species is the young beast that possesses the bloodline of the ancient True Spirit King, and what kind of divine abilities does it possess?" Han Li asked.
"I don't know," the silver-horned giant rhino replied without hesitation.
"Indeed, it's more convenient to just search your soul," Han Li said, his brow furrowing in anger.
"I really don't know," the silver-horned giant rhino explained. "The young beast is in a state of deep sleep, sealed away like a stone statue, with no aura or energy emanating from it. I couldn't possibly discern its species."
Han Li snorted, "If that's the case, how do you know it possesses the True Spirit King's bloodline?"
"The ancient True Spirit King's bloodline is different from that of the other barbarian tribes," the silver-horned giant rhino said. "It has a natural suppressive effect on the barbarian tribes, like a wolf pack recognizing its king. You're not one of us, so you wouldn't know."
Han Li was actually aware of this, just like the Heavenly Phoenix's power within him naturally suppressed many large demon beasts.
"Take me to see the young beast," Han Li said.
Since it possessed the True Spirit King's bloodline, its bloodline power was naturally not weak. Han Li's current cultivation was still lacking two True Spirit bloodlines to complete his Twelve Transformations. If he could obtain a powerful bloodline from this young beast, his Heavenly Suppressing Demon Imprisonment Technique would become even more refined, and he would have more confidence when heading to the Great Golden Source Realm.
"You said earlier that you would let us go after questioning us, but now you're going back on your word," the silver-horned giant rhino said, its anger rising again. "It's true that humans are untrustworthy."
"Who told you that I'm human?" Han Li's thoughts stirred, and he asked.
"You're not human? That's impossible..." the silver-horned giant rhino shook its massive head, saying.
Han Li's gaze condensed, and his True Spirit bloodline began to circulate. A silver light flashed around him, and threads of silver lightning erupted, transforming into a massive silver lightning phoenix.
At the same time, he withdrew all the Qingzhong Bee Cloud Swords into his body, revealing his massive physique to the silver-horned rhino and cloud-patterned tiger tribe members.
Han Li knew that if he maintained his human identity, he would never be able to get the silver-horned giant rhino to take him to see the young beast. He didn't want to truly slaughter the two tribes, so he had to resort to this plan.
As the silver-horned giant rhino and the others sensed Han Li's True Spirit aura, they were all shocked.
"You, you... how is this possible?" the silver-horned giant rhino asked, its voice filled with incredulity.
"My True Spirit bloodline isn't fake, is it?" Han Li said, his voice like thunder. "I don't have any malicious intentions towards the young beast you mentioned. You said it's in a state of deep sleep, perhaps I can help."
As he spoke, he spread his wings, flying into the sky. The wind howled as he flapped his wings.
"I'll take you to see it," the silver-horned giant rhino said, its massive body rising from the ground. It looked up at Han Li in the sky, its eyes filled with a deep contemplation.
After rescuing the cloud-patterned tiger tribe's leader and having a conversation, Han Li learned that the silver-horned giant rhino's leader was named Sangtu, and the cloud-patterned tiger tribe's leader was called Yunbao.
A fierce battle to the death had been interrupted by Han Li's sudden appearance.
Later, the two tribes' members tended to their wounded, returning to their respective tribes. Only seven or eight people remained, following Sangtu and Han Li to the young beast's hiding place.
The group traversed the plain where they had previously clashed, arriving at a small mountain nearby. Under Sangtu's guidance, they found a hidden cave entrance.
As they approached the entrance, a wave of heat and a pungent smell of sulfur wafted out.
"Is it inside?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed.
As he spoke, his divine sense expanded, scanning the interior of the cave. However, he didn't discover any unusual aura.
"It's inside the cave," Sangtu said. "Our tribe usually enters the cave to collect black rocks to forge war axes. We wouldn't normally venture deep into the cave, but some of our tribe members accidentally fell in and discovered it."
"Lead the way," Han Li said, his brow still furrowed.
Sangtu nodded, taking the lead as they descended into the cave.
At this moment, Sangtu's appearance hadn't changed much, but his body was no longer as massive and intimidating as before. He was only about ten feet tall, slightly more robust than a normal person.
In reality, not only the silver-horned giant rhino tribe but also the cloud-patterned tiger tribe had different body sizes during times of war and peace. Now, they were all standing upright, their heads no longer displaying the intense, wild patterns.
Han Li followed closely behind, with the others entering the cave in turn.
As they entered, Han Li discovered that the cave was surprisingly spacious, with signs of excavation on the walls and ceiling. The passageway sloped downward, stretching for over a thousand feet. As they finally reached the end of the slope, they saw that the road ahead gradually narrowed, and a circular opening about seven or eight meters in diameter appeared.
Behind the opening, there was a vast empty area, where the firelight cast eerie shadows, and a pungent smell and scorching heat waves constantly emanated.
"This is where our people fell and discovered the young beast in the lava lake," Santu said.
"Let's go take a look," Han Li nodded and said.
Santu didn't hesitate, and his figure flashed as he flew into the cave.
Han Li followed closely behind, and as he entered the cave, he saw a massive underground lava lake.
The lava in the lake didn't flow, and on its surface floated huge black solidified plates, which seemed to be black rocks formed by the cooling of the lava. Between the plates, there were still visible red streaks, which were the liquid lava below.
Han Li's gaze swept across the lake's surface, and soon he saw a black, stone-like object floating in the center of the lake. It looked like a black dog curled up into a ball. His mind stirred, and he flew towards it.
As he approached, he focused his gaze on the "stone" and suddenly felt a strange sensation.
Santu and the others' gazes fell upon this, and they all couldn't help but slightly lower their heads, clearly due to the natural suppression of their bloodline. This black dog-like stone was the young beast Han Li had mentioned.
Han Li looked at them and then focused his gaze back on the stone, concentrating his divine sense to carefully examine it for a long time. The puzzled expression on his face grew more intense.
"Something's not right," Santu said, arriving beside Han Li. "Last time we came, the lava lake was still very active, and there weren't so many black rocks solidified. The lake's surface even had waves of fire."
"Was the young beast this black last time you saw it?" Han Li pointed to the stone and asked.
"Although it was black, I remember it clearly wasn't as dark as this," Santu said, looking at the stone.
Han Li's figure descended, and his hand lightly touched the "stone". He felt a slight chill on his fingertips.
"This beast was attacked by the power of the Ice Attribute Law, and its injuries are severe. To survive, it had to completely seal itself and hide in this lava lake, absorbing the lake's heat to resist its injuries," Han Li said.
"So that's why the lake's fire power has decreased so drastically, and we see this scene before us..." Santu said, suddenly understanding.
"Alright, since we've found it, let's take it back," Han Li said, his brow furrowed.
"Impossible," Yun Bao suddenly interrupted, standing in front of them.
Han Li's gaze rose, and he looked at Yun Bao.
Yun Bao's eyes flashed with fear, but he still said, "If it's healing its wounds here, and we rashly take it away, wouldn't we be putting it in danger?"
"Your concern is not unfounded, but you can rest assured, I have a way to save it," Han Li said, nodding.
He then spread his palm, and a silver flame appeared, emitting a scorching power that far surpassed the lava lake's, making Santu and the others feel uncomfortable and retreat.
"Can you feel at ease now?" Han Li asked.
"I was overthinking..." Yun Bao apologized, his hand across his chest.
"Let's go, take it back to the Silver Horned Rhinoceros Tribe," Han Li said.
Santu was overjoyed, while Yun Bao's eyes twitched with concern.
Han Li noticed but didn't say anything. The grudge between the two tribes, built up over a long time, couldn't be easily dispelled. He understood Yun Bao's concern.
About half an hour later, they left the lava cave and headed towards the depths of the plain.
...
The Silver Horned Rhinoceros Tribe was located on the left side of a large river, with tall, tent-like buildings made of rocks and animal hides scattered along the riverbank. From a distance, it looked magnificent.
When Han Li and the others returned, the entire tribe, regardless of age or sex, came out of their tents to welcome their leader, and when they sensed the bloodline's suppressive power from the "stone" being carried, they all involuntarily lowered their heads.
However, when they saw Yun Bao and the others, their eyes turned red with killing intent.
If not for Santu's intervention, the situation would have become chaotic.
But it was understandable, as almost everyone had relatives or friends who had died at the hands of Yun Bao's people.
Santu led the group to his own tent, where he had several tribesmen place the black "stone" on his animal hide bed.
Han Li raised his hand, and a small, silver flame human appeared in his palm.
As soon as it appeared, the temperature in the tent rose dramatically, and scorching heat waves emanated from it, forcing Santu and the others to retreat.
Han Li's gaze fell upon the five remaining colorful flames on top of the Silver Flame Dwarf's head, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt.
Earlier, when he was trapped in the Nine Dragon Godfire, it was the refined flames of the Phoenix Bird that had used up two of the seven-colored fire sands to protect him, allowing him to communicate with the Bottle Spirit and eventually achieve bodily transcendence.
Han Li felt a pang of regret, but the Phoenix Bird seemed to be unbothered, and continued to jump and play in his palm, appearing to be very happy.
"I'll definitely make up for what was lost," Han Li said, using his divine sense to communicate with the Phoenix Bird.
The Silver Flame Dwarf standing on his palm seemed to understand Han Li's words and nodded heavily.
Han Li then raised his hand and used his divine sense to capture the dog-shaped black stone, lifting it into the air.
The Phoenix Bird, sensing Han Li's intentions, flew out and transformed into a silver flame, enveloping the black stone.
As the layers of silver flames burned and refined the black stone, it began to emit black smoke, and its surface began to melt like ice.
The black color on the stone's surface grew thinner, and it seemed to be stripped away layer by layer, revealing the object inside.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he watched the stone's surface become thinner and thinner.
After a moment, the outer layer of the black stone was completely melted away, revealing a crystal-like object inside, and within the crystal, a small white-furred beast was curled up.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he recognized the small beast, and he exclaimed, "Little White!"
The small beast inside the crystal was none other than the Pixiu, Little White, who had accompanied the Golden Boy to the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Realm.
Sang Tu and the others were shocked, their expressions changing in surprise.
Han Li, however, didn't notice, and instead instructed the Phoenix Bird to melt away the last layer of crystal, and then gently lifted the small white beast into his arms.
However, even after the crystal was melted away, Little White remained motionless, its eyes closed, and it seemed to be lifeless.
Han Li's eyes scanned Little White's body, and his divine sense probed its surroundings.
It was only then that he discovered that Little White's soul was still in a state of deep sleep, sealed by a power inherent to its bloodline, trapped in a state of pseudo-death.
Han Li knew that this was a self-protection mechanism that Little White had activated, and his worries were alleviated, but he didn't know how to wake it up.
The Phoenix Bird, seeing Han Li's concerned expression, didn't disturb him, and instead flew to his shoulder, its light flashing before disappearing.
Han Li took a deep breath, calming down, and began to use his Refining God technique to enter Little White's divine sea, attempting to awaken it.
However, when he entered Little White's divine sea, he found that it was pitch black, and he couldn't see anything.
Moreover, Han Li felt that there was a strange power in the darkness, pulling his divine sense deeper into the blackness.
Han Li's alarm grew, and he quickly withdrew his divine sense, retreating from Little White's divine sea.
After a moment of hesitation, he once again used his Refining God technique, this time trying to awaken Little White through their previous heart-to-heart connection.
However, when his divine sense touched Little White's body, Han Li suddenly felt the surroundings darken, and he was enveloped in a black void, just like when he was inside Little White's divine sea.
In the darkness, a pair of giant, glowing eyes appeared, their gaze icy and detached, falling upon Han Li.
Han Li was caught off guard, and before he could react, his divine sense was interrupted, and he was jolted back to reality.
"How could this be...?" Han Li muttered, his mind reeling in shock.
"Can you wake him up?" Sang Tu asked.
"This beast is an old friend of mine," Han Li said, shaking his head. "I don't know why, but its divine sea is pitch black, and when I enter it, I'm met with a pair of glowing eyes that seem to be watching me, making it impossible to awaken it."
"Black divine sea, glowing eyes... Could this beast be a descendant of the ancient, barbaric Eight Kings, the Ink-Eyed Pixiu?" Yun Bao exclaimed, his expression changing in surprise.
Sang Tu's expression also changed.
"The Ink-Eyed Pixiu?" Han Li asked, puzzled.
"According to legend, the Ink-Eyed Pixiu clan possesses the strongest spiritual eyes in the world, allowing them to see through illusions and discern the true nature of reality," Yun Bao explained. "They can also see through the cycles of reincarnation and predict the birth of heaven-defying treasures. It's said that their eyes can even see through the void and predict the fate of the universe." Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing the words, and he thought back to the time when Xian'er had discovered the secret realm's treasure. Although Xian'er did have a special ability, it was not as mystical as Yun Bao had described. As for seeing through illusions and reincarnation, it was simply nonsense.
"Not only that, the double eyes of the Mokeye Pixiu can connect to a mysterious space. When its cultivation is strong enough, it can capture its enemies with a single glance. Unless one's power far surpasses theirs, it's impossible to escape that kind of space." Yun Bao continued.
"Xian'er's belly does seem to have a special space that can isolate external probing, and when absorbing others, it requires opening its mouth to devour. But I've never seen any connection to its eyes." Han Li pondered for a moment before speaking.
"Ah, it seems that the Mokeye Pixiu's tribe's abilities were indeed too mysterious. After the Mokeye Pixiu King, who was a True Spirit King, disappeared, the entire tribe was annihilated. To this day, it's rare to see any of their bloodline descendants remaining. If we bring Xian'er to the Eight Desolate Mountains, we'll definitely be viewed as treasures by the entire Desolate Tribe. There, the True Spirit King will certainly be able to awaken him." Sang Tu sighed and spoke.
Han Li's eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation upon hearing this.
He had originally planned to find a quiet place to close his eyes and cultivate, waiting until he had achieved a breakthrough and could advance to the early stages of the Mahayana, and at the same time, his Time Dao Mark would recover. He would then immediately head to the Great Jin Yuan Xian Domain to hibernate and wait for the Wheel of Reincarnation Temple's actions.
However, he had now encountered Xian'er by mistake, and he had to reconsider his plans.
After thinking for a moment, Han Li decided to first save Xian'er. Once Xian'er awoke, he would ask about the Jiuyuan Observatory and then follow the Wheel of Reincarnation Temple's actions. He would have a greater chance of rescuing the Golden Boy.
"Since the only way to save Xian'er is to go to the Eight Desolate Mountains, I'm willing to accompany you and protect him on the way." Han Li said.
Sang Tu and Yun Bao's expressions changed upon hearing this.
"We, the Silver Horned Rhinoceros Tribe, will provide sufficient protection." Sang Tu said first.
Yun Bao, on the other hand, coldly snorted and said nothing.
After all, Xian'er was found by the Silver Horned Rhinoceros Tribe, and he was currently staying with them.
"Sang Tu, I have a question for you. Are you planning to relocate the entire tribe to the Eight Desolate Mountains and protect Xian'er?" Han Li asked, his expression unchanged.
"Ah, of course not. We'll just bring a few of our strongest warriors." Sang Tu replied, slightly hesitant.
"If that's the case, you'll be taking away the tribe's most important fighting force. What about the remaining tribe members? The Cloud Patterned Tiger Tribe's main forces are still here." Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile.
As soon as he spoke, Sang Tu immediately understood the implication, and a cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
If Han Li were to do this, the Cloud Patterned Tiger Tribe would definitely take advantage of the situation and attack the Silver Horned Rhinoceros Tribe, annihilating them before they could return with glory from the Eight Desolate Mountains.
Even if Sang Tu were to receive rewards and support from the Eight Desolate Mountains for his services, his tribe would already be gone.
"I'm willing to work with the Cloud Patterned Tiger Tribe to escort Xian'er back to the Eight Desolate Mountains." Sang Tu said sincerely.
Yun Bao's expression turned solemn, and he cast a grateful glance at Han Li.
"Not only that, but when you leave, the two tribes will be leaderless, and it's only a matter of time before news leaks out, and you'll be targeted by other tribes. Therefore, you must not only put aside your past grievances and not attack each other, but also provide support when one side is in trouble. This is the only way to ensure that both tribes can survive in the long run." Han Li continued.
Sang Tu and Yun Bao's faces flashed with a hint of difficulty.
The others in the tent were also in a similar state, with a century of accumulated resentment that couldn't be easily forgotten.
The two tribes wouldn't abandon their hatred and make peace just because of Han Li's words.
"Actually, you don't have to be too hard on yourselves. It's not like you have to do this forever. Just hold on until you've participated in the Eight Desolate Mountains' Blood Sacrifice Conference and returned. After that, you can do as you please." Han Li smiled and said.
Sang Tu and Yun Bao remained silent for a long time before nodding in unison.
"Thank you, Senior, for your advice. We'll do as you say."
"No need to call me Senior. Just call me Shi Mu or Shi Dao Friend. By the way, when is the Blood Sacrifice Conference?" Han Li asked.
"It was announced thirty years ago, and it's said to be a hundred-year event. There's less than seventy years left. The journey to the Eight Desolate Mountains is long, and time is not on our side, so we should set out soon." Sang Tu replied.
"Then, you should return to your tribes and make arrangements for the tribe's affairs, choose the best warriors to escort Xian'er, and we'll set out soon." Han Li said, now acting as the leader of the two tribes.
"Good." Sang Tu and Yun Bao replied in unison.
After they left, Sang Tu ordered the camp to be temporarily set up as Han Li's residence, and no one was allowed to approach without permission.
Han Li sat alone in the tent for a moment before opening the Flower Branch Cave Heaven.
He then picked up Xian'er and stepped through the silver gate, entering the Bamboo Pavilion inside the cave heaven.
As soon as Han Li entered the flower branch space, he furrowed his brow, feeling that something was off.
Before he could think further, a loud, thunderous sound shook the air, piercing his heart, and was accompanied by a cacophony of ghostly wails that were ear-piercingly sharp, yet somehow also mournful and low, making one feel irritable.
He felt his mind and body being shaken, and his hands and feet began to move involuntarily. He quickly calmed himself by circulating his Refine the Spirit technique, and then looked towards the source of the sound.
He saw that the ghostly wails were coming from the attic where Ti Xuan was in seclusion.
At this moment, the attic was shrouded in a thick, dark energy that resembled ink, and a black vortex had formed, with ghostly shadows flickering in and out, causing the surrounding restrictions to tremble.
Fortunately, the restrictions were ones that Han Li had personally created, and they had been infused with the power of the Time Laws, or else they would not have been able to withstand the impact of the dark energy.
"What's going on?" Han Li quickly flew over, and released a strand of his divine sense to investigate the restrictions.
But as soon as his divine sense entered the black vortex, it was immediately swallowed up, and a powerful, devouring force emerged from the vortex, attempting to invade his mind.
Han Li quickly withdrew his divine sense, and was able to block the strange, devouring force.
He raised an eyebrow, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.
The situation before him was clear - it was definitely caused by Ti Xuan's absorption of the Wu Xiang Ghost King's energy, and it seemed that she had made a breakthrough.
However, Han Li's expression soon turned serious, and he realized that he couldn't intervene in this matter. He could only rely on Ti Xuan to get through it on her own, and with her abilities, she should be fine.
He raised his hand, and a few dozen golden lights shot out, landing near the attic, and forming another, thicker layer of golden light.
This layer of restrictions also contained the power of the Time Laws, and it resonated with the inner layer of restrictions, causing the two layers of golden light to stabilize.
The ghostly wails from inside were also blocked, and Han Li was no longer affected by them.
He nodded, and then went to the new attic that had been built near the medicine garden.
The attic was filled with all sorts of materials and treasures that Han Li had collected from the Tai Sui Immortal Mansion, including minerals, spiritual artifacts, and other objects.
Some of the larger spiritual materials were placed outside the attic, piled up in several large heaps, and the spiritual herbs and medicines that had been transplanted from the Tai Sui Immortal Mansion were even more numerous.
Han Li placed Xiao Bai on the top floor of the attic, and set up a protective restriction beside it, before he felt at ease.
He looked at the various treasures inside and outside the attic, and his expression was a mix of excitement and worry.
The treasures he had collected from the Tai Sui Immortal Mansion were truly numerous, and it was a hassle to deal with them. However, if he were to exchange them for immortal stones, he would gain an unprecedented amount.
It was just that since he had left the Tai Sui Immortal Mansion, he had been busy with various matters, and hadn't had the chance to deal with this.
Han Li flipped his hand, and took out a blank jade slip, carefully cataloging the various treasures inside the attic, categorizing and recording them.
After a day of work, he finally finished organizing the treasures inside the attic, and then went outside to organize the spiritual materials and herbs.
After completing this task, Han Li sat down near the attic, and with a flick of his sleeve, a pile of colorful objects appeared in front of him - a collection of storage artifacts.
These storage artifacts were ones that had belonged to the various cultivators who had fallen in the Tai Sui Immortal Mansion, and Han Li had collected them along the way. They were a major gain from this trip.
The most valuable ones were the storage artifacts that had belonged to She Chen and Lan Yuanzi.
Han Li had previously taken a rough look at She Chen's storage artifact, but had only glanced at the treasures inside without examining them closely.
He picked up She Chen's storage artifact, and with a wave of his hand, a large pile of objects appeared on the ground.
Han Li's eyes scanned the objects, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.
She Chen, the Da Luo realm existence, had not disappointed him - his wealth was immense, and the materials, spiritual artifacts, and other objects were countless. Just the immortal stones alone numbered over two million.
And among them, there were thirty or forty special immortal stones that were even larger than the middle-grade immortal stones, and they emitted a dazzling, fiery light that contained an astonishing amount of immortal energy.
"Are these high-grade immortal stones?" Han Li's eyes lit up, and he picked up one of the immortal stones.
A pure and vast immortal energy emanated from it, and his body felt as if it were soaking in a warm spring, feeling extremely comfortable, and he almost couldn't help but sigh in pleasure.
Han Li smiled, and gazed lovingly at the immortal stone in his hand.
Although he had never seen one before, he could confirm that this immortal stone was indeed a high-grade immortal stone, and the immortal energy it contained was even more concentrated and pure than the energy in his own body.
If he were to use this high-grade immortal stone to restore his immortal energy, it would probably take only a few breaths to fill him up.
However, high-grade immortal stones were extremely rare, and using them to restore immortal energy would be too extravagant.
Han Li had read in the classics that high-grade immortal stones had many uses, such as refining high-grade spiritual artifacts, breaking through realms, and even cutting through the corpse and opening the way to the Dao.
He played with the high-grade immortal stones for a while, and then carefully put them away. Han Li immediately put away the other spiritual stones and took out the other items, categorizing them. He then took out the storage bag that belonged to Lan Yuanzi.
When he had captured Lan Yuanzi in the Years Tower, he had taken this storage bag.
Han Li inserted his spiritual sense into the bag and took out its contents, categorizing them. Lan Yuanzi's spiritual stones were fewer in number than Shi Chan's, with only six million, and the highest quality was only mid-grade, with no high-grade stones.
He then categorized the other storage bags, which belonged to cultivators with lower cultivation levels and wealth that couldn't compare to Shi Chan and Lan Yuanzi. All the spiritual stones in these bags added up to only four million.
Han Li put all the spiritual stones into his own storage bag, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
He had previously killed people and stolen treasures, accumulating a considerable amount of wealth, and his spiritual stones had been less than ten million. Now, he had increased his wealth by more than three times.
Furthermore, there were still many treasures around him that he hadn't processed, and if he sold them all, his wealth would likely increase by another fold.
Han Li took out the treasures around him and in the attic, selecting the ones he might use, and then took out the mask of the Wheel of Reincarnation, opening the transaction screen and putting the other treasures up for sale.
There were too many treasures around him, and he was busy for over a month, finally selling most of them and obtaining over thirty million spiritual stones.
This was because Han Li was in a hurry to process these items and didn't ask for a high price, otherwise, he would have gotten an even higher price.
The remaining items were some rare and hard-to-sell treasures, which he put up on the Wheel of Reincarnation's transaction platform, waiting for buyers.
After all, he now had over seventy million spiritual stones, which was enough for him to use for a long time.
With this many spiritual stones, Han Li was not only considered wealthy among the Taiyi cultivators, but even among the Daluo cultivators, he was considered a rich man. Even in some small-scale immortal domains, the largest sects might not have as much wealth as he did.
With these spiritual stones as his backing, he had the confidence to offer a reward for the purchase of time law materials, which he had never had before.
Unfortunately, materials containing the power of time law were hard to come by, and even with his spiritual stones, he would have to wait for an opportunity.
Just then, Han Li's eyebrows moved, and he flew out of the flower petal space, arriving at the outside camp.
"Shi Mu, senior," a voice came from outside, without entering the camp.
Santu and Yun Bao were standing outside the camp, each accompanied by over a dozen followers.
Behind them was a bone-colored flying boat, about forty to fifty meters long, but its material was ordinary. Next to the flying boat were two tiger-like demonic beasts with wings on their backs, which seemed to be used for pulling the boat.
Behind the flying boat were several small flying boats and flying cars, also pulled by the tiger-like demonic beasts, carrying some goods. It was unclear whether Santu and Yun Bao were planning to take these goods to the Eight Wastes Mountain to sell.
"Come in," Han Li said, his face expressionless, knowing that it was time to leave.
"Shi Mu, senior, we've made all the preparations. When do you think we should leave?" Santu asked respectfully.
"Let's leave immediately," Han Li said.
"Yes," Santu and Yun Bao replied in unison.
Han Li walked out of the camp and was led by Santu and Yun Bao onto the flying boat, where they arranged the best room for him.
The flying boat then lifted off, pulled by the two tiger-like demonic beasts, and flew forward.
Although the two beasts were only at the Golden Immortal level, they seemed to be naturally gifted, and their flying speed was extremely fast, not inferior to some Taiyi cultivators.
Han Li watched this scene, and although he had better flying boats that could speed up the process, he didn't want to reveal his identity, so he didn't intervene.
"I'll be closing up in here, so don't disturb me unless something important comes up," he instructed Santu and Yun Bao.
"Yes," they replied hastily, and then quickly retreated.
Han Li was pleased with their obedience, and then he set up restrictions in the room, before opening the flower petal space entrance again and flying inside, sitting down in the three-story attic.
The things he had sold previously, although valuable, didn't mean much to him.
The greatest gain from his previous trip to the Years Tower was not those treasures.
Han Li sat silently for a moment, then flipped his hand, and four items appeared beside him.
The first item was a golden book, rolled up and tied with a golden thread, which was the book that had been placed with the Years Tower lamp.
The second item was a purple jade slip, which was the "Five Thunders True Law Scripture" given to him by the Black Sky Demon Ancestor.
The third item was a golden ancient lamp, which was the Years Tower lamp, and the fourth item was the Heavenly Sword Array diagram.
These four items, along with the white fire pearl from the Phoenix Bird, were the greatest gains from his trip to the Years Tower.
Han Li put the Years Tower lamp and the other items aside, first taking out the golden book.
He had already roughly studied the other three items, but he hadn't opened this book, and he didn't know what it was.
However, since this book was placed with the Years Tower lamp, it was definitely not an ordinary book.
Han Li's eyes gleamed with anticipation as he opened the golden silk thread, unfurling the scroll.
The cover of the scroll bore the title "Sui Yue Zhen Jing" in ancient, elegant script, with a subtle hint of weariness and a profound sense of timelessness.
Han Li's eyes widened as he read the title, and he quickly flipped through the pages, his brow furrowing in concentration.
As he had guessed, the scroll was a cultivation technique for mastering time, and it seemed to be incredibly refined, drawing inspiration from the concept of time as a burning flame that would reduce all things to nothingness.
Han Li spent half a day carefully reading through the scroll, a look of joy spreading across his face as he finished. He reached out and gently stroked the Sui Yue Shen Lamp, a hint of excitement in his eyes.
The cultivation technique described in the Sui Yue Zhen Jing was indeed exceptional, although it couldn't compare to the Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue. Still, it was one of the most advanced time-based techniques in the Zhen Yan Men.
However, Han Li's excitement wasn't solely due to the technique itself, but rather the fact that the Sui Yue Zhen Jing included the ritual for activating the Sui Yue Shen Lamp.
When the Sui Yue Tower had collapsed, the lamp's flame had been extinguished, rendering it useless. Han Li's expression had been calm, but he had seethed with frustration inside.
Now, with the ritual in hand, he finally saw a glimmer of hope.
Han Li set aside the Wu Lei Zheng Fa Zhen Jing and the Tong Tian Sword Array diagram, deciding to focus on the Sui Yue Shen Lamp's ritual.
Although he had initially planned to study the other two treasures in detail, he couldn't afford to waste any more time. The Tong Tian Sword Array and the Wu Lei Zheng Fa Zhen Jing would have to wait.
Han Li reopened the Sui Yue Zhen Jing, flipping to the section on the ritual. His expression turned pensive as he read through the instructions.
The ritual itself wasn't complicated, but it did require a certain level of proficiency in the Sui Yue Zhen Jing's time-based techniques. If he were to master the technique, he could use its power to nurture the lamp's flame.
However, Han Li had cultivated the Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue, which was far more advanced than the Sui Yue Zhen Jing. While he could attempt to activate the lamp, it wouldn't be easy, and he might need to start cultivating the Sui Yue Zhen Jing from scratch.
As a result of his studies under Mi Luo La Zu, Han Li had gained a deep understanding of the principles of time-based cultivation. He knew that time-based techniques were among the most difficult to master, and that the slightest distraction could lead to disaster.
Han Li's current cultivation was still incomplete, and he couldn't afford to divide his attention. He had to focus on the Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue, lest he risk losing his way and jeopardizing his future.
Mi Luo La Zu had only taught him the basics of time-based cultivation, and the various time-based techniques of the Zhen Yan Men. He hadn't transmitted any other techniques to Han Li, fearing that they might disrupt his focus.
Han Li wouldn't sacrifice his future for the sake of activating a single treasure. However, he didn't intend to give up on the Sui Yue Shen Lamp either.
With a resolute expression, Han Li raised his hands, and a golden flame erupted before him. It was the Sui Yue Zhen Jing's flame, which he had obtained from the Sui Yue Tower's altar.
Next, he summoned the Duan Shi Huo Ba, a flame that seemed to defy the flow of time. Han Li's hands moved swiftly, his fingers weaving intricate patterns as he channeled his spiritual energy.
The Duan Shi Huo Ba began to rotate, releasing bursts of time-based energy that merged with the Sui Yue Zhen Jing's flame. The resulting mixture was a swirling vortex of energy that seemed to defy the laws of time.
Han Li's expression turned grave as he focused his energy, using the Zhen Yan Men's secret technique, the "True Word Conversion Method," to simulate the Sui Yue Zhen Jing's time-based energy.
This technique allowed him to use his spiritual energy as a medium, mimicking the energy of the Sui Yue Zhen Jing. Mi Luo La Zu had taught him this method, which was originally intended to help him activate the various treasures he had acquired.
In the Zhen Yan Men, it was common for cultivators to acquire treasures that didn't resonate with their own energy. The True Word Conversion Method was a way to bridge this gap, allowing cultivators to unlock the full potential of their treasures.
Han Li's situation was far from unique. In the Zhen Yan Men, even the most powerful cultivators often struggled to activate their treasures, due to the differences in their energy signatures.
The True Word Conversion Method was a remarkable technique that allowed cultivators to simulate the energy of their treasures, even if it wasn't an exact match. However, it required a deep understanding of the underlying principles and a high degree of spiritual energy.
Han Li's current energy signature was different from the Sui Yue Zhen Jing's, but he was confident that he could use the True Word Conversion Method to simulate its energy. With a deep breath, he began to channel his energy, carefully manipulating the Duan Shi Huo Ba's time-based energy to resonate with the Sui Yue Zhen Jing's flame. It was likely that Qimozi was able to control the Years God Lamp by using the True Words Transcending Spirit Technique.
Han Li activated the True Words Transcending Spirit Technique, continuously simulating the Years God Lamp's power with the Disrupting Time Laws. At first, he was a bit clumsy, and the Disrupting Time Laws and Years God Lamp's power clashed intensely.
However, as the secret technique became more familiar, the conflict between the two gradually subsided, and the True Words Transcending Spirit Technique became more and more smooth.
Han Li's eyes flashed with a hint of joy, and he became even more focused on operating the technique.
Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, five or six years had passed.
The caravan's journey was quite smooth, and they only encountered a few ordinary fierce beasts along the way, which were easily dealt with by Santu and Yunbao. They didn't encounter any major dangers.
However, Santu and Yunbao were extremely cautious and took turns patrolling the surroundings, preventing any potential dangers from arising.
At this moment, Santu and a Silver Horned Rhinoceros clansman were patrolling around the caravan.
"Tribe Leader, do you think this Stone Elder is genuinely helping us? I always feel that giving him the Pixiu cub wasn't a good idea," the Silver Horned Rhinoceros clansman whispered, glancing at Han Li's room.
"Don't speak nonsense! Stone Elder's power far surpasses ours, and your whispers might be overheard by him!" Santu's expression changed, and he scolded the clansman through transmission.
The Silver Horned Rhinoceros clansman was startled and immediately became more obedient.
The two of them kept an eye on Han Li's room, but after a long time, there was no unusual activity, and they secretly let out a sigh of relief.
"You think I don't know these things, but Stone Elder's power is too strong, and we don't have any room for negotiation. Moreover, the Pixiu cub is too precious, and even if we and the Cloud Patterned Tiger Tribe were to send it to the Eight Desolations Mountain, it would not be a blessing, but a disaster. So, regardless of Stone Elder's intentions, we can only rely on him for now. Don't speak such dissenting words again, and let the other tribespeople refrain from discussing this in private!" Santu transmitted, his voice even weaker.
"Tribe Leader, you have a broad vision, I understand," the Silver Horned Rhinoceros clansman replied, his face filled with admiration.
Santu nodded, about to say something else, when a muffled sound came from Han Li's room.
Santu and the Silver Horned Rhinoceros clansman were startled, thinking that Han Li had overheard their conversation. Their faces changed, and Santu quickly thought of an explanation.
However, after a long time, Han Li's room remained silent, and the two of them looked at each other in confusion.
At this moment, in the Flower Branch Space, Han Li was covered in dust and dirt, his hair and clothes partially burned, and his body was charred in several places. He looked extremely disheveled, and the Years God Lamp's flame had disappeared.
However, he didn't care about his injuries and instead had a joyful expression in his eyes.
After six years of effort, he had finally succeeded in simulating the Years God Lamp's power using the True Words Transcending Spirit Technique.
The moment he completed the simulation, he became overjoyed and forgot to control the technique's power, causing the Years God Lamp's flame to erupt and almost injuring himself.
Han Li took out a healing pill and swallowed it, and his injuries quickly recovered.
He sat down again, took out the Years God Lamp, and summoned the Disrupting Time Laws flame, which he then ignited with a finger technique.
A stream of Disrupting Time Laws shot out from the flame, quickly merging together and forming a golden flame that emitted a unique time law fluctuation, similar to the Years God Lamp's flame.
Han Li pushed his hand forward, and the fake Years God Lamp's flame flew out, enveloping the Years God Lamp. The golden flame danced and slowly merged into the Years God Lamp.
He saw this and smiled, quickly activating the Years God Lamp's refining technique.
The Years God Lamp's surface emitted a faint golden glow, which flashed weakly.
Han Li saw this and let out a sigh of relief, feeling that his efforts over the past few years had not been in vain.
He then held the Years God Lamp in his arms, refined three or four more fake Years God Lamp flames, and merged them into the lamp, continuing to refine it.
Solving the Years God Lamp's flame problem, the next steps became much simpler.
As Han Li continued to refine the Years God Lamp, the golden glow on its surface became brighter, and the time law fluctuations it emitted grew stronger.
Finally, after three months of continuous refining, the Years God Lamp's wick flashed with a golden light, and a golden flame emerged.
The moment the flame appeared, a powerful time law fluctuation burst out from the Years God Lamp, spreading outward like a tidal wave, causing the heaven and earth's energy in the Flower Branch Space to surge violently.
The powerful sacred artifact that had once dominated the Taisheng Xianfu reappeared!
Han Li looked at the fully revived Years God Lamp in his hand, a joyful expression on his face. He then made a finger technique, and the Years God Lamp's flame suddenly grew brighter.
A narrow, golden light shot out from the flame, transforming into a golden dragon.
The golden dragon let out a mighty roar, and its body began to take shape, filling the Flower Branch Space with an intense, golden light.
The golden dragon danced in the air above the flower branch space, emitting a long, dragon-like roar.
The golden dragon's body shone with an intense light, making it impossible to look directly at it, and the law of the universe it emitted was like a mighty mountain, causing the surrounding void to tremble violently.
Han Li's face changed color as he saw this.
This was the flower branch space, and if the space were to shatter, he didn't know what kind of impact it would have.
As he thought, he quickly controlled the golden dragon, retracting its power and flying back.
The golden dragon quickly returned to the lamp flame, disappearing without a trace.
Han Li repeatedly cast spells to stabilize the time law fluctuations within the Years God Lamp.
He looked at the Years God Lamp, recalling the powerful golden dragon he had just seen, and wondered why the power was so great when he activated the Years God Lamp.
In fact, Han Li didn't know that the golden dragon's power was due to the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" he had cultivated.
The "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" was a time-based cultivation technique that seized the essence of the five elements from the flow of time, and Han Li's current cultivation level was not enough, but his time law power was of extremely high quality, far surpassing that of Qi Mozi.
Han Li thought for a moment, but didn't get any leads, so he didn't think about it anymore and continued to cast spells to refine the Years God Lamp.
Although he could control the lamp, he wasn't proficient in it, and needed to continue refining it to control it freely.
Refining the Years God Lamp didn't require his full attention, so he took out the Tian Tian Sword Array diagram and the "Five Thunder True Method Scripture" while casting spells.
He first took out the jade slip containing the "Five Thunder True Method Scripture", and his spiritual sense entered it, carefully flipping through it, revealing a look of surprise.
This "Five Thunder True Method Scripture" was indeed a cultivation technique praised by the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor, and the thunder and lightning cultivation technique it described was not to be underestimated.
According to the scripture, the world's thunder laws were divided into 36 heavenly thunders, 72 earthly thunders, and 108 cloudy thunders.
Han Li had previously seen many thunder and lightning techniques, most of which were cloudy thunders and earthly thunders, while the 36 heavenly thunders were extremely rare and powerful.
Han Li had previously mastered the "Thunder Exorcism Technique", which was one of the 72 earthly thunders, and the "Bone Washing Golden Thunder" in the Gray Boundary Washing Slaughter Pool also belonged to the 72 earthly thunders.
However, the "Five Thunder True Method Scripture" contained many secret techniques for summoning thunder, condensing thunder, and nurturing thunder, which made him feel like his eyes had been opened.
But Han Li didn't delve deeper into the scripture, as the contents were too intricate, and he wasn't cultivating a thunder-based technique.
To be honest, obtaining this jade slip was like finding a treasure.
Han Li didn't have the time to lament about the jade slip, and instead put it away, taking out the Tian Tian Sword Array diagram.
His eyebrows twitched as he probed the diagram with his spiritual sense, and to his surprise, his spiritual sense easily entered the diagram.
Suddenly, a massive amount of information flooded his mind.
This information was too vast, and even with his spiritual sense, it took him a while to fully digest it, revealing a look of surprise on his face.
This was the Tian Tian Sword Array's deployment method and the technique to activate it.
Han Li was familiar with sword arrays, as he had cultivated the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword, and had seen many sword arrays before.
However, the Tian Tian Sword Array was on a completely different level, and in a certain sense, it was no longer a pure sword array, but a way to communicate with the heavens and the earth through the sword array.
According to the information, the Tian Tian Sword Array was based on the sword diagram, which had no attributes, and therefore didn't require any attributes from the flying swords.
Any flying sword, as long as it reached 36 swords, could be used to deploy the array.
Of course, the quality of the flying swords had to be high, or they wouldn't be able to withstand the array's massive power.
Han Li's mouth curved upwards as he thought that his Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword was sufficient in quantity and quality, and would definitely meet the array's requirements.
He closed his eyes for a moment, and then re-examined the sword array information in his mind. Tian Tian Sword Array's mysteries were unparalleled, and with Han Li's understanding abilities, he couldn't grasp it in a short time, needing time to slowly research it. Wanting to set up the array was not something that could be achieved in a single day.
Just then, his eyebrows suddenly twitched, and a bright red glow flashed on his body.
Han Li put down the Tian Tian Sword diagram, flipped his hand, and took out the Wheel of Reincarnation mask, putting it on his face.
He opened the trading interface, and it turned out that someone had responded to the time law item he had previously posted for sale.
Han Li's heart was filled with joy, and he quickly made a gesture to initiate the transaction.
The trading interface flashed with a dark red glow, and a person's shadow appeared, seemingly a young man, wearing a dark red long robe, with slightly curled black hair. Although his face was covered with a mask, he gave off a feeling of elegance and refinement.
On the mask, the words "Yuan San" were engraved.
"Ah, you're Dragon Five, a renowned figure, I've long heard of your name," Yuan San said with a smile, his voice bright and cheerful.
"Not bad, I am indeed Dragon Five. Do you have the time law materials?" Han Li asked, slightly surprised, as the other party seemed to have heard of him.
"Why else would I contact you, fellow Daoist?" Yuan San chuckled and took out an item, which was a blue crystal the size of a fist, shaped like a water droplet.
Although it was just a virtual image, it was clear that the crystal contained a multitude of golden lights, like the sunset shining on rolling waves, forming a patchwork of golden shadows.
"Water Evolution Time Crystal!" Han Li's eyes lit up, immediately recognizing the blue crystal.
"This is not an ordinary Water Evolution Time Crystal, but the highest-grade Water Evolution Time King Crystal. Although it's only the size of a fist, it contains a rich amount of time law energy, enough to refine a five-grade immortal artifact," Yuan San said with a slight smile.
Han Li nodded, although he could only see a virtual image, he could roughly judge that the time law energy contained within the crystal was not much less than the Fire Age Hive he had previously obtained.
"I don't know what price you're asking for this item, fellow Daoist," Han Li asked, his mind racing.
"I spent all my savings to obtain this Water Evolution Time King Crystal, and I'm not willing to trade it for immortal stones," Yuan San shook his head.
"Then, Yuan San, are you looking to exchange it for something else?" Han Li asked, without showing any surprise.
"You could say that, but it's more accurate to say that I want to make a trade with Dragon Five," Yuan San smiled.
"Please speak your mind, Yuan San," Han Li said.
"Dragon Five, you seem to be a straightforward person, so I'll get straight to the point. I currently need a batch of time law pellets, and I heard that you, Dragon Five, have successfully refined time law pellets. I have ten sets of time law pellet materials, and I'd like to ask you to refine five time law pellets using these materials. If you can do it, I'll give you this Water Evolution Time King Crystal as a gift," Yuan San said, his voice serious.
"If I fail to refine the five time law pellets?" Han Li asked, his eyes flashing.
"If you fail to refine the time law pellets, or if the number is insufficient, sorry, but you won't get anything," Yuan San said calmly.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed upon hearing this.
Although he had the ability to refine pellets, using ten sets of materials to refine five time law pellets was extremely difficult, and he didn't have complete confidence.
"Dragon Five, this trade is extremely beneficial to you, and all the materials are provided by me. You only need to lend a hand, and if you succeed, you'll get the Water Evolution Time King Crystal. Even if you fail, you won't lose anything, so why hesitate?" Yuan San asked, slightly displeased, seeing Han Li's silence.
"Yuan San, don't misunderstand, I'm not hesitating. I've agreed to this trade, but I have two questions I'd like to ask first," Han Li said.
"Please ask, Dragon Five," Yuan San's face relaxed, and he asked.
"Do you have any requirements for the grade of the time law pellets you want me to refine?" Han Li asked.
"Of course, they must be at least second-grade pellets, but don't worry, Dragon Five, the pellet materials I provide contain a rich amount of time law energy. If your refining skills are sufficient, you should be able to refine third-grade pellets," Yuan San said with a smile.
Han Li nodded, his face relaxing.
"If you have any other doubts, please speak up, Dragon Five. This is a trade, after all, and it's best to clarify things now, so we can ensure a smooth transaction," Yuan San added.
"I have one more question, Yuan San. As a fellow Daoist who understands pellet refinement, you should know that refining pellets not only requires skill but also luck. Using ten sets of materials to refine five pellets, even a skilled pellet refiner might not be able to do it. I'll definitely do my best to refine the pellets, but if I'm unlucky and fail to refine five pellets, I'll have wasted my time. Could you, Yuan San, consider selling me the Water Evolution Time King Crystal at a price 30% higher than the market price?" Han Li asked, looking at Yuan San with a sincere expression.
"That's not possible, I'm a man who doesn't go back on his word. If you want the Water Evolution Time King Crystal, you must refine the five time law pellets. If you fail, even if you offer ten times the price, I won't sell it to you," Yuan San shook his head firmly.
"How about this? If I can refine four or more Time Dao Dan, I'll ask you to sell me the Shui Yan Shi Wang Jing," Han Li said, his brow furrowed in thought.
"Dragon Five, I've already said that if you want the Shui Yan Shi Wang Jing, you must refine five Time Dao Dan. There's no other way, and if you continue to haggle, this transaction will end here," Yuan San said, his eyes cold and detached.
"Alright, I'll do it," Han Li sighed, resigned.
Yuan San's eyes softened slightly, and he waved his hand.
The transmission array in the middle of the trading interface in front of Han Li flashed, and a storage ring and a white jade slip appeared.
Han Li's eyes moved, and he took the ring and the jade slip, first inserting his divine sense into the jade slip.
The jade slip contained a Dao Dan recipe, which was completely different from the one he had refined before. The main material was a substance similar to Shui Yan Shi Wang Jing, and the other materials had also changed, but the combination of the materials was similar to the previous recipe.
Han Li let out a sigh of relief, knowing that as long as the combination of materials didn't change too much, his previous experience in refining Dao Dan would still be useful.
He then took the storage ring, and his divine sense entered it, finding ten sets of materials inside, all of which had abundant spiritual energy and no problems.
"I've received the materials, and I'll start refining the Dao Dan as soon as possible. Is there a time limit, Yuan San?" Han Li asked, looking at Yuan San.
"Ten years is enough," Yuan San said, before disappearing in a flash, seemingly having some opinions about Han Li.
Han Li smiled faintly, not minding Yuan San's attitude, and instead found his personality quite interesting. Such a person was indeed rare in the current immortal world.
This transaction was not easy, and it seemed that Yuan San had intentionally made it difficult, as if he didn't care about the outcome. But the price he offered was very satisfying, and Han Li had no choice but to try his best.
He took the jade slip again, closed his eyes, and began to analyze the recipe, simulating the refining process in his mind.
Half a year later, Han Li opened his eyes, letting out a gentle sigh.
During this time, he had studied the new Dao Dan recipe countless times, simulating the refining process in his mind until he was satisfied.
It was unavoidable, as this time's refining process was different from the previous one. Last time, he had prepared nine sets of materials, and as long as he succeeded once, it would be enough. This time, he only had ten sets of materials, but he had to succeed five times, which was much more difficult.
Fortunately, his current refining skills had improved a lot compared to the previous time, and his cultivation was far beyond what it was before. Whether it was his control over flames or his perception, he was much stronger than before, and the possibility of success was quite high.
Han Li floated out of the flower branch space, entered the outer room, and waved his hand to remove the entrance.
He then raised his hand, and the Jing Yue Tongzi flew out from his body, landing in the room.
"You stay here and guard the caravan. If any strong enemies attack, you'll take care of them and ensure the caravan's safety," Han Li said to Jing Yue Tongzi.
Jing Yue Tongzi had become more intelligent and nodded immediately, even patting his chest as if to guarantee that he would protect the caravan.
Han Li praised Jing Yue Tongzi a few times, then pinched his fingers, and his body turned into a virtual shadow, flying out of the room without disturbing anyone outside.
Refining Dao Dan would trigger a Dan Jie, which couldn't be concealed, and he didn't want the two tribes to see it.
Han Li left the caravan, quickly found a quiet and secluded mountain peak, dug out a simple cave, and set up a few layers of restrictions around it.
...
A vast black cloud was flying through the sky in the Wilderness Domain, filled with the Great Wilderness Demon Clan's army. There were tiger-like demons, leopard-like demons, lion demons, elephant demons, and bear demons, with thousands of different kinds of demons, at least tens of thousands in total.
Among the demons, the tiger-like demons were the most numerous, making up half of the total, and the other demons seemed to be afraid of them.
In the center of the black cloud, there was a black throne, upon which sat a young man with a sinister face and white hair. He didn't have any of the Great Wilderness Demon Clan's characteristics, and looked almost identical to a human cultivator.
Around him stood seven or eight powerful demons, each with a cultivation level that had reached the Taiyi Peak.
"Young Master, this time, the old Clan Leader has let you replace him in attending the Blood Sacrifice Conference. It seems that he has already recognized you as the next Clan Leader of our Zhu Wu Clan," a giant of a man with a black body, iron-like skin, and a voice like thunder said, his face filled with a flattering smile.
The giant had yellow tiger stripes on his face, and was clearly a tiger demon.
"Among Father's ten or so children, I have the most concentrated Zhu Wu bloodline, so of course, I should inherit the Clan Leader position. Father has been dragging his feet for so long, it's simply laughable," the white-haired young man said, his face revealing a hint of cruelty.
"Perhaps the Clan Leader has other considerations..." the tiger-striped giant said, his face changing slightly.
"Hmph! What other considerations could there be? It's just my good brothers and sisters who are always whispering in Father's ear, that's why he's been hesitating for so long. If not for the Heaven's pressure, I wouldn't have been able to advance to the Da Luo Realm, and he would have continued to drag his feet!" the white-haired young man said coldly. The young master said, but you have already successfully advanced to the Great Luo, and others cannot be compared to you, so you can rest assured. A lion-type demon beast beside him spoke up.
"Rest assured? It's not time yet, my brothers and sisters have many elders of our tribe standing behind them, either openly or secretly, and we must not be careless." The white-haired youth shook his head.
"The young master is right." The tiger-striped giant nodded.
"Whatever they do, once I fully awaken the Zhōu Zhōu bloodline at the Blood Sacrifice Conference, no one will dare to question my succession to the position of tribe leader." The white-haired youth sneered.
"The young master is far-sighted and wise, we are deeply impressed." The nearby demons all flattered in unison.
The white-haired youth's face showed a hint of a smile as he was being flattered by his subordinates, but his expression suddenly changed as he looked in a certain direction.
The others quickly noticed something and also looked in that direction.
A dazzling golden light appeared at the horizon, swirling and dancing ceaselessly, making the sky in that area suddenly become heavy and oppressive.
A strong fluctuation of the law of the universe emanated from it, rolling and transmitting over, accompanied by a thunderous roar, like the sound of a thousand horses galloping.
"What a powerful phenomenon, what is it? Who is breaking through the boundary?" A white elephant demon asked in a trembling voice.
"This is not a breakthrough, someone is refining a Dao Dan, and it's a time Dao Dan. I was worried that I wouldn't have any gifts to present to the True Spirit King, but now it seems that someone has sent me a pillow!" The white-haired youth's eyes lit up, and he let out a long whistle before transforming into a white light that shot out from the black clouds, rushing towards the golden light.
The white-haired youth's speed was incredible, and he soon arrived at the location, but instead of revealing himself, he hid in a white cloud.
The sky in that area was covered by a thick layer of golden clouds, which were rolling and churning.
A massive fluctuation of the law of the universe emanated from the golden clouds, causing the spiritual energy of the heaven and earth within a hundred million miles to surge violently.
The sky was dyed golden, but it gave people a feeling of heaviness, and the mountains below were trembling, as if they couldn't bear the pressure.
A loud rumbling sound echoed!
A giant golden whirlpool formed in the clouds, and a dazzling golden light shot out, emitting a law of time that could tear apart the heavens and earth, striking a small mountain below.
The mountain was surrounded by a brilliant light, and a powerful restriction was transmitted from it.
"A cultivator from the immortal realm!" The white-haired youth's face was instantly covered with a layer of killing intent, and his eyes flashed with a cold light, revealing his desire to kill.
However, he quickly took a deep breath and suppressed the killing intent in his eyes.
At that moment, a mountain peak suddenly appeared above the small mountain, and its surface was covered with golden symbols that shone brightly.
It was the Yuán Hé Wǔ Jí Mountain!
The golden light that had been shot down from the sky struck the mountain, causing a deafening explosion.
The dark golden mountain peak only shook slightly, and the golden symbols on its surface flashed brightly, releasing a massive amount of golden light that countered the attack.
However, the attack was not over, and another golden light shot down from the sky, this time even more powerful than the first.
The dark golden mountain peak rotated rapidly, releasing even more golden light that countered the attack.
Again, a loud rumbling sound echoed!
The golden light that had been shot down was dispersed, and the dark golden mountain peak shook violently, but it managed to withstand the attack.
Before the mountain peak could recover, another golden light shot down from the sky, this time even more powerful than the previous two.
The dark golden mountain peak was severely shaken, and its golden symbols flashed brightly as it countered the attack.
The golden light that had been shot down was dispersed, and the dark golden mountain peak shook violently, but it managed to withstand the attack.
"Wow, what a powerful Dan treasure! It seems that it can withstand Dan tribulations of the fifth and sixth ranks." The white-haired youth's eyes lit up, and a hint of greed flashed across his face.
Jin Yun had finally exhausted his strength, and his body quickly dispersed, disappearing completely, leaving the sky clear once again.
The dark gold mountain peak in mid-air suddenly shrank rapidly, and with a boundless aura, it fell towards the ground.
Just as it was about to land, the nearby void began to fluctuate, and a burst of white light appeared, followed by countless white threads that seemed to materialize out of thin air, entwining the dark gold mountain peak.
The mountain peak's descent was halted, and it was completely immobilized by the white threads.
At the same time, the void fluctuated again, and a massive white claw materialized, reaching down towards the ground.
The space around the claw began to collapse, forming a massive black hole that seemed to be a giant mouth, ready to swallow the dark gold mountain peak whole.
Suddenly, the dark gold mountain peak began to shake violently, and its surface glowed with a brilliant golden light. A series of sharp, sword-like beams of light shot out from the mountain peak, cutting through the white threads and the white claw.
The sword beams passed through the void, causing it to tremble, but the white threads were incredibly resilient and could not be cut. The white claw, too, was unaffected, and it seemed to be absorbing the sword beams into its black hole.
Just as the dark gold mountain peak was about to be engulfed by the white claw, a sudden change occurred.
A brilliant golden flame shot out from the lower mountain, rapidly growing into a massive golden dragon that emitted a thunderous roar. In an instant, it flew towards the dark gold mountain peak.
The golden dragon's massive body coiled around the mountain peak, enveloping the white threads. The threads flashed with white light, but soon they were covered by the golden flames, and they began to break apart and burn.
The next moment, the golden dragon's head lifted, and it transformed into a golden shadow that slammed into the white claw.
With a loud "crack," the white claw shattered, and the golden dragon's flames engulfed the surrounding void, forming a sea of golden fire.
The flames seemed to be melting the void, and a figure stumbled out of the flames, flying towards the distance. It was the white-haired youth.
His clothes were torn, and half of his body was burned, but he didn't seem to be seriously injured. His white hair was also badly burned, but he looked more disheveled than anything.
At the same time, a figure emerged from the lower mountain, wearing a wide robe and large sleeves. It was Han Li.
He raised his hand, and the Metal-Elemental Mountain flew back to him, shrinking rapidly as it entered his sleeve.
Han Li had previously entered the Ming Han Palace and obtained the Golden Elixir, which had the power to resist the Elixir Tribulation. He had also collected the fragments of the palace's roof, which had been imbued with the power of the Metal-Elemental Mountain.
The white-haired youth was enraged, and his body glowed with white light. His forehead displayed a series of white patterns that seemed to form a "king" character.
His burned skin began to heal rapidly, and his hands transformed into sharp, snow-white claws. His back also grew a pair of wide, white wings, and his entire body transformed into a half-human, half-beast shape.
A massive aura burst forth from the white-haired youth, causing the air to distort and creating a massive whirlwind that affected the surrounding area.
Han Li was caught off guard by the whirlwind and stumbled backward, unable to stand firm.
Just as the white-haired youth was about to attack Han Li, a golden light flashed, and a golden lamp appeared, blocking the attack.
Han Li had also turned around, and with a swift motion, he released a wave of golden flames that engulfed the white-haired youth.
The white-haired youth had previously experienced the power of the ages, and he didn't dare to let the flames get close. He released a burst of white light, barely managing to stop the flames.
He was shocked and enraged, realizing that his opponent was not as weak as he seemed, thanks to the power of the golden lamp.
"You don't know who I am? You dare to hurt me? I'll make you pay with your life!" the white-haired youth shouted, his eyes blazing with fury. The white-haired youth was shocked that his opponent could keep up with his attack speed.
It was known that the white-haired youth had the Bloodline of the Ancient, which excelled in speed, and there were few tribes in the entire Savage Domain that could match him in this aspect.
Moreover, the white-haired youth's cultivation had reached the Great Luo Realm, and he was usually able to kill his enemies with a single strike, even against opponents of the same realm. His speed was always a major advantage, but now he was being matched by a human cultivator.
The white-haired youth's body moved, and he was about to retreat, creating some distance between himself and the golden flames.
A wave of golden ripples spread out from the golden flames, instantly enveloping the surrounding area of a thousand meters, and the white-haired youth was caught in the midst of it.
The white-haired youth's body hesitated, and he was enveloped by a powerful temporal law, rendering him unable to move. His heart was shocked, and he was about to use all his strength to shake off the golden ripples.
Suddenly, a golden dragon shot out from the flames, striking the white-haired youth with great force, and then transformed into a golden sun, engulfing his body. The sun then exploded with a loud bang.
A powerful blast of law energy tore apart the surrounding void, and the white-haired youth's body was torn into several pieces.
"Ahh!" The white-haired youth's body was torn apart, but he did not fall. He let out a furious roar, and a brilliant white light shot out from his body, taking the form of a white ship-type artifact.
The ship's hull was inscribed with countless Savage Domain texts, and it had a picture of a multitude of beasts gathered in worship. A massive law energy burst forth from the ship, rivaling the power of the White Flame Bird's white fire bead. The ship enveloped the white-haired youth's body and shot forward.
With a loud "ripping" sound, the golden ripples of the True Word Treasure Wheel were torn apart, and the white ship transformed into a white phantom, disappearing into the distance.
"I'll remember you, cultivator of the Immortal Realm!" The white-haired youth's angry voice echoed through the distance.
Han Li watched the scene unfold, his face calm, but he did not attempt to chase after the white-haired youth.
The white ship's speed was too fast, and Han Li knew he could not catch up.
Han Li had defeated a Great Luo cultivator with ease, but he did not show any signs of pride or arrogance. Instead, he summoned the Years of Life Lamp and gently stroked it.
The white-haired youth was a Great Luo cultivator, but his realm was not stable, and he had dared to engage in close combat with Han Li, which was a recipe for defeat.
Just then, a dark cloud appeared in the distance, filled with various demonic beasts, which let out strange cries as they charged towards Han Li.
But the dark cloud had barely approached when the demonic beasts saw the white-haired youth being severely injured and fleeing, and their cries of excitement instantly ceased.
Han Li turned to look at the dark cloud, and the demonic beasts' faces changed. The dark cloud churned violently, and then suddenly turned and chased after the white-haired youth.
Han Li raised an eyebrow, but he did not pursue the demonic beasts.
Although he had defeated the white-haired youth with the help of the Years of Life Lamp, he had expended a great deal of energy, and his body's spiritual energy was now only half full. He did not want to get involved in any more trouble, and it was better to prioritize his own safety.
He took out a recovery-type pill and swallowed it, and then his body flashed as he transformed into a streak of light, chasing after the Silver Horned Rhinoceros and Cloud Patterned Tiger tribes' caravans.
The White Flame Bird was with the caravan, and Han Li did not need to worry about finding the way.
About half a month later, Han Li caught up with the caravan and returned to his residence without a sound.
He asked the White Flame Bird about the caravan's journey, and learned that they had not encountered any major dangers during this time. He nodded, and then entered the Flowering Branch Space once again.
Han Li took out the Wheel of Reincarnation mask and put it on, attempting to contact Ape Three.
A moment later, a dark red light flashed in the distance, and Ape Three's figure appeared.
"Brother Dragon Five, you're contacting me so urgently. Have you obtained the results?" Ape Three's eyes were cold, but there was a hint of hope in them.
Han Li did not speak, and instead took out a jade box and opened it. Inside the box were five golden pills the size of dragon's eyes.
A wave of golden light burst forth from the pills, and each one had three golden lines etched onto its surface, emitting a profound and mysterious law energy.
"Dao Pills?" Ape Three's eyes lit up, and he exclaimed.
Han Li smiled faintly, and the air seemed to vibrate with the power of the pills.
To refine these five Dao Pills, Han Li had used all his alchemy techniques and auxiliary divine abilities, and had finally succeeded in completing the task.
Yuansan looked at the five golden pellets with increasing excitement in his eyes.
"Ah, Dragon Five's alchemy skills are truly impressive, to have refined five Time Pills in just five or six years. I'm impressed," Yuansan said with a bow.
"Yuansan, you said you wanted to complete this within ten years, so I naturally had to rush a bit. With a bit of luck, I was able to barely meet your requirements. Please take a look at these pills and see if they're acceptable," Han Li said with a smile, placing the five Time Pills and the box into the transmission array and activating it.
The pills and box disappeared and reappeared in front of Yuansan.
Yuansan didn't hesitate, taking out each of the five pills and carefully examining them.
"All five pills are fine, and they're all third-grade Time Pills, which is even better than I expected. I don't like to take advantage of people, so aside from the Water Source King Crystal we agreed on, I'll give you an additional 1 million Spirit Stones as a token of appreciation," Yuansan said with a nod.
"No need for the extra reward, Yuansan. You don't take advantage of people, and neither do I. Since we agreed on five Time Pills for the Water Source King Crystal, just give me the crystal," Han Li said with a faint smile.
Yuansan heard this and fell silent for a moment, but his eyes lit up slightly as he looked at Han Li.
"I didn't expect Dragon Five to be a man of his word. Very well, let's become friends today. Although I may not have Dragon Five's alchemy skills, I have some connections and methods, especially when it comes to collecting rare materials. I'm not a useless person," Yuansan said with a sudden laugh.
"Of course, I'm delighted," Han Li said with a smile, his eyes gleaming with interest.
Although he didn't know much about Yuansan, the fact that he could produce the Water Source King Crystal and had enough materials for him to refine the Time Pills meant that he must have some connections in collecting Time Law materials.
Han Li's goal in refusing the 1 million Spirit Stones was to get closer to Yuansan and gather more information about other Time Law materials. He wouldn't refuse further communication with Yuansan.
From what he could see, Yuansan was similar to him in some ways.
"I've obtained the five pills, so I need to attend to some matters. I won't chat with Dragon Five for long today, but if you're ever in Jiuyuan City, please don't hesitate to contact me. We can have a good drink and conversation," Yuansan said.
"Jiuyuan City!" Han Li's eyebrows twitched at the mention of the city.
He had heard of it before, a massive city near the Jiuyuan Sect's mountain gate, and one of the largest cities in the Dajin Yuan Immortal Domain. Could it be that Yuansan was a member of the Jiuyuan Sect?
Han Li's thoughts were racing, but he nodded in agreement.
Yuansan immediately took out the Water Source King Crystal and used the transmission array to send it to Han Li.
The two of them were eager to handle their respective items, and they quickly ended the transmission.
Han Li closed the transaction interface, looking at the Water Source King Crystal in his hand. He couldn't help but smile as he activated the "Grand Five Elements Illusory World Technique", condensing a golden ring that surrounded the crystal.
With a "crack", the crystal shattered, releasing numerous water droplet-shaped golden light points that flew into the golden ring and merged with it. The light points then transformed into 41 golden threads that wrapped around the Time Vessel.
Han Li's internal Time Law energy surged, almost returning to its previous peak.
Han Li closed his eyes, circulating the "Grand Five Elements Illusory World Technique" as the five Time Law items rotated around him. They moved more smoothly than before, and his heart felt a surge of joy.
He shook his head, putting away the technique, and took out the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array diagram to continue studying its mysteries. He didn't stop for a moment.
The mysterious situation in the Eight Wastes Mountain range was still unknown to him, and he needed to increase his strength as quickly as possible.
The Heaven-Piercing Sword diagram floated above Han Li's head, emitting a soft glow that enveloped his body.
Threads of mysterious sword array changes flowed from the diagram, and Han Li's understanding of the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array deepened rapidly.
Time passed quickly, and several years went by in the blink of an eye. The Eight Wastes Mountain range finally came into view.
...
The vast expanse of the Savage Wilderness was impossible to calculate, but it was divided into irregular regions due to the presence of various immortal domains. The Eight Wastes Mountain range was a particularly special location.
It was said that the mountain range was the origin of the Savage Wilderness's mountains and rivers, with nearly half of the mountain ranges and rivers originating from it.
Therefore, it was said that the Eight Wastes Mountain range was the source of the Savage Wilderness's mountains and rivers, and it wasn't an exaggeration.
It was also said that when the eight True Spirits attempted to end the Savage Wilderness's chaotic era, the Eight Wastes Mountain range became the location of their alliance and oath, and it became the sacred mountain of the entire Savage Wilderness.
At the peak of the Eight Wastes Mountain range stood a black stone structure, a circular great hall.
The great hall was surrounded by a closed-off area, with only a single dark red fire pit in the center, where a cluster of golden flames burned steadily. The flames weren't too intense, casting a faint glow over the surroundings. The grand hall was surrounded by four walls, with eight stone chairs arranged in a simple and unadorned style, resembling those found in a common village. Each chair had a rough, unpolished texture.
Behind each chair stood a stone statue, over a zhang tall, with most of them depicting fierce beasts. However, one statue stood out from the rest.
It was a majestic lion with a snow-white body, its mane fluffy, and a pair of horns on its head. A beard hung from its chin, and its face appeared kind and gentle. A long, thick tail swished behind it, resembling a cloud of white mist.
Unlike the other statues, this one had a person sitting in front of it. The man wore a snow-white long robe, with a face as smooth as jade and eyebrows that shone like stars. His eyes were deep and mysterious, with a faint golden glow surrounding his pupils, like the moon reflected in a lake.
However, his head was adorned with two curved horns, and a small tuft of goat-like beard hung from his chin. This added a touch of vitality to his otherwise serene and dignified appearance.
At this moment, the man held a scroll made of green jade, but he didn't look at it. Instead, his gaze fell upon the fire pit in the center of the hall, his eyes flickering with a hint of unease.
After a moment, he withdrew his gaze, and his face took on a more melancholic expression.
It was in this very hall that he, along with other true spirit kings, had formed an alliance and ended the era of chaos in the primordial realm. However, now, among the eight true spirit kings, only he remained.
He was the wisest of them all, the White Beast Bai Ze.
Legend had it that he had been the one to bring the eight kings together and forge the alliance.
Later, it was he and the ink-eyed Pixiu who had revised the primordial law, establishing a set of basic etiquette for the entire primordial realm. This had finally brought an end to the era of chaos and strife.
"Back then, I had to endure so much disdain to bring you all together. Now, you've all scattered, and I'm left to deal with the mess. Why should I be the one to clean up after you?" Bai Ze's eyes swept over the empty chairs, and he couldn't help but complain.
After his outburst, he chuckled wryly and continued to gaze at the flames. "These years, the primordial fire has grown weaker, and the entire realm is on the brink of chaos. The great tide of fate is sweeping us up, and we cannot escape. The gates of the Asura Bloodline will be opened, and you will not be able to avoid it..."
As he spoke, Bai Ze's expression seemed to brighten, and he stroked his goat-like beard, a smile spreading across his face.
The grand hall began to echo with his voice: "The great wind rises, the clouds soar..."
...
Below the Eight Wastes Mountain, a black stone city stood tall.
The city was over a hundred zhang tall, with a bustling crowd at the entrance. Caravans loaded with exotic beasts and goods flowed in, one after another.
A small, unassuming caravan was nestled among the larger groups, drawing attention to itself.
At the front of the caravan, a tall, silver-horned man with a worried expression walked back, his face a picture of concern. This was Sang Tu.
"Stone Elder, we're approaching the Town of the Primordial Realm. The guards at the entrance are strict, and with our tribes' identities... we might not be allowed in. It would be best if you could intervene," Sang Tu said, rubbing his hands together.
Inside the carriage, Han Li sat quietly, his aura hidden. Unless a powerful demon attacked the silver-horned and cloud-patterned tiger tribes, he would not intervene. Otherwise, he remained hidden, not revealing his presence.
This had earned him the respect and fear of the two tribes. In the realm of the immortals, strength was revered, and the primordial realm was no exception.
Sang Tu and Yun Bao's abilities were not enough to discern the unusual aura of Han Li's true spirit bloodline. However, if they encountered someone stronger than Han Li, it would be difficult to conceal his true identity.
If Han Li's human identity was discovered, it would invite unnecessary trouble.
He had come to this place for a purpose, not to seek trouble.
"No need to worry, just accept the inspection, and everything will be fine," Han Li said calmly.
Sang Tu's heart eased significantly at Han Li's words. Over the years, he and Yun Bao had witnessed Han Li's abilities and had grown to trust him.
He glanced at Yun Bao, who nodded and continued to drive the carriage forward.
As they approached the entrance, two guards with eagle-like heads and sharp eyes blocked their path. "Halt, which tribe are you from?" one of them asked, eyeing the caravan.
The two of us are from the Silver Horned Rhinoceros Tribe and the Cloud Patterned Tiger Tribe..." Santu's voice was a bit dry and tense.
The guard looked at him with a start, turned to another soldier, and asked with a questioning expression.
"I've never heard of it, and it seems that neither the Wasteland Tribe nor the Hundred Tribes have such a tribe." The other soldier thought for a moment, shook his head, and said.
"We are two small tribes under the jurisdiction of the Earth Dragon Tribe, sir. You probably haven't heard of us." Yunbao had already gotten down from the beast-drawn carriage and was standing beside Santu, swallowing his saliva before speaking.
As soon as he heard this, the two guards' faces fell, and their eyes flashed with a hint of impatience.
"You don't know what's going on in the Wasteland City and the Eight Wasteland Mountains? What are you doing here causing trouble? This place is not somewhere you can come to, hurry up and leave." One of the guards said, trying to be patient.
"Sir, we know that the Eight Wasteland Mountains are going to hold a Blood Sacrifice Conference, and we're here to participate in the grand event." Santu quickly replied.
As soon as he said this, a burst of laughter erupted from the surrounding crowd.
Another group of people, numbering around seventy or eighty, had arrived at the adjacent gate. They were all tall and muscular, with sharp horns on their heads, monkey-like faces, and wore copper armor. Their exposed hands were red as blood, and they looked at Santu with a mocking expression.
Santu only glanced at them before quickly looking away, because this group was the Qingyuan Tribe, one of the Wasteland Tribes, and also one of the most bloodthirsty and aggressive tribes in the Wasteland.
Years ago, one of the Eight Wasteland Kings, Zhu Yan, had left behind four descendants, which eventually evolved into four different tribes. Among them, the Qingyuan Tribe was the one that inherited the most of his bloodline and was the strongest.
Compared to the disdain shown to the Silver Horned Rhinoceros Tribe and the Cloud Patterned Tiger Tribe, the guards treated the Qingyuan Tribe with much more courtesy, and didn't even bother to check them before letting them pass.
"What are you still looking at? Hurry up and leave..." The guard at this gate urged Santu and Yunbao to leave.
"Sir, we've brought a descendant of the Eight True Spirit Kings' bloodline, and we have the qualifications to enter the Wasteland City." Santu said, feeling a bit helpless.
As soon as he said this, the two guards looked at each other in surprise.
"What kind of goods are you talking about, daring to mention the True Spirit King's bloodline?" A loud, thunderous voice suddenly came from the side.
Santu's heart skipped a beat as he turned to look at the speaker.
A scar-faced Qingyuan tribesman was walking towards them, his face full of anger.
"We..." Santu quickly lowered his head, trying to explain.
But before he could even finish speaking, he felt a sudden impact on his chest, and his body flew backwards, crashing into the thick city wall before sliding down, coughing up blood.
Yunbao saw this and tried to rush over to help him, but was slapped to the ground by a powerful palm wind.
The Qingyuan tribesman stepped on him, his face full of contempt, saying, "You're a lowly, insignificant tribe, and you dare to claim to be descendants of the True Spirit King? This is an insult to the Wasteland Tribes!"
Yunbao felt his gallbladder being trampled, and he couldn't even speak, his mouth opening and closing in silence.
This Qingyuan tribesman was as powerful as a Taiyi-stage cultivator, and they were no match for him.
"You're going to die, you've sullied my foot..." The Qingyuan tribesman spat, his face full of disgust, and raised his foot to crush Yunbao's head.
The surrounding crowd of onlookers, numbering in the hundreds, didn't even try to stop him, and instead seemed to be enjoying the bloody spectacle.
Santu struggled to get up, but was held back by the two guards.
"Earlier, we told you to leave, now don't go and get yourself killed..." one of the guards whispered in his ear.
But Santu didn't care, his eyes flashing with anger, his body suddenly growing several times larger, a massive black stone axe appearing in his hand.
However, before he could even move, the two guards suddenly grew in size, their long spears crossing to press against Santu's neck, saying, "You want to die, but don't drag us down with you."
At this moment, the Qingyuan tribesman's foot was about to crush Yunbao's head, and it was clear that he was going to kill him.
Just as Yunbao was about to meet his end, the people from the two tribes, who had been following them, charged forward, ready to die to save their leader.
But just as they were about to attack, a faint voice came from the beast-drawn carriage:
"You dare to try and crush him?"
The voice was soft, but it was clear and loud, and it made everyone pause, looking at the speaker in surprise. "What person is hiding in the carriage, pretending to be a ghost? I'll step on it, how's that?"
The Qingyuan tribe's person's movements slightly paused, and then a sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth. He heavily stepped down.
Suddenly, a loud thunderous sound echoed, and a silver electric wrapped blue figure shot out from the carriage, instantly appearing in front of the Qingyuan tribe's person.
Before he could even react, a burst of thunder exploded, and the Qingyuan tribe's person's body flew backward in an instant, crashing into the black city wall, causing the entire wall to shake violently.
The surrounding people were shocked by the sudden scene, and their eyes all gathered on the blue figure.
It was naturally Han Li, who had appeared to save Yunbao's life.
Han Li slowly bent down, picked up Yunbao, and handed him a blue pill. His eyebrows were furrowed as he looked at the two soldiers holding Shantu.
They saw Han Li's attitude and knew not to mess with him, so they quickly let go.
Shantu also stumbled back, returning to Han Li.
Han Li took out another pill and gave it to Shantu, then turned his gaze to the Qingyuan tribe's person.
The Qingyuan tribe's person was born with a strong physique, and the thick city wall, which was reinforced with array formations, had been cracked open by his crash. He didn't seem to have suffered any injuries, and after dusting himself off, he stood stably.
However, Han Li didn't want to make a big deal out of the situation and didn't use his true bloodline power. Instead, he suppressed his spiritual energy and maintained a calm demeanor, staring at the Qingyuan tribe's person.
"Lei Peng's tribe... are those two your subordinates?" The Qingyuan tribe's person didn't attack again, seemingly wary of Lei Peng's tribe, and asked instead.
Like the Qingyuan tribe, Lei Peng's tribe was also one of the eight true spirits of the barbarian tribes, and they were descendants of the Heavenly Crane Peng. Although they were slightly weaker than the Qingyuan tribe, they had a strong and protective tribe leader.
In history, whenever Lei Peng's tribe's younger generation was bullied, the tribe leader would personally take action and demand justice.
"We're just entering the city, do we need to go to such lengths?" Han Li didn't answer, instead asking calmly.
"Lei Peng's tribe, I know many of them. Are you daring to tell me your name?" The Qingyuan tribe's person's eyebrows furrowed, and he said.
"Can we enter the city now?" Han Li ignored him and turned to ask the two soldiers.
"Of course, of course, please..." One of the soldiers nodded hastily and said.
Han Li waved his hand, and the two tribesmen quickly helped Shantu and Yunbao onto the beast carriage, preparing to enter the city.
"Lei Peng's tribe doesn't have anyone like you, could you be a mixed-blood from a branch tribe? You're not qualified to participate in the grand meeting, scram!" The Qingyuan tribe's person's anger finally boiled over, and he shouted loudly.
For the barbarian tribes, bloodline was extremely important, and being called a "mixed-blood" was enough to make someone fight to the death.
Han Li, however, was not from the barbarian tribes, and being called a mixed-blood didn't affect him much. He just wanted to enter the city smoothly and then head to the Eight Wastes Mountain to rescue Xiao Bai. He didn't get angry, instead turning to walk towards the carriage.
However, his actions seemed like he was acknowledging defeat, and the surrounding people began to jeer and shout for them to leave.
Seeing this, the Qingyuan tribe's person became even more arrogant, convinced that Han Li was just a branch tribe mixed-blood. He took a step forward, reaching out to grab Han Li's back.
"Dog mixed-blood! You want to enter this gate? First, you have to get past me!"
As he stepped forward, the black stone ground suddenly cracked, and a giant hand burst out, reaching for Han Li's back.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he let out a silent sigh. It seemed he couldn't avoid this.
As he thought this, his body suddenly turned, and his five fingers curled into an eagle claw shape. He turned to face the Qingyuan tribe's person and grabbed towards him.
His bloodline power and star power simultaneously erupted, and a silver electric light burst forth, forming a giant Lei Peng claw. The two clashed, and a thunderous explosion shook the air.
A powerful gust of wind burst forth, sweeping sideways and forcing the surrounding people to retreat.
Layer upon layer of silver electric light exploded, and fist-sized balls of lightning shot out, forcing the onlookers to stumble backward.
The beasts pulling the carriages were startled, and they too began to roar and struggle, causing chaos in the surroundings.
The Qingyuan tribe's person was shocked, as Lei Peng's tribe was known for their speed, but their strength was not weak either. However, Han Li had met him head-on with brute force, and it seemed he was not at a disadvantage. This was unexpected.
The Qingshou tribe people were shocked and dismayed, but their minds were resolute. They couldn't let their tribe's reputation be tarnished, and they wouldn't be able to show their faces to their tribe members if they lost.
Just then, a loud roar erupted from the Qingshou tribe person's mouth, and his eyes flashed with a fierce light. His two sharp horns suddenly extended, and his muscles began to bulge rapidly. His body expanded to twice its original size, and a crimson mist emanated from his fists, containing a power that had increased tenfold.
"Die...!" the Qingshou tribe person roared, his massive fist pressing down on Han Li.
Han Li's body was forced to crouch down, but he suddenly flashed a fierce light in his eyes. His feet, which had been deeply buried in the ground, suddenly kicked out, and he shot upwards like a lightning bolt, directly breaking through the Qingshou tribe person's fist.
His body flashed once, and he appeared in the high air, his arms spread wide like an eagle's wings.
The next instant, a loud thunderclap boomed, and a silver lightning bolt descended from the sky, striking the Qingshou tribe person with incredible force. The Qingshou tribe person, who had just stabilized his body, looked up to see a massive silver winged creature descending from the sky, its body as large as a mountain, and its lightning-filled aura directly striking him.
The impact was immense, and the Qingshou tribe person was sent flying to the ground, his body battered by countless lightning bolts. His skin was torn and charred, and he lay motionless on the ground.
Han Li, who had released the attack, suddenly contracted his body, returning to his human form. He stood beside his beast cart, his face expressionless, gazing at the Qingshou tribe person who lay on the ground.
The Qingshou tribe person, despite his severe injuries, was not seriously hurt, a testament to the strength of his tribe's collective spirit.
Han Li had not intended to kill him, and now that the Qingshou tribe person had been thoroughly defeated, he was satisfied.
The Qingshou tribe person struggled to get up, his body numb, and his eyes filled with shock and incredulity.
The surrounding crowd erupted in cheers and jeers, ridiculing the Qingshou tribe person and admiring Han Li. Even the usually stoic Santu and Yun Bao were excited, their faces filled with admiration for Han Li.
It was clear that they saw Han Li as a formidable opponent, capable of easily defeating the Qingshou tribe person, who was known for his strength.
Han Li, seeing that the Qingshou tribe person was no longer a threat, turned to leave, but just then, the crowd's jeers stopped, and Han Li's brow furrowed.
A new figure emerged from the city gate, a Qingshou tribe person clad in reddish-brown armor, his upper body exposed. He was larger than the previous Qingshou tribe person, and his aura was more stable, comparable to that of a Taizong peak cultivator.
"Qingshou, you're a waste, and you've disgraced our tribe," the new Qingshou tribe person said, his voice hoarse.
"Brother, I..."
"Shut up!" The new Qingshou tribe person slapped the previous one, sending him flying.
"Brother, is that... isn't that the newly emerged bloodline of the Qingshou tribe, the one who's said to be the purest inheritor of the Zhu Yan bloodline?" someone exclaimed.
"That's right, that's Qingshou Tian, the next leader of the Qingshou tribe!" another person shouted.
"Hehe, this is going to be interesting!"
"Shh, be quiet, I've heard that Qingshou Tian has a bad temper, and if you don't want to get killed, you should be careful."
Han Li listened to the surrounding chatter, his brow furrowed in concern.
"My brother may be a waste, but he's not someone who can be easily defeated. Since he can't restore our tribe's reputation, I'll do it myself. Do you want to settle this with a fight or a duel to the death?" Qingshou Tian asked, his expression calm.
Han Li's heart sank, thinking that he had just defeated the smaller Qingshou tribe person, and now the larger one had appeared. Would he have to fight the older one next? Han Li was getting impatient, unable to bear the endless nagging.
"Alright, let's get straight to the point. How do you want to die?" Seeing Han Li remain silent, Qing Dian added, his arm muscles tensing, his veins bulging.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly, his expression suddenly turning cold.
He stood with his hands behind his back, his sleeves rustling softly as small, silver electrical arcs danced within.
The surrounding crowd had fallen silent, their attention focused on the two of them, eager to see how many moves Qing Dian, the rumored next patriarch of the Qing Yuan tribe, could use to defeat the young man from the Lei Peng tribe.
Sang Tu and Yun Bao, in particular, were holding their breath, their foreheads sweating as they hesitated over whether to take advantage of the situation to slip away.
After all, in their opinion, Han Li was strong, but he was no match for the future patriarch of the Qing Yuan tribe. If they, the two small tribes, were to offend him, they might not be able to escape unscathed.
Just as the atmosphere at the city gate was tense, with conflict imminent, a clear, melodious voice suddenly broke the silence: "Hey, brother, isn't that Stone Brother?"
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he turned to look towards the entrance.
A beautiful young girl, dressed in a snow-white short skirt, was jumping towards him, her face radiant with a natural charm that made everyone present swallow their saliva.
Even Qing Dian was momentarily entranced by the girl's beauty.
However, the girl's eyes shone with a pure, innocent light, filled with a smile that was solely for Han Li.
"Le'er..." Han Li's eyebrows arched as he smiled, calling out to her.
The next instant, a fragrant breeze wafted through the air, and Han Li's arms were filled with a soft, boneless body.
The surrounding crowd watched, their eyes widening in envy, as their earlier goodwill towards Han Li vanished.
The girl, of course, was none other than Liu Le'er, the little fox who had accompanied Han Li in the Ling Huan realm.
"Brother, why did you come here without telling me? I would have gone to welcome you!"
Han Li held her shoulders, pushing her back slightly as he looked her up and down, nodding in approval.
Le'er's face flushed as she remembered the past, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
This scene only added to the crowd's infatuation, as they watched the girl who seemed to have cast a spell on them without even trying.
"Where did this little girl come from? Get out of the way!" Qing Dian snapped, his anger rising.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, his temper flaring up in response.
Just as he was about to step forward to resolve the situation, Le'er reached out and grasped his arm, pulling him back.
Then, she stepped forward, curtsying elegantly to Qing Dian.
"Sir, you must be a friend of the Qing Yuan tribe. Do you recognize this object?" Le'er asked, her hand flipping over to reveal a palm-sized, round scale.
Qing Dian's eyes widened as he stared at the scale, his face paling.
Han Li's eyes scanned the scale, noticing the intricate patterns etched into its surface, and his eyebrows arched in surprise.
He realized that the scale was identical to the one Li Qi Mu had given him when they parted ways after leaving the Sui Yue Tower.
The surrounding crowd gasped, recognizing the scale as they bowed in unison, some even prostrating themselves on the ground.
Qing Dian's voice trembled as he asked, "Is this...the True Spirit King's token? How did you obtain it?"
Le'er smiled, her eyes sparkling with amusement.
"Not bad, sir. I am indeed a member of the Tian Hu tribe."
Han Li's eyes narrowed, his mind racing with questions.
"Le'er, what is this scale? It seems to be extremely rare..."
Le'er's voice whispered in his ear, "Brother, this is the True Spirit King's token, a symbol of his trust. There are only seven of these scales in existence, and our tribe has been honored with one. Our ancestor has always cherished me, and so I carry it with me."
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise, his mind reeling with the implications. Why had Li Qi Mu given him such a valuable object?
Qing Dian gazed at Liu Le Er's figure and the transformed scale in her hand, seemingly finally recognizing her identity. However, when his gaze fell upon Han Li, his eyes grew increasingly dark.
"This is my friend. I implore you, esteemed Daoist, to look at the token and our Fox Clan's humble face, and not to dwell on past grievances. Let them enter the city with me," Liu Le Er said with a smile, putting away the token.
Qing Dian's face broke into a mocking smile as he replied, "I've long heard that your Fox Clan is fond of being ambiguous with humans. Now, it seems that this statement is indeed true. The person beside you has undoubtedly infiltrated our Savage Domain with ulterior motives, yet you're going to great lengths to protect him. Could it be that you're planning to rebel against the Savage Tribes?"
Liu Le Er's expression changed ever so slightly as she replied, "Your words are unreasonable, esteemed Daoist. To place such a large hat on my head, I dare not accept."
The Savage Tribes' disdain for humans was something Liu Le Er was well aware of. Qing Dian's revelation of Han Li's human identity was equivalent to pushing him towards death.
As expected, the surrounding crowd's expressions changed upon hearing that Han Li was human. Some looked at him with suspicion, while others glared at him with hostility.
Even Sang Tu and Yun Bao, who were standing by the carriage, looked over at Han Li with complex expressions.
As for Han Li's identity, they had indeed harbored doubts, but they had been unwilling to acknowledge them. On one hand, it was due to his strength, and on the other hand, without Han Li, they might not have had the opportunity to come to the Savage Domain.
Just recently, Han Li had saved them, so they felt a mix of fear, reverence, and gratitude towards him.
"You're called Qing Dian, right? Food can be eaten carelessly, but words cannot be spoken carelessly. My true spirit bloodline is not something that can be faked, so why would you say I'm human?" Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he coldly replied.
"The transmission of bloodlines is not limited to a single method, and humans have frequently stolen the bloodlines of demonic beasts and true spirits over the years. Although you possess a true spirit bloodline, it doesn't mean you're one of our Savage Tribes. Moreover, when she presented the transformed scale earlier, you didn't even pay respects. This shows that you have no reverence for the True Spirit King, and you're definitely not one of our Savage Tribes," Qing Dian coldly retorted.
"You've analyzed... with some reason, but it's all just wild speculation. I'll only ask you one question: if I were a spy sent by humans, would I be able to possess this object?" Han Li said with a smile, nodding his head.
As he spoke, he flipped his palm, and a flash of light appeared, revealing another transformed scale identical to the one Liu Le Er had presented earlier.
"Another transformed scale...!" someone in the crowd exclaimed.
"Could it be fake?"
"Is this person also someone trusted by the True Spirit King?"
The crowd was shocked once again, and even Liu Le Er's eyes flickered with surprise.
However, this time, only a portion of the crowd bowed in respect, while the rest remained still, their eyes filled with doubt.
"Hmph, what a joke! Your token must be fake, and the True Spirit King's tokens only number seven. How could it be so coincidental that two of them appear here at the same time?" Qing Dian's expression turned stern as he loudly declared.
"This object is genuine or not, you should be clear about it in your heart. You've said it yourself, there are only seven tokens. Who has the ability to forge a token that's identical in every aspect, including its aura?" Liu Le Er solemnly replied.
Qing Dian's expression faltered for a moment, but he still refused to give in.
"The object has been shown to you, and if you don't move aside, don't blame me for not considering your Qing Yuan Clan's face," Han Li coldly said.
"Oh, I'll see about that! I'll see whether you can crush my Qing Yuan Clan's face or whether I can unmask your true identity!" Qing Dian seemed to have made up his mind, saying.
Han Li's gaze narrowed as he scanned the surroundings. Qing Dian's brief moment of hesitation earlier was likely due to someone's secret instructions.
That person was able to remain resolute in the face of the token, which suggested that they were confident in their ability to determine Han Li's human identity. Such a person was likely a powerful being of the Great Luo level.
With this thought, Han Li became more cautious and transmitted a message to Liu Le Er, saying, "Things will likely become chaotic here soon, and my identity may be exposed. It's not safe for you to stay by my side, so please return to your Fox Clan. After you escape, I'll find a way to contact you."
Unexpectedly, Liu Le Er smiled and replied, "Stone Brother, I'm not the same little girl who used to hide behind you. Don't worry, even if a fight breaks out, I have the ability to protect myself."
Han Li's heart stirred as he thought about her background as a member of the Savage Domain's Sixteen Great Savage Tribes, the Fox Clan. He felt a bit more at ease.
"You're courting death, yet you still don't know it. Come and meet your demise!"
Qing Dian's eyes grew more jealous as he watched Han Li and Liu Le Er's exchange, and he charged forward with a loud shout.
As he took each step, a dark red glow spread from his feet, causing the entire city wall to tremble. The crowd retreated, clearing a space in the middle, leaving only Han Li and Liu Le Er standing. Han Li's gaze suddenly focused, and he saw that Qing Dian's eyes had turned bright red, and the skin on his body was covered in ancient, crimson-colored patterns, emitting a fierce, bloodthirsty aura.
At the same time, his body had only grown slightly larger, not as exaggerated as Qing Dian's, but his face had undergone a more noticeable change, with his nose shrinking, his mouth protruding, and two massive fangs extending from his mouth, making him look even more like a ferocious, white-haired ape.
As Qing Dian charged forward, Han Li's eyes suddenly locked onto him, and he took a step forward, blocking Liu Le'er behind him.
Liu Le'er was about to do something, but she felt a gentle, unseen force push her body backward, and she landed steadily hundreds of feet away.
Han Li's hands suddenly shot forward, and the air around him was filled with thunderous roars, as silver-colored electrical threads burst forth, twisting into two massive, electrified claws that clashed with Qing Dian's fists.
A burst of electricity illuminated the air, and Han Li's body simultaneously activated the Tian Xia Zhen Yu Gong, channeling all his strength into his arms. He grabbed Qing Dian's fists, and with a fierce twist, he tried to send Qing Dian crashing to the ground.
However, Qing Dian's body was as stable as a mountain, and he didn't budge.
"Hmph, daring to compare strength with me? You're truly courting disaster," Qing Dian sneered, retracting his fists. Han Li lost control, and his hands were forced to release Qing Dian's fists.
Han Li was shocked, as his Xing Chen Twelve Transformations' power was not as strong as the Mountain Giant Ape's, but it was still formidable. Qing Dian's strength was actually beyond his own.
Before Han Li could comprehend this, Qing Dian launched a swift punch at him, striking him with incredible force.
Han Li's body flashed with silver light, and he vanished from Qing Dian's punch, reappearing behind him in the next instant.
At the same time, his hand flashed with a blue light, and a blue bamboo sword materialized, its blade crackling with electricity. A golden, electrified aura burst forth, stabbing towards Qing Dian's neck.
The attack was too fast, and Qing Dian couldn't react in time.
But as the sword struck, Qing Dian's skin glowed with a bright, crimson light, and his skin turned crystal clear.
A deafening explosion shook the air, and a brilliant, golden light erupted!
Countless electrical threads burst forth, transforming into numerous, tiny, golden snakes that shot out in all directions.
In the midst of the golden light, a strange, pulsating wave suddenly appeared, and a crimson-colored wave burst forth, hurtling towards Han Li with incredible speed.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and he instinctively reversed the rotation of his internal mantra, his body shifting to the side.
The crimson wave grazed his shoulder, striking the castle wall behind him.
A deafening crash shook the castle, and the wall trembled.
Han Li felt a searing pain on his shoulder, and he saw that his clothes had been torn apart, revealing a bloody, crimson-colored wound.
He examined the wound and found that a layer of crimson-colored, molten rock had attached itself to his shoulder, spreading towards his arm. The True Extreme membrane that protected his body had been breached.
As he turned to look, he saw that the castle wall behind him had also been damaged, with a gaping hole that seemed to be burning with an intense, crimson-colored flame.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he raised his hand, a silver flame erupting from his palm. With a swift motion, he sliced away the molten rock, removing it from his shoulder.
However, despite removing the rock, Han Li still felt a lingering, strange energy within his wound, slowing down the healing process.
"Brother, don't compare strength with him, Le'er can assist you!" Liu Le'er called out from a distance.
Han Li shook his head, indicating that he was fine and didn't want her to interfere.
At the same time, an old, white-haired man stood on the castle walls, his back bowed, and his hands clasped behind his back. He gazed at Han Li with narrowed eyes, muttering to himself:
"His physique is not bad, and he's actually cultivating the Time Law. Although it's likely just a superficial understanding, it's still a Supreme Law. Qing Dian will probably need to expend some effort..."
The old man's skin was dark, with only his face being pale, and his features were deeply etched, giving him an unusual appearance. However, his aura was extremely subdued, and he blended into the surroundings.
As he pondered, the air around him began to distort, and a faint, red mist seemed to spread.
"He's even using this move, it seems there won't be any unexpected twists," the old man said with a hint of a smile.
The air around him seemed to ripple, and a strange, pulsating wave appeared, as if a red mist was spreading through the air.
"Looks like things are going as expected," the old man said, his voice barely above a whisper.
The old man finished speaking, then withdrew his gaze, losing interest, and turned to leave the city head.
As he took a step away, he suddenly remembered something, and his lips moved as he transmitted his voice to Qingdian: "The human's life and death are at his own discretion, but the Tian Huo tribe's people cannot be harmed."
After receiving Qingdian's affirmative response, the old man finally left.
Qingdian, who had obtained the old man's tacit approval, had a sly smile on his face, and his two protruding fangs glinted with a cold light.
"Rooooo!"
He suddenly opened his mouth and let out a loud roar.
A red glow spread out from his mouth, forming a huge blood-red vortex that emitted a powerful attractive force, enveloping Han Li.
Han Li had already sensed the anomaly and had reversed the rotation of the true speech treasure wheel in his body. Before being bound by the force, he had already blurred and flashed out of his original position.
However, as soon as he moved, he felt a numbness in his entire shoulder, and the place where he had been injured by the magma suddenly felt an inexplicable, strange power surging out, as if it was resonating with the attractive force emitted by Qingdian's mouth.
No matter where he moved, the force would follow him, and the blood-red vortex would sweep in.
As time passed, the attractive force grew stronger, and the blood-red vortex's speed increased.
Finally, the force surged to the point where Han Li's time law power could not withstand it, and his body was torn apart, moving horizontally, and he fell into the blood-red vortex, being enveloped and disappearing.
"Brother!" Liu Le'er cried out, but it was too late.
She glared at Qingdian, who responded with a smug smile, looking completely unconcerned.
The surrounding crowd erupted in a cacophony of voices, with many people sighing in dismay, but no one dared to say anything.
Sang Tu and Yun Bao's faces had turned pale, and they stared blankly at the direction Han Li had disappeared in, exchanging worried glances.
Under the crowd's astonished gaze, Liu Le'er seemed to calm down, and she walked towards Qingdian, step by step.
...
At this moment, Han Li entered a strange, empty space, suspended in mid-air, surrounded by a foul, pungent smell.
In front of him, a magma waterfall cascaded down, and beneath him, a lake of magma churned, with bubbles constantly rising and bursting.
Han Li wrinkled his nose, composed himself, and looked around, but the surrounding space was not too large, with dark red walls on all sides, flowing with crimson magma, like a living creature.
As he pondered, his eyes turned a deep purple, and he scanned the surroundings.
In his gaze, he discovered that beneath the irregular walls, there were veins of channels distributing, with threads of immortal energy flowing through them.
"Strange... Could this be the inside of that guy's belly? I couldn't have been swallowed by him, could I?" Han Li thought, his mind filled with doubts, and he couldn't help but touch his nose, muttering to himself.
Just as he was wondering, the dark red walls around him began to convulse violently, squeezing towards the center, continuously shrinking the surrounding space.
The magma waterfall above him also became turbulent, and a wave of intense heat surged towards Han Li.
Han Li's heart tightened, and he swung his hands to the left and right, releasing a burst of green light, and thirty-six green bamboo swords shot out, their blades flashing with light, splitting into numerous green sword lights that shot out in all directions.
The small space was filled with the sound of swords clashing, and the sword lights were dazzling.
However, despite the swords' ferocity, the walls around him remained unmoved, and he could not break through.
As the walls continued to shrink, Han Li's range of movement decreased, and the dense sword lights disappeared.
The magma waterfall above him finally fell onto his body.
Han Li felt an immense weight crushing him, and his body plummeted, falling into the lake of magma below, being engulfed by the scorching hot magma, his entire body burning with pain.
He knew that if the surrounding space was completely closed, he would be sealed within the magma lake, and although he might not be in danger of losing his life in the short term, he could not guarantee that something unexpected would not happen over time.
As he thought, he saw his hand shoot up towards the sky, and the thirty-six green bamboo swords merged into one, shooting out like a dragon, and suddenly broke through the lake, creating a path through the squeezing walls.
Han Li's body was like lightning, closely following the sword, and he flew out, his other hand holding the Xuan Tian gourd, which emitted a green light, spinning and absorbing the magma waterfall that was falling from above.
Without the obstruction of the waterfall, the air in front of him was still scorching hot, but it could no longer block Han Li's advance.
After rushing out about a hundred meters, Han Li finally escaped the squeezing walls, and his body rose and fell several times before landing on a domed, empty space. In front of the empty land, a lava waterfall cascaded down from the middle, flowing smoothly downwards.
Han Li's figure flickered, using the momentum of the Xuantian Gourd to pass through the lava waterfall, and discovered that the area behind was even more desolate, with only two white stone pillars standing in front, emitting a faint aura of sealing power.
"Ah, I've finally found the way..." Han Li's heart was filled with joy, and he put away the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword and the Xuantian Gourd.
He gazed at the two white stone pillars, stroking his chin, and carefully examined them.
...
Meanwhile, outside the city gate, Liu Le'er was pointing at Qingdian, questioning him:
"Where did you take my brother? Why can't I sense his aura?"
"That little brat has already entered my inner space, and it won't take long for him to be melted by the yuan fire lava. You naturally won't be able to sense his aura. Little sister, why don't you acknowledge me as your big brother? Ha ha!" Qingdian looked at Liu Le'er, who was less than half his height, and laughed loudly.
"Pitiful, truly pitiful..."
Liu Le'er heard these words, but instead of being shocked, she seemed to relax a bit, and said:
Qingdian thought Liu Le'er was talking about Han Li, but seeing her expression change, he felt a bit puzzled.
"You dare to swallow Stone Brother into your belly, you'll regret it... no, I should say, you're already too late to regret it... pitiful..." Liu Le'er suddenly revealed a sympathetic expression, and said.
Qingdian heard this, and his heart skipped a beat, feeling a sense of unease.
The next instant, a loud rumbling sound came from his mouth, followed by a burst of dark light.
Immediately, his figure lunged forward, stumbled, and almost fell, his mouth bleeding profusely, a protruding fang broke off from its root, flying out like a curved knife, and nailed itself into the city wall.
"Whoa!" the dark light disappeared, revealing a three-headed, six-armed demon god's figure.
Its true spirit bloodline was stimulated to the extreme, causing the surrounding onlookers to feel an overwhelming urge to worship.
"I knew you'd be fine." Liu Le'er saw Han Li's appearance, and although she flashed a hint of surprise, she still smiled and said.
Han Li nodded slightly at Liu Le'er, and looked at Qingdian.
"No..."
Qingdian's mouth was bleeding, and he stared at the broken fang on the wall, his anger reaching a boiling point.
These two fangs, which he had used countless treasures to refine for years, were equivalent to a six-grade immortal artifact, and were crucial to sealing his inner space. Now that Han Li had broken one of them, it was as if he had opened the floodgates, and the cost of repairing it would be enormous. How could he not be furious?
"You little brat, I'll kill you..." Qingdian's voice exploded, his body enveloped in a red glow, and his figure began to rapidly expand, soon surpassing the city wall.
The dark red markings on his body began to spread, his pupils turned completely red, and a pink mist began to emanate from his body, as if he was about to reveal his true form.
Han Li saw this, and no longer suppressed his aura, his true spirit bloodline and the Tianxia Town Prison technique operating at full strength, his body began to rapidly expand, not inferior to Qingdian.
The onlookers saw this, and knowing that the two were about to engage in a life-or-death battle, they retreated to a safer distance.
At this moment, a figure appeared from the sky, descending onto Qingdian's shoulder.
Qingdian was stepped on, and his figure suddenly shrunk, his hand pausing in mid-air, ready to strike.
But when he saw the person's face, he immediately regained his composure, stopped his hand, and his body began to rapidly shrink, returning to its original size.
Han Li's gaze swept over, and he saw that the person standing on Qingdian's shoulder was a tall, handsome young man, dressed in a white robe, with snow-white long hair tied up in a high bun, looking elegant and extraordinary.
"Brother Han, long time no see..." the young man greeted Han Li.
Han Li didn't recognize this person, but after sensing his aura, his face revealed a hint of realization.
This person was none other than Li Qi, who had been imprisoned in the Years Tower.
The surrounding crowd saw him, and their faces changed, rushing to pay their respects, even Qingdian and Liu Le'er didn't dare to be slow.
Han Li thought back to the Huayu scale, and immediately guessed Li Qi's identity, his eyes flashing with realization, and his body rapidly shrinking back to its original size.
Qingdian had calmed down, and seeing that Li Qi seemed to know Han Li, he didn't dare to act rashly, standing quietly to the side, his face filled with doubt.
Han Li, it seems your identity is not simple at all! Back then, we parted ways, and you said you wouldn't come to our Savage Wilderness Domain, but who would have thought that you'd end up here after all?
Han Li smiled and bowed, saying, "I left you the Feather Scale back then, thinking that one day you'd come to the Savage Wilderness and would need it. Now it seems that my intuition was correct, and you, Han Li, have a connection with us."
Li Qi Ma also laughed heartily, saying, "Speaking of the Feather Scale, it seems it's not very useful after all. I just took it out, and someone accused me of being a fake, almost becoming a shameless swindler, and was attacked by everyone."
Han Li's gaze shifted, and he glanced at Qing Dian, saying with a hint of meaning, "I think there must be some misunderstanding in this matter. Qing Dian, what do you say?"
Qing Dian, covering his broken fang, hastily replied, "Young Master's words are correct, it was all... all a misunderstanding."
Li Qi Ma smiled and said, "If it's a misunderstanding, then it's settled now. You should go retrieve your broken tooth, and your clan's elder should have a way to fix it."
Qing Dian's eyes flashed with a hint of resentment, but he nodded and said, "Yes."
He then turned and went to the city wall, pulled out his broken tooth, and left.
Li Qi Ma turned his gaze back to Han Li and said, "You didn't respond to our invitation back then, but today you came voluntarily. I suppose you have some business to attend to? If there's anything we can help with, please don't hesitate to speak."
Han Li hesitated for a moment before telling Li Qi Ma about Xiao Bai's situation.
Li Qi Ma's expression changed, and he exclaimed, "He actually possesses the bloodline of the Ink Eye Pixiu... If that's true, then saving him wouldn't be a favor you owe us, but rather a great debt we owe you!"
Han Li's gaze condensed, and he said seriously, "Xiao Bai and I have a special relationship. As long as I can save him, it's all that matters. Talk of debts and favors is trivial."
Li Qi Ma thought for a moment before saying, "Very well... Since that's the case, Han Li, you'll come with me to the city immediately. I'll take you to meet the True Spirit King on the Bahuang Mountain."
Han Li, however, seemed hesitant.
"What's wrong, Han Li? Do you have some concerns?" Li Qi Ma asked.
"Meeting the True Spirit King is no trivial matter. I've come in a hurry, and today I've caused a big commotion at the town gate. I'm a bit flustered. How about we do it another day?" Han Li said with a smile, his tone ambiguous.
Li Qi Ma understood Han Li's intention and said, "That's fine. You can come with me to my estate first, and when you're ready, I'll take you to meet the True Spirit King."
Just then, Liu Le'er spoke up, "Young Master, my brother and I have also been reunited for a long time. I've already invited him to our Tianhu Clan."
Li Qi Ma looked at Han Li with surprise, saying, "You're acquainted with the Tianhu Clan's young fairy, Liu Le'er? You're indeed a lucky man..."
Han Li tried to explain, but Li Qi Ma cut him off, giving him a knowing glance.
Han Li looked at Li Qi Ma with a hint of frustration, while Liu Le'er simply covered her mouth and smiled.
"By the way, the Silver Horned Rhinoceros and Cloud Patterned Tiger tribes, although they're small and remote, were the first to discover Xiao Bai and escorted us here. They've earned their merits and hardships..." Han Li said, pointing to the carriages behind him.
Li Qi Ma smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of them. They'll receive preferential treatment in the future, including territory and resources."
Han Li nodded and said, "Thank you."
He then went to instruct San Tu and the others to follow Li Qi Ma.
After the initial ups and downs, the situation had taken a turn for the better. San Tu knew that their two tribes would soon rise to prominence, and they were even more grateful to Han Li. Despite their injuries, they insisted on getting up to pay their respects.
As they parted ways, Han Li handed Li Qi Ma the Feather Scale, saying, "This belongs to you."
Li Qi Ma smiled and said, "You keep it. I'll announce that it was a gift from me, and from now on, there won't be any more unpleasantness like today."
Han Li thought for a moment before deciding not to refuse and put the Feather Scale away.
After they left, Han Li and Liu Le'er walked into the city, surrounded by the admiring gazes of the crowd.
"Brother, why did you have me speak up earlier? You're acquainted with Young Master Li Qi Ma, so why did you refuse his kindness?" Liu Le'er asked, walking beside Han Li.
Han Li smiled and said, "It's nothing. I just didn't want to trouble him."
Liu Le'er looked at Han Li with curiosity, but didn't press the matter further. I've translated the chapter into English, following the specified guidelines. Here is the translated text:
I'm not familiar with him, and his identity is special, so I'm a bit suspicious of his intentions when he gave me the Feathered Scales back then. I couldn't completely trust him. Han Li shook his head and said.
There were some things he didn't say, and he was also a bit uneasy about the True Spirit King. He planned to investigate the situation after arriving at the Tian Huo Tribe and then decide whether to meet with him.
"Brother, how did you get to know the Young Master?" Liu Le'er asked again.
"This is a long story... By the way, why do you call him the Young Master?" Han Li asked back.
"He's the descendant of the True Spirit King Bai Ze, so he's naturally our Young Master. It's said that he wandered outside for a long time, and it was only around a hundred years ago that he returned to the wilderness. But as soon as he returned, he was highly respected, and even the Tribe Leader called him Young Master," Liu Le'er explained.
"I see... I really underestimated him before," Han Li nodded and muttered to himself.
"Brother, the Tribe Leader has been intentionally blocking your news, not letting me know. But I always find ways to secretly inquire, and I know you've been traveling through many immortal realms, causing a lot of trouble along the way. I'm both worried and a bit envious..." Liu Le'er smiled slyly and said in a low voice.
"There's nothing to be envious of. Most of the time, I was being pursued and had to escape for my life. It's not a pleasant experience," Han Li furrowed his brow and said.
"Freedom... Staying in the tribe is safe, but it's really boring. Every day is just cultivation and listening to the Tribe Leader's lectures. I miss the days when we adventured together," Liu Le'er said with a hint of melancholy.
"If you can have stability, it's better to have stability... Cultivating immortality is about seeking longevity, not wandering aimlessly and being anxious every day," Han Li said, his expression turning slightly melancholic.
Liu Le'er tilted her head, listening to Han Li's words, and nodded as if she understood.
The two of them continued chatting as they headed towards the Tian Huo Tribe's residence.
The orange-red sunset had already fallen behind the city, and the sky was gradually darkening.
... ...
That night.
Han Li followed Liu Le'er to a location below the Eight Wastes Mountain, where a large, majestic building stood.
The building was made of a bluish-gray material and had a distinct style, with intricate carvings and patterns of spirit beasts everywhere.
At the highest point of the building, a massive white nine-tailed fox statue stood, overlooking the surroundings. The statue emitted a powerful aura that suppressed the True Spirit bloodlines within Han Li.
"Stone Brother, this is our Tian Huo Tribe's residence in the Eight Wastes Mountain. The statue is the sacred image of the Tian Huo Saint Ancestor, containing a hint of the Saint Ancestor's True Spirit bloodline. It will have a suppressing effect on the bloodline powers of other tribes. You can just retract your True Spirit bloodline," Liu Le'er said, noticing Han Li's expression.
Han Li nodded, and with a silent incantation, he activated the Heavenly Execution, Sealing the Prison technique, retracting his True Spirit bloodline and leaving only the power of the Thunderbird. The suppressing effect immediately weakened.
"The Tian Huo Saint Ancestor? Is he called Liu Qi?" Han Li asked, his expression changing.
"How do you know about Liu Qi, Brother? There are hardly any people in the Tian Huo Tribe who know about his existence?" Liu Le'er asked, surprised.
"I just happened to hear someone mention him," Han Li replied, not revealing the truth.
Liu Qi was not the Tian Huo Saint Ancestor, but rather a genius of the Tian Huo Tribe who had the potential to inherit the Saint Ancestor's bloodline and become the new Tian Huo True Spirit King. However, he had also disappeared without a trace, and the Tian Huo Tribe had declined ever since.
Han Li listened to Liu Le'er's words, his expression calm, but his mind racing with thoughts.
He had met Liu Qi in the Gray Realm and had interacted with him several times. He thought he had a good understanding of the Tian Huo Tribe's situation, but now it seemed that he only knew a small part of the story.
"You're telling me this for nothing, Brother. Let's go see the Tribe Leader. You've met him before, and he's very kind to his juniors. He just values seniority and respect, so be polite when you speak to him, and you might gain some opportunities," Liu Le'er said, thinking Han Li was uninterested in the Tian Huo Tribe's affairs.
Han Li's mind stirred, and he recalled the white-robed middle-aged man who had saved him in the wilderness but had also warned him not to contact Liu Le'er again.
Their encounter was not pleasant, but the man had saved him, so he should go pay his respects. Han Li nodded in agreement.
...
Lyuluer saw Han Li nod and happily led him forward, soon arriving at an entrance to the building complex.
"Miss Lyuluer!"
Four guards in cyan armor, holding weapons, stood at attention and bowed respectfully to Lyuluer.
Han Li observed the scene and nodded to himself.
These four guards were not weak, having reached the mid-to-late stage of the Gold Immortal realm, yet they showed such respect to Lyuluer. It seemed that Lyuluer held a high position in the Tian Huo clan, which put Han Li at ease.
Lyuluer didn't acknowledge the guards and quickly walked inside, seeming a bit impatient. She still retained some of her lively and playful demeanor from her youth.
Han Li was about to follow when the four guards blocked his path with their weapons.
"Stop right there, sir!"
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he stopped in his tracks.
"What are you doing?" Lyuluer noticed the situation and frowned, her face icy cold.
"Miss Lyuluer, please forgive us, but this is the Tian Huo clan's residence. This cultivator is not a member of our clan, and he needs to obtain permission from Elder Mu to enter." The most senior guard explained, bowing respectfully.
"Hmph! He's my brother, and I'll explain to Elder Mu. Now, get out of my way!" Lyuluer said coldly.
"Miss Lyuluer, we have orders to guard this place. Please don't make it difficult for us." The guard leader hesitated, but still didn't back down.
"You're being unreasonable!" Lyuluer's anger flared, and she grasped her hand.
A gray-white light burst out, entwining the guards' weapons, and then flung them aside.
Han Li's eyes lit up, and he felt a mix of surprise and curiosity.
Lyuluer seemed to be wearing a treasure that concealed her cultivation, which he hadn't noticed earlier. Now, he saw that her cultivation had reached the Taiyi realm, although only at the early stage. Her progress was astonishing, considering her cultivation was far inferior to his in the past.
The four guards simultaneously shouted, and their bodies glowed with light as they gripped their weapons tightly.
Although they were only at the Gold Immortal realm, they seemed to have mastered a cooperative technique, their movements swift and synchronized as they released a powerful aura that countered Lyuluer's attack. However, they all spat out blood from their mouths.
Lyuluer had just advanced to the Taiyi realm, and her internal energy was unstable. Her first attack had failed, and her face fell, her gray-white light surging as she prepared to strike again.
"Stop!"
Just then, a stern voice echoed, and a massive power appeared between Lyuluer and the guards, separating them.
A gray-robed elder with white hair and piercing eyes appeared out of nowhere.
Han Li looked at the elder, his eyes flashing with insight, and he secretly activated his Lei Peng bloodline to conceal his identity as a human cultivator.
The elder's appearance was unassuming, but his aura was profound, and he was clearly a powerful existence at the Da Luo realm.
"Elder Mu!" The four guards quickly sheathed their weapons and bowed respectfully.
"Elder Mu." Lyuluer also bowed.
"What are you doing, fighting at the entrance of our residence? What kind of image are you presenting?" Elder Mu scolded.
"Yes, sir. We were just following orders. Miss Lyuluer brought this stranger to the residence without permission, so we tried to stop him." The guard leader explained.
"Elder Mu, he's my brother, and he saved my life in the past. He's not a stranger..." Lyuluer began to explain.
"Enough, I know everything. Continue to guard the entrance. Lyuluer, bring your brother inside." Elder Mu raised his hand, interrupting Lyuluer, and instructed the guards before glancing at Han Li with a hint of mockery in his eyes.
Han Li noticed the elder's expression and furrowed his brow, but said nothing, following Lyuluer inside.
After turning a few corners, they arrived at a grand hall.
The hall was decorated with expensive materials, and it seemed to be a reception area.
"Lyuluer, the Blood Sacrifice Conference will be held soon, and this is the most critical moment. Every moment counts, and you can't afford to waste time. Why did you sneak out? You've already delayed for so long, and the clan leader is not pleased. Hurry back to the Tian Huo palace!" Elder Mu's face turned stern as soon as they entered the hall.
Han Li listened to the elder's words, his eyes flashing with insight, but he remained silent. Han Li stood before the grand hall, his eyes fixed on the gray-robed elder. "Is it true that you've come to the Tian Huo Tribe seeking refuge?" the elder asked, his voice devoid of warmth.
Han Li's expression remained calm as he replied, "I've come to visit my friend, Liu Le'er. I didn't mean to intrude upon your tribe's affairs."
The gray-robed elder's gaze turned cold, his eyes narrowing as he said, "You're not welcome here, Han Li. You're a human cultivator, and your presence is a threat to our tribe's safety. Leave now, and don't return."
Han Li's eyes flickered with a hint of disappointment, but he didn't argue. He turned to leave, but the gray-robed elder's words stopped him. "Wait, Han Li. You're not leaving that easily."
The elder's hands moved, and a gray-white glow enveloped the hall, blocking Han Li's path. "You're not going anywhere until you explain your true intentions," the elder said, his voice dripping with malice.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, his hand instinctively reaching for the sleeve of his robe. He could feel the power of the Five Elements surging within him, ready to be unleashed at a moment's notice.
Just as the situation was about to escalate, a voice boomed from the shadows, "Enough, Mu Zhang!"
A figure emerged from the darkness, a middle-aged man in white robes with an air of authority about him. The gray-robed elder immediately bowed, acknowledging the newcomer's superior status.
Han Li's eyes widened as he recognized the man. It was the same person he had met in the Gray Realm, the one who had left a lasting impression on him.
The man's eyes locked onto Han Li, and for a moment, they simply stared at each other. Han Li could sense the man's power, a power that rivaled even the Black Heaven Demon Ancestor.
The air was thick with tension as the two men stood there, their eyes locked in a silent challenge. Han Li's mind racing with thoughts of the past, he knew that this encounter would be far from ordinary.
"Prefect Elder, this Han Li is Le Er's brother, how can you treat him so slowly? If others of the Savage Tribes find out, they will surely mock our Tian Huo Tribe's etiquette. You go down first, I will receive this Han Dao friend," the white-clothed man said to the gray-robed elder.
"Tribe Leader, Le Er's current situation... this person's sudden appearance in the Eight Desolate Mountains must be with ulterior motives, beware of him..." the gray-robed elder's expression changed, and he hastily said.
"I have my own plans, you go down first," the white-clothed man raised his hand to stop the gray-robed elder's words, and said.
"Yes." The gray-robed elder still had some resentment, glared at Han Li, and then walked out.
"Han Li, it's been a long time, I didn't expect your cultivation to progress so quickly, it's truly rare," the white-clothed man turned to face Han Li, looked him up and down, and smiled slightly.
"Tribe Leader Liu Qing is too kind, my little bit of strength is hardly worthy of your attention," Han Li cupped his hands and said.
"Oh, you know my name?" Liu Qing's face revealed a hint of surprise.
"I happened to hear it mentioned," Han Li had no intention of mentioning the Gray Boundary, and lightly said.
"Prefect Elder has a few descendants who were killed by human cultivators, so he has deep resentment towards human cultivators, and Le Er is currently busy cultivating a secret technique to prepare for the upcoming Blood Sacrifice Conference, which is a matter of great importance, so Prefect Elder is worried and anxious, hence his extreme behavior, please forgive him," Liu Qing didn't pursue the matter further, and nodded slightly.
"I wouldn't dare," Han Li shook his head.
"Prefect Elder's words may be a bit straightforward, but they are the truth. Han Li, Le Er is no longer the Le Er of the past, to be honest, she carries the Tian Huo Tribe's highest bloodline, and after this Blood Sacrifice Conference, she will soar to even greater heights. Han Dao friend, you may be Le Er's brother, but that's just a mundane matter from the past, and you're just a human cultivator, and you and Le Er will ultimately not be in the same world, do you understand?" Liu Qing's words suddenly turned, and he gazed at Han Li's eyes, slowly saying.
Han Li heard these words, and although his face remained calm, he felt a surge of anger in his heart.
Liu Qing and the gray-robed elder actually treated him as a beggar who saw Liu Le's prosperity and came to ask for benefits based on their past relationship.
To think that since he entered the cultivation world, he had never been looked down upon by anyone like this.
"Your current situation is not good, you clashed with the Qing Yuan Tribe at the city gate, and your identity is about to be exposed, it's only natural to come to Le Er for help, but Le Er needs to focus on her cultivation and can't be disturbed by external matters. So, I can grant you permission to stay in our Tian Huo Tribe until the Blood Sacrifice Conference. During this time, we will ensure your safety, but after the conference, please leave the Eight Desolate Mountains immediately. Of course, if you have any requests, feel free to ask, but you must promise not to entangle with Le Er again in the future..." Liu Qing saw Han Li's silence, and thought he was waiting for a better offer, so he continued.
"Tribe Leader's concerns are unnecessary, Han Li's cultivation may not be high, but he has never coveted others' things, and his safety doesn't require your concern, Han Li's visit to Le Er is purely a reunion of old friends. As for whether we'll meet again in the future, it's up to fate, farewell!" Han Li's temper was good, but he couldn't tolerate it anymore, and coldly interrupted Liu Qing's words, then turned to leave.
Liu Qing's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and a hint of anger flashed in his eyes, his sleeve fluttered as if he was about to do something, but the next moment he stopped, and suddenly looked outside.
Han Li, although walking out, still had his attention on his back, sensing Liu Qing's movement, and he also looked outside, his footsteps hesitating.
At this moment, two figures walked in from outside.
One of them was Li Qi, and the other was a middle-aged man wearing a snow-white long robe, with a face like jade, and sword-like eyebrows, truly handsome and extraordinary, it was the White Zhe True Spirit King.
"Your Majesty! Why did you come? Why didn't you notify me, so I could arrange for someone to welcome you?" Liu Qing quickly stepped forward, and respectfully said to the snow-robed middle-aged man.
"Your Majesty..." Han Li was taken aback, and quickly realized the snow-robed middle-aged man's identity, his face slightly pale.
He had come to the Tian Huo Tribe to investigate the True Spirit King's strength, to decide whether to follow Li Qi to meet him, but unexpectedly, the other party had arrived.
And Han Li looked at the snow-robed middle-aged man, who didn't exude a strong aura, but his heart felt a strange sense of fear.
This kind of situation, Han Li had only experienced with a few people, such as Yin Xiu, the awakened Crab Roadman, and the Demon Master.
"Tribe Leader, don't be too polite, I came this time for a personal matter, so we don't need to follow the usual formalities, and please don't tell anyone about my business here," White Zhe said calmly.
"Yes, I don't know what Your Majesty's business is, I'll immediately take care of it," Liu Qing's expression changed, and he quickly said.
"This matter has little to do with the Tian Huo Tribe, I came to see this Han Xiao friend," White Zhe looked at Han Li, and a hint of a smile appeared on his lips.
Liu Qing heard these words, and was slightly taken aback, looking at Han Li in surprise.
"I am Han Li, greetings to White Zhe," Han Li glanced at Li Qi, and then cupped his hands in a greeting to White Zhe.
On the way to the Eight Desolate Mountains, he had naturally inquired about the True Spirit King's name. Han Li, I've informed Father King about the matter with Xiao Bai, and he immediately asked me to bring him to see you. Has this caused you any trouble?" Li Qi Ma saw Han Li's gaze and smiled slightly, briefly explaining the reason for their visit.
"Not at all, it's an honor to meet White Marsh, sir. I'm just a humble cultivator," Han Li said with a smile, though his heart was filled with bitterness.
"You've saved my son's life, and our tribe owes you a debt of gratitude. There's no need to be so formal. I've heard you possess the True Spirit bloodline, which has a deep connection to our tribe," White Marsh said with a smile.
"Although I'm a human cultivator with multiple True Spirit bloodlines, I obtained them all in the lower realm. Since ascending to the True Immortal Realm, I've never caused any harm to the tribes of the Barbarian Realm," Han Li said hesitantly.
"Don't worry, Han Li, Father King is already aware of your situation. The greatest enemy of our Barbarian Realm is the Heavenly Court, and you're currently being strictly pursued by them. As the saying goes, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' Moreover, you've done a great service to our Barbarian Realm by returning Xiao Bai to the Eight Desolations Mountain, so you can rest assured," Li Qi Ma said with a smile.
Han Li heard this and saw White Marsh's smiling face, feeling a slight sense of relief.
Liu Qing, who had been listening to the conversation, was shocked and regretful of his previous attitude towards Han Li.
He was thinking about this when he respectfully led White Marsh and Li Qi Ma into the hall and invited White Marsh to take the main seat.
However, Han Li remained standing at the entrance of the hall.
"Han Li, why aren't you coming over to sit?" Li Qi Ma asked, puzzled.
"This is the territory of the Heavenly Fox Tribe, and I'm just a human cultivator. I don't dare to sit randomly, and I'm already lucky to not have been chased away," Han Li said with a sigh.
"What's going on?" Li Qi Ma looked at Liu Qing.
White Marsh also turned to Liu Qing.
"It's just a small matter, Han Li, I had some misunderstandings about you earlier, please forgive me," Liu Qing said hastily, his face flushing with embarrassment.
Han Li smiled coldly in his heart but didn't completely expose Liu Qing's mistake, as Liu Qing's strength far surpassed his own. He bowed his fist and didn't say anything.
"Tribe Leader Liu, I have some matters to discuss with this Han Li, please leave us for now," White Marsh suddenly said, as if this was his own home.
"Yes, sir." Liu Qing didn't show any dissatisfaction and respectfully replied, quickly leaving the hall.
The Heavenly Court had been constantly invading the Barbarian Realm under various pretexts, and the Barbarian tribes relied on White Marsh's leadership to barely hold their ground against the Heavenly Court. White Marsh had become the de facto ruler of the Barbarian Realm, with immense authority.
Liu Qing quickly left the hall and entered a nearby grand hall.
"Tribe Leader, have you dealt with that Han Li? A human cultivator dared to come to the Barbarian Realm and even caused trouble for our Heavenly Fox Tribe. Does he not know the meaning of death? How did you handle him?" The old man in gray robes asked, rushing to greet Liu Qing.
Liu Qing looked at the old man and felt a surge of anger, letting out a heavy hum.
He had been busy in the Heavenly Fox Hall and only heard about Han Li's arrival from his subordinates. He didn't know much about Han Li's situation.
Liu Qing had dismissed the old man earlier, and they had exchanged a brief mental message. He had asked the old man about Han Li's situation and was told that Han Li had simply followed two small Barbarian tribes to the Eight Desolations Mountain, without any special background. Liu Qing had decided to follow the old man's words and chase Han Li away from the Eight Desolations Mountain, not expecting the old man's information to be so inaccurate.
"What's wrong, Tribe Leader?" the old man asked, seeing Liu Qing's expression.
"You said Han Li was just a human cultivator who followed the Silver Horned Rhinoceros Tribe and the Cloud Patterned Tiger Tribe to the Eight Desolations Mountain, without any special background?" Liu Qing asked, his voice low and menacing.
"Yes, that's right. What background could a human cultivator possibly have in the Eight Desolations Mountain? Although he seems to know the young master," the old man replied, hesitating.
"Why didn't you tell me he knew the young master?" Liu Qing asked coldly.
"Well, even if he knows the young master, it's not a big deal. You know the young master's personality, Tribe Leader. He's naive and likes to make friends with people. The king has scolded him for this multiple times. That Han Li is probably just someone the young master met outside, nothing important," the old man said, trying to defend himself.
Liu Qing's face turned ugly, and he suddenly shouted, "You're lying!"
The old man was startled and didn't dare to say anything, standing to the side with his head bowed.
I won't tolerate you harboring hatred towards human cultivators, or looking down on Han Li. From now on, when you meet him, you must be courteous and respectful, and not have any conflicts with him. Do you understand?
Liu Qing opened his eyes quickly and spoke slowly.
"What... do you mean that Han Li is still within our tribe?" The old man in gray robes heard this and his eyebrows twitched upwards again.
"Didn't you hear my words clearly? Do I need to repeat them again?" Liu Qing's eyes narrowed, and his gaze sent a chill down the old man's spine as the air in the grand hall dropped.
"No, no need... I understand." The old man's heart skipped a beat, and he hastily agreed.
Liu Qing snorted again, and ignored the old man.
He had just agreed with Bai Ze not to mention the incident in the great hall, so he couldn't explain the reason to the old man in detail. He hoped that the old man would understand, otherwise, he would have to use force.
Liu Qing didn't stay for long, and soon stood up and walked out.
...
In the Tian Hu tribe's guest hall.
"I heard that you brought a Pi Xiu with you to the Eight Desolations Mountain. May I take a look?" Bai Ze asked Han Li as soon as Liu Qing left.
"Yes, please wait a moment." Han Li's thoughts quickly turned, and since things had come to this, he had no other choice but to agree. He nodded and waved his hand, taking out Xiao Bai from the flower branch space.
Xiao Bai was still unconscious, unmoving.
"Indeed, it's a Mo Yan Pi Xiu, and it's even his bloodline. Ah, how wonderful. It's as if the heavens have eyes." Bai Ze looked at Xiao Bai, his eyes lighting up with excitement as he muttered to himself.
"Does the senior recognize Xiao Bai? He's been unconscious, and I've tried to revive him, but unfortunately, I haven't succeeded." Han Li shook his head.
"Its name is Xiao Bai? The name is fitting, if I'm not mistaken, it's the descendant of my old friend Mo Yan Pi Xiu. Mo Yan Pi Xiu was killed by the Heavenly Court's Dao Ancestors, and I didn't think he had any descendants left in the world. Thank you, Han Li, for bringing him to the Eight Desolations Mountain. As for Xiao Bai's injuries, I fear that only I can treat him in this desolate land." Bai Ze nodded to Han Li, expressing his gratitude.
"Xiao Bai is my friend, and he's injured and unconscious. I brought him here for treatment, so it's only natural." Han Li nodded.
He didn't expect that Bai Ze and Mo Yan Pi Xiu had such a relationship, which made his own safety even more secure.
Bai Ze saw that Han Li didn't take credit for himself, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face. He then waved his hand, and a beam of white light shot out, pulling Xiao Bai to his side.
He then flipped his hand and took out a blood-red pill, which had white patterns on its surface. The patterns emitted a strange aura, similar to the Dao patterns on the Dao pills, but also different.
The white patterns depicted a white beast, which was similar to Xiao Bai's Pi Xiu form.
Han Li saw the blood-red pill, and his eyes lit up as he was about to examine it closely.
Bai Ze pointed to Xiao Bai's chin, and Xiao Bai's mouth opened. Bai Ze snapped his fingers, and the blood-red pill turned into a beam of blood light, which accurately flew into Xiao Bai's mouth.
Bai Ze then pointed to Xiao Bai's forehead, and a bright crystal light appeared on his fingertip. Countless black talismans flashed out, rolling and churning, before flowing into Xiao Bai's forehead.
Xiao Bai's motionless body suddenly trembled, and a circle of white light radiated from his body. He let out a faint cry of pain, but his eyes remained closed.
Han Li saw this scene, and his heart quickened, but he didn't interrupt.
Bai Ze's hands formed a series of hand seals, and he patted Xiao Bai's forehead with his palm. He then withdrew his hand.
Han Li's gaze flashed, and he saw a faint black mark on Xiao Bai's forehead, which looked strange.
This mark was definitely not there before, and was likely created by Bai Ze's spell.
At this moment, Xiao Bai's body trembled, and the white light around him flashed intensely before calming down. He then slowly opened his eyes.
"Xiao Bai, you're awake?" Han Li quickly walked forward.
"Master!"
Xiao Bai saw Han Li, and his face lit up with joy. He tried to stand up, but his body was still weak, and he stumbled. Luckily, Han Li caught him.
"You're injured, don't rush to move." Han Li said.
"Master, I'm glad I met you. The old master was captured by the Jiuyuan Sect, and I barely escaped. You have to rescue her... wait, where is this place?" Xiao Bai's body was still weak, but his mouth was recovering, and he started shouting.
"We're in the Desolate Realm, don't worry about the old master, I'll find a way to rescue her." Han Li's expression turned serious, and he reassured Xiao Bai, before waving his hand to send a pure spiritual energy to help Xiao Bai control his body.
Xiao Bai was assisted by Han Li, and he quickly stood up, looking at Li Qi and Bai Ze.
Bai Ze also looked at Xiao Bai, a warm smile on his face.
"You should thank Senior Bai Ze for saving you," Han Li said.
"Thank you, Senior Bai Ze, for saving me." Xiao Bai bowed to Bai Ze.
"I was friends with your father, so this is just a small matter. Do you remember your father's affairs?" Bai Ze asked.
"Father? Do I have a father?" Xiao Bai was taken aback.
"It seems your father sealed your memories, which is also good. If you remembered those things, you would likely seek revenge against the Heavenly Court, and it would be difficult for you to live peacefully until now." Bai Ze's eyes flashed, and he muttered to himself. Xiao Bai's face changed, his eyes fixed intently on Bai Ze, and he asked urgently, "Senior, do you know my background?"
"I just said that I and your father are close friends, so I naturally know your background, but now is not the time to tell you, you will know soon," Bai Ze replied calmly.
Xiao Bai's brow furrowed, clearly dissatisfied with Bai Ze's response, and was about to ask further when he heard Han Li's voice and had to listen to Bai Ze's instructions.
"Junior Han, Xiao Bai has just woken up, but his inner energy has not recovered, let me take him back and help him adjust his body," Bai Ze said to Han Li.
"Thank you, Senior, but I have been with Xiao Bai for a long time and have some experience in helping him adjust his body, so I don't need to trouble you," Han Li hesitated for a moment before refusing.
Bai Ze gave him a feeling of being not bad, but he was still not willing to let him take Xiao Bai away.
"Alright, since that's the case, Xiao Bai will be left to you," Bai Ze smiled slightly and nodded.
"Junior Han, you will be staying at Bahuang Mountain for a while, please take care of Xiao Bai and don't let anything happen," Bai Ze said to Li Qi on the side.
"Yes, Father," Li Qi replied quickly.
Bai Ze nodded and then disappeared, his whereabouts unknown.
Seeing Bai Ze disappear, Han Li's tense heart relaxed slightly.
Xiao Bai looked at Han Li, then at Li Qi, and didn't fully understand the situation, but since there were outsiders present, he didn't ask further.
"Junior Han, it seems that Father is very fond of you, I've never seen him be so considerate of others," Li Qi said with a smile after Bai Ze left.
"Senior is being too kind, I'm a bit flustered," Han Li replied.
"Don't be flustered, Father is not like Liu Qing, he won't scheme against you, don't worry," Li Qi patted Han Li's shoulder and laughed.
"I didn't mean that," Han Li said, looking around and shaking his head.
"Never mind, Junior Han, what are your plans for now? The Blood Sacrifice Conference is still some time away, and since Xiao Bai is the descendant of the Moke Ye Pixiu, he should participate, it will be beneficial for him. And I think Father wants you to stay and participate in the conference," Li Qi said with a smile.
"Bai Ze Senior wants me to stay and participate in the Blood Sacrifice Conference?" Han Li was taken aback, recalling Bai Ze's words and expression, which indeed seemed to convey that intention.
"Although Bai Ze Senior has invited me warmly, I have some things to investigate here, I'm not sure if I can respond immediately," Han Li said after a moment of thought.
Jin Tong was currently in the hands of the Jiuyuan Observatory, and he needed to understand the situation from Xiao Bai before making a decision about whether to stay in the wilderness.
"Of course, Junior Han, will you continue to stay at the Tianhu tribe or will you come with me to find another place to stay?" Li Qi asked with a smile.
"The Tianhu tribe doesn't seem to welcome me, so please arrange a quieter place for me to stay," Han Li replied.
"No problem, I'll take care of it," Li Qi said, patting his chest.
The two of them quickly left the great hall and headed outside.
As for Xiao Bai, his identity was quite sensitive, and he was taken back to the Huazhi space by Han Li.
Just then, Liu Qing came walking towards them.
"Junior Master, Junior Han, are you leaving? Ah, has the King left already?" Liu Qing asked with a smile.
"I haven't seen Junior Han in a long time, I want to take him to my place for a few days, chat with him, will the tribe leader be uncomfortable with that?" Li Qi asked Liu Qing with a smile.
"There's no problem, Junior Han, you're welcome to come to the Tianhu tribe anytime, Liu Qing will be waiting for you," Liu Qing said with a smile.
Han Li nodded slightly to Liu Qing, and followed Li Qi out of the Tianhu tribe's residence.
Liu Qing personally escorted the two of them to the door, watching as they disappeared into the distance before sighing and turning back.
Han Li followed Li Qi to a quiet courtyard in the town of Zhuanghuang, which was far from the bustling streets, with lush green trees and a serene atmosphere.
"This is our tribe's residence, other tribes won't come to disturb us, Junior Han can rest assured, there are people arranged by me outside, if you need anything, just order them," Li Qi said.
Han Li nodded, quite satisfied with the place.
Li Qi seemed to have something on his mind and didn't stay for long, quickly bidding farewell and leaving.
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Han Li waited until Li Qi Ma had left before releasing his divine sense to investigate the entire courtyard. Finding nothing unusual, he waved his hand to set up layers of restrictions in various places, then turned and headed to a room deep within the courtyard.
After setting up multiple layers of restrictions in this room as well, he finally entered the Flower Branch Space.
Xiao Bai was flying back and forth in front of the bamboo pavilion, and upon seeing Han Li appear, he quickly flew over to greet him.
"Now that we're alone, tell me about the Golden Boy," Han Li asked gravely. "How did you and the others encounter the Nine Yuan Sect, and who was it that captured her?"
Xiao Bai answered swiftly, "After leaving Master's side, I and the Golden Boy traveled to the Jin Yuan Immortal Realm, where we found the Devouring Golden Immortal that you had previously encountered. After a great deal of effort, the Golden Boy managed to devour it, successfully breaking through to the Great Luo Realm."
Han Li's expression brightened at this news, but his joy was short-lived.
The fact that the Golden Boy had reached the Great Luo Realm yet was still captured meant that the person responsible must be extremely powerful. Rescuing her would be a daunting task.
Xiao Bai's next words confirmed Han Li's suspicions.
"Who would have thought that the Devouring Golden Immortal was actually owned by someone, and that person was a powerful figure from the Nine Yuan Sect? They personally pursued us, and we were forced to flee for many years. In the end, we were still caught. The person's strength was incredibly formidable, and after a fierce battle, the Golden Boy was captured. However, in the final moment, she used her magic to tear open the void and send me away, instructing me to find you and rescue her. I never expected to see you so soon."
Xiao Bai's words were rapid and fluent, recounting the entire sequence of events.
"Do you know the name of the person who captured you, and their position within the Nine Yuan Sect?" Han Li asked, his expression calm.
"The person's name is Gui Lingzi, and they seem to be one of the Four Great Sacred Envoys of the Nine Yuan Sect," Xiao Bai replied, his body trembling slightly as a hint of fear flashed in his eyes.
"Gui Lingzi..." Han Li's eyes narrowed.
He had learned a great deal about the Nine Yuan Sect from Lan Yu, including information about Gui Lingzi. According to rumor, Gui Lingzi's strength surpassed even that of the Miao Fa Immortal, and he was likely the leader of the Four Great Sacred Envoys.
Han Li's brow furrowed in concern. The Miao Fa Immortal's strength was already formidable, and Gui Lingzi's was even greater.
"Master, don't worry, that person didn't capture the Golden Boy to harm her. It seems they plan to use her as a gift, to be presented at a certain Bodhi banquet," Xiao Bai said hastily, seeing Han Li's expression.
"Bodhi banquet?" Han Li's face changed, and he realized that he had never heard of such a thing. It sounded like some sort of grand gathering.
He pondered for a moment before producing the mask from the Wheel of Rebirth Temple and offering a high price for information about the Bodhi banquet. Xiao Bai, sensing Han Li's intentions, obediently waited off to the side.
Unexpectedly, someone responded quickly.
According to legend, the Bodhi banquet was a grand gathering held every 5 million years in the Heavenly Court, with a long and storied history.
The Bodhi banquet was said to have originated from a Bodhi tree in the Heavenly Court, a tree that was rumored to have existed since the dawn of time. The Bodhi fruit that grew on this tree had the power to increase one's cultivation by millions of years.
Moreover, consuming the Bodhi fruit had a certain chance of transforming one's physical body into a Bodhi body, a state that was extremely beneficial for cultivating the laws of the universe.
Originally, the Bodhi tree only produced fruit once every billion years, but the Heavenly Court's Time Ancestor had used his ultimate divine power to make the tree produce fruit every 5 million years. Furthermore, whenever the Bodhi fruit ripened, the Time Ancestor would invite the powerful figures of the various immortal realms to gather and hold a grand banquet, distributing the Bodhi fruit among them.
In the past, the Bodhi banquet had been a simple gathering to discuss the distribution of the Bodhi fruit, but as the fruit's fame spread, more and more powerful figures requested to attend. The scale of the banquet grew, and the Bodhi fruit became scarce, leading to various powerful figures offering grand gifts to the Time Ancestor in exchange for a Bodhi fruit.
As the number of attendees grew, the Bodhi banquet became more than just a distribution of Bodhi fruit. It became a grand gathering where powerful figures would forge alliances, discuss major events, and establish agreements.
Today, the Bodhi banquet was the greatest event in the Heavenly Court, and indeed the entire True Immortal Realm.
The next Bodhi banquet was scheduled to take place in less than 3,000 years.
Han Li's brow furrowed as he considered this information.
According to Xiao Bai, Gui Lingzi likely planned to present the Golden Boy as a gift to the Heavenly Court, or perhaps even directly to the Time Ancestor.
Based on the information provided by the Wheel of Rebirth Temple, the Time Ancestor had a fondness for rare and unusual objects, whether they were strange treasures or exotic beasts. It was likely that Gui Lingzi intended to offer the Golden Boy as a gift to the Time Ancestor due to her rarity.
If the Golden Boy fell into the Time Ancestor's hands, Han Li would have no chance of rescuing her.
Although Jiao San had mentioned that there would be a task related to the Nine Yuan Sect, which could aid in rescuing the Golden Boy, Han Li couldn't rely on the Wheel of Rebirth Temple's assistance. He could only depend on himself.
The time limit of 3,000 years was extremely tight.
Currently, Han Li's cultivation needed to advance further, requiring him to find two more time law artifacts to enhance the time law crystals on the East Yi Divine Tree and the Huan Chen Hourglass. This would allow him to break through to the next level.
However, finding matching time law artifacts was extremely difficult.
Han Li had previously been fortunate enough to obtain a Water Yuan Time King Crystal, but such good fortune was unlikely to happen again.
"I'll find a way to rescue the Golden Boy," Han Li said, his mind racing with thoughts. "Xiao Bai, you've just awakened, so take these items and consume them to recover."
Han Li handed Xiao Bai a large pile of immortal artifacts and materials.
Xiao Bai's eyes widened as he took in the sight of the artifacts, and he hastily thanked Han Li.
"Ah, Master, when I and the Golden Boy captured the Devouring Golden Immortal, we infiltrated the Nine Yuan Sect. I found this item, but it's too difficult for me to digest. Perhaps it will be useful to you," Xiao Bai said, remembering something as he was about to consume the artifacts. Then it opened its mouth and spat out a yellowish-brown bowl, which flew out and landed in front of Han Li.
The bowl looked somewhat damaged and seemed to be an ancient relic, with golden patterns etched onto its surface.
"This is..." Han Li's eyes lit up, and he stared at the bowl in a daze.
The bowl emitted a strong temporal fluctuation, which was identical to the temporal law fluctuations on the Xuan Chen hourglass.
Moreover, the bowl's temporal law power was enormous, surpassing even the Water Origin Crystal he had obtained recently.
"Xiao Bai, well done! This is exactly what I need!" Han Li exclaimed, embracing Xiao Bai and rubbing his head.
"Could it be that my luck has changed, and I've been obtaining temporal law objects one after another?" Han Li thought to himself.
"This thing is useful to Master, I'll go cultivate now." Xiao Bai smiled and flew off to the side with the materials Han Li had given him.
Han Li picked up the bowl, examining it carefully, and his excitement grew.
He took a deep breath and calmed his emotions, then sat down to circulate the "Great Five Elements Phantom Sutra". Five golden lights shot out and condensed into a golden ring, enveloping the yellowish-brown bowl.
With a cracking sound, the bowl shattered, releasing numerous golden light points that flew into the golden ring.
The ring then flashed with golden light, and sixty-three golden threads condensed and flew out, wrapping around the Xuan Chen hourglass.
Han Li's internal temporal law power surged again, and his circulation became smoother, filling him with joy.
Now, only the East Pole Divine Tree remained, and if he could find a matching temporal law object, he could attempt to break through to the Great Luo Realm.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and he flipped his hand to retrieve the Wheel of Reincarnation mask, increasing the price of the temporal law object by 50%.
Time was his most pressing concern now, with the Bodhi Feast approaching in less than a thousand years. This period was short, even for someone with his cultivation level.
Han Li had to break through to the Great Luo Realm before the Bodhi Feast to rescue Jintong from the Ninth Heaven Observatory.
As for the cost of the Sanyuan Stone, he had more than enough, with over 70 million stones in his possession.
Han Li removed the Wheel of Reincarnation mask and, after a brief moment of contemplation, exited the Flower Petal Space and went to the outer courtyard, where he instructed the attendants to inform Li Qi that he would be staying on Mount Baishi.
He then returned to the inner room, re-entered the Flower Petal Space, and raised his hand.
A silver light shot out from Han Li's sleeve, and the Jingyan Tongzi appeared.
"In the next few hundred years, I have a crucial task to complete, and I may need your help. From today on, you will remain here and cultivate, refining the white fire bead. As for your lost vitality, I will find a way to restore it," Han Li said to the Jingyan Tongzi.
The Jingyan Tongzi looked at Han Li with a tilted head, nodded, and flew to a corner of the Flower Petal Space.
Its body transformed into a silver fireball, and the white fire bead rotated within, emitting powerful fire law fluctuations.
Han Li smiled, pleased with the sight, and turned to look at the distant pavilion.
The pavilion was quiet, with only the faint sound of ghostly wails, as Aiping continued to cultivate in seclusion, unaware of when he would awaken.
Han Li quickly withdrew his gaze and did not continue cultivating. Instead, he retrieved a small jade plate, inscribed with a complex array diagram, which was the Guangyin Tiandao Great Array.
After returning from the Zhenyan Gate, Han Li had feared that he would forget the array, so he had inscribed it on the jade plate.
He still had many tasks to complete, including comprehending the Tongtian Sword Array, cultivating the "Reversal of the True Wheel" and "Law of Heaven and Earth" temporal divinities, and breaking through to the Great Luo Realm.
Time was running out, and if he could set up a temporal difference space like the Zhenyan Gate, all his problems would be solved.
Although there was still a crucial issue to be resolved, Han Li decided to start setting up the array first.
Han Li's gaze swept around, and he flew down to an empty space near the medicine garden, waving his hand to take out various materials and begin smelting them. Soon, he constructed a massive golden platform several hundred meters in size.
Next, he took out various materials and began to refine array instruments.
Han Li had long been planning to set up the Guang Yin Tian Xuan Great Array, so when he had sold his spiritual materials and treasures last time, he had deliberately kept the materials needed for the array.
Although the Guang Yin Tian Xuan Great Array was an ancient great array that required a vast amount of materials, Han Li had previously plundered the Tai Sui Immortal's mansion and obtained countless resources, enough to set up the array.
Just as Han Li was setting up the Guang Yin Tian Xuan Great Array, in the circular great hall at the peak of the Ba Huang Mountains.
Bai Ze stood in front of the dark red fire pit, staring at the cluster of golden flames, which reflected in his pupils and flickered lightly.
A figure walked in from outside, and it was Li Qi Ma.
"Father King, just now, news arrived from the mountain below that Han Li has agreed to stay." Li Qi Ma walked to Bai Ze's side and said softly.
"Good, you order them to satisfy all his requests, no matter what they are, and make sure he stays until the Blood Sacrifice Conference ends." Bai Ze turned around and said.
"Yes." Li Qi Ma's eyes flashed, and he replied.
"Alright, you go down and attend to your duties." Bai Ze waved his hand, and then turned back to face the dark red fire pit.
"Father King, Han Li is just a human cultivator, why do you want to keep him in the Ba Huang Mountains? If his identity is exposed, and the various tribes find out that we are harboring a human cultivator, won't that create trouble?" Li Qi Ma didn't leave immediately, hesitating for a moment before asking.
"Are you worried that I will harm your friend?" Bai Ze didn't turn around, but smiled slightly.
"Your Majesty, I don't dare, you have a broad heart, and you won't do such things." Li Qi Ma quickly bowed his head.
"You have a good heart, and you are loyal to your friends, which is one of the qualities a king should have. However, to become the True Spirit King, you need another quality, which is to know when to make sacrifices. As the True Spirit King, everything must be done for the benefit of the tribe, and friendships must be sacrificed if necessary." Bai Ze continued.
"Father King, you..." Li Qi Ma's face changed suddenly.
"You don't need to worry, it's not time for you to make sacrifices yet. Moreover, I am keeping Han Li in the Ba Huang Mountains not with malicious intent, but rather to give him an opportunity. It's just not the right time to tell you, so don't ask." Bai Ze patted Li Qi Ma's shoulder and smiled.
Li Qi Ma looked at Bai Ze's familiar figure, but suddenly felt a sense of unfamiliarity and distance, and couldn't see through his intentions.
"Alright, there's still much to prepare for the Blood Sacrifice Conference, you go down and attend to your duties." Bai Ze waved his hand.
"Yes, I'll take my leave." Li Qi Ma bowed and left.
...
Half a year passed quickly.
In the flower branch space, the golden platform was now densely covered with array patterns, and various array instruments were embedded within, forming an extremely complex great array, which was the Guang Yin Tian Xuan Great Array.
Han Li inserted the last Xian Yuan Stone into the array, and then stood up, pointing at the array with his finger.
The Guang Yin Tian Xuan Great Array suddenly emitted a fiery golden light, humming as it operated.
A massive golden light pillar shot up from the array, majestic and awe-inspiring, and the time force in the surrounding void began to change.
Han Li's face revealed a hint of joy, and after half a year of hard work, and using countless precious materials, he had finally set up the ancient great array.
Han Li then pointed at the array again, and a series of green lights shot out, falling onto the ground near the platform, which were array flags, and array disks, and in an instant, he had set up a green array.
He then waved his sleeve, and a green glow flashed, and a large pile of Xian Yuan Stones appeared within the green array.
The green array immediately began to hum, and a whirlwind-like green light shot out, carrying the Xian Yuan Stones into the Guang Yin Tian Xuan Great Array.
The Xian Yuan Stones were immediately absorbed, and transformed into pure yuan qi, which was injected into the array.
The golden light emitted by the Guang Yin Tian Xuan Great Array suddenly intensified, and the golden light pillar rose, becoming thicker and more dense, and golden symbols floated within, emitting a sharp whistling sound.
Han Li saw this, and nodded secretly, waving his hand to release a golden light, which enveloped an object and flew into the golden light pillar within the array, where it floated, and it was the Jun Tian Ri Gui.
He stared at the Jun Tian Ri Gui within the light pillar, his eyes flashing with anticipation.
The Jun Tian Ri Gui was enveloped by the golden light, and the golden symbols within the array swarmed towards it, merging with it.
The Jun Tian Ri Gui trembled slightly, as if awakening from a long slumber, and a faint golden light appeared on its surface, flickering weakly.
Han Li saw this, and his face lit up with joy, and his hands quickly pointed at the array, urging the Guang Yin Tian Xuan Great Array to operate.
The golden symbols within the array surged forward, gathering towards the Jun Tian Ri Gui.
But no matter how Han Li urged the Guang Yin Tian Xuan Great Array, or increased the amount of Xian Yuan Stones, the golden light on the Jun Tian Ri Gui's surface remained dim, and didn't move, displaying its power to change the flow of time.
"It's really not possible..." he sighed.
Without the power of the Time Laws, it was indeed impossible to activate the Jun Tian Ri Gui. Han Li's eyes widened as he gazed at the golden light within the Temporal Heaven Array, which was dancing like a flame. Suddenly, a thought struck him.
"How could I have forgotten this treasure? Perhaps..." Han Li's hand moved swiftly, and a golden light flashed as he produced an object - the Ageless Divine Lamp.
The Ageless Divine Lamp's golden flame flickered, emitting intense temporal law fluctuations.
Han Li placed the Ageless Divine Lamp on the other side of the Temporal Heaven Array, murmuring incantations and manipulating the seals.
The golden flame surged, forming a massive fire pillar that merged with the Temporal Heaven Array.
Over the years, Han Li had continually refined the Ageless Divine Lamp, and his control over it had become increasingly adept.
The Temporal Heaven Array, however, was like a starving beast that had been fed a massive tonic. It suddenly brightened, its operational speed increasing several times over, and it began to devour the golden flame of the Ageless Divine Lamp.
The array's patterns flashed wildly, and golden light spheres shot out, containing countless golden runes that emitted intense temporal law fluctuations. These spheres flew towards the Heavens' Sundial, merging with it.
The Heavens' Sundial burst forth with a brilliant golden light, its golden pointer spinning rapidly.
Golden light waves emanated from the Heavens' Sundial, filling the Flower Branch Space.
The flow of time within the Flower Branch Space suddenly accelerated, increasing by over five hundred times. This was even faster than the time flow within the True Speech Sect's restricted area.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise, and he burst into laughter.
He had only taken out the Ageless Divine Lamp to test its effects, but he had not expected the Temporal Heaven Array to be so powerful. It had actually managed to extract temporal law energy from the Ageless Divine Lamp, activating the Heavens' Sundial.
Furthermore, the effects of the Ageless Divine Lamp's energy were even more impressive than the True Speech Sect's Sumeru Golden Mountain.
After his initial excitement, Han Li quickly calmed down and began to chant incantations. He made a series of hand seals, and the Temporal Heaven Array's operational speed slowed significantly. The rate at which it devoured the Ageless Divine Lamp's flame decreased, and the speed at which the adjacent blue array consumed the Celestial Yuan Stones also slowed.
As a result, the Heavens' Sundial's pointer slowed down by ten times, and the flow of time within the Flower Branch Space became about fifty times faster than the outside world.
The Ageless Divine Lamp was a third-grade immortal artifact, containing a significant amount of temporal law energy. However, Han Li was unsure of the exact amount and decided to conserve it.
Moreover, the lamp's power was immense, and it was one of his most treasured possessions. He could not let the Temporal Heaven Array drain it completely.
The accelerated time flow within the Flower Branch Space was already sufficient.
Han Li then turned his attention to the adjacent blue array, where the Celestial Yuan Stones were being consumed at an alarming rate.
He had initially possessed seven million Celestial Yuan Stones, which would have lasted him a long time. However, with the Temporal Heaven Array's insatiable hunger, he was now worried that he would run out of stones.
Fortunately, based on the current rate of consumption, neither the Ageless Divine Lamp's energy nor the Celestial Yuan Stones seemed to be a pressing concern.
Han Li took a deep breath, dismissing his worries, and sat down cross-legged. He took out the Heaven-Defying Sword Chart and began to study it intently.
Time flew by, and two years passed in the blink of an eye. Within the Flower Branch Space, however, over a hundred years had elapsed.
The Heaven-Defying Sword Chart floated above Han Li's head, emitting a gentle, soothing glow that enveloped his body.
The chart displayed a multitude of sword silhouettes, varying in size and shape, which flashed and changed rapidly. Suddenly, Han Li's eyes snapped open, and two beams of light shot out from his eyes, merging with the Heaven-Defying Sword Chart.
The chart's sword silhouettes began to flash wildly, merging with each other at an incredible speed. In an instant, the countless sword silhouettes disappeared, leaving only thirty-six sword silhouettes that trembled gently.
Han Li's face revealed a hint of joy.
After a hundred years of study, he had finally grasped the essence of the Heaven-Defying Sword Chart.
Han Li took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and made a series of hand seals. A golden light flashed on his body, and thirty-six Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords shot out.
The swords seemed to be influenced by the Heaven-Defying Sword Chart, as their blades shone brightly, and massive golden lightning bolts erupted from them, shooting in all directions.
Han Li ignored the scattered sword energy and lightning bolts, focusing on the Heaven-Defying Sword Chart. He made another hand seal, and the thirty-six Azure Bamboo Cloud Swords flew towards the chart, merging with the thirty-six sword silhouettes.
Just as the 36 Qingtong Flying Cloud Swords and the Tongtian Sword Diagram merged, the surface of the sword diagram suddenly emitted a loud "boom" and released a powerful devouring force.
The 36 Qingtong Flying Cloud Swords disappeared into thin air, and the surrounding lightning sword energy also vanished instantly, all of which was absorbed into the Tongtian Sword Diagram.
Han Li's eyes widened in shock as he witnessed this scene.
At this moment, his face suddenly changed, as the immortal spiritual energy within him surged out like a flood, being absorbed by the Tongtian Sword Diagram, with almost 30% of it being drained in an instant.
Not only that, the surrounding heavenly energy also gathered and poured into the Tongtian Sword Diagram.
Furthermore, the void around the Tongtian Sword Diagram began to flash, and thick lightning bolts appeared in the air, also merging into the sword diagram.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he saw this, but he didn't stop the sword diagram from devouring his immortal spiritual energy, instead continuing to stimulate the sword diagram with all his might.
At this moment, outside the Eight Wastes Mountain, the sky was filled with a massive commotion, with thick black clouds gathering and covering the entire sky.
Suddenly, a strong wind began to blow, and thick lightning snakes appeared in the clouds, accompanied by thunderous roars.
These thick lightning bolts emitted a powerful aura, unlike ordinary lightning, and seemed to be imbued with the power of the laws of lightning.
The massive commotion was naturally noticed by the various tribes of the Eight Wastes Mountain.
The tribes' members flew out of their respective locations, pointing and discussing the black clouds and lightning in the sky.
"What's happening? Why is the sky suddenly filled with black clouds?"
"Is it that fellow's cultivation advancing, and he's about to undergo a lightning tribulation?"
"I don't think so, this lightning cloud's aura is too strange, it doesn't seem like a lightning tribulation, but rather some kind of divine power causing a heavenly upheaval!"
The various tribes members speculated about the cause of the black clouds and lightning, but couldn't come to a conclusion, and were relieved that the black clouds and lightning didn't descend.
Soon, the great elders of the various tribes were alerted and began to investigate the source of the black clouds and lightning using their magical powers.
However, their investigation was blocked by a powerful time law force.
This time law force was immense, and no matter how they tried to investigate, they couldn't break through.
At the top of the Eight Wastes Mountain, Bai Ze walked out of the grand hall, looked at the black clouds and lightning in the sky, and furrowed his brow.
He then closed his eyes, and soon opened them again, looking at Han Li's residence, with a hint of surprise in his eyes.
"This kid's got some tricks up his sleeve," Bai Ze said with a hint of praise, before turning and walking back into the grand hall.
...
Inside the flower petal space, Han Li was unaware of the heavenly phenomenon he had caused by stimulating the Tongtian Sword Diagram.
He continued to stimulate the sword diagram, but his face had turned pale.
Because at this moment, half of his immortal spiritual energy had been drained.
...
Time passed, and several years had gone by.
Because the various tribes of the Eight Wastes had gathered at a speed that exceeded Bai Ze's expectations, he announced that the Blood Sacrifice Conference would be held earlier than expected.
With the date set, the entire town of Zhenghuang was put on high alert, with the number of guards at the city gates increased several times, and all people were only allowed to exit, not enter.
On this day, at dawn, when the three beats of the drum made from the skin of a Kui beast sounded, the entire town of Zhenghuang began to shake violently, with the city walls emitting a brilliant light, and ancient, barbaric symbols began to appear on the walls.
Han Li and Xiao Bai walked out of the courtyard, just in time to see the brilliant red light rising from the city walls, like giant pillars supporting the sky, before bursting into a dark red glow that enveloped the entire city.
The Blood Sacrifice Conference was finally about to begin!
Han Li looked at the dark red barrier, his brow furrowed slightly, and a flash of divine light appeared in his eyes, as a strand of divine sense separated from his body and flew towards the outside of the city.
However, the moment his divine sense touched the barrier, Han Li's brow transmitted a sharp pain, and his divine sense disappeared in an instant.
After a brief probe, Han Li didn't make any further moves, but a layer of gloom appeared in his heart. The city's outer boundary was by no means ordinary, and if anything unexpected happened at the Blood Offering Conference, many of his planned escape routes would likely be rendered useless. However, with the Flesh Escape Technique, he had some confidence.
But the cost of using this technique was a bit too high, and if he didn't have to use it, it would be best not to.
"What's wrong? Is something off?" Seeing Han Li's unusual expression, Xiao Bai asked with concern.
"Nothing, don't worry, I'm here." Han Li smiled and rubbed Xiao Bai's head.
Xiao Bai didn't say anything, but slightly lowered his head.
Since learning that he possessed the ink eye Qiong Qi bloodline, he had become somewhat withdrawn, not as lively as before. He was both looking forward to and dreading the Blood Offering Conference.
"Let's go, it's almost time, we should head up the mountain." Han Li called out, leading Xiao Bai to a large square at the foot of the mountain.
Before they arrived, Han Li saw that the square was already packed with people from the Savage Tribes, mainly from the Tian Huo and Ban Shan tribes, with the rest being affiliated tribes. There were nearly ten thousand people in total.
Han Li led Xiao Bai through the crowd and arrived at the front of the square, where he saw Tian Huo tribe leader Liu Qing standing with several hundred tribe members. On the other side, there were also several hundred Ban Shan tribe members.
Like the Tian Huo tribe, the Ban Shan tribe was also one of the sixteen great Savage Tribes, possessing the ancient bloodline of the eight true spirit kings, the mountain giant ape. However, through generations of inheritance, their divine powers had long since diminished, and they had become one of the weaker tribes.
Although they still possessed the ability to move mountains and fill seas, their bloodline had become increasingly diluted, and they had become a marginalized existence.
As for the Ban Shan tribe's appearance, they resembled the Qing Yuan ape, but were much smaller, with dark blue-black fur and a protruding bone on their shoulders. Their eyes had a faint golden glow, giving them an otherworldly appearance.
The leader of the Ban Shan tribe was an elderly ape with a hunched back, wearing a white robe. His face was covered in wrinkles, and his eyes had long white eyebrows, giving him an ancient and frail appearance.
The Tian Huo tribe and the Ban Shan tribe stood on opposite sides of the square, their differences clear.
Han Li and Xiao Bai had not yet approached when Liu Le'er noticed them and smiled, wanting to walk over.
"Today's conference is a grand affair, don't cause any trouble." But before she could move, Liu Qing scolded her in a low voice.
Liu Le'er could only pout and stand still.
Han Li smiled and nodded at her, and with Xiao Bai by his side, he calmly walked to the front of the square.
On the side of the Ban Shan tribe, there was a tribe member who was significantly shorter than the others, with snow-white fur. He was staring at Han Li and Xiao Bai with curiosity.
Xiao Bai was displeased and bared his teeth, trying to intimidate him.
But the tribe member was surprisingly timid and hid behind a taller tribe member.
Xiao Bai found this amusing and relaxed his expression.
The small white ape then peeked out from behind the tribe member and smiled at Han Li.
"Brother Han, although the king has permitted you to attend the conference, today is a rare and grand occasion for the Savage Tribes. There are some things that need to be explained to you." Liu Qing suddenly spoke up.
"Please, elder, I'm listening." Han Li replied.
"A moment later, the heavenly bell will ring on the mountain peak, and the Savage Tribes will ascend the mountain from the eight ancient paths. It's not easy to reach the peak, as the ancient eight kings have set up restrictions that suppress all living beings. Even the strongest Savage beasts may not be able to withstand it, so I advise you to be cautious and not overexert yourself." Liu Qing warned Han Li.
Han Li nodded, "Thank you, elder, I'll remember that."
He then looked at Liu Le'er and Xiao Bai, who were not physically strong. Wouldn't they be at a disadvantage when ascending the mountain?
"Don't worry about them, as long as they possess the ancient bloodline of the eight true spirit kings, they will be fine. The stronger their bloodline, the easier it will be for them to ascend." Liu Qing said.
Han Li felt reassured and put his mind at ease.
He looked up at the towering mountain peak, which was shrouded in a dark red glow. A stone staircase carved into the mountain, a thousand feet wide, stretched up like a giant heavenly ladder.
Just then, three loud bell tolls echoed from the mountain peak.
A series of visible ripples spread out from the peak, as if containing a unique energy. When the ripples reached Han Li, he felt his true spirit bloodline stirring, as if awakened by the energy.
He looked around and saw that the others were also affected, their auras surging as if guided by a mysterious power. A faint pink mist emanated from their bodies.
In the distant void, a long and low-pitched call suddenly echoed, followed by a series of desolate sounds that seemed to reverberate from far and near, making it difficult to discern their meaning. When Han Li listened carefully, he found that the sounds only had a tone, without any specific words, so he couldn't understand what they meant. However, as soon as he heard the sounds, he felt a surge of energy throughout his body.
"Could this be the ancient war song of the Barbarian Tribes?" Han Li wondered.
Just as he was pondering this, the sounds around him grew louder.
He turned to look at Xiao Bai beside him and found that the latter was also making low humming sounds in his throat.
"I don't know what's going on, but when I heard that desolate tone, I couldn't help but hum along..." Xiao Bai said to Han Li through their mental connection.
Han Li nodded and began to climb the mountain with Xiao Bai.
As soon as he took his first step onto the mountain path, he felt an inexplicable power enveloping him from all sides, making his footsteps feel heavy. However, this heaviness wasn't coming from outside, but rather from the mountain itself, which seemed to have turned into a magnet, exerting an attractive force that pulled all the climbers towards it.
This power wasn't too strong for Han Li, and he was able to walk without any hindrance.
The Tian Huo tribe and the Ban Shan tribe were also climbing without any issues, and their speed wasn't slow. They quickly reached the hundredth level.
Han Li and Xiao Bai's speed was comparable to that of the Tian Huo tribe, and when they looked back, they saw that there were still thousands of people standing on the mountain square below, not climbing.
"Le'er, why are those people staying at the foot of the mountain?" Han Li asked Liu Le'er through their mental connection.
"They're not among the top hundred tribes, and since they're affiliated with the Barbarian Tribes, they're allowed to stay at the foot of the mountain. Many other tribes can't even approach the mountain, let alone climb it," Liu Le'er replied.
"It seems that participating in the Blood Sacrifice Conference is a great honor," Han Li said.
"Indeed, the top hundred tribes that can climb the mountain all have some remnants of the Eight Ancient Kings' bloodline, which is why they're allowed to climb. That's why the King's permission for you to accompany Xiao Bai is quite unexpected, even to the tribe leader," Liu Le'er said.
Han Li raised an eyebrow and didn't say anything else.
After climbing several hundred more steps, ancient symbols began to appear on the stone platforms, and the climbers found that every time they stepped on the platforms, it was as if they were stuck in the mud, making it difficult to lift their feet. Many people's postures became awkward.
Except for the Tian Huo tribe and the Ban Shan tribe, who were able to maintain their original speed, the other tribes began to slow down, and the line of climbers grew longer.
Han Li, as a human, was able to climb at the same speed as the Tian Huo tribe, and he even seemed to be walking more easily than the others. This caught the attention of the other two tribes, who found it quite surprising.
One by one, they increased their speed, trying not to fall behind Han Li and lose face.
Han Li didn't have any competitive spirit, and he continued to climb with Xiao Bai at a leisurely pace.
At this point, a small white ape from the Ban Shan tribe, who had been walking with the others, suddenly stopped and approached Han Li and Xiao Bai.
The ape looked at Han Li and Xiao Bai with a mixture of curiosity and wariness.
Han Li, who had the bloodline of the mountain giant ape, found the ape's behavior quite endearing, so he smiled and approached the ape cautiously.
The Ban Shan tribe seemed to approve of the ape's actions, and they didn't try to stop it.
The ape's wariness was mainly directed towards Han Li, so when it approached, it went to the other side and tried to get closer to Xiao Bai.
"What's wrong with you, not staying with your own family, but coming over to bother us?" Xiao Bai asked gruffly.
"I heard that you have the bloodline of the Mò Yǎn Pí Xiū," the ape said.
"So what if I do?" Xiao Bai replied, not looking back.
"Our ancestors were one of the Eight Great True Spirit Kings, Yuán Hóng, and he was a close friend of the Mò Yǎn Pí Xiū, Mò Yù..." the ape said.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Xiao Bai asked, still climbing.
"They disappeared together, back in the day," the ape said. Xiao Bai suddenly fell silent upon hearing this.
"What's your name?" Xiao Bai asked after a moment, turning to look at Xiao Bai Yuan.
"Yuan Shan Bai," Xiao Bai Yuan replied.
"You're Yuan Shan Bai, and I'm Xiao Bai... we really do have a bit of a connection," Xiao Bai said with a chuckle.
"Your name is Xiao Bai, Mo Xiao Bai?" Xiao Bai Yuan asked, raising an eyebrow.
Xiao Bai hesitated for a moment before nodding vaguely, not having regained his memories and not knowing his true name.
Han Li had been observing the exchange between the two young ones and felt a slight stirring in his heart upon seeing this scene.
Xiao Bai and Yuan Shan Bai began chatting and soon lost their previous gloomy demeanor. Xiao Bai's original carefree and bold personality returned, and he began to tease Yuan Shan Bai, who had never left his tribe and was clearly not yet an adult.
When Xiao Bai mentioned that he had an even more powerful senior, Yuan Shan Bai's eyes nearly sparkled with envy and admiration.
"Hey, don't worry! When we have the chance, I'll introduce you to my senior. She's not easy to get along with, but she's a righteous person. Just prepare some gifts for her, and once she acknowledges you as her junior, we'll look out for you together," Xiao Bai said with a grin, patting Yuan Shan Bai on the shoulder.
Han Li couldn't help but touch his nose, feeling a mix of emotions upon hearing Xiao Bai's words.
As they continued on their journey, Han Li's attention never wavered, carefully observing the changes in their surroundings.
As they climbed higher, the attractive force emanating from the stone steps grew stronger. Many tribes were unable to keep up with the Tian Huo tribe and the Bai Shan tribe, falling behind.
In addition to the attractive force, a powerful oppressive force began to emanate from the surrounding void, making it increasingly difficult for the Tian Huo tribe and the Bai Shan tribe to move forward.
When they reached the halfway point, the oppressive force had already surpassed the force at the foot of the mountain by a hundredfold. Han Li felt his breathing become labored, and the pressure was almost unbearable.
He slowed his pace, circulating the Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong within his body, and only then did he feel the pressure ease slightly. He continued to ascend, his movements becoming more labored.
All the tribes except for the Tian Huo tribe and the Bai Shan tribe had fallen behind, and even those who had followed were now abandoning their ascent and instead taking the horizontal plank road to the platforms on either side of the mountain.
Han Li's gaze swept across the platforms, where he saw numerous stone pedestals resembling cushions. The members of the various tribes who had arrived at the platforms were sitting down, each choosing a pedestal.
The Tian Huo tribe and the Bai Shan tribe, however, showed no intention of stopping and continued to ascend.
It was strange that the Bai Shan tribe, whose physical strength should have been superior to that of the Tian Huo tribe, was actually falling behind.
Yuan Shan Bai, who had been chatting with Xiao Bai, was now walking at the front of the group.
As he saw his tribesmen falling behind, Yuan Shan Bai bid farewell to Xiao Bai and returned to the elderly Bai Shan tribe member's side, accompanying him as they continued their ascent.
The Tian Huo tribe members and the Bai Shan tribe members were mostly silent, occasionally glancing at Han Li with a mixture of confusion and curiosity.
In reality, only Han Li himself knew that the pressure exerted on him was almost equivalent to that of a mighty mountain, and that every step he took left a faint impression on the stone steps.
As they continued on their journey, Han Li noticed that Xiao Bai was also reaching his limit, his movements becoming increasingly labored.
Han Li slowed his pace, accompanying Xiao Bai as they ascended.
The Tian Huo tribe members gradually surpassed them, walking ahead, and Han Li's heart felt a sense of relief.
Han Li glanced at Liu Le'er, who was stopped in front of them, looking back with a questioning gaze.
"You go ahead with Liu Qing, we'll catch up later," Han Li transmitted to her.
Liu Le'er hesitated for a moment before continuing on with Liu Qing's urging.
"How about I help you?" Han Li asked, knowing that Xiao Bai's true strength as a Mo Xiao Bai had not yet awakened.
"No need, according to Xiao Bai Yuan, climbing this mountain is a test of the Eight Kings' bloodline. The thicker the bloodline, the more courageous one can be. I won't let my bloodline be ashamed," Xiao Bai said, shaking his head.
He then lifted his head, his eyes shining with determination as he gazed towards the mountain peak, continuing his ascent.
Han Li looked at Xiao Bai's eyes and saw a faint golden glow, but it vanished in an instant. He smiled and continued on his way.
Time trickled by, and soon the sun had reached its peak.
The dark red barrier that enveloped the mountain peak had softened the sunlight, but the crowd that had been watching from below had already begun to feel a sense of despair.
Above them, only a hundred dark red stone steps remained, and ascending them would bring them to the summit. However, these steps seemed to have become an insurmountable barrier, blocking the path for almost everyone.
Just then, a cry of despair echoed from the mountain path.
A Heaven Fox tribe member, who had been resting for a while, finally gathered the courage to charge up the first step.
As soon as his foot landed on the step, a massive force swept in from all directions, instantly crushing him, and a series of cracking sounds echoed from his body, as if his bones were being shattered.
Liu Qing saw this and furrowed her brow, taking a step forward into the red mountain path. She grasped the Heaven Fox tribe member and pulled him back with all her might.
"The path ahead is not for anyone to tread," Liu Qing said, holding the unconscious Heaven Fox tribe member. "For those with weak bloodline powers, this is the end of the road."
The crowd's faces turned pale as they listened to her words.
They knew that if they could reach the summit, they would be rewarded with a great opportunity. However, the summit was now within sight, yet seemed so far away.
Han Li, accompanied by Xiao Bai, finally arrived at the hundred-step stone staircase and stopped.
As he reached this point, he felt as though a massive stone was pressing down on his chest, making it hard to breathe. His true spirit bloodline was stirring, helping him to alleviate the pressure.
When he saw Xiao Bai, who was drenched and trembling like a dead dog, he didn't feel any mockery, but rather a sense of admiration.
Soon, the Mountain Ape tribe arrived, but only a few members remained, including the elderly tribe leader and Xiao Bai.
As they approached, they stopped and looked at Xiao Bai, who was still trembling on the ground. Yuan Shanbai smiled and gave Xiao Bai a thumbs-up, expressing his admiration.
Xiao Bai struggled to stand up, shaking off the fatigue.
Liu Qing turned around and looked at the group, her eyes scanning Han Li's face with a mixture of curiosity and suspicion.
Han Li was used to this kind of attention.
He even noticed that the elderly Mountain Ape tribe leader was secretly glancing at him, and Han Li couldn't help but feel a sense of wry amusement.
At the same time, Han Li wondered why he was able to withstand the pressure, and whether it was related to the Mountain Ape's bloodline within him.
After all, this was one of the eight ancient True Spirit Kings.
Just then, the Heaven Fox tribe began to move forward, but only seven members, including Liu Qing and Liu Le'er, continued on, while the rest sat down at the base of the stairs.
As the seven members stepped onto the final hundred steps, a brilliant white light burst forth from their bodies, and a series of thick, white fox tails extended from their backs. The light was most intense around Liu Le'er, who had the fewest tails, only six, but her body shone with the brightest light.
From Han Li's observations, he noticed that Liu Le'er's aura was the most pure and thick, even surpassing Liu Qing's.
Seeing that Liu Le'er was unharmed despite the intense pressure, Han Li felt a sense of relief.
"Let's go," Han Li said to Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai struggled to stand up, his tongue lolling out of his mouth, and nodded.
They turned around and looked at the two Mountain Ape tribe members, who were still resting, and stepped onto the final hundred steps.
Han Li had prepared himself for this, but when his foot landed on the step, he still felt an overwhelming force, causing him to stumble.
He propped himself up with his hands and pressed his body against the stairs, taking a long time to recover.
Xiao Bai, on the other hand, was in a similar state, his four limbs trembling as he struggled to stand up, his mouth emitting a series of muffled whimpers.
Han Li turned to Xiao Bai and forced a smile, his body glowing with a dark light as he transformed into a three-headed, six-armed demon.
With his six arms, he supported Xiao Bai and shielded him from the pressure, slowly crawling up the stairs like a spider. Xiao Bai was under Han Li's protection, and although he was still subjected to the crushing pressure of the surrounding space, he finally had a chance to catch his breath. He struggled to his feet and began to climb up, one step at a time.
After climbing up a dozen or so levels, Xiao Bai felt that he had adapted somewhat, and he used his spiritual connection to Han Li to try to climb on his own.
Han Li hesitated for a moment before deciding to respect Xiao Bai's opinion, and he moved to the side to let Xiao Bai continue climbing.
Without Han Li's protection, the pressure from above bore down on Xiao Bai once again, causing his limbs to tremble and almost making him collapse.
However, after struggling for a moment, Xiao Bai finally managed to steady himself and began to climb up again.
As he climbed higher, the pressure from the space grew exponentially, and even Han Li felt like he was about to collapse. Xiao Bai's situation was even more dire.
Just as Xiao Bai was about to reach the top of the stairs, his mouth and nose began to bleed, and he stumbled and fell.
Han Li watched in concern as Xiao Bai's eyes turned glassy, and he felt a surge of anxiety.
Just then, a sudden change occurred!
A Tian Huo tribe member who was just one step away from the top of the stairs suddenly collapsed under the pressure, falling backwards and tumbling down the stairs towards Xiao Bai.
The Tian Huo tribe member's body was not large, but the force of the fall was immense, and it was like a mountain peak crashing down on Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai's strength was already at its limit, and he was unable to dodge the falling body. He felt like he was going to collapse under the pressure.
In the nick of time, a dark shadow flashed in front of him, and the falling body seemed to collide with something before rolling away.
At the same time, Han Li's voice echoed in Xiao Bai's ear: "Just a little further, hold on!"
Xiao Bai's eyes snapped open, and he looked around, wondering where Han Li had gone.
When he turned to look back, he saw Han Li tumbling down the stairs with the Tian Huo tribe member.
Xiao Bai's heart swelled with gratitude, and he gritted his teeth, letting out a fierce roar.
At the same time, his eyes flashed with a golden light, and his body seemed to gain a surge of strength.
With renewed energy, Xiao Bai climbed up the stairs, his four limbs moving in tandem as he ascended to the top.
"I made it, I made it..." Xiao Bai exclaimed, but before he could even celebrate, he felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, and he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Liu Le'er, who had already reached the top, rushed over to Xiao Bai's side, but a white-robed man with a handsome face appeared, saying: "He's fine, he just temporarily activated the sealed bloodline power. He'll recover after a short rest."
Liu Le'er looked up to see that it was the True Spirit King, Bai Ze, and she was surprised.
"You go rest, I'll take care of him," Bai Ze said.
Liu Le'er hesitated for a moment before nodding and leaving.
Bai Ze picked up Xiao Bai and fed him a dark red pill, then looked down at the mountain below, a hint of a smile on his face.
"As a human, it's not easy to do what you did..."
Meanwhile, Han Li was still struggling to climb up the mountain, his six arms grasping at the stone stairs as he tried to stabilize himself.
However, he was unable to resist the pressure, and he tumbled down the stairs, his body rolling and crashing against the stone.
Just as he was about to fall again, a massive hand reached out from below and caught him, pulling him back to safety.
Han Li vomited up a mouthful of blood as he struggled to his feet, and he saw that it was the long-browed elder of the Ban Shan tribe who had saved him.
"Thank you, elder," Han Li said, bowing his head in gratitude.
The elder just smiled and nodded, then continued climbing up the mountain with a small ape by his side.
Han Li watched them go, then sat down to rest and recover. After a short while, he stood up again, looking up at the peak.
Climbing the mountain again after being injured was even more difficult than before.
Han Li closed his eyes, focusing his spiritual energy as he began to climb once more.
Time trickled away, and the distant sun began to set, casting a golden glow over the peak. The square at the summit was already filled with nearly a hundred people, including over a dozen Da Luo realm cultivators. Among them were sixteen leaders of the sixteen great tribes, as well as a few leaders from the top hundred tribes. The remaining people were the most talented and pure-blooded young cultivators from each tribe, who had managed to pass the ancient mountain path trials and reach the summit.
The Huo Zhen tribe had the most people present, with over ten individuals, while the Ban Shan Yuan tribe had the least, with only Yuan Shan Bai.
The Huo Zhen tribe was one of the eight great true spirit tribes, and its people were the main descendants of the true spirit king, Luo Hou. The tribe was extremely powerful and its overall strength was even greater than that of the Ying Ma tribe.
The current leader of the Huo Zhen tribe was a tall, middle-aged man with a rough, ugly face, wearing a purple robe with a black scale armor on top. His muscles were bulging, and his eyes seemed to be bursting with explosive power.
He had a wide mouth and a sharp jawline, with purple whiskers that stuck out like steel needles. His aura was incredibly strong, comparable to that of a late-stage Da Luo cultivator.
At this moment, his eyes scanned the square, and a hint of doubt flashed across his face. He hesitated for a moment before approaching the center of the square, where he bowed to the person standing there.
That person was dressed in a white long robe, with a handsome face and an extraordinary aura. It was the true spirit king, Bai Ze.
"Your Majesty, the tribes have gathered, and there should be no more climbers on the ancient mountain path. Why haven't we begun the blood sacrifice ceremony yet?" the Huo Zhen tribe leader asked.
"Not yet, let's wait for one more person. They should be arriving soon," Bai Ze replied, glancing at the small white figure beside him.
As soon as he finished speaking, a low, suppressed roar echoed from the northern edge of the square, and a figure like a spider leapt out from the mountain wall, landing on the square.
The newcomer was none other than Han Li.
He had used the Heavenly Executioner's Prison and the true spirit bloodline, and had also employed the time law to aid him. After spending three hours, he finally reached the summit.
The small white figure immediately ran towards him, and Liu Le also rushed over with a smile.
Han Li's body flashed with light, and his three heads and six arms disappeared, returning to their original state.
However, his previous transformation had already caught the attention of the other people, and his unusual aura had also been detected by the crowd.
The Ban Shan Yuan tribe's elder, Li Mu, only narrowed his eyes, but did not show much surprise. The other tribe leaders, however, were not as calm.
"Is he a human? Why can a human climb our sacred mountain?" a tall, purple-faced man with short whiskers and a black wing on his back asked, his voice filled with anger.
He was the leader of the Fei Tian Bao tribe, which was also a descendant of the true spirit king, Zhu Hou. However, they were not as pure-blooded as the Zhu Hou tribe, and were instead a branch of the Zhu Hou tribe.
Although they were one of the sixteen great tribes, they had always been inferior to the Zhu Hou tribe.
"How can he have the aura of a true spirit? And not just one kind?" another man with a bird-like head and a silver wing on his back exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.
He was the leader of the Yin Chi Lei Peng tribe, one of the sixteen great tribes.
Half of the other tribe leaders were also shocked and angry, and they all wanted to kill Han Li.
However, the leader of the Qing Yuan tribe, a hunched old man with a pale face, only smiled coldly to himself. He was one of the few who had known Han Li's identity beforehand.
Qing Hou and Qing Shu, who were standing behind him, also looked at Han Li with hatred in their eyes.
Bai Ze saw that the crowd was getting more and more agitated, and he frowned slightly.
"Everyone, please calm down. This Han Li is a friend of ours, and I have specifically invited him to attend the ceremony," Li Qi said, stepping forward to intervene.
The crowd immediately fell silent, although they were still filled with doubts and questions.
"Don't worry, this Han Li is a friend of our tribe. He is the one who found the isolated bloodline of the ancient true spirit king, Mo Yan Pi, and brought it back to us," Li Qi continued.
"Ah, it's him..." someone exclaimed.
It seemed that Han Li's exploits had already spread among the true spirits of the wilderness.
Han Li was not surprised by the crowd's reaction, and his eyes scanned the square. When his gaze fell on the Zhu Hou tribe, he paused for a moment. Wasn't that him?
He saw a tall, white-haired youth with a sinister face standing at the front of the Zhu Hou tribe, wearing a white and gold robe, with his hands clasped behind his back. The youth was smiling at him with a sly grin. Han Li, of course, recognized the person at a glance, and the latter also recognized him at a glance.
The two of them had the same thought in their minds: what a coincidence...
When Han Li's gaze shifted again, it fell on the Tian Huo tribe, and he found that besides the few people who had climbed the mountain earlier, there was a familiar figure in the crowd, and it was none other than Huo San.
Huo San's eyes met Han Li's, and they nodded at each other slightly. Before they could connect their minds, Han Li was called over by Li Qi Ma, who led him to the center of the square.
"Pay respects to the True Spirit King," Han Li said, bowing to Bai Ze.
Bai Ze smiled and nodded, looking at the western sky, where the deep blue sky was already filled with stars, releasing a faint glow.
"The time is just right, the ceremony can begin," Bai Ze said, nodding to himself.
The various tribal leaders heard this and immediately began to organize their people, gathering them in an orderly fashion on the square.
Bai Ze walked to the front of the crowd, scanning the people with his eyes, and began to speak:
"Today's Blood Sacrifice Assembly is a rare grand event for our barbarian tribes, and it has been a long time since we have held such a gathering. The reasons for this are too numerous to mention. But now that the entire Immortal Realm is in chaos, it is likely that we have reached the point of the Great Calamity that Mu Yan's prophecy spoke of. Our barbarian tribes are also caught up in this, and it is a flood that cannot be stopped."
The crowd listened to this, and many of them looked puzzled and confused. Only the tribal leaders' expressions changed, and it was clear that they knew the prophecy of Mu Yan, the True Spirit King.
Han Li, of course, did not know about this, but he had personally experienced the changes in the Immortal Realm over the years and had caught a whiff of the situation. Therefore, he was more able to understand Bai Ze's words than some of the younger members of the barbarian tribes.
The great changes in the world can only be sensed by those who have already made preparations when the wind begins to rise, or even before it rises. Only then can they stand tall and proud when the storm breaks out.
Xiao Bai stood beside Han Li, and although he didn't understand what was being said, he knew that it was a prophecy left behind by Mu Yan, and so he listened very seriously.
"Today is the day when we will use the blood sacrifice to open the Barbarian Sacred Temple and unlock the Shura Blood Gate," Bai Ze continued, his eyes flashing with golden light. "The position of the Eight Barbarian Kings has been vacant for a long time, and it is also time for us to summon them back and restore the glory of the barbarian tribes."
"Eight Kings return, restore glory!"
"Eight Kings return, restore glory!"
...
These few short sentences ignited the passion of the barbarian tribes, and they began to shout loudly.
Han Li heard this and was slightly puzzled. Could it be that this Blood Sacrifice Assembly was some kind of ritual to summon the missing True Spirit Kings?
"The sixteen barbarian tribes, where are the people who will perform the blood sacrifice?" Bai Ze shouted.
Li Qi Ma stepped forward from the Ying Ma tribe, his chest held high, and stood at the front of the line.
From the Tian Huo tribe, Liu Le'er also stepped forward, coming to stand in front of her people.
Next, Qing Yuan from the Qing Yuan tribe stepped forward, his fangs, which had been broken by Han Li earlier, now seemingly restored to their original state.
From the Zhu Wu tribe, a young man with a sinister face and white hair stepped forward, his arms crossed, and stood at the front.
From the Hun Chou tribe, a giant of a man with a black scaled armor stepped forward, his face resembling a wild boar, with three pairs of sharp white teeth, curved like a hook.
From the Yin Chi Lei Peng tribe, a young man with silver hair and a red sleeveless shirt stepped forward, a golden lightning bolt scar on his forehead, and two wings on his back, with electric sparks flying around them.
From the Ban Shan tribe, the small white ape also stepped forward, looking over at Han Li.
Xiao Bai, who was standing beside Han Li, hesitated for a moment, then looked up at Han Li and followed his gaze.
Han Li smiled and nodded at him, and Xiao Bai left his side, coming to stand in front of the line.
These eight people were the direct descendants of the ancient barbarian eight kings, and the other eight tribes, such as the Tong Tian Mouse tribe, the Bai Zu Dragon tribe, the Hua Gu Snake tribe, and the Tong Bi Ape tribe, were all collateral descendants.
They each sent one person to participate in the ceremony, serving as accompanying sacrificers.
"All those who will perform the blood sacrifice, follow me into the temple," Bai Ze ordered. "The rest of you, wait on the square until the formation is opened."
"Obey the king's command," the crowd responded.
Bai Ze then turned and walked towards a round stone temple behind the square, followed by Li Qi Ma and the others.
"You also enter the temple," Bai Ze suddenly stopped and turned to Han Li, saying.
"You too, enter the temple."
Han Li heard White Ze's words, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
The Barbarian tribes were even more shocked, and they couldn't believe their ears. One by one, they exclaimed in shock.
For them, the Barbarian Holy Temple was an even more sacred existence than the Holy Mountain, and it was the center of their faith. If allowing Han Li, a human, to ascend the mountain was already a betrayal of their faith, then allowing him to enter the temple would be a desecration of their faith.
This was something they could not accept.
Even Li Qi Ma's face changed, and a hint of puzzlement flashed in his eyes.
"Your Majesty, this is unacceptable..." At this time, the Hun Meng tribe leader's face changed, and he shouted loudly.
"The Barbarian Holy Temple cannot be entered by humans..." The other tribe leaders also shouted one after another.
"Allowing humans to enter the temple is a desecration of our ancestors' bloodline, it's absolutely unacceptable..."
"Think carefully!"
The Zuo Wu tribe young master and Qing Tian also changed their expressions, and their eyes became extremely complex. They had not expected that the True Spirit King would value Han Li so highly, and they couldn't help but hesitate, wondering if they should still seek revenge against him.
Listening to the intense opposition, Han Li's expression also changed, and he hesitated.
"This Barbarian Holy Temple was established by me and the other seven True Spirit Kings. Who can enter, who cannot enter, I will decide." White Ze merely frowned and glanced at them, speaking calmly.
"Your Majesty..." The crowd's shouts were still echoing, but White Ze had already turned and left.
Li Qi Ma and the others immediately followed him, and Han Li hesitated for a moment before following as well.
As they entered the stone temple, the noisy voices behind them were still echoing, but once the heavy temple doors closed, all the sounds were blocked outside.
The interior of the temple was dimly lit, with only a fire pit in the center, and the flames danced and flickered, casting eerie shadows on the walls.
Han Li looked around and saw that the surrounding area was lined with tall stone statues, eight in total, each representing a True Spirit King: Chu Gan, Zhu Yan, Luo Hou, White Ze, Mountain Giant Ape, You Tian Kun Peng, Nine-Tailed Fox, and Mo Yan Pi Xi.
In front of each statue, there was a stone chair, but they were all empty, having been vacant for an extremely long time.
Liu Le'er gazed at the statue of the Nine-Tailed Fox, looking at its nine tails, and feeling a subtle connection to it. Her eyes flashed with a hint of confusion.
Xiao Bai stared intently at the statue of the Mo Yan Pi Xi, looking at its appearance, which was similar to his own, but he couldn't feel any sense of familiarity or closeness.
The other people also looked at the statues, each with a mix of curiosity, reverence, excitement, and longing.
"What you see before you are the statues of the eight True Spirit Kings, who have been the rulers of the Barbarian world since ancient times. Some were my close friends, while others were my sworn enemies. We built this Barbarian Holy Temple together to seal the Blood Gate of the Asura. Now, I have gathered you here to use the True Spirit King bloodline within you to unlock the seal." White Ze's eyes scanned the statues, and he spoke calmly.
"We are willing to obey your orders." The crowd responded in unison.
"Among the eight True Spirit Kings, except for Luo Hou and You Tian Kun Peng, who left the Eight Desolate Mountains to wander the void shortly after the temple was established, the others have all suffered twists of fate, and their destinies are unknown. It is unclear whether they still exist or have disappeared entirely." White Ze spoke without hesitation, revealing the secrets of the Barbarian True Spirit Kings.
For the people present, the ancestors who had given them their bloodline were already like mythical figures, but it was difficult for them to accept the fact that these ancestors, who had brought them great honor, were no longer alive.
So, after hearing White Ze's words, almost everyone's face turned serious.
"However, you don't have to be disappointed. As the chosen ones of heaven and earth, born with various innate divine abilities and heavenly laws, even if we disappear from the world, our bloodline powers will merge with the laws of time and will not be completely lost. When the Blood Gate of the Asura is opened, these powers will return to the temple. As the inheritors of their bloodline, you may inherit their powers and become the new True Spirit Kings!" White Ze continued.
As soon as he spoke, the crowd's hearts were like thunder, and their minds were in turmoil.
Become the new True Spirit Kings?
For all the Barbarian tribes, this was probably the ultimate temptation in the world.
At this moment, they were already confused, and they didn't know whether to hope for the return of the True Spirit Kings or to hope that they had already disappeared.
White Ze's eyes were calm, and he observed the changes in everyone's expressions without any reaction.
In fact, he was aware of all the changes in their thoughts and feelings, but he didn't care.
Because, for him, none of this was important. The flame in the fire pit before you, is the essence fire lit by us eight, which has now weakened significantly, indicating that some people have truly disappeared from the world. All the descendants of the barbarian tribes, come forward and listen to the order. Bai Ze gave the order.
Everyone heard the sound, and they all walked forward, surrounding the fire pit in the center.
Only Han Li was slightly distant from them, standing behind Xiao Bai, silently observing everything.
The people present, seeing Han Li being so tactful, slightly reduced their hostility towards him, but in their eyes, Han Li's presence here was still a redundant and humiliating thing for the sacred temple.
But with the presence of the True Spirit King, no one dared to openly express it.
Bai Ze's gaze swept over the crowd, his eyes suddenly locked onto something, and his hands clasped together in front of him, a golden light rippling out from his palms, like a stone thrown into a lake, expanding outward in layers.
The golden light started from the bottom of the fire pit, spreading outward, and the ground was filled with blooming golden flowers.
Everyone saw this, and subconsciously retreated backward.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, looking down at the ground, and saw that the golden flowers were actually formed by dense symbols.
The symbols emitted a strange aura, and when everyone sensed it, they felt their blood vessels connecting with it, and their feet seemed to be rooted to the ground, merging with the earth.
Han Li's legs stiffened, and then he realized that he was also connected to the earth like the others.
Initially startled, Han Li quickly discovered that this power was not an external force binding him, but rather his own blood vessels being stirred, and the attractive force of the connection to the earth.
If he were to forcibly sever this connection, it wouldn't be impossible, but after a brief hesitation, Han Li decided to maintain this connection, because he could clearly feel the True Spirit blood vessels in his body, which seemed to be very fond of this connection.
As the symbols bloomed, the ground began to emit a golden glow, like a layer of gold dust, filling the entire hall, and illuminating the surroundings.
The eight True Spirit King statues were covered in a layer of golden dust, and the entire hall was bathed in a bright light, making it seem like the statues were standing like divine beings.
Bai Ze saw this, and a hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes, as he walked to his statue and sat down slowly.
"Now, each of you take a drop of your original essence blood, and pour it into the fire pit," he said.
Everyone heard this, and without hesitation, they stretched out their hands, and a drop of their original essence blood emerged from their palms.
The sound of the blood dripping into the fire pit echoed through the hall.
As the blood containing the eight True Spirit King's blood vessels fell into the dark red fire pit, the flames suddenly surged, and a series of illusory shadows appeared within.
Han Li's gaze swept over, and he saw that the flames were actually displaying the true forms of the eight True Spirit Kings.
Before he could react, the fire pit flashed, and eight flames shot out, each heading towards one of the statues, and entering their brow points.
The statues then violently shook, and their surfaces burst with colorful lights, illuminating the entire stone hall.
At the same time, the ancient paths on the Eight Wastes Mountain began to shine with a brilliant light, filling the sky.
The night sky above the mountain, the entire void, was filled with the massive illusory shadows of the eight True Spirit Kings, occupying the eight directions, some roaring, some running, each one fierce and majestic.
The people of the various tribes, who were on the mountain peak, and the cultivators who were halfway up the mountain, saw this scene, and all knelt down, bowing their heads, and praying.
The peak's heavenly bell and the mountain's Kui beast drum, which had no one playing them, suddenly began to sound, and the ancient barbarian war song echoed through the heavens, a powerful and majestic aura spreading from the mountain peak.
The people in the city below, from the streets to the mansions, all knelt down, praying, and the entire city was filled with the sound of their voices.
At this moment, a sudden change occurred!
The illusory shadow of the mountain giant ape, which had appeared in the sky, suddenly became distorted, and then disappeared.
Corresponding to this, the sacred flame that had entered the mountain giant ape's statue, began to tremble, and then disappeared.
The golden dust on the statue also scattered, and the entire statue darkened.
Immediately, a series of chain reactions occurred, the flames on the other statues began to fly back, returning to the dark red fire pit, and the statues gradually darkened.
The people on the square saw this, and were shocked, their eyes fixed on the long-browed old man of the mountain ape tribe, the collapse of the True Spirit King's form starting from the mountain giant ape, clearly indicating that the bloodline successor chosen by the True Spirit King was not qualified.
The people's eyes were filled with anger, and they glared at the old man, their faces twisted with rage.
Yuankong, your tribe's young white ape seems to be underage, its bloodline power is not enough..." The Qiying Ape tribe leader spoke first.
"Hmph! I've always said you're useless, and you still have the nerve to be one of the sixteen great wilderness tribes? Where in your bodies is the bloodline of the ancient True Spirit King?" A tall, ape-like man with a loud voice spoke up.
He was the leader of the Baibei Guiren tribe, one of the sixteen great wilderness tribes, and a distant relative of the True Spirit King Zhu Yan. He was naturally inferior to the Qiying Ape tribe, and had always been looked down upon by them.
The old man with the long eyebrows looked at him, sighed, and said nothing.
The Shanyue Giant Ape was different from the other True Spirit Kings, as its bloodline had only been passed down through the Banshan Ape tribe, and not through direct inheritance. As a result, the bloodline power had become weaker with each generation.
Yuanshan Bai was an exception among the Banshan Ape tribe, as his body contained a purer bloodline of the Shanyue Giant Ape than the others. However, perhaps due to his youth or other reasons, his bloodline power was still not enough.
The surrounding voices of criticism grew louder and more intense.
Inside the Wild Ancient Temple, there were also voices of doubt, with the young white ape being surrounded and filled with feelings of guilt.
"This matter is not something he can control, don't criticize him anymore." A small white figure stood up, blocking the young white ape, and said angrily.
Liu Le'er didn't speak, but chose to stand with them.
"If you're useless, you should be able to bear the criticism..." The young master of the Zouwu tribe said.
"Feeling guilty is useless, the fact that the Shura Blood Gate can't be opened is the fault of the Banshan Ape tribe." The words of the Qingdian tribe's leader sparked even more anger among the crowd.
They were angry because the blood gate couldn't be opened, and they had lost the opportunity to inherit the True Spirit King's bloodline.
Han Li looked at the scene, his eyes slightly sunken, with a hint of hesitation.
"Han Xiao..." At this moment, the white-haired old man, Bai Ze, suddenly spoke up.
The crowd fell silent, and all eyes turned to Han Li.
Han Li sighed inwardly, realizing that the True Spirit King had indeed had a plan in mind when he allowed him to enter the temple.
"Your Majesty..." Han Li pretended to be unaware, and bowed his head.
Bai Ze didn't mind, and stood up from his stone chair, scanning the crowd with his eyes.
"Earlier, you all refused to let Han Xiao enter the mountain, and even considered it a shame for him to enter the temple. But you didn't know that in order to open the Shura Blood Gate, Han Xiao's help is necessary."
The crowd was shocked and surprised.
"Relying on him, a mere mortal..." The Qingdian tribe's leader looked even more incredulous.
"The young white ape's bloodline is not the problem, it's just that it's not fully opened due to its youth. But Han Xiao, although he's a mortal, has the bloodline of the True Spirit King's Shanyue Giant Ape, which is even purer than that of the Banshan Ape tribe." Bai Ze walked towards the crowd, speaking slowly.
The crowd was even more shocked, and Yuanshan Bai's face was filled with surprise.
"Han Xiao, are you willing to lend us a hand?" Bai Ze asked, standing in front of Han Li.
"My body contains many mixed bloodlines, I'm afraid I'll disappoint you." Han Li didn't give a clear answer, but instead pushed back.
"The mixed bloodlines are not a problem, I have a way to separate them. As long as you agree, once the Shura Blood Gate is opened, you can also enter, and your physical defects can be compensated for." Bai Ze said.
The Qingdian tribe's leader and others were filled with complicated emotions, on one hand not wanting Han Li to enter the blood gate, but on the other hand having to ask for his help to open it.
Han Li listened to this, and his heart moved slightly. He smiled, and looked at the Qingdian tribe's leader and the young master of the Zouwu tribe.
The two of them saw his expression, and felt a sense of unease.
"Your Majesty, I have one more request, as long as it's fulfilled, I'll agree." Han Li said.
"Speak freely." Bai Ze replied.
"I need two drops of Zhu Yan's and Chu Yan's pure blood." Han Li said.
Bai Ze was taken aback, but then smiled.
"It's not necessary to go through so much trouble, once the Shura Blood Gate is opened, and someone inherits their bloodline, I'll take two drops of the purest blood for you." Bai Ze said.
Han Li said, "No need, just take one drop each from these two, Qingdian and Zouwu tribe members."
Bai Ze was surprised, as he didn't know that Han Li's body contained mixed bloodlines, and he didn't pursue a single bloodline's strength, but instead sought a balance.
Han Li's request was not to deliberately oppose the Qingdian tribe's leader and the young master of the Zouwu tribe, but because he needed two types of bloodlines to complete his four divine demon forms.
Zhu Yan and Chu Yan, as two of the eight great True Spirit Kings, were the most suitable choices due to their powerful physiques and defensive abilities.
Bai Ze hesitated for a moment, then nodded his head in agreement.
The Qingdian tribe's leader looked at Han Li, his eyes filled with resentment.
"Since Han Xiao is our benefactor, my Zouwu tribe has no objections." The young master of the Zouwu tribe said, with a hint of reluctance in his eyes, but quickly replaced it with a smile. After speaking, he voluntarily lifted his hand, and a flash of light appeared in his palm, condensing a drop of essence blood. He sent it forward.
Qing Dian's face was filled with confusion as he looked at Zhuo Wu, the young master, but before he could speak, he heard the latter's voice in his mind:
"Qing Dian, don't be troubled by the gains and losses of this moment. Once we inherit the True Spirit King's bloodline, our identity will naturally be different. At that time, wanting to crush him will be as easy as snapping one's fingers."
Qing Dian heard this and suddenly understood. He also condensed a drop of essence blood and sent it flying towards Han Li.
The two drops of essence blood arrived, and Han Li took them in, examining them carefully. He discovered that they had not been tampered with and couldn't help but feel a hint of surprise.
"Thank you..." Han Li said, storing the essence blood in a jade vial.
After speaking, he also condensed a drop of his own essence blood and sent it to Bai Ze.
Bai Ze raised his hand, and the essence blood flew into his palm. He casually wiped it with his finger, and the essence blood began to boil, releasing strands of smoke. It directly burned away the excess essence blood, only refining the essence blood of the Mountain Giant Ape.
Bai Ze flicked his finger, and the essence blood fell into the fire pit.
A loud explosion sounded!
The fire pit erupted with flames, shooting towards the Mountain Giant Ape's statue. The entire hall was once again enveloped in light.
Outside the hall, the crowd was still arguing, but they suddenly felt the ground shake beneath their feet. Dark red light burst forth from the ground, transforming into massive symbol shadows.
The eight ancient paths leading to the mountain peak lit up, and the eight True Spirit King silhouettes reappeared. The light grew even brighter.
The people of the Savage Tribes on the mountain, below the mountain, and in the city of Zhuo Wu all fell to the ground, performing their unique rituals and praying to the heavens.
The earth was filled with light, and the light gathered at the top of the sky, forming a dazzling radiance.
In the distant, boundless Savage Lands, ancient altars that had been buried for millions of years suddenly reawakened, emitting golden light that illuminated the sky.
Countless people from various tribes, at this moment, all made praying gestures, as if the entire Savage World had connected and become one.
At the peak of the mountain, a massive blood-red light gate appeared in the void. The gate was surrounded by countless blood-red lights, which condensed into a giant blood-red door.
On the door pillars, two massive faces appeared: one with a furious expression and the other with a welcoming smile.
On the door, various True Spirit silhouettes floated, including the eight True Spirit Kings, their bloodline descendants, and even the silhouettes of the Dragon, Phoenix, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise from the Immortal Realm.
"It has appeared, it has appeared..."
"The Blood Gate has opened..."
The crowd on the square cheered, and everyone was filled with excitement. The elderly man with the long eyebrows from the Mountain Ape tribe also smiled.
However, inside the stone hall, the atmosphere was somewhat heavy.
On the six stone chairs in front of the eight True Spirit King statues, only the central chair, where Bai Ze sat, was occupied. The other chairs were empty, except for the chairs in front of the statues of Zhuo Wu, the young master, Jiao Yin, the nine-tailed fox, and the Mountain Giant Ape. On each chair, a blood-red silhouette had condensed, taking on a human form.
They all seemed lifelike, but they were only residual bloodline souls. Everyone looked at the silhouettes, feeling a strange, unbridgeable connection.
"Look, it seems that only Luo Hou and You Tian Kun Peng have not fallen..." Bai Ze said, his voice calm and detached, as if only reminiscing about the past.
He waved his hand, and the blood-red silhouettes flowed into the fire pit.
The flames in the fire pit condensed and transformed into a fist-sized blood flame sphere.
"Let's go..." Bai Ze said, taking the blood flame sphere and leading the crowd out of the hall.
As they emerged, the crowd cheered, and everyone called out to them.
"Your Majesty..."
Bai Ze walked to the front of the Blood Gate and shouted, "The Savage World's revival begins today!"
As he spoke, he raised his hand, and the blood flame sphere flew up, landing on the Blood Gate.
A faint explosion sounded.
The blood flame sphere shattered, transforming into a sea of blood-red flames that engulfed the Blood Gate.
The flames burned fiercely, and the True Spirit silhouettes danced wildly. A blood-red vortex appeared, and the Blood Gate officially opened.
The crowd cheered, and everyone was filled with excitement. The elderly man with the long eyebrows from the Mountain Ape tribe smiled, and the atmosphere was filled with joy.
However, inside the stone hall, the atmosphere was still heavy, and the crowd was filled with a sense of reverence and awe.
Inside the Shura Blood Gate, at first glance, it was a world of blood red, with waves of extremely dense and powerful blood energy emanating from within.
Han Li looked towards the back of the Blood Gate, and saw that it was filled with a liquid-like blood light, with an unimaginable density of blood energy that was more than ten times that of the blood pool in the Accumulated Scales Realm.
The people on the square felt the situation inside the Blood Gate and revealed expressions of surprise and yearning.
"The opening of the Shura Blood Gate is a rare opportunity, and everyone on the square can enter. Let's go." Bai Ze said, taking the lead and stepping into the gate.
The people on the square heard this and immediately erupted into cheers, following closely behind.
The eight tribes of the direct bloodline of the Eight Kings, including Ying Ma, Qing Yuan, Tian Hu, and others, closely followed Bai Ze.
Tian Hu's Liu Yue'er glanced at Han Li, who was standing still, and slightly furrowed her brow.
"Don't worry, Miss Liu, the king has already agreed to let Han Li enter, and he will go in together with us." A figure approached Liu Yue'er and whispered.
Liu Yue'er smiled slightly and turned to follow the others into the Blood Gate.
Fox Three turned to look at Han Li and also entered the Shura Blood Gate.
After all the people from the eight tribes had entered the Blood Gate, the other tribes on the square began to move in order of their seniority, with strict divisions.
Han Li had no intention of provoking these barbarian tribes, and only after everyone had entered did he take a step forward and enter the Shura Blood Gate.
Because Bai Ze had already agreed to let Han Li enter, the people from the various tribes, although dissatisfied, did not dare to say anything.
Some people looked at Han Li with a mixture of wariness and hostility, but Han Li ignored them.
Inside the Shura Blood Gate was a vast space, with the ground resembling a vast expanse of red, writhing blood meat, and blood-colored mist floating everywhere, but without any bloody smell, instead giving off a fresh and clean feeling, as if one had returned to the origin of the universe.
With each breath, one's spirit was invigorated, and their body felt lighter and more agile, as if they had taken a great tonic.
Above the blood-colored space, a layer of blood-colored mist condensed into a blood cloud, emitting waves of extremely dense blood energy, similar to the sulfuric blood cloud in the Accumulated Scales Realm.
Han Li had not expected the inside to be like this, and was both surprised and curious, looking around.
The young people from the various barbarian tribes also revealed expressions of surprise, but the older generation, such as Liu Qing, remained calm and composed, as if they had already known about this place.
Bai Ze did not stop, and took the lead, striding forward, with the others following closely behind.
The group of people moved forward, and soon arrived at the depths of the blood-colored space.
This place was extremely empty, with a flat ground, resembling a blood-colored square.
On the square, eight massive blood-colored stone pillars stood upright, with the top of each pillar disappearing into the blood cloud above, and each pillar was engraved with a majestic and powerful beast, which were the eight True Spirit Kings.
These carvings were extremely lifelike, and emitted a powerful aura, as if they could come to life at any moment.
On each pillar, near the top, was embedded a dark red, ancient-style fire bowl.
However, except for Bai Ze, You Tian, and Luo Hou, the fire bowls on the other pillars had already been extinguished.
The people from the various tribes saw this and gathered around the eight pillars, bowing to the eight True Spirit Kings.
The people from the four tribes of Qing Yuan, Zhuo Wu, Ban Shan, and Tian Hu revealed expressions of sorrow and grief, and knelt down in front of the pillars of Zhuo Wu, Ban Shan, and Tian Hu, wailing and crying.
Xiao Bai also came to the pillar of Mo Yan, and looked at it with a stunned expression, with a hint of tears in his eyes.
As for Han Li, as an outsider, he stood out from the crowd, and quietly walked to a slightly distant location.
He looked at the dense blood energy around him, and secretly activated the Heavenly Slaughter Imprisonment Technique to absorb it, and soon felt a surge of hot energy flowing through his body.
In a short while, he felt that his body's unopened acupoints were stirring, and his body felt invigorated, as if he had taken a great tonic.
However, he did not dare to fully activate his technique, and could only quietly absorb the blood energy around him.
As he absorbed the blood energy, Han Li looked at the eight blood-colored pillars in front of him, his eyes flashing with curiosity.
The eight True Spirit Kings in front of him were probably equally powerful, and Bai Ze's cultivation was unfathomable, and had probably reached the Dao Ancestor Realm.
In that case, the other True Spirit Kings were probably also Dao Ancestor-level existences.
The strength of the barbarian tribes was indeed not to be underestimated, but Han Li wondered if there were any other Dao Ancestors besides these eight.
"Everyone, although the fall of the True Spirit Kings is heartbreaking, we can only accept this reality. The Shura Blood Gate's opening time is limited, so let's collect our emotions and summon the blood energy of the True Spirit Kings." Bai Ze said, after a moment of silence.
The people from the eight tribes of the direct bloodline of the Eight Kings heard this and quickly composed themselves, standing up and gathering around the pillars of their respective tribes.
The other tribes also gathered around, forming a formation.
The Ying Ma tribe, because Bai Ze was still present, did not need to summon the blood energy, and stood aside.
However, the Mo Yan tribe only had Xiao Bai, and he stood alone in front of the pillar, looking somewhat lonely.
The people from the various tribes began to activate their techniques, and a powerful blood energy began to emanate from the pillars, filling the air with an intense aura. Han Li looked at Xiao Bai, his brow slightly furrowed.
"Han Daoist friend," Li Qi Ma flew over to Han Li's side.
Han Li nodded at Li Qi Ma, saying nothing.
"Han Daoist friend, don't worry, the next step is to summon the true spirit king's bloodline power, and it's not dangerous," Li Qi Ma said with a smile, seeing Han Li's concern.
"Xiao Bai is alone, and compared to the other tribes, he's a bit too isolated," Han Li still looked a bit uneasy.
"Rest assured, summoning the true spirit king's bloodline power isn't about the number of people, Xiao Bai may be alone, but he's the son of the Ink Eye Baizhu, and his bloodline power is extremely rich, making it easier to cast spells," Li Qi Ma said with a smile, seeming to know many things.
"Oh, there's such a saying?" Han Li's eyebrows twitched.
"You'll see," Li Qi Ma said again with a smile.
As soon as Li Qi Ma finished speaking, the people of the various tribes began to cast their spells, using their fingers to draw on their wrists, and a stream of blood shot out from their wrists.
The blood didn't fall to the ground, but instead floated in mid-air, transforming into a blood-colored pattern, quickly intersecting with each other, forming a complex blood-colored magic array that enveloped the stone pillars of the various tribes.
The stone pillars also showed a blood-colored pattern, resonating with the blood-colored magic array.
Xiao Bai, although alone, also used his blood to create a blood-colored magic array, and his array was much brighter than the others.
White Zhe, seeing this scene, suddenly split into seven identical bodies, appearing beside the seven stone pillars.
Zhu Yan, Chuo Yu, Shan Yue, Jiu Wei, and Mo Yan, the five White Zhe, pointed at the fire bowls beside the stone pillars, and a flash of firelight appeared.
The fire bowls inside the stone pillars simultaneously ignited a thread of golden flames.
The people of the five tribes saw this and immediately used all their strength to stimulate the blood-colored magic array above their heads.
A dazzling blood-colored glow burst out from the magic array, and the golden flames on the stone pillars also grew stronger, reflecting the light of the magic array.
At this moment, the five White Zhe simultaneously recited incantations, stimulating the golden flames to jump and dance.
Suddenly, a circle of blood and gold light expanded, merging into the surrounding void.
The Lei Peng and Hun Chou tribes didn't need White Zhe to ignite the wild flames, and they also stimulated their blood-colored magic arrays to operate.
The White Zhe beside them also cast spells, stimulating the golden flames in the fire bowls to flash and jump.
The void was filled with a rapid expansion of blood and gold light, spreading across the various domains, and even the great interfaces, emitting a powerful summoning energy.
"Summoning the bloodline requires some time, and it won't be completed in a short while, so let's wait slowly," Li Qi Ma said, then chatted with Han Li.
"Han...," Han Li chatted with Li Qi Ma, secretly cultivating and absorbing the dense blood energy in the surroundings, while also paying attention to the situation with the stone pillars.
As the two of them chatted, time flew by, and before long, half a day had passed.
The blood-colored stone pillar beside Xiao Bai suddenly flashed, and a white light seeped out from the void, slowly revolving around the golden flames at the top of the pillar.
"Is that the true spirit king's bloodline?" Han Li's eyes lit up.
The white light contained extremely rich true spirit king's bloodline power, similar to Xiao Bai's bloodline, but much more noble.
"Yes, it seems that Xiao Bai's bloodline is indeed the purest, and it was the first to summon the Ink Eye Baizhu's bloodline power," Li Qi Ma nodded slowly.
More and more white lights seeped out from the void, condensing into a single entity, transforming into a snow-white auspicious beast's virtual image, similar to Xiao Bai's Baizhu form, but much more majestic, with a pair of black eyes that seemed to look down on all things.
Especially the snow-white auspicious beast's forehead, which split open a narrow vertical eye, emitting a strange black light.
Xiao Bai looked at the snow-white auspicious beast, and his eyes also showed a pair of strange black lights, flickering constantly.
White Zhe saw this scene and also showed a hint of joy on his face.
Xiao Bai's summoning of the Ink Eye Baizhu's true spirit king's bloodline seemed to have opened a path, and the other four tribes also quickly achieved results.
The Tian Huo tribe's stone pillar's void showed a grayish-white light, and a cluster of grayish-white lights flew out from the void, each emitting a powerful bloodline energy.
These grayish-white lights quickly gathered together, transforming into a nine-tailed fox's virtual image.
The Tian Huo tribe's people saw this scene and showed great joy on their faces.
Among the Tian Huo tribe's people, Liu Le'er's body showed a layer of luminescence, and her skin showed a grayish-white pattern, resonating with the nine-tailed fox's virtual image.
Liu Qing saw Liu Le'er's situation and showed a joyful expression.
Soon, the Qing Yuan, Zhuo Wu, and Ban Shan tribes' stone pillars also showed a flash of light, and the true spirit king's bloodline power gathered in the void, manifesting the true spirit king's virtual image, causing great joy among the three tribes.
However, the Hun Chou and Lei Peng tribes' stone pillars showed no reaction.
It seems that Luo and You Tian Kunpeng, the two True Spirit Kings, still have no intention of returning to the Savage Lands. Li Qi Ma sighed as he gazed at the scene before him.
"Why haven't they, like Bai Ze, stayed in the Savage Lands?" Han Li asked.
"Luo and You Tian Kunpeng are both free-spirited individuals who have always wandered through the numerous heavens and realms, and I've never seen their true forms. Now that the Spirit Realm is in turmoil and the Savage Lands are in a state of upheaval, I hope they'll return soon and help my father revive the Savage Lands." Li Qi Ma sighed.
Han Li nodded, but remained silent.
As the five True Spirit Kings' virtual shadows coalesced, including the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox, Bai Ze stopped stimulating the Savage Lands' fire, and the several split bodies descended to the ground, merging into one.
"The five True Spirit Kings' bloodline powers have been summoned, although they're not complete, I believe they're sufficient for use. You five tribes should quickly choose your successors and merge the five True Spirit Kings' bloodlines." Bai Ze said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Qing Yuan, Zhuo Wu, and the others from the five tribes stood up, bowing in gratitude.
Today's success in summoning the five True Spirit Kings' bloodlines was all thanks to Bai Ze's assistance. Otherwise, relying solely on their blood arrays would not have been enough to spread far.
Bai Ze waved his hand casually and walked towards the Hun and Lei Peng tribes.
The five tribes had already chosen their successors.
Qing Yuan, Zhuo Wu, and the others from the three tribes, including the young white-haired youth, flew out and landed beside the True Spirit Kings' bloodline, sitting cross-legged in the air as they began to merge the bloodlines.
The Mò Yǎn Pí Xiū tribe only had one person, so there was no need for discussion.
As for the Tian Hu tribe, Liu Le'er emerged from the crowd, surrounded by the envious gazes of the other Tian Hu youths, and flew down to the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox's bloodline, about to begin merging.
"Wait!" a voice interrupted from outside.
Before the voice had faded, a grey-white light flashed, and a figure appeared beside the Tian Hu tribe, revealing a middle-aged man in a grey robe.
The man's features were refined, but his expression was always shrouded in a cold, dark aura, as if veiled by a shadow.
"Who is this?" the people from the various tribes exclaimed, their faces shocked, as many of them shouted in anger.
Inheriting the True Spirit Kings' bloodline was an extremely important matter for the tribes of the Savage Lands.
Now that the entire Ba Huang Mountain was surrounded by the tribes, and the Shi Luo Blood Gate had set up a network of restrictions to prevent the ceremony from being disrupted, it was unclear how this person had managed to intrude.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he gazed at the newcomer.
The grey-robed middle-aged man's appearance was familiar, and he was actually Liu Zi Yang.
"No, he's not Liu Zi Yang, although his appearance is similar, his aura is different." Han Li's eyes flashed as he shook his head.
The grey-robed middle-aged man gave off a cold, dark aura, vastly different from Liu Zi Yang's.
Moreover, this person seemed familiar to Han Li, as if he had seen him before.
"It's him!" Li Qi Ma's eyes narrowed, as if he recognized the grey-robed middle-aged man.
The Tian Hu tribe's members, however, looked at the grey-robed middle-aged man with shock and awe, as if they had seen a ghost.
"Gentlemen, I am Liu, also a member of the Tian Hu tribe. I've come today to compete for the inheritance of the Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox's True Spirit King bloodline, not to cause trouble. If I've caused any inconvenience, please forgive me." The grey-robed middle-aged man bowed, his hands clasped together, as a grey-white light enveloped him.
A pure and powerful Tian Hu bloodline aura burst forth from his body, causing the surrounding space to distort and tremble violently.
The Tian Hu tribe's members stumbled backward, their faces pale, except for Liu Qing and the two middle-aged men beside him, who managed to stand firm.
Liu Le'er, who was floating in mid-air, was also affected by the aura and was blown backward, her face pale.
Just then, a figure flashed beside her, and Han Li appeared, supporting Liu Le'er and releasing a golden light that formed a protective barrier in front of them, shielding them from the intense aura.
Liu Le'er breathed a sigh of relief and thanked Han Li.
Han Li ignored Liu Le'er and gazed at the grey-robed middle-aged man, his eyes narrowing.
This person's cultivation had reached the peak of the Da Luo realm, and was not inferior to the Black Sky Demon Ancestor's. In fact, he seemed even stronger.
"This person's strength is too great, we can't match him. Let's retreat for now." Han Li thought to himself and transmitted a message to Liu Le'er.
Liu Le'er naturally had no objections and retreated with Han Li.
As they flew backward, Han Li glanced at the Hun and Lei Peng tribes, where Bai Ze was standing, watching the grey-robed middle-aged man with a calm expression, as if he were an outsider. The people of the various tribes in the Blood-colored Space, including the few clan leaders, felt the aura of the gray-robed middle-aged man, and their expressions changed. The people who had been scolding the gray-robed middle-aged man closed their mouths and retreated quietly.
The Tian Huo tribe quickly stabilized their formation, and among them, Liu Qing glanced at Bai Ze with a sidelong glance. Seeing that Bai Ze was standing still, Liu Qing's eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he immediately returned to normal and waved his hand to let the people beside him go to protect Liu Le'er.
Liu Qing had seen Han Li protecting Liu Le'er earlier, and he didn't question Han Li's good intentions towards Liu Le'er, so he didn't stop him.
Three Tian Huo tribe members appeared around Han Li and Liu Le'er, including Huo San, Mu Changlao, and a black-faced old man, Tai Yi. "Han Dao friend, thank you for protecting Miss Le'er in the critical moment," Huo San said with a bow.
The black-faced old man also thanked him, and Mu Changlao, although unwilling, also bowed his head.
"Le'er is not an outsider to me, I should have done so, Liu Dao friend doesn't need to be polite," Han Li said, scanning Mu Changlao with a glance before turning to Huo San.
"Since we parted ways last time, Han Dao friend's strength has made great progress, especially in the face of so many powerful people, your spirit is not affected at all, it's truly admirable," Huo San said with a sigh.
Han Li heard this and glanced at Liu Le'er, Huo San, the black-faced old man, and the other Tai Yi realm existences, and his heart moved.
At this moment, the many Da Luo existences in the Blood-colored Space were releasing their auras, and the gray-robed middle-aged man was trying to resist, filling the entire Blood-colored Space with a terrifying pressure. Liu Le'er, Huo San, and the other Tai Yi realm existences were maintaining a calm face, but their souls were constantly trembling.
This was the suppression of the Da Luo realm, a natural suppression of the Tai Yi realm.
Advancing from the Tai Yi realm to the Da Luo realm required not only a breakthrough in cultivation, but also a great transformation of the soul, and the beginning of fusion with the physical body.
Every move of a Da Luo realm cultivator would carry the overwhelming power of their soul.
Therefore, Tai Yi realm cultivators facing Da Luo realm cultivators would often be unable to move, and would lose 90% of the time before even starting.
Han Li had previously felt the pressure of the Da Luo realm existences, but he had cultivated the Lian Shen technique, and his soul was much stronger than that of ordinary Tai Yi realm cultivators, so the pressure was much smaller. This was why he could resist those Da Luo realm existences and even win with the power of time.
However, at this moment, he seemed to be completely unaffected by the pressure. This was why he was able to protect Liu Le'er before the Tian Huo tribe could react.
Han Li's eyebrows moved, but he quickly realized the reason.
Although his cultivation had not increased during this time, he had mastered the Sui Yue Shen Deng, and the time law crystals in his body had increased greatly. He had also comprehended the Tong Tian Sword Array and set up the Time Difference Space, and his confidence had grown. His spiritual realm had been growing steadily.
Unbeknownst to him, his soul had undergone a transformation, and the powerful soul of the Da Luo realm existences could no longer suppress him.
Han Li discovered the change in his soul and secretly rejoiced, but his face did not show it.
"Liu Dao friend is too kind, Han's strength is nothing compared to the Tian Huo tribe, let's see how Liu Qing retires the enemy," he said calmly.
Huo San's eyes flashed with a strange light, but he didn't continue to dwell on the matter and looked forward.
The Tian Huo tribe had recovered from their shock and were now staring at the gray-robed middle-aged man, facing off against him.
"Liu Tianhao, you did something like that back then, and now you dare to come to the Blood-colored Space, your courage is not small!" Liu Qing stepped forward, his eyes flashing with cold light.
"What are you talking about, Liu Qing Dao friend? Please clarify," Liu Tianhao said, unaffected by the killing intent in Liu Qing's words.
"You seem to have a poor memory, but that's okay, there's plenty of time for you to think in the underworld!" Liu Qing smiled coldly and waved his hand.
The Blood-colored Space around Liu Tianhao suddenly disappeared, and he was enveloped in a dark, starry sky. A massive star river appeared, rotating rapidly.
He seemed to be transported to the depths of the starry sky.
The star river suddenly expanded, filling the entire starry sky, and its rotation became fierce.
A terrifying power that could crush the starry sky emanated from the rotating star river, enveloping Liu Tianhao and threatening to tear his body apart.
At the same time, a hail of meteorites shot out from the star river, striking Liu Tianhao's body and sending him flying, his blood splattering everywhere.
"Hmm? Your cultivation of the Huan Jing Ling Yu is not bad, you've reached the realm of Huan Mo Sui Xin, but it's not enough to trap me," Liu Tianhao said, ignoring his injuries, his eyebrows raised.
He then made a hand seal, and a gray-white light appeared on his forehead.
The light split open, revealing a gray-white vertical eye, which shot out endless gray-white flames.
The flames emitted a pure and powerful illusory law, causing the starry sky to collapse wherever they touched.
In an instant, the surrounding starry sky was extinguished, and Liu Tianhao returned to the Blood-colored Space.
His injuries had also disappeared without a trace.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the flames that had erupted from the cauldron. "The flames of the Illusory Truth! I didn't think you had managed to cultivate this spirit flame that can restrain all illusions."
Liu Qing's spiritual domain was shattered, but he didn't show any signs of panic. Instead, a smile spread across his face.
Liu Tianhao was taken aback, and before he could react, a long knife with a strange, blood-like glow appeared out of nowhere and pierced through his abdomen, causing him to spit out blood.
At the same time, two hands radiating a dazzling white light appeared in front of him, pressing against his chest.
Two figures emerged from the shadows, one tall and one short, both of whom were the Heaven Fox tribe's men who had been standing beside Liu Qing earlier.
Liu Tianhao's body began to tremble violently as he spat out blood, his aura rapidly declining.
"Liu Tianhao, you colluded with the people of the Gray Realm and harmed our master. Today, you will pay with your life!" the tall man shouted, his voice filled with anger.
As he spoke, his body began to transform, his appearance changing into that of a middle-aged man in a blue robe, revealing his true identity as Liu Zai.
The blood-like knife in his hand was surrounded by a fearsome aura and a devouring power, which was the Heaven Fox's Blood Knife.
The shorter man pressed his palms against Liu Tianhao's chest, causing two white palm prints to appear, as if they were branded onto his body.
A twisted white light began to surge into Liu Tianhao's body, causing his internal organs to rupture and spew out blood.
Liu Tianhao's body shook violently as he spat out blood, his face contorted in agony.
"Liu Dao friend, although it's not the act of a gentleman to launch a sneak attack, your previous behavior was too despicable, and your current strength is far superior to ours. We had no choice but to resort to this tactic," the shorter man said, his expression serious.
As he spoke, his appearance changed, transforming into a middle-aged man in a white robe, identical to Liu Zai and Liu Tianhao, but with a different aura and expression.
"Liu Zai, Liu Haoran, I didn't expect you both to return to the Heaven Fox tribe. It's no wonder you were able to sneak up on me undetected," Liu Tianhao said, his voice calm despite his gruesome condition.
Liu Qing, Liu Zai, and Liu Haoran watched the scene unfold, their faces changing slightly.
But the Liu Tianhao before them was undoubtedly a real person, with no signs of illusion or anomaly in his aura, spiritual energy, or law fluctuations.
The three of them had reached the pinnacle of their cultivation in the realm of illusions, and they were certain that they had not been deceived.
Liu Zai shouted loudly, his Blood Knife glowing with an intense, blood-like light. With a swift motion, he struck Liu Tianhao's body, causing it to explode into a mess of blood and flesh.
But Liu Zai's expression didn't change, and instead, his eyes became even more serious.
The next moment, his face changed, and he raised his Blood Knife, its blade radiating a fierce, blood-like light that expanded into a protective barrier around him.
But the barrier was immediately shattered, and Liu Zai was sent flying backward, as if he had been struck by an invisible force.
Liu Haoran's expression changed, and his eyes flashed with a crystalline light. He raised his palms, and a brilliant white light burst forth, striking the empty air in front of him.
Another loud explosion echoed through the air, and Liu Haoran was also sent flying backward, his body tumbling through the air like a leaf.
Liu Qing watched the scene unfold, his expression changing dramatically. A gray-white aura erupted from his body, forming a massive spiritual domain around him.
The Heaven Fox tribe's members immediately followed suit, each of them activating their spiritual domains or summoning their magical artifacts to protect themselves and the true spirit of the nine-tailed fox.
The three elders, Fox San, Mu Chang, and the others, also summoned their spiritual domains and magical artifacts to protect Liu Yue.
Han Li, however, remained calm, his eyes fixed on the surroundings as he activated his Nine Yin Demon Eye, scanning the area for any signs of danger.
But despite his efforts, he couldn't find any clues about what had struck Liu Zai and Liu Haoran.
The other tribes watched the commotion unfold, their faces filled with a mixture of surprise and concern.
White Ze let out a soft gasp, his expression changing as he revealed a hint of surprise.
Lichi Ma, who had been standing beside Han Li earlier, approached White Ze.
"Father, what did you see?" Lichi Ma asked in a low voice.
White Ze shook his head slowly, his expression unreadable. Liu Qing was waiting with bated breath, but the expected attack did not come.
The air in front of him rippled, and a faint, illusory figure slowly materialized. Meanwhile, the scattered remains of Liu Tianhao's body on the ground began to fade away, becoming semi-transparent and merging into the void, disappearing without a trace.
As the last of the remains vanished, the illusory figure solidified into a tangible form, and Liu Tianhao stood before him, his body unscathed, with a smile on his face.
"This is terrible, it's the 'Fantasy Reality'!" Liu Qing exclaimed, his face changing color multiple times.
The Tianhu tribe members were shocked by Liu Qing's words, their faces filled with horror.
"Le Er, what is the 'Fantasy Reality' that Liu Qing mentioned?" Han Li asked Liu Le Er, who was still reeling from the shock.
"'Fantasy Reality' is a legendary divine technique of the Tianhu tribe, created by our ancestor, the Nine-Tailed Fox Saint. Apart from the Nine-Tailed Fox Saint, only Liu Qi, the elder of our tribe, has successfully cultivated this technique in our history. It's said that once this technique is used, any damage received will be transformed into an illusion and disappear, leaving the body unharmed. It's an unbeatable technique," Liu Le Er explained, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Such a technique actually exists!" Han Li was shocked by Liu Le Er's words.
Liu Zi and Liu Haoran, who had been knocked back, quickly regained their composure and were about to counterattack when they heard Liu Qing's words. They froze in mid-air, their movements halted.
"You can actually cultivate Master's technique... how is that possible?" Liu Zi muttered to himself, his expression filled with incredulity.
"Heh heh, his physical body is in my hands, and cultivating this technique is child's play. You two are incompetent and will never be able to imagine the benefits of his physical body for cultivation!" Liu Tianhao sneered, his eyes gleaming with pride.
Liu Zi and Liu Haoran's faces darkened, and their bodies began to glow with a fierce light. Their hair grew longer and sharper, and their fingers transformed into razor-sharp claws.
The two of them instantly transformed into half-human, half-beast creatures, surrounded by a layer of gray-white light that seemed to take on a life of its own. Their clothes fluttered wildly, and their auras radiated an intense, feral energy.
Just as they were about to attack, a stern voice echoed through the air, and Bai Ze descended from above.
"Enough! This is the interior of the Xiu Luo Blood Gate, and it cannot withstand such intense clashes. You must settle your internal conflicts outside of here."
The four of them quickly reined in their powers, their faces stern.
However, Liu Qing's eyes still held a deep-seated hatred for Liu Tianhao.
Han Li, who had been watching from a distance, turned his attention to Liu Tianhao. "Liu Tianhao, could he be another body of Liu Qi's?" he asked Huo San in a low voice.
"That's right, Liu Tianhao is indeed another body of Liu Qi's. And you've seen him before," Huo San replied, his voice barely above a whisper.
"I've seen him?" Han Li was taken aback.
As soon as he saw Liu Tianhao, he felt a sense of familiarity.
"The Gray Realm, the Cleansing Pool!" Huo San's voice was low and mysterious.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise. "You mean, the giant fox that time wasn't Liu Qi, but him!"
Huo San's expression was grim. "I was deceived by him, and I even helped him escape. What a grave mistake!"
Han Li's thoughts were racing. "What did Liu Tianhao do to make your tribe hate him so much? And what about Liu Qi, is he really dead?"
Huo San's eyes flashed with anger. "As far as I know, Liu Qi is indeed dead, and it was all because of Liu Tianhao's treachery. He colluded with outsiders and killed Liu Qi!"
Han Li's eyes widened in shock. No wonder Liu Qing and the others were so hostile towards Liu Tianhao. But why did Liu Zi and Liu Haoran, who were Liu Qi's bodies, also harbor such hatred towards Liu Tianhao? Was it because Liu Tianhao killed Liu Qi?
According to Han Li's knowledge, the relationship between the three bodies and the main body was one of opposition, with the three bodies seeking to kill the main body and take its place. But Liu Zi and Liu Haoran's attitudes seemed to be one of loyalty towards Liu Qi.
"The relationship between the three bodies and the main body is not as simple as you think," a voice echoed in Han Li's mind. It was the spirit of the Palm of Heaven, the bottle spirit.
"Three bodies, although they have the instinct to kill the main body and take its place, are also living beings with their own minds and thoughts. They are not beyond being tamed. And Liu Qi's cultivation of the Fantasy Reality technique is particularly skilled at controlling the minds of others. Taming the two bodies is not a difficult task."
Han Li's eyes sparkled with understanding. "Bottle spirit, you're awake!"
The bottle spirit's voice was stern. "You're in grave danger, Han Li. If Liu Tianhao attacks you, even I may not be able to save you in time."
Han Li sighed. "I didn't expect things to turn out this way. But I hope you're prepared to intervene at any moment."
The bottle spirit's voice was surprised. "Your time law crystals have not only recovered from the previous consumption, but they've also increased in number. You're quite confident, aren't you?"
Han Li turned the conversation around, asking, "Bottle Spirit Senior, you just said that the Three Corpses can be tamed, is that really true?"
"I wouldn't lie to you, would I? It's just that it's not easy to accomplish," Bottle Spirit replied, seemingly not wanting to discuss the matter further.
Han Li had always been curious about the Three Corpses, but had never had the chance to ask about it before. Now that Bottle Spirit was willing to enlighten him, he asked eagerly, "Bottle Spirit Senior, the three corpses of the Liu family are not equally matched in power, are they? Liu Tianhao has the power of the Great Luo Peak, but Liu Ziyin and Liu Haoran are only at the middle stage of the Great Luo. How do the corpses' powers compare? Can they be strengthened through slow cultivation like a cultivator?"
Bottle Spirit snorted, "I already told you that the Three Corpses are no different from complete living beings. Of course, they can cultivate. As for the Liu family's three corpses having different powers, it's because Liu Qi's physical body has fallen into the hands of the evil corpse. With that as the foundation, the evil corpse's power has made a rapid breakthrough."
Han Li was not deterred by Bottle Spirit's tone, asking, "Is the physical body really that important for the Three Corpses?"
Bottle Spirit replied, "Of course, the physical body is tied to the restrictions of the Heavenly Dao. Without it, the Three Corpses cannot cultivate to the level of the Dao Ancestor. Moreover, the physical body contains the essence of the cultivator's understanding of the laws, which the Three Corpses can absorb and merge with, allowing their power to increase greatly. Otherwise, why do you think the Three Corpses are so eager to obtain the physical body?"
Han Li nodded, enlightened, and asked again, "What is the relationship between the cultivator's physical body and the Three Corpses? Since the Three Corpses are always trying to harm the physical body, why doesn't the physical body just eliminate them?"
Bottle Spirit explained, "The Three Corpses are manifestations of the cultivator's inner demons, and cannot be completely eliminated. Even if the Three Corpses are killed, the demons will still linger, affecting the cultivator's mind and cultivation. It's necessary to re-cultivate and re-seal the demons. Each time the Three Corpses are killed, the demons grow stronger, making it more difficult to cultivate. For the cultivator, the Three Corpses cannot be killed, but also cannot be let go. The best solution is to seal them away."
Han Li thought for a moment, then asked, "If the cultivator's physical body is killed, what happens to the Three Corpses?"
Bottle Spirit replied, "If the physical body is killed, the Three Corpses will lose their source, and become entities that can be killed. That's why the Three Corpses will sometimes protect the physical body's safety."
Just then, White Ze arrived near the group of four, including Liu Qing.
"Your Majesty, you just said that the various clans can choose a successor to inherit the True Spirit King's bloodline. As a member of the Tianhu clan, I should also have the right to inherit the Nine-Tailed Fox Saint Ancestor's bloodline," Liu Tianhao said, bowing slightly.
White Ze replied, "By identity, you do have the right, but what about the matter of Liu Qi's death? How do you explain that?"
Liu Tianhao said, "Your Majesty has already achieved the Dao Ancestor realm, and should know that the Three Corpses naturally try to seize the physical body. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."
Liu Qing shouted, "Don't listen to him, Your Majesty! Liu Qi's death was definitely due to Liu Tianhao's collusion with outsiders. It's either the Heavenly Court or the Gray Realm, we can't let him off lightly!"
Liu Tianhao ignored Liu Qing's accusations, saying, "I did collaborate with the Gray Realm, but I've since broken ties with them. I've decided to return to the Barbarian Realm, and the blood of the Barbarian Realm flows through my veins. I won't forget that. Now that I've obtained Liu Qi's physical body, I'm only one step away from achieving the Dao Ancestor realm. I'm confident that I can inherit the Nine-Tailed Fox Saint Ancestor's bloodline and achieve the Dao Ancestor realm."
White Ze listened to Liu Tianhao's words, his expression thoughtful, as if he was considering the possibility.
Liu Qing exclaimed, "Your Majesty, Liu Tianhao is cunning and deceitful, his words are not to be trusted! Liu Qi's death was a result of his trusting Liu Tianhao's words. The Saint Ancestor's bloodline is not to be given to him!"
White Ze looked at Liu Qing and Liu Tianhao, then said, "You both have your reasons, and this is an internal matter for the Tianhu clan. As the current Barbarian Realm King, I won't intervene. The Nine-Tailed Fox's bloodline is not a dead object, it has its own spirit. Let it choose its own successor."
Han Li, who was watching from a distance, furrowed his brow slightly. A drop of gray-white-colored pure blood flew out from the storage ring on his finger, this drop of pure blood was round and shining, containing countless talismans, and flashed into the palm of Lü Yuè'er.
Lü Yuè'er's palm felt a warmth, and her beautiful eyes couldn't help but move.
However, she was also a clever and delicate person, and her expression didn't reveal a single hint of her thoughts.
"Clan leader, rest assured, I will not disappoint you," Lü Yuè'er said with a gentle bow.
On the side, Lü Tiān Hào suddenly looked over in the direction of Lü Qīng and Lü Yuè'er, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.
"Go," Lü Qīng said with a smile, nodding his head.
Lü Yuè'er flew up, landing in front of the nine-tailed celestial fox bloodline's virtual shadow.
Lü Tiān Hào saw this and also flew out, landing near Lü Yuè'er.
And Lü Zì, at this moment, also flew up, landing beside the nine-tailed celestial fox bloodline.
"Everyone is ready, let's begin," Bái Zé said calmly.
The three of them heard his voice, and their bodies all released a burst of gray-white light.
Due to their different levels of cultivation, the light surrounding them had obvious differences.
Lü Tiān Hào's cultivation was the highest, and the light he emitted was dazzling, almost impossible to look at directly. Lü Zì's was slightly weaker, and Lü Yuè'er's was the darkest.
The three of them's celestial fox bloodline powers were also fully displayed, and the light they emitted contained a fluctuation, condensing into a celestial fox virtual shadow.
Lü Tiān Hào and Lü Zì's celestial fox virtual shadows were both nine-tailed, but Lü Yuè'er's was six-tailed.
The three celestial fox virtual shadows simultaneously raised their paws and made a move, releasing a force that drew in the nine-tailed celestial fox bloodline.
Although the gray-white light surrounding Lü Yuè'er was relatively dim, the six-tailed celestial fox virtual shadow behind her was exceptionally clear and bright, not inferior to Lü Tiān Hào's and Lü Zì's, and even surpassed Lü Zì's nine-tailed celestial fox virtual shadow in brightness.
Lü Zì saw this scene, and his eyes couldn't help but sink, putting all his effort into stimulating the celestial fox bloodline in his body. The gray-white light surrounding him suddenly became more intense, but the nine-tailed celestial fox virtual shadow didn't change.
And Lü Tiān Hào glanced at Lü Yuè'er, his gaze also sinking.
At this moment, the nine-tailed celestial fox bloodline's virtual shadow's light fluctuated, slowly turning towards the three of them, as if it were a living creature looking at them.
The bloodline's virtual shadow's gaze swept across Lü Zì's body, immediately moving away, landing on Lü Yuè'er and Lü Tiān Hào's bodies.
Seeing this scene, Lü Zì's entire body stiffened, and his face turned pale.
The nine-tailed celestial fox bloodline's virtual shadow's gaze wandered between Lü Yuè'er and Lü Tiān Hào, seemingly unable to decide which one to choose.
At this moment, Lü Tiān Hào waved his hands, making a series of strange movements, and let out a long, mysterious, and heavenly howl.
The celestial fox virtual shadow behind him immediately brightened, becoming clearer.
The nine-tailed celestial fox bloodline's virtual shadow immediately looked over, its surrounding light flashing, as if it were about to fly over.
But just at this moment, a strange, shrill cry sounded, coming from Lü Yuè'er's body.
Lü Yuè'er's brow suddenly flashed, and a water droplet-shaped gray-white mark appeared, radiating bright light.
The gray-white patterns on her body suddenly brightened, emitting a fiery, gray-white light, and seemed to be moving like a living creature.
The celestial fox virtual shadow behind Lü Yuè'er suddenly brightened, its light increasing by several times, immediately suppressing Lü Tiān Hào's nine-tailed celestial fox virtual shadow.
The nine-tailed celestial fox bloodline's virtual shadow's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, immediately abandoning Lü Tiān Hào and looking at Lü Yuè'er, opening its mouth to spit out a beam of gray-white light.
A thick, gray-white light beam shot out from its mouth, containing powerful bloodline energy fluctuations, which continuously merged into Lü Yuè'er's body.
And the nine-tailed celestial fox bloodline's virtual shadow flashed rapidly, quickly becoming thinner.
Liu Le'er's entire body was enveloped in a gray-white aura, and her slender figure trembled as a look of pain appeared on her face.
The gray-white patterns on her body flashed violently, rapidly growing thicker and more complex as they spread throughout her body. In an instant, they covered her entire body.
Behind her, the illusory image of the Heavenly Fox also rapidly brightened, and her tail grew longer and more majestic as it flashed with light.
Seven tails, eight tails... finally, she transformed into a nine-tailed Heavenly Fox.
As the Heavenly Fox's image transformed into a nine-tailed one, Liu Le'er's face showed a slight reduction in pain. She took a deep breath, sat down cross-legged, and her body's gray-white aura flashed wildly as she fully accepted the transmission of the Heavenly Fox's bloodline.
Han Li's eyes showed a hint of joy, and he let out a sigh of relief.
Liu Qing, as well as the other members of the Heavenly Fox tribe, revealed joyful expressions, cheering and applauding.
The other tribes also showed joyful expressions, nodding in agreement.
Compared to Liu Tianhao, whose origins were unknown, they had always hoped that Liu Le'er would inherit the nine-tailed Heavenly Fox bloodline, because in their eyes, Liu Le'er was trustworthy, whereas the former was not.
Bai Ze's face showed no expression, but his eyes flashed with a hint of excitement, as if he was also pleased with this turn of events.
Liu Tianhao stood frozen in place, his face twisted in a scowl, his eyes flashing with a hint of resentment. But with Bai Ze standing beside him, he didn't dare to make a move.
As Liu Le'er began to inherit the nine-tailed Heavenly Fox bloodline, the other cultivators, including Qing, Xiao Bai, and the white-haired youth from the Zhuwu tribe, also began to accept their respective True Spirit King bloodlines.
Just as this was happening, a sudden change occurred!
The blood-red stone pillar of the Lei Peng tribe shook violently, and the flames of the Wildfire erupted, growing several times larger and more intense.
The blood-red space began to shake violently, and a deafening roar echoed from outside.
The faces of the cultivators changed dramatically, and regardless of their cultivation level, their spirits were shaken, and their bodies stumbled backward.
The nine-tailed Heavenly Fox and the other four True Spirit King bloodlines glowed brightly, protecting Liu Le'er and the others as they absorbed the bloodline energy.
Han Li's spirit was also shaken, and he hastily activated his Refining Spirit technique, trying to calm his mind and gaze outward.
At this moment, the sky above the Eight Desolations Mountain was filled with wind and clouds, and countless dark clouds appeared, carrying thick and heavy lightning bolts that flashed and boomed. Countless black whirlwinds shot down from the clouds, connecting the earth and the sky, as if the end of the world had arrived.
The entire Eight Desolations Mountain trembled, as if it would be engulfed by the dark clouds at any moment.
The cultivators of the Eight Desolations Mountain were shocked, their faces pale and panicked, as they hastily activated their local restrictions, releasing a brilliant light that pierced the sky. However, compared to the dark clouds, their efforts seemed like a mere spark compared to the brilliance of the moon.
In the depths of the dark clouds, a gigantic black shadow could be seen, slowly moving, as if it was a colossal beast that filled the entire sky, its size impossible to comprehend.
Occasionally, a scale or claw would flash out from the clouds, causing the cultivators to gasp in shock at the sheer scale of the beast. They could only hear the thunderous roars echoing from the clouds.
In the blood-red space, Bai Ze's face showed a hint of joy, and his eyes flashed with two strange lights as he gazed outward.
Liu Tianhao's eyes widened as he saw the scene, and his body suddenly disappeared, only to reappear beside the nine-tailed Heavenly Fox's illusory image. His massive hand grasped downward, attempting to seize the bloodline energy.
A colossal force erupted from Liu Tianhao's hand, enveloping the nine-tailed Heavenly Fox bloodline energy, trying to forcefully absorb it.
"Presumptuous!" Bai Ze suddenly turned around, his voice cold and stern.
The sound was not loud, but the entire blood-red space froze, and Liu Tianhao's force was halted, unable to move forward.
Liu Tianhao's heart sank, and he tried to retreat, but his body was also frozen in place by an invisible force, unable to move.
Liu Tianhao's heart sank further, and he realized he was in grave danger.
"You dare to act violently in front of me? It seems you're tired of living." Bai Ze's face turned cold and stern, his finger pointing at Liu Tianhao.
A massive finger shadow appeared in front of Liu Tianhao, pointing at his chest.
With a loud "pu" sound, Liu Tianhao's chest was pierced, and a massive amount of blood spewed out, his body almost severed in two.
Liu Tianhao spat out blood, but his body flashed with a gray-white light, and he transformed into a transparent state, disappearing into nothingness.
"Illusory dream? Ha!"
Bai Ze's eyebrows rose, and he suddenly waved his sleeve, releasing a massive, invisible force that swept through the entire blood-red space.
A hundred meters away, a gray-white light burst forth, and Liu Tianhao's body reappeared, flying backward as he spat out another mouthful of blood.
"Universal phenomena"
Liu Tianhao gritted his teeth, his hands forming a wheel-like gesture as he unleashed a dense, gray-white light that exploded, transforming into countless illusions - sun, moon, stars, mountains, trees, flowers, cities, palaces, lightning, fire, and people. The vast world of the universe presented all sorts of imaginable things, filling the entire crimson space with a kaleidoscope of colors, flashing and jumping about, making one's heart and soul unable to resist being immersed in it.
The eyes of everyone in the space showed a dazed expression, and their eyes, which had been shining brightly, suddenly became dull. It seemed as if the divine soul of everyone was being devoured by the illusionary world before them.
Bai Ze's face turned solemn, and his five fingers shone with a brilliant white light. He waved his hand in the air.
With a "whooshing" sound, all the illusions disappeared.
Liu Tian Hao's figure had already vanished, and it was unknown where he had gone.
The people present suddenly regained their consciousness, and they all gasped for breath.
Han Li's breathing was rapid, and his eyes showed a hint of fear.
He had just felt that his divine soul was about to leave his body, and was about to be taken away.
Bai Ze didn't pay attention to Han Li and the others, and his right hand grasped at a place in the crimson space. A white light palm shot out.
That place in the space made a "whooshing" sound, and it shattered like paper. A figure fell from it, and it was Liu Tian Hao. He was about to fall into the white light palm.
At this moment, the shattered void violently shook, and a massive power seeped out from it, blocking Bai Ze's white light palm.
Then, Liu Tian Hao's figure flickered, and he vanished into thin air.
The massive power in the void also suddenly dissipated, and it disappeared without a trace. The ripples that had formed also dissipated.
"Someone actually came to his aid..." Bai Ze's eyebrows furrowed, and he muttered to himself.
Liu Zi and the others were also staring at each other in dismay, and they didn't know what had happened.
Liu Qing saw the situation, and she opened her mouth, looking like she wanted to say something. But before she could speak, Bai Ze's gaze turned to Liu Le Er, and he said:
"This matter will be investigated later. For now, the most important thing is the bloodline inheritance. Don't be affected by this, and focus on doing what you should be doing."
Liu Le Er let out a light sigh, and she nodded.
Bai Ze turned his head to look at the top of the eight stone pillars, and his hands beckoned. Eight golden flames flew out from the pillars, and they condensed into a single ball, burning fiercely.
Then, he waved his hands and cast a few spells, and his palms pushed out towards the void behind the pillars.
The golden flames shot out, and they landed on the square behind the pillars. With a "whooshing" sound, they exploded into countless golden flames, and they ignited the void.
Immediately after, the eight stone pillars emitted a brilliant crimson light, and one after another, the true spirit shadows flew out, appearing in the void with a wild and unrestrained manner, and they charged into the blood clouds above, shining with a brilliant light.
"Whooshing..."
Along with the sound of the flames rising, the blood clouds above also began to churn, and a large amount of crimson light fell from the clouds, connecting with the golden flames below.
The void began to produce a powerful fluctuation, and it contained a wild and primitive aura.
"Rumbling..."
Along with the void's turbulent movements, the golden flames and the crimson light actually formed three massive gates, each over a hundred feet tall.
The three gates were arranged in a row, with a distance of several dozen feet between each gate. The lower part of the gates was being incinerated by the golden flames, and they shone with a golden color. The upper part seemed to be made of copper, and it emitted a metallic luster.
Everyone's eyes widened in shock, and even Han Li, a member of the human tribe, felt a sense of reverence in his heart when he saw the three copper gates appear.
Many of the barbarian tribes' people couldn't help but feel a desire to bow down.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and his gaze moved from the leftmost gate to the right, examining each gate one by one.
He saw that the first gate, although it had a very ancient aura, seemed to be man-made, and it had eight true spirit carvings on it. The carvings depicted eight true spirit kings with different postures, but they all had an extraordinary divine aura.
Unlike the ones he had seen before, the true spirit carvings on the gate had a very strong true spirit aura, and Han Li felt a suffocating pressure when he looked at it, making him quickly look away.
The second gate had carvings on it, but they were very rough, and they only had some coarse lines that outlined a desolate landscape of the barbarian world.
When Han Li's gaze fell on it, he felt a strange sensation.
He only felt that the scenery on the gate suddenly came to life, and it turned into a sea of blood that enveloped him, making him feel like he was being pulled into that world.
Han Li felt like his body was being burned by flames, and he was being boiled in oil, making him feel extremely uncomfortable. But the true spirit bloodline in his body seemed to have finally found a place that belonged to them, and it was wildly running amok, making him feel extremely carefree.
Han Li's body suddenly felt hot, and his face and neck turned red.
Everyone else was attracted to the gates, and only Bai Ze felt a sense of awareness, and he looked at Han Li.
His gaze flashed, and his eyes showed a hint of surprise.
However, he didn't take any action, and he didn't try to help Han Li. Instead, he continued to observe, seemingly wanting to see how long it would take Han Li to escape from this strange state.
Han Li felt a sudden sense of unease and his heart skipped a beat.
He immediately activated his Cultivation Technique, and a sharp pain shot through his mind as he suddenly came to. His body trembled slightly, and he quickly regained his composure.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and glanced around, noticing that no one seemed to have noticed his unusual behavior. He also realized that he was the only one who had fallen into this state.
The surrounding barbarian tribespeople's gazes swept past the second gate, but they didn't linger for long.
Han Li collected his thoughts and was about to take another look at the third gate when his movements suddenly froze.
"How can this be? A sudden breakthrough...!" His eyes lit up, and his heart was filled with wonder.
In that instant, a faint, popping sound echoed within his body, and a hidden acupoint suddenly opened without warning.
"It's incredible! This person is indeed different from the others... Just by looking at it for a moment, they can break through to a new level!" Bai Ze's gaze wasn't on Han Li, but he sensed the changes within him and murmured to himself.
"Could it be...?"
Han Li's mind was filled with speculation, and he unconsciously looked at the second gate again.
However, when he gazed at the second gate this time, he didn't enter that mysterious state again. Instead, his true spirit blood vessels seemed to be stirred up, filled with a strong desire for the gate.
Han Li felt a pang of disappointment, but he didn't dwell on it. He looked at the gate for a moment before shifting his gaze to the last gate, the copper gate.
This gate was even more rugged than the first two, with no signs of artificial craftsmanship. Instead, it was covered in dense, crater-like depressions, like the surface of a meteorite-battered terrain.
Han Li looked at it for a moment, but didn't see anything special, so he slowly withdrew his gaze.
"The three gates you see before you lead to the actual, true Barbarian Sacred Temple. The stone temple on the Eight Wastes Mountain is just a place we built to store the Barbarian Sacred Flame." Bai Ze's voice suddenly echoed through the space.
"Are there three Barbarian Sacred Temples?" Liu Qing asked in surprise.
Although he was the leader of the Tian Huo tribe, he didn't know much about the Barbarian Sacred Temple.
"There is only one Barbarian Sacred Temple. The three gates lead to different levels of the temple's void space. The first gate is the foundation of the Barbarian Eight Kings' bloodline inheritance. You five can enter through this gate to inherit the bloodlines of the five True Spirit Kings." Bai Ze's gaze fell on the first gate as he spoke.
"Yes." Liu Yue and the others replied in unison.
As soon as they finished speaking, Qing Tian couldn't wait any longer and rushed forward, charging into the golden flames.
"Ah...!" His figure had just disappeared into the flames when a blood-curdling scream echoed through the air.
The crowd gasped in shock, and they saw Qing Tian's body being engulfed by the flames, his skin cracking open with fiery red fissures, looking like a porcelain vase on the verge of shattering.
"The Barbarian Sacred Flame can help you burn away the impurities in your body. You must endure it to inherit the bloodline power." Bai Ze said calmly.
As soon as he finished speaking, a deafening roar echoed through the air.
"Roar...!"
Qing Tian's body suddenly expanded, transforming into a giant, white-faced, red-handed ape with sharp horns and fangs. He charged towards the copper gate, and with a flash of golden light, he disappeared into the gate.
The young master of the Zhu Wu tribe saw this and smiled, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He leapt forward, entering the flames as well.
Liu Yue and Yuan Shanbai followed suit, jumping into the flames.
Xiao Bai was the last one, stepping into the flames with a calm expression.
As the flames roared to life, the group's true forms emerged, and they charged into the copper gate, disappearing from sight.
The square fell silent once again.
"You can all cultivate here in the square. Although the blood and flesh aura here is not as strong as the Barbarian Sacred Temple, it's still a great benefit for you. Take advantage of this opportunity and cherish it." Bai Ze said.
The crowd nodded and sat down, beginning their cultivation.
"Your Majesty, since the first gate is the foundation of the bloodline inheritance, can we enter the other two gates to cultivate? It's likely to be more effective than cultivating here." The leader of the Bai Bei tribe suddenly asked.
As soon as he spoke, the others turned to look at him, and even those who didn't dare to hope before now felt a spark of desire.
"They are the chosen ones of the bloodline, with the True Spirit Kings' bloodline protecting them. That's why they can enter the gates. What makes you think you can? If you're not afraid of death, you can try to open the gates and see if you can succeed." Bai Ze replied indifferently.
"I...I was too bold, I don't dare to be presumptuous..." The leader of the Bai Bei tribe trembled, shrinking back as he spoke. Here is the translated text:
"Alright, you all stay here and cultivate, when the five of them inherit the bloodline and return, I will reopen the Shura Blood Gate and take you out." Bai Ze said without looking at him.
"Yes, sir!" everyone replied in unison.
Just then, a discordant voice rang out: "Your Majesty, I want to try..."
As soon as the words were spoken, everyone was shocked, and they all turned to look at the speaker, who was none other than the most detested person, Han Li.
"You're a fool, getting too big for your britches..." Qing Yuan tribe's leader was furious, scolding loudly.
The rest of the tribespeople also began to curse and scold, even Huo San and Li Qi Ma shook their heads, thinking that Han Li was being too reckless.
"I don't know my own limits, I want to try entering the second gate, I don't know if Your Majesty will allow it?" Han Li ignored the others and bowed his fist again.
"You have done us a great favor in the Savage Wilderness, wanting to try is not a problem. But I must warn you, this gate is not ordinary, the Savage Wilderness has countless true spirit types, and the eight of us becoming true spirit kings is not unrelated to the space behind this gate." Bai Ze's eyebrows furrowed as he spoke.
The second gate was actually the training grounds of the eight true spirit kings from back then?
"It's not easy to enter this gate, with just the mountain giant ape's bloodline in your body, and your human physique, you may not be able to withstand the Savage Wilderness flames, do you really want to try?" Bai Ze asked again.
This time, not only did the others become thoroughly shocked, but even Han Li himself began to doubt, could he really enter the place where the eight true spirit kings had achieved their greatness?
"I want to try, please grant me permission, Your Majesty." Han Li quickly made up his mind and said.
He dared to take this risk because of his own bloodline, which gave him some confidence, and also because he wanted to quickly increase his strength, which was crucial for rescuing Jintong later.
"Since you've made up your mind, then go ahead." Bai Ze hesitated for a moment before saying.
"Thank you." Han Li bowed his fist.
"If any of you feel that you can also pass through the Savage Wilderness flames and enter this gate, you can try, but you must take responsibility for the consequences. Alright, you all focus on your cultivation." Bai Ze said, and then his figure flew past, directly passing through the Shura Blood Gate and leaving.
The crowd saw this and looked at each other in dismay, before focusing their attention on Han Li.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he lightly spat out a mouthful of turbid air, his toes tapping the ground as he suddenly darted into the Savage Wilderness flames.
"Whoosh!"
A large wave of golden flames erupted, engulfing Han Li entirely.
He had originally wanted to rush straight to the second gate, but as soon as he entered the flames, his body was surrounded by a fierce burning pain, and he was wrapped in flames, being pulled downwards.
He struggled to move forward, but felt like he was being pressed down by a mountain, and his body was unable to move.
At the same time, his blood was boiling under the flames, and his meridians were wildly surging, every time they reached his heart, they pounded like a drum, making a loud " boom boom" sound.
This sound was not only heard by Han Li himself, but also by the others outside.
He was constantly calling out in his heart, trying to summon the Essence Flame Bird to protect himself, but the bird seemed to be restricted, unable to come out.
"This kid is really asking for death, the king has already said that without a strong true spirit king's bloodline to protect him, it's hard to withstand the Savage Wilderness flames, and he still wants to try..." Qing Yuan tribe's leader said with a smile.
"Heh heh, I've always disliked him, it's best if he dies here..." Tong Bi tribe's leader chimed in.
Anyone not of their tribe must have a different heart, since he was looking for death, then it's best if he dies.
Most of the Savage Wilderness tribespeople had similar thoughts.
Li Qi Ma didn't speak, he just glanced at Han Li and closed his eyes, beginning to absorb the powerful blood and flesh energy from the surrounding void.
"Brother Han, you're really too reckless... the Savage Wilderness' ancient blood is not something that a human physique can withstand." Huo San sighed.
Han Li was unaware of the others' reactions, at this moment his ears were ringing nonstop, his body was charred and blackened, and his skin was sizzling, looking like it was about to be cooked.
Just then, his body made a "boom boom" sound, like beans popping.
A colorful glow erupted from his body, and a giant ape's virtual image appeared, followed by the silver-winged Lei Peng, the True Dragon, the Heavenly Phoenix, the Dark Turtle, and the Soaring Snake, ten true spirit virtual images emerged one after another, surrounding him.
A wave of ancient and powerful energy spread out from the flames.
"Look quickly!"
"This... what's going on..." someone exclaimed.
"What's going on?"
"Impossible!"
"How can a human have such a complex and vast True Spirit bloodline?" The Qingshen tribe leader exclaimed.
"We, the barbarian tribes, are influenced by our own bloodline, making it difficult to integrate other True Spirit bloodlines into our bodies. On the other hand, humans have a bloodline that doesn't conflict with True Spirit bloodlines, making it possible for them to integrate other bloodlines. But how can a human's body withstand such a complex and vast bloodline without collapsing?" The Manshan tribe leader raised an eyebrow, equally puzzled.
Li Qi, who had entered a meditative state, couldn't help but open his eyes again at the commotion.
"Truly a sight to behold..." He gazed at the extraordinary scene before him, sincerely praising.
...
Meanwhile, in the Barbarian Sacred Temple on the Mount of the Eight Wastes, two of the eight chairs that were originally empty were now occupied.
Bai Ze sat in his own seat, looking at the other occupied chair, where a large, black-robed man sat majestically.
The man's body was robust and imposing, but his clothes were tattered and worn, with holes and tears everywhere. He looked like a common beggar.
The man lifted his hood, revealing a face with sharp features and a beard that was gray and black. His eyes, which were slightly sunken, shone brightly in the dim light of the temple, giving off an air of weariness.
This was none other than the True Spirit King, You Tian Kuang Peng, who had just returned.
"Yue Men, I knew you wouldn't leave the Barbarian lands for long, but I didn't expect you to return so quickly." Bai Ze's face showed a rare, warm smile.
"Enough chatter, what's the point of suddenly opening the Blood Gate of the Asura?" Yue Men, the black-robed man, replied coldly.
"Do you know that the Heavenly Court is about to hold the Bodhi Banquet?" Bai Ze asked.
"What of it?" Yue Men raised an eyebrow, asking.
"I know you're still blaming me for what happened back then, but..." Bai Ze's expression turned hesitant.
"Back then, the Heavenly Court coveted Mo Yu's abilities and wanted to recruit him. Mo Yu refused, and we fought against the Heavenly Court. You used the Barbarian lands as leverage, forbidding us from engaging in an all-out war. As a result, Mo Yu died, and even Old Yuan's body was lost. We couldn't even find out where he fell. Now, even if the Heavenly Court makes another move, our people's hearts are scattered, and we can only go with the flow." Yue Men's expression turned cold as he spoke.
"Back then... it wasn't that I didn't want to engage in an all-out war, but Mo Yu saw the outcome of our conflict with the Heavenly Court and used his death to blackmail me, forbidding me from intervening..." Bai Ze's face showed a mixture of hesitation and difficulty.
Yue Men's expression changed as he heard this, and he fell into deep thought. He knew that Bai Ze's words were absolutely true.
"This matter, Old Yuan also knew, but he still chose to take action. I've been regretting it for all these years, but regret is useless now..." Bai Ze sighed heavily.
"Indeed, it's useless now." Yue Men sighed, standing up to leave.
"Chu Yan and Zhu Yan have also fallen, and the entire Barbarian lands are now left with only you, me, and Luo Hou." Bai Ze said.
Yue Men's body froze at these words, and he slowly turned back to face Bai Ze.
"Only us...?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
"The Blood Gate of the Asura has reopened, and the Barbarian Sacred Temple has reappeared. I've also found the bloodline descendants of the other True Spirit Kings, and they've entered the temple to inherit the remaining True Spirit bloodlines. They need time to grow." Bai Ze explained.
"You're worried that the Heavenly Court will discover your actions and take action against the Barbarian lands, and you want me and Luo Hou to come back and protect them?" Yue Men sat back down, his body slightly hunched.
"The Barbarian lands need you." Bai Ze's eyes locked onto Yue Men's, his voice firm.
"These years, I've been wandering in the outer realms, waiting for the day to return to the Barbarian lands. The Heavenly Court owes us a blood debt, and it will be repaid sooner or later." Yue Men's eyes narrowed, his aura becoming fierce and intimidating.
"That day won't be far off." Bai Ze murmured.
Just then, Yue Men's brow furrowed, and he looked at Bai Ze.
"Interesting, you're just in time to take a look." Bai Ze's eyes seemed to sense something, and he spoke up.
With a wave of his hand, a golden flame spread out before them.
In the flames, a figure appeared - Han Li, surrounded by a halo of True Spirit energy, his body radiating a dazzling light.
"A mere human, yet he possesses so many True Spirit bloodlines, including those of Old Yuan and mine?" Yue Men's expression turned surprised.
"Not just that, he also asked me for the bloodline descendants of Chu Yan and Zhu Yan earlier." Bai Ze's face showed a mixture of surprise and bitterness.
As he spoke, a small, white jade bottle flew out from Han Li's body, dissolving into the flames and releasing two droplets of blood that merged into a mist, which then merged into Han Li's charred body. As the two true spirit bloods entered his body, Han Li's Twelve Transformations technique suddenly activated on its own, and his body burst forth with waves of blood-colored light. His body shape also changed involuntarily, transforming into a giant ape with white hair and red feet, and then into a giant tiger with a long tail and wings.
Yue Mian leaned forward, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. "If this continues, this child will likely explode and die."
But Bai Ze smiled and said, "The clever part is right here."
As he finished speaking, the various true spirit illusions surrounding Han Li flew back and re-entered his body, and a five-colored light burst forth from his body.
Han Li's body shape changed even faster, and he actually transformed into all twelve true spirit forms.
But as his body shape changed, his aura stabilized, and even his charred and blackened flesh began to recover under the influence of a red glow.
Yue Mian was shocked. "How is this possible?"
Bai Ze praised, "He must have cultivated a technique that specializes in refining true spirit blood. It's truly remarkable. Looking at his aura, he originally only lacked two true spirit bloodlines, and now he has completed them."
Yue Mian's eyebrows furrowed. "That person..."
Bai Ze smiled and said, "We've already investigated him. He's not our enemy, but rather someone who will give the Heavenly Court a headache."
Yue Mian's eyebrows furrowed. "So you intentionally allowed him to complete the blood fusion in the Savage Wilderness Fire, and also helped him refine his blood and flesh?"
Bai Ze nodded. "Not only that, but his technique for refining true spirit blood is something we can learn from. I allowed him to do this on purpose, so that the people of the Sixteen Savage Tribes can see what he's capable of. As for how much they can gain from this, it's up to their own abilities."
Yue Mian shook his head. "You're being too kind. Although I think this child is not bad, I don't think he'll be able to enter the Savage Wilderness Temple. That door is impossible for him to open."
Bai Ze disagreed. "I don't think so. When he made that request, it wasn't because he was being reckless or arrogant. It was because his bloodline reacted to the temple door. If not for that, he wouldn't have spoken up."
Just as Bai Ze finished speaking, Yue Mian suddenly gasped in shock. Han Li suddenly let out a loud roar, and his body transformed into a three-headed, six-armed demon shape. He charged forward, his body glowing with a dark light, and crashed into the second giant door.
The sound of " Boom, boom, boom" echoed through the air, and Han Li's body was blocked by the door. Unlike Liu Yue'er and the others, who had easily passed through the door, Han Li was unable to do so.
Yue Mian sighed. "In the end, he's just a human. The Savage Wilderness Temple doesn't recognize his bloodline."
Bai Ze's expression turned serious, and he waved his hand. The golden flames on the ground disappeared.
The people in the Demon Blood Gate looked at Han Li's back, and they couldn't help but laugh. But as they watched, they realized that Han Li was not giving up. He was still trying to open the door.
Just as they thought the commotion was over, a sudden change occurred. The golden flames surrounding Han Li burst forth with a five-colored light, and the twelve true spirit illusions flew out and landed on the copper door. They merged into the door, and the door's rough lines began to glow.
The people gasped in shock as the door began to open, and Han Li's voice echoed through the air. His six giant arms pushed against the door, and the door slowly opened, revealing a gap.
A dense blood mist poured out, and Han Li's eyes lit up with excitement. He transformed back into his human form and stepped through the gap.
The door closed behind him, and the people were left staring at the empty space in shock.
"He...he actually went in!" the Celestial Ape tribe leader exclaimed.
The others gasped in shock. "He went in, that human went in!"
Chapter:
Unlike the others, who were marveling at the scene, Li Qi Ma's face was stern, his hands swiftly weaving a spell as he faced the massive door. The blood-colored mist that had previously spilled out from the door suddenly surged towards him, rolling and churning.
Hou San, seeing this, immediately reacted, hastily summoning the blood mist as well.
The others only realized what was happening when they saw that the blood mist had already been divided between Li Qi Ma and Hou San, leaving them with only a few stray wisps to absorb. They could only sigh and begin to cultivate.
As soon as Hou San absorbed the blood mist, his expression changed dramatically, his eyes flashing with a fierce red light, his entire being shaking with pain.
He forcibly suppressed the power within him, only recovering after a long time.
"This power is so chaotic, so violent? Han brother, what...?" Hou San's eyes were filled with shock and horror.
On the other side, Li Qi Ma had absorbed more blood mist, but his condition was much better than Hou San's. However, he too was shocked and felt that if the power within the door was indeed so fierce, Han Li's chances of survival were slim.
Meanwhile, within the crimson copper door, Han Li's body swayed unsteadily, buffeted by the waves of blood-colored wind.
He struggled to steady himself, then looked around, seeing only a vast expanse of blood-colored void, and a thick, pungent smell of blood filling the air.
Above him, a massive blood-colored sun hung suspended, radiating a bloody glow that illuminated the surroundings.
Below him, a series of massive blood-colored whirlpools churned and eddied, filled with a chaotic and violent power.
Han Li, suspended in mid-air, felt a sense of familiarity with this power, reminiscent of the turmoil within his own blood vessels when they had gone awry in the Jī Líng Kōng Jìng.
He suspected that this was why his own small heaven and earth had formed a connection with this void, allowing him to enter the door.
After a moment of contemplation, Han Li set aside this thought and sat down, his hands weaving a spell as he activated the Xīng Lóng Twelve Transformations and the Tiān Shā Zhēn Yù.
A bloody glow and a dark glow erupted from his body, and twelve spirit shadows coalesced into a ring around him, swirling and churning.
As he did so, the void around him began to change, the blood-colored whirlpools below accelerating, spewing forth blood-colored mist that swirled towards him, entering the ring of spirit shadows.
The twelve spirit shadows seemed to come to life, their mouths opening wide as they devoured the mist.
Han Li felt a searing pain in his back, his blood vessels bursting with a fierce, burning energy.
He let out a mighty roar, his body trembling with the power that had entered him.
The next moment, his body was wracked with a tearing, burning pain, and his previously dormant acupoints began to stir.
Han Li's eyes blazed with a fierce red light, his face deathly pale, sweat and blood dripping from his brow, his teeth clenched in agony.
But in his heart, there was only one thought: "Endure, I must endure!"
Meanwhile, within the first crimson copper door, a different scene unfolded.
Liu Yue'er and the others had entered the same door, but found themselves in separate spaces, each with their own void.
Liu Yue'er stood alone on a massive, circular altar, surrounded by nine towering pillars, each inscribed with dense, blood-colored symbols that pulsed with a fierce energy.
A massive, snow-white fox with nine tails hovered above, its tails entwining the pillars, its body radiating a brilliant, flowing light that streamed down the pillars and into the altar.
On the altar, a smaller, six-tailed white fox lay bound by blood-colored chains, its jaws clenched, its eyes fixed on the nine-tailed fox above.
The light from the altar flowed into the smaller fox's body, filling it with a fierce, pulsating energy. The six-tailed white fox was naturally Lü Lè'ěr, while the nine-tailed giant fox was merely the manifestation of the True Spirit King's bloodline power.
It had no spiritual awareness, and its narrow, long eyes only shone with a golden light, with a lotus flower pattern on its forehead, also shining brightly. However, when Lü Lè'ěr looked at it, she felt a strange connection between them, a bond that made her feel that the pain she was currently enduring was not so unbearable.
As the powers continued to merge, Lü Lè'ěr's aura also began to rise, and a light enveloped her, with the seventh tail of the fox appearing as a shadow.
...
In another space within the door, there was no altar, but a massive mountain peak hung in the air.
The mountain peak was a deep red color, with a giant ape statue carved on it, its fur standing on end, its arms like pillars, and its chest muscles bulging. The image was unmistakably that of the Mountain Ape.
Below the mountain peak, a white giant ape had transformed into its true form, carrying the mountain peak on its back, moving forward with a bent back.
Its shoulders were already bloody, and its hands were embedded in the red mountain peak, making it seem as if it was one with the mountain, being forced to move forward.
The white ape was naturally Yuán Shān Bái, and the bloodline power he was to inherit was within the blood mountain. He had to do as their tribe's name "Moving Mountain Ape" suggested, carrying the mountain and moving forward, without stopping.
When the blood mountain finally merged with him, he would truly inherit the Mountain Ape's bloodline.
For the sake of the wilderness and their tribe, he had to persevere.
...
In another space, there was no altar, nor a blood mountain, only a winding stream that flowed gently.
On the riverbank, a middle-aged man in a black robe sat with a young boy in white clothes, both barefoot, soaking in the stream, with looks of comfort on their faces.
The middle-aged man had a sword-like brow and starry eyes, with a handsome face that deserved the description "flourishing and elegant". A golden pattern on his forehead seemed to be an extra vertical eye, but it didn't look out of place, instead adding to his charm.
The young boy had red lips and white teeth, with eyes like ink, and a face that was still childish, but had some similarities to the man. When he grew up, he would definitely be a handsome young man.
"The name 'Little White' isn't bad..." the middle-aged man said with a smile.
"Dad, what was my original name?" the young boy asked, looking at the man.
"You naturally took my surname 'Mò', and as for your name...I didn't have time to choose one," the middle-aged man replied with a hint of apology.
"Oh..." the young boy said, slightly disappointed.
The middle-aged man was Mò Yù, and the young boy was Xiao Bái, who had transformed into a human.
"Back when I traveled through the immortal realm, I ignored the differences between humans and demons, and hid my identity to be with your mother. We fell in love, and when you were born, we were pursued by the Heavenly Court. To ensure I could bring you back to the wilderness realm safely, your mother diverted the Heavenly Court's attention, and never returned," Mò Yù said with a sigh.
"Was Mother killed by the Heavenly Court for my sake?" Xiao Bái asked, his heart burning with anger.
"Not just your mother," Mò Yù said slowly, "when I brought you to the border between the wilderness realm and the Northern Cold Immortal Realm, your uncle Yuán Gāng came to our aid, and we fought against the Heavenly Court's three Daos. We didn't fall behind, but unfortunately, Gǔ Huò Jīn intervened, and we were no match for him."
"Despicable," Xiao Bái said, his anger rising. "He must have taken advantage of your weakness after the battle with the three Daos."
Mò Yù's expression turned serious, and he warned, "Xiao Bái, you must promise me that you will not seek revenge against him in the future. He is a powerful foe, and even if we weren't weakened, we might not have been his match."
Xiao Bái's heart rebelled against the idea, but seeing his father's worried expression, he nodded and changed the subject.
"What happened next?" he asked.
"That battle was earth-shattering...the Heavenly Court's three Daos were killed or injured, forcing Gǔ Huò Jīn to intervene personally. Later, I and your uncle Yuán Gāng died in battle, and I used my remaining strength to seal most of my bloodline power within you. To prevent discovery, I sealed your bloodline and memories, and even froze you in place," Mò Yù said, his eyes filled with reminiscence.
"No wonder I can only transform into a human now..." Xiao Bái said, somewhat resigned.
"I had no choice...but now that this wisp of my soul has seen you, you still look like you did in my memories, which is not bad," Mò Yù said with a smile, stroking Xiao Bái's head.
Xiao Bái felt a sense of comfort and security, unlike when the Golden Boy had touched his head, making him feel awkward and wanting to avoid it.
"Why did the Heavenly Court pursue us?" Xiao Bái asked, looking up at his father.
"It's related to our innate divine abilities," Mò Yù explained. "Our True Spirit Eye can see into the void, tracing the threads of fate that connect people and events, allowing us to predict some future changes."
"What does the Heavenly Court want to use our abilities for, and what do they want to predict?" Xiao Bai frowned and asked.
"Gu or Jin seems to have realized something about the abnormal Heavenly Dao, and wants to use my power to help him see his own future... But this behavior is against the Heavenly Dao, and I won't help him. Besides, I've never liked the Heavenly Court's way of doing things, so I won't assist them... In the future, you'll inherit this power too, but be careful, because the price is too high." Mo Yu pondered for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Father, why did only Yuan Gang Uncle take action in the entire Barbarian Domain? White Ze isn't also your close friend, so why didn't he lend a hand?" Xiao Bai nodded, and after a moment of silence, continued asking.
"Don't blame him, I didn't let him take action. If other True Spirit Kings were also involved, it would have sparked a war between the Barbarian Domain and the Immortal Realm. At that time, it wouldn't just be a matter of a few mountains and rivers being destroyed, but half of the Immortal Realm and the Barbarian Domain would be drenched in blood. We've finally brought peace to the Barbarian Domain, and I won't let it be ruined." Mo Yu sighed and spoke.
Xiao Bai fell silent once again upon hearing this.
"I'm glad I can tell you all this in person. The name Xiao Bai is quite good, so from now on, you can call yourself Mo Xiao Bai..." Mo Yu's face showed a hint of a smile as he spoke slowly.
"Uh, I'm still me, still Xiao Bai..."
...
Time passed, and over a hundred years went by.
In the courtyard of the Asura Blood Gate, the eight stone pillars emitted a faint glow, and the bloody aura in the surrounding void also became much weaker.
Several people were scattered in the center of the courtyard, forming small groups and whispering to each other. Their expressions were different, and their faces showed varying emotions.
The largest group consisted of the Heavenly Fox Tribe, including Liu Qing, Huo San, and Liu Le'er, who stood alongside Yuan Shan Bai and Pi Xi Xiao Bai. Liu Zi and Shan Shi were nowhere to be seen.
At this moment, Xiao Bai had transformed from his previous white dog appearance and had become a young boy with rosy lips and white teeth, looking quite handsome. On his forehead, a golden vertical line had appeared, resembling a closed vertical eye.
Yuan Shan Bai, on the other hand, had undergone a drastic change, with his simian features becoming less pronounced. His two protruding beast teeth had transformed into tiger teeth, making him look even more adorable.
Liu Le'er's transformation was the most striking, with a golden flower-like pattern appearing on her forehead. Her body had become more slender and elegant, exuding an aura that was not seductive but captivating.
Nearby, Qing Tian and the young master of the Zhu Wu Tribe stood together, their bodies becoming more robust and tall.
Qing Tian's sharp horns had disappeared, and his appearance had become more similar to that of a True Spirit King, Zhu Yan.
The young master of the Zhu Wu Tribe had fully transformed into a human, but his aura had increased significantly, making him look more powerful.
These individuals, who had inherited the True Spirit Kings' bloodline, would experience a rapid increase in power in the short term. However, the greater benefit was that their future path would be smoother, and their cultivation speed would surpass that of others.
The last group consisted of only Li Qi Ma, who leaned against a stone pillar, gazing at the giant gate in the distance.
"Why hasn't he come out yet?" he thought to himself.
"Time is almost up, and the Asura Blood Gate is about to close. I think Han Li is probably dead inside." Qing Tian spoke with a smile, addressing the young master of the Zhu Wu Tribe.
"Hehe, that human is arrogant, thinking he can challenge the True Spirit Kings. He's just a joke, and his death is well-deserved." The young master of the Zhu Wu Tribe chuckled, intentionally provoking Xiao Bai.
"You're talking nonsense, he won't die!" Xiao Bai retorted angrily.
"We'll see about that. In half an hour, the three giant gates will disappear, and the Asura Blood Gate will close. By then, he'll be dead, haha..." Qing Tian sneered, taking pleasure in Han Li's misfortune.
"It's a pity, really..." The young master of the Zhu Wu Tribe smiled, but his words were laced with regret.
After all, they had just inherited the True Spirit Kings' bloodline and had experienced a significant increase in power. They had wanted to use this opportunity to humiliate Han Li and avenge their past grievances. But now, with Han Li's impending death, they would no longer have the chance.
Xiao Bai's anger surged, and he was about to charge at Qing Tian and the young master of the Zhu Wu Tribe.
Yuan Shan Bai, who had recently become friends with Xiao Bai, followed closely behind, his brow furrowed in concern.
"Let them talk, when Brother Han Li comes out, they'll know how painful it is to have their faces slapped." Liu Le'er intervened, calmly speaking.
She was the only one who firmly believed that Han Li would return safely.
The reason was that during their time in the lower realm, Han Li had given her the greatest sense of security. She would always believe in him from the bottom of her heart.
This was a conviction that, no matter how low the probability, she would always hold onto.
Liu Qing sighed silently, watching the scene unfold.
After this series of events, his opinion of Han Li had completely changed. Although he still didn't think Han Li could compare to Liu Le'er, he was willing to consider him a powerful ally of the Heavenly Fox Tribe.
But all of this was predicated on Han Li being able to walk out of the gate alive. Unfortunately, entering the eight True Spirit Kings' inheritance was not an easy task.
Huo San remained silent, his face expressionless, but his heart was filled with concern. Time flowed by, bit by bit, and although it had only been half an hour, the crowd felt it was an eternity. As the final moment approached, Liu Le'er wished time would slow down even more.
The three crimson copper gates in front of the golden flames had long since gone out, but the doors still refused to open.
"Haha, are you still waiting? He's definitely dead..." Qing Dian laughed loudly.
"Let's go, no need to wait anymore." Zhu Wu tribe's young master shouted, turning to leave.
In his opinion, the excitement here was over, and that guy who made him jealous was clearly finished.
However, just as he turned around, a loud creaking sound came from behind, and the middle gate of the crimson copper gates suddenly opened.
Zhu Wu's young master's body stiffened, and he turned his head back to look. He saw a blood-red mist mixed with the aura of the primordial chaos pouring out of the gate, and a tall figure emerged from within.
The figure's height was almost equal to the gate, and its body was covered in scales that shone with a reddish-black light. Six massive arms propped up the heavy gate, and three giant heads grew from its shoulders.
The two heads on the sides were like an ape and a tiger, which were the heads of Zhu Yan and Chu Mu. The head in the middle was like a true dragon, but slightly different, and it was the head of a Black Tortoise.
This person was none other than Han Li.
At this moment, his Heaven-Sealing Prison Gates technique had reached its peak, and he had fully mastered the three-headed, six-armed form. The aura emanating from his body was incredibly powerful, and it was terrifying.
Right now, he was even more like a Primordial Spirit than the surrounding barbaric spirits.
"How is this possible..." Qing Dian muttered to himself.
Zhu Wu's young master was left speechless, his eyes wide with shock.
Their previous thoughts of using their inherited bloodline to overpower Han Li had vanished in an instant.
"Is this really a human?" Liu Qing exclaimed.
Li Chi Ma's eyes narrowed, and he didn't say a word, but his heart was shocked to the core.
"Brother..." Liu Le'er called out excitedly.
Xiao Bai and Yuan Shan Bai rushed forward, one after the other.
Han Li's body quickly shrunk back to its normal size, and the reddish-black light on his upper body began to fade. The numerous acupoints on his body, which had been opened up, emitted a powerful aura.
"This... this is over a thousand acupoints! His physical body has been strengthened to such an extent?" Huo San exclaimed, his eyes wide with amazement.
After a dozen breaths, the light on Han Li's body finally faded, and the aura began to recede. Everything returned to normal.
Han Li let out a soft sigh and pulled out a blue robe to put on.
As he walked out, he suddenly stopped and looked back at the third gate.
When he looked at it, the scene around him changed instantly, and he felt as though he had entered a different barbaric world. He didn't see any barbaric beasts, but he sensed a pure and untainted aura.
It was the true aura of the barbaric world, an aura that was unbound and without rules. It was as though the world had returned to its primordial state.
Before he could investigate further, a terrifying force suddenly emerged from the gate, as though it would devour him and tear him apart.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly looked away, his forehead covered in cold sweat.
When he looked back at the crowd, he realized that time had seemed to stand still, and no one had noticed anything.
Han Li's heart was filled with shock, and he didn't dare look at the third gate again. He quickly walked towards the crowd.
"What took you so long?" Xiao Bai complained.
"Sorry, I made you worry." Han Li smiled and said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire space began to shake violently, and the three crimson copper gates behind him began to sink into the ground, disappearing from sight.
The square with the eight stone pillars began to fade away, disappearing bit by bit.
"Let's go, we'll talk later." Han Li said, grabbing Xiao Bai and Yuan Shan Bai, and rushing towards the Shura Blood Gate.
The eight desolate mountains trembled, and a flash of light illuminated the surroundings. Several figures instantly appeared.
The Blood Gate of the Asura, which had stood for over a hundred years, finally vanished in an instant, returning to nothingness.
On the mountain top square, the dark red seal had been lifted, and the area was bathed in the morning light, as if coated with a layer of gold, radiating a dazzling glow.
Han Li took a deep breath of the fresh air, narrowed his eyes, and gazed at the distant sunrise.
Suddenly, he felt a ripple in the space beside him, and he quickly turned his head to look.
A figure appeared, and Han Li saw that it was Bai Ze and Yue Mian.
"Congratulations, Han Li, your physical cultivation has made great progress, and you're almost at the peak of perfection," Bai Ze said with a smile, his eyes shining brightly.
Yue Mian also turned to look at Han Li, his eyes burning with interest.
Han Li felt uncomfortable under Yue Mian's gaze, and he sensed the other's aura. His eyes widened in shock.
Yue Mian's aura was as deep as the ocean, and Han Li couldn't feel its boundaries. It was not inferior to Bai Ze's.
"Could it be that he's also a Dao Ancestor? I remember that the summoning array of the Lei Peng clan was extremely powerful. Could he be the true spirit king of the You Tian Kun Peng?"
Han Li's mind racing with thoughts, but he quickly composed himself, bowed to Bai Ze, and said, "Thank you, Senior Bai Ze, for your guidance. Otherwise, I wouldn't have reached my current cultivation level."
"It's just a small matter, Han Li, don't mention it," Bai Ze replied with a smile.
"It may be a small matter to you, Senior, but to me, it's a great kindness. If you have any orders in the future, please don't hesitate to tell me," Han Li said seriously.
Bai Ze had allowed him to enter the Blood Gate of the Asura, and his physical cultivation had reached its current level. The favor was not inferior to the guidance of the old Dao Ancestor.
"Ah, since you're so willing, I'll make a request. If the Barbarian Domain encounters any difficulties in the future, I hope you can help us in any way you can," Bai Ze said with a smile.
Han Li was taken aback. Bai Ze was putting too much trust in him. The Barbarian Domain had two true spirit kings, and people like Liu Le'er and Xiao Bai had inherited the true spirit king's bloodline. Their future prospects were limitless, and they were accompanied by powerful figures like Liu Qing.
With the Barbarian Domain's strength, if they still encountered difficulties, their enemies would be incredibly powerful. What could he do to help?
"If that day comes, although I may not be able to help much, I'll still do my best to assist," Han Li said after a moment of silence.
Bai Ze nodded, turned to Yue Mian, and introduced him to Han Li. "I've been too busy talking. Han Li, let me introduce you to Yue Mian, the other true spirit king of the Barbarian Domain. He's very interested in you."
"I'm Han Li, nice to meet you, Senior Yue Mian," Han Li said, bowing to Yue Mian.
Others had also noticed Yue Mian's presence, but they hadn't seen him before. When they heard Bai Ze's introduction, they came forward to pay their respects.
"Enough, I'm not Bai Ze, I don't like these empty rituals," Yue Mian said, waving his hand. "Young man, where did you learn the technique of refining the bloodline from?"
Han Li felt a surge of weakness, as if he couldn't control himself, and he replied, "I learned it from the relics of a Kun Peng elder in the lower realm."
Yue Mian's expression changed, and he looked at Han Li in surprise. "A technique from the lower realm?"
Han Li's weakness dissipated, and he regained control of his body. He felt a mix of shock and helplessness.
He realized that, despite his recent progress, he was still no match for a Dao Ancestor. He was at their mercy.
But Han Li thought of Liu Tianhao, who was at the peak of the Da Luo realm. He had been no match for Bai Ze, and Han Li's current strength was nothing compared to that.
Han Li's anger and resentment dissipated, and he smiled. "No need to worry, Senior Yue Mian. You're a straightforward person, and you only asked me a question. I wouldn't hold any grudges."
Bai Ze frowned and said, "Yue Mian, you can't just control people like that. It's impolite. Our Barbarian Domain is often criticized for being too rash and impulsive."
Yue Mian looked at Han Li, his brow furrowed, and seemed to want to say something but stopped.
"It's no problem, Senior Yue Mian. You're a straightforward person, and you only asked me a question. I wouldn't hold any grudges," Han Li said with a smile.
Yue Mian smiled and said, "I see you're a sensible person. I like that."
Bai Ze shook his head and didn't say anything else. Han Li, you possess the Kunpeng bloodline and have considerable strength, and your personality is quite to my liking. Are you interested in becoming my Dao Ancestor's messenger? Yue Man turned around and smiled at Han Li.
"Dao Ancestor's messenger?" Han Li was taken aback, as this was the first time he had heard of such a term.
The people around them heard this and immediately became restless, with most of them looking confused, just like Han Li. However, a few individuals, such as Liu Qing, Qing Dian, and the young master of the Zouwu clan, changed their expressions, looking at Han Li with envy and jealousy.
Noticing the gazes of the people around him, Han Li's eyes flickered.
"Han Daoist, you are currently not at the Great Luo realm, so you don't know much about the Dao Ancestor. My father, Yue Man, and other Dao Ancestors usually stay in seclusion and rarely show themselves. This time, if the Heavenly Court hadn't been pressuring us, my father wouldn't have come out. Therefore, the Dao Ancestors will choose individuals with exceptional talent and strength to become their messengers, conveying their will and handling some matters. Becoming a Dao Ancestor's messenger has immense benefits. Firstly, your status will immediately increase, and you will have a powerful backer, making it unlikely for anyone to dare provoke you. Secondly, in terms of cultivation, the Dao Ancestor will bestow you with powerful magical artifacts, teach you great divine abilities, or guide your cultivation. In short, the benefits are countless. It's fortunate that Yue Man has taken a liking to you, this is a rare opportunity that you shouldn't miss!" Lichi's voice echoed in Han Li's mind.
Han Li heard these words and his expression changed several times, but he didn't immediately agree. Instead, he looked thoughtful.
Bai Ze saw this and simply smiled, while Yue Man didn't urge him to respond.
"Thank you, Yue Man, for your kindness. However, I have many personal matters to attend to, and I don't have enough time to deal with them. I can only decline your offer." Han Li didn't consider it for long and quickly bowed slightly.
He had too many secrets, and it wasn't suitable for him to get close to powerful individuals, let alone stay by the side of a Dao Ancestor.
Moreover, he didn't understand Yue Man, and it was even more unlikely that he would follow him.
The people around them saw this and looked shocked, with Liu Qing and others staring at Han Li in disbelief.
"This Han Li is crazy, he doesn't even want to become a Dao Ancestor's messenger." Qing Dian saw Han Li's refusal and was surprised, but also secretly delighted.
"Fool." The young master of the Zouwu clan sneered in his heart.
Yue Man saw Han Li refuse him and his gaze flashed, but he didn't get angry. He simply nodded and turned to look elsewhere, no longer paying attention to Han Li.
Han Li saw this and felt a sense of relief in his heart, his tense nerves relaxing.
Bai Ze looked at Han Li deeply and then turned to the others, saying, "The Blood Sacrifice Conference has come to an end. You all should return to your respective clan areas. The True Immortal Realm is about to experience turmoil, and you should all accumulate your strength to prepare for the future changes."
"Yes!" The people present responded in unison and then bid farewell.
Qing Dian and the young master of the Zouwu clan glanced at Han Li coldly before leaving.
Han Li noticed their gazes and frowned.
These two seemed to have a deep grudge against him. Their current strength didn't bother him, but they had inherited the True Spirit King's bloodline and would likely become much stronger in the future, possibly even becoming Dao Ancestors.
According to his usual way of handling things, he should eliminate such enemies early on. However, with Bai Ze and Yue Man present, he didn't dare make a move.
"Brother, I just inherited the Sacred Ancestor's bloodline, and although I've been cultivating in the Asura Blood Gate for a hundred years, I still haven't fully merged with my body. I need to return to the Tianhu clan to continue my cultivation. Brother, you don't seem like you'll be staying in the Barbarian Realm for long. You must come back and visit me in the future." Just then, Liu Le'er flew to Han Li's side, her eyes misty with tears.
"I will definitely come back." Han Li patted Liu Le'er's head and smiled.
Liu Le'er's face immediately lit up with a smile, and she nodded vigorously before returning to the Tianhu clan.
Liu Qing, Huo San, and the others also bid farewell to Han Li before the Tianhu clan departed, flying away into the distance. In the blink of an eye, only Han Li, Xiao Bai, Bai Ze, Yue Man, and Lichi remained on the square.
"Bai Ze, Yue Man, thank you for your hospitality. However, I have some matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave." Han Li stepped forward and bowed to Bai Ze and Yue Man before departing.
He had been delayed in the Barbarian Realm for over a hundred years and didn't know what had happened to the Golden Boy. He needed to leave the Barbarian Realm and investigate the situation.
"Since you have matters to attend to, I won't keep you." Bai Ze nodded slightly.
"Xiao Bai, you've just broken through to the Great Luo realm, and your bloodline's power is still unstable. You should stay in the Bayan Mountain to cultivate." Bai Ze turned to Xiao Bai and said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your concern. However, I want to follow my master." Xiao Bai shook his head.
Bai Ze's expression turned stern upon hearing this.
"Xiao Bai, you've inherited the Muye Qiong's True Spirit bloodline, and your status is noble. You don't need to call me 'master' anymore, just call me 'Dao friend'." Han Li glanced at Bai Ze and quickly said.
Xiao Bai could call him whatever he wanted in private, but in front of Bai Ze and Yue Man, he didn't want to offend them.
"It doesn't matter if it's 'master' or 'Dao friend,' I'm used to calling you 'master'." Xiao Bai waved his hand and said.
(To all the Dao friends, I have something to attend to, so I'll only be posting one chapter today.
"Little White, don't be reckless, now that the Ink Eye Pixiu bloodline only has you as its successor, you absolutely cannot get into trouble again." White Ze said in a deep voice.
Little White opened his mouth, about to say something, but was stopped by White Ze's waving hand.
"You and Han Xiao want to do what, I already know. What is the Nine Yuan Observatory? I'm more clear about it than you, its power and foundation are far beyond what you can imagine. Just the two of you wanting to sneak in to rescue someone is no different from seeking death. You should stay on the Eight Desolations Mountain and cultivate well, the revival of the Desolate Region concerns the lives of countless living beings, and this place needs you more. Han Xiao, I advise you not to take risks, this move is nine deaths and one life."
White Ze's face turned even more serious as he exhorted them, then turned to Han Li.
"Han fellow, forgive me for speaking bluntly, the Nine Yuan Observatory is one of the top five powers among the various forces allied with the Heavenly Court, it's not something you two can easily offend."
Li Qi Ma, who was standing beside him, also spoke up to advise them.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, wanting to speak but hesitating.
If it were just him and Little White, wanting to charge into the Nine Yuan Observatory to rescue Jintong would be a reckless move, he would never do such a foolish thing. After all, as long as he had a chance to escape, he wouldn't worry about not having a chance to rescue Jintong.
But now that the Wheel of Reincarnation had joined the fray, the situation was different. However, this was a secret, and he couldn't reveal it, so he remained silent.
"Cultivation can be done anywhere, Master has a space treasure, I can cultivate with him, it won't be delayed. As for danger, I'm not afraid." Little White said nonchalantly, his attitude resolute.
White Ze's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, his gaze turned to Han Li.
"Little White, White Ze's words have some truth to them, the rescue mission is too reckless, following me would be unsafe, it's better to stay here." Han Li sighed and advised.
Little White had already advanced to the Great Luo stage, but facing the Nine Yuan Observatory, a massive power, his abilities were still limited. Moreover, the Heavenly Court monitored the world, and the Eight Desolations Mountain's matters were unlikely to be unknown to them. Little White's inheritance of the Ink Eye Pixiu's bloodline made him more valuable, if he appeared in the Jinyuan Sacred Realm, the Heavenly Court might send experts to capture him, adding variables to the situation.
More importantly, taking Little White away would offend the Desolate Region, it was better to leave him here.
"Back then, I and Elder Sister encountered the Nine Yuan Observatory's siege, Elder Sister had the opportunity to escape, but she gave it to me. Otherwise, there wouldn't be today's me. Now she's trapped in the Nine Yuan Observatory, her life and death unknown, how can I hide in the Desolate Region? King, your kindness I appreciate, but this time I must rescue Elder Sister, otherwise, I'll always feel guilty, and my cultivation will never progress." Little White's expression was calm, but his eyes were resolute, his tone firm.
Hearing Little White's words, Han Li's face flashed with a hint of surprise, but he didn't say anything.
But White Ze's eyebrows were furrowed even tighter, wanting to say something.
"White Ze, we Desolate Region people repay kindness and revenge, if Little White insists on going, let him go." Yue Meng walked over and said.
"What are you saying, the Nine Yuan Observatory's power is not something you don't know, you're not aware of it?" White Ze turned to Yue Meng, his tone slightly reproachful.
"If Little White's heart is not in the Desolate Region, forcing him to stay here is useless. This cause and effect must be resolved. And Han Xiao doesn't seem like a reckless person, you must have some plan to rescue your companion, right?" Yue Meng's tone was calm, then turned to Han Li.
"I have indeed made some preparations, but the matter is confidential, so I won't reveal it. However, you can rest assured, I won't act rashly." Han Li's expression was calm, bowing to White Ze and Yue Meng.
"See, since Han Xiao has made preparations, he must have some confidence. If you're still worried, give him a few treasures to protect himself." Yue Meng said to White Ze.
"...Alright, since you insist on going, I won't stop you. Take these three treasures with you." White Ze was silent for a moment, then finally relented, taking out three objects and handing them to Little White.
The three objects were a blue jade symbol, a gold talisman, and a white cloth bag.
The blue jade symbol was three inches wide and five inches long, with a peculiar pattern of blue flowers and a mysterious array of characters.
A soft blue light rose from the array, surrounding the jade symbol and flying around it in a circle, before returning to the symbol, repeating the cycle endlessly.
The gold talisman was the size of a palm, with countless twisted demonic symbols, emitting a powerful aura.
The white cloth bag was ordinary-looking, without any special features or powerful aura, only a faint hint of spiritual energy attached to it.
"This blue jade symbol is called the 'Evade Heaven Symbol', a rare treasure I obtained before I reached the Dao. It has the power of invisibility and concealing one's aura, even a Great Luo stage cultivator might not be able to see through it. This gold talisman contains 30% of my power, if you encounter a powerful enemy, you can use it to counterattack. As for the white cloth bag, it's a treasure your father created, a life-bound artifact that I've kept here, now that you've inherited his bloodline, I'll give it to you to keep." White Ze explained the uses of the three treasures.
"Thank you, King." Little White sensed the extraordinary nature of the three treasures and eagerly accepted them.
He glanced at the Evade Heaven Symbol and the gold talisman, then put them away, only leaving the white cloth bag to examine it carefully. Han Li's eyes lit up as he saw the scene before him, and his heart felt a surge of joy.
With these three treasures in hand, their safety had been secured.
Just then, Bai Ze suddenly raised his hand and waved it, and twelve flashes of white light shot out from his hand, accurately entering Xiao Bai's body, and countless white symbols flew out from the light, gathering around Xiao Bai's body in a circular formation, flashing a few times before slowly disappearing.
Xiao Bai was shocked, and Han Li's face also changed, but Bai Ze had acted too quickly, and they had no time to stop him.
"You don't need to worry, this is the Twelve Great Translocation Symbol Array I've set up," Bai Ze said solemnly. "Xiao Bai, I can agree to let you leave with Han Xiao, but as you know, the current situation in the Heavenly Court and the Barbarian Realm is precarious, and we are preparing for some things... so you only have 200 years, 200 years later, no matter what reason you have, you must return to the Barbarian Realm, or else this Twelve Great Translocation Symbol Array will forcibly transport you back."
"200 years!" Xiao Bai's face changed, and he looked at Han Li.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed as he heard this, and he thought to himself that the Revolving Hall had not given him any news, and he didn't know when they would make their move.
Although he didn't put his hopes on the Revolving Hall, if they were to take action, it would definitely be a great help to him.
"I hope I can make it," Han Li sighed inwardly, nodding at Xiao Bai.
"Alright, I'll definitely return in 200 years," Xiao Bai said to Bai Ze.
Bai Ze nodded, his face slightly relaxing.
"Thank you, Bai Ze, for allowing Xiao Bai to accompany me," Han Li said to Bai Ze and Yue Meng. "You can rest assured, no matter what happens, I will ensure Xiao Bai's safety."
"Alright, Xiao Bai is in your care," Bai Ze said to Han Li.
The group chatted for a while, and then Han Li bid farewell and left, using the Ink Dragon Flying Boat to carry the two of them away, turning into a streak of dark green light that disappeared into the distance.
As they watched Han Li and Xiao Bai leave, Bai Ze glanced at Li Qi Ma beside him.
Li Qi Ma understood, bid farewell, and turned to leave, leaving only Bai Ze and Yue Meng on the square.
"Here," Yue Meng waved his hand, and a ball of blood light flew out, landing in front of Bai Ze.
The blood light flashed with twelve virtual shadows, which were the twelve true spirit bloodline shadows within Han Li's body, intertwining and swirling.
Apart from these twelve true spirit shadows, the blood light also flashed with many blood-colored characters, condensing into a cultivation technique.
If Han Li were here, he would be shocked, because this cultivation technique was identical to the main vein of the Jing Qian Jue he had been cultivating, with only some minor differences.
Bai Ze's eyes lit up, and he waved his hand to grasp the blood light. "I used the Kun Peng bloodline within Han Li's body to sense the operation of the other bloodlines, and I've roughly understood the main vein of the cultivation technique he's been cultivating. It's indeed a very high-level technique, but I don't know why it's appeared in the lower realm."
Yue Meng spoke slowly, "Indeed, it's very high-level. In our eight tribes, there are some cultivation techniques that fuse true spirit bloodlines, but at most, they only fuse four or five true spirit bloodlines. If there are more, the true spirit bloodlines will conflict with each other, causing the body to explode. This cultivation technique can fuse twelve true spirit bloodlines, and the balance and coordination between each bloodline is truly remarkable. With this technique, the tribes of the Barbarian Realm can increase their strength significantly."
"You want this technique, why not just search Han Li's soul or make him hand it over directly?" Yue Meng snorted, unhappy. "Why use such a roundabout method, and make me play along with this farce?"
"That Han Li is not an ordinary person, we can't touch him," Bai Ze said calmly, shaking his head.
"Oh, who is that kid? Why are you being so cautious?" Yue Meng asked curiously.
Bai Ze looked at Yue Meng, took out a black token, and showed it to him. On the token was a ferocious beast face.
"It's him!" Yue Meng's face changed as he saw the token.
"The wind and clouds of the True Immortal Realm are about to rise, and I don't know where they will flow..." Bai Ze put the token away, gazing at the distant clouds, sighing.
Here is the translated text:
The Ink Dragon Flying Boat quickly left the Eight Desolations Mountain, heading in a certain direction.
Not long after leaving the Eight Desolations Mountain, Han Li took out some spirit puppets to control the flying boat, and also activated several hidden defensive seals on the boat. After making all the arrangements, he brought Xiao Bai to the secret room and entered the Flower Branch Space.
As soon as Han Li entered the space, he used his hand seals to activate the Light Years Heavenly Array and the Jun Tian Day Clock, causing the flow of time within the space to change suddenly.
"Hmm, it feels like something is different here. Did you do something, Master?" Xiao Bai immediately sensed the subtle change in the void and let out a soft exclamation.
"It's just a time difference space, nothing more. The flow of time here is about 50 times faster than outside. You can cultivate here." Han Li said calmly.
"Master, you can even set up such a wonderful space. I didn't know your time law had reached this level!" Xiao Bai exclaimed repeatedly, and then found a place to sit down and cultivate.
Han Li also found a place to sit down, and first took out the Wheel of Reincarnation Mask to check on the task he had previously posted to find the Time Law.
Unfortunately, despite offering a high reward, no one had responded, and there was no news from Jiao San either.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and his eyes flashed with a hint of impatience. He clenched his fists, and the void beside him trembled with a low hum.
He had greatly increased his physical strength, and with the Years God Lamp and the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array, his power was not weak.
But he still had a huge limitation holding him back, and that was his cultivation level, which was still at the peak of the Tai Yi Realm.
If he couldn't advance to the Da Luo Realm, his power would always be limited, and he couldn't fully transcend.
Han Li's eyes suddenly focused on a message that appeared on the transaction interface, and a smile spread across his face. He muttered to himself, "I've been searching for so long, and finally, I have a lead. Let's give it a try."
A moment later, he put away the mask and sat down to continue contemplating the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array, as well as the two divine abilities, "Law of Heaven and Earth" and "Reversal of the True Wheel".
...
Near the northwest border of the Great Golden Source Immortal Domain, the Savage Wilderness Domain was under pressure from the Heavenly Court, and some humans had frequently entered the area for various purposes, causing the many True Spirit tribes to retreat. Only fierce beasts with little spiritual intelligence remained, occupying the area.
The beast cores, blood, and bones of these fierce beasts were precious materials, attracting more and more cultivators to come and search for treasure.
Although the Savage Wilderness Domain was no longer inhabited by the True Spirit tribes, the area was still full of danger. Besides the fierce beasts, the chaotic heavenly energy could also produce various heavenly perils and absolute lands. Even Tai Yi Realm, or even Da Luo Realm cultivators, could fall if they entered.
In a certain area of the Savage Wilderness Domain, the rocks and ground were all black, and the sky was covered with thick, dark clouds. Thick, heavy lightning bolts flashed across the clouds, and the deeper one went, the more intense the lightning became.
At the deepest point, one could see a waterfall-like cascade of lightning, as if the sky itself was collapsing.
The lightning in this area was also multicolored, and the void was filled with a dense, sparkling energy that made one's skin crawl.
This area was known as the Five Lightnings Domain, a famous heavenly peril near the Great Golden Source Immortal Domain.
Near the Five Lightnings Domain, one could occasionally see the silhouettes of cultivators, wearing various defensive artifacts, flying into the domain to pick up some things.
The Five Lightnings Domain was indeed a treacherous place, but the dense lightning energy could also produce various lightning-attribute materials.
The true absolute land, however, was the deepest part of the Five Lightnings Domain. The outer area was not too dangerous, and the lightning that fell from the sky was not too powerful. As long as one was careful and had good luck, they wouldn't be in mortal danger.
Of course, if one's luck was bad, it would be a different story.
In the outer area of the Five Lightnings Domain, three cultivators stood back-to-back, surrounded by over a dozen 100-meter-long purple snakes that were made of purple lightning. The snakes spat out thick, heavy lightning bolts, forming a lightning net that pressed the three cultivators together.
The three cultivators were not weak, with a gray-robed old man at the late Gold Immortal stage, a black-armored ugly man and a red-robed young woman at the mid-Gold Immortal stage. They used their artifacts to resist the snakes' attacks, but if they hadn't cultivated a joint attack technique, connecting their spiritual energy together, they would have been broken through and killed.
"Damn it! Why are there so many lightning beasts in the outer area?" the black-armored ugly man shouted, using a thick, heavy purple demon-subduing staff to resist the snakes' attacks.
In the Five Lightnings Domain, besides the rampant lightning, there was another danger - the lightning beasts born from the domain. The Thunder Beasts in this place were formed from the essence of lightning in the Five Lights Thunder Domain, and their strength was exceptionally powerful. However, they usually lived deep within the Thunder Domain and rarely came to the outside.
"Zhao Daoist, what's the use of complaining about the current situation? Miao Xianzi, you should still have the Subduing Fire Pearl, use it to break through the Thunder Net, we'll make a last-ditch effort. If we delay any further, we'll all fall here." The old man in gray robes, sweating profusely, urged the red-robed woman while operating a golden cauldron artifact, which shot out golden rays of light to protect himself.
"The Subduing Fire Pearl only has one last piece left, and we've tried it before. Although it can break through the Thunder Net and temporarily get us out of trouble, it can't heavily damage these Thunder Snakes. Their speed is much faster than ours, and we can't escape in the end!" The red-robed woman, with three red fire flags floating above her head, spewed out dragon-shaped flames to block the incoming lightning, and hesitated.
"Don't worry, I have a Void Sealing Immortal Talisman, which can restrain these Thunder Snakes for a short period. I didn't use it earlier because we were deeper in the Five Lights Thunder Domain. Now that we're at the edge of the domain, we can try to escape. As long as we can stall for a moment, we'll be safe." The old man in gray robes said urgently.
"Sun Daoist, you should have said so earlier! Alright, I'll cast the spell." The red-robed woman was overjoyed, and with a flip of her hand, a fist-sized red sphere appeared in her hand.
The sphere was covered in flame-shaped patterns and emitted intense fire law fluctuations.
But the black-armored man's brow furrowed, and he was about to say something.
"Go!" The red-robed woman had already shouted, and the red sphere transformed into a red light that shot out and hit the purple Thunder Net.
A deafening crash shook the heavens.
A massive, million-zhang-wide red sun burst forth, and a sea of red light surged outward, engulfing everything.
The purple Thunder Net was shattered by the red sun, and the two nearby Thunder Snakes were swept away by the flames.
However, the other Thunder Snakes didn't retreat; instead, they charged toward the trio in a frenzy.
The old man in gray robes took out a white talisman, which was inscribed with silver spiritual patterns, and it looked exceptionally mysterious.
He spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which merged with the talisman, and then crushed it.
The talisman transformed into a silver light that flashed and disappeared into the void.
The surrounding void suddenly trembled, and countless silver threads shot out, binding the Thunder Snakes.
The Thunder Snakes were immobilized, unable to move.
However, the black-armored man and the red-robed woman were also bound by the silver threads, unable to move.
Only the old man in gray robes was enveloped in a layer of light, and the silver threads passed through him as if he had become a shadow.
"Sun Zhongshan, what do you mean by this?" The black-armored man and the red-robed woman were enraged.
"Both of you, this Void Sealing Immortal Talisman will restrain everyone nearby, including the caster. I'm powerless to stop it, and I can only apologize to you both!" The old man in gray robes flashed a hint of regret, bowed slightly, and transformed into a silver rainbow that shot into the distance, disappearing into the horizon.
The black-armored man and the red-robed woman were furious, but they could only watch as the old man escaped, powerless to stop him. At this moment, the Thunder Snakes let out angry roars and struggled fiercely.
The silver threads began to quiver, showing signs of breaking.
The black-armored man and the red-robed woman saw this and, despite their anger, frantically struggled to break free, hoping to escape before the Thunder Snakes did. Perhaps they still had a chance.
However, the surrounding silver threads were incredibly resilient, and the duo's spiritual energy was almost depleted. No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn't escape.
On the other hand, the Thunder Snakes' bodies glowed with lightning, and the surrounding lightning energy surged toward them, making them stronger. The silver threads began to break, and the Thunder Snakes were about to break free.
The black-armored man and the red-robed woman's faces turned pale, and their eyes filled with despair.
Just then, a deafening crash shook the heavens, and a massive, earth-shattering sound wave erupted from the depths of the Thunder Domain, piercing the sky and shaking the clouds.
The sound wave transformed into a heavenly sword cry, and seventy-two golden sword lights burst forth from the depths of the Thunder Domain, flying through the lightning like seventy-two dragons.
Each sword light emitted an intense, unmatched sword intent and lightning law fluctuations, devouring the lightning wherever they went.
Although the seventy-two sword lights were still far away from the black-armored man and the red-robed woman, separated by countless lightning bolts, the sword intent and law fluctuations still seemed to transmit clearly, like a tidal wave.
The black-armored man and the red-robed woman looked at each other, their eyes filled with a glimmer of hope.
The powerful thunder law, at least it's a sixth-grade... no, a fifth-grade immortal artifact! Could it be that a senior in the Da Luo realm is refining an immortal artifact in the Five Lightnings Domain?" The black-armored ugly man and the red-dressed woman were shocked by the scene.
The thunder snakes seemed to be intimidated by the powerful aura of the 72 sword lights, stopping their struggles and looking towards the depths of the thunder domain.
"Senior, save us!" The black-armored ugly man and the red-dressed woman looked at each other, using all their strength to shout for help.
The thunder snakes were startled by the cry for help, and immediately began to roar again, struggling with all their might.
The silver threads wrapped around them suddenly snapped, and the thunder snakes broke free, pouncing towards the black-armored ugly man and the red-dressed woman.
The two of them saw the scene, their faces pale with fear, and closed their eyes waiting for death.
But at this moment, a golden light burst forth from the location of the 72 sword lights, expanding with a "pu" sound, and forming a giant golden circular plate.
The 72 sword lights flew out, merging into the giant circular plate.
A loud "hong" sound echoed, and the golden circular plate disappeared, turning into a thousand-mile-sized golden thunder cloud, with countless golden thunderbolts flashing within.
A mournful cry echoed from the golden thunder cloud, and the nearby void was filled with a chilling scream, as if the void itself was shattering.
A powerful, unmatched devouring force burst forth from the golden thunder cloud, spreading in all directions, causing the void to tremble.
Everything within a hundred thousand miles was drawn towards the golden thunder cloud, including the black-armored ugly man and the red-dressed woman, and the thunder snakes, all of whom were powerless to resist.
The black-armored ugly man and the red-dressed woman's vision blurred, and they found themselves in a golden space.
The golden space was vast and endless, with no visible boundaries, and seemed to be a primordial realm.
Above the golden space, massive golden thunderbolts flashed and moved, forming a series of thunder arrays, and powerful thunder spirits appeared and disappeared.
A terrifying, crushing pressure mixed with the thunder law's fluctuations emanated from the air, pressing down on the two of them.
The black-armored ugly man and the red-dressed woman's silver threads had shattered when they were drawn into the thunder cloud, and they had regained their freedom.
But under the pressure of the thunder law, they felt as if they were being crushed by a mountain, and couldn't move.
The thunder snakes, which had been nearby, were also frozen in place.
However, the thunder beasts' intelligence was low, and under the pressure, they immediately wanted to counterattack, spewing out thick, purple thunderbolts towards the golden thunderbolts in the air.
But the golden thunderbolts simply flashed, and a dozen or so arm-thick golden thunderbolts struck down, faster than the purple thunderbolts, and struck the thunder snakes' heads.
The thunder snakes' heads exploded like eggs, and a golden arc of lightning spread through their bodies, causing them to explode and turn into tiny balls of lightning, which were absorbed into the golden thunder cloud.
The black-armored ugly man and the red-dressed woman watched in shock, their eyes wide with fear, before slowly recovering.
"This is the Heavenly Thunder of the 36 Heavens! Legend has it that this thunder law is the most destructive of the 36 Heavens, capable of destroying everything! Who is the senior who has cultivated this thunder law to such an extent?" The black-armored ugly man looked around, his eyes wide with fear.
The black-armored ugly man had also cultivated the thunder law, and was from a large sect, but the thunder law displayed here was beyond his knowledge.
The red-dressed woman heard his words, and her face showed shock, as she looked around.
At this moment, a low, muffled sound echoed from above.
A magnificent golden heavenly gate appeared in the golden thunder cloud, with golden thunder symbols etched onto it, giving off an ancient, primordial aura.
A suffocating, terrifying pressure emanated from the golden heavenly gate, pressing down on the two of them, ten times stronger than the pressure from the golden thunderbolts.
The black-armored ugly man and the red-dressed woman spat out blood, their faces pale, and their bodies trembling, as if they were being crushed by the pressure.
The two of them were filled with despair, thinking they had encountered a savior, but instead, they had encountered an even greater calamity.
At this moment, a blue-robed man appeared in the air, his hands weaving a spell.
The golden heavenly gate flashed, and disappeared, and the golden space also vanished, leaving the three of them in the Five Lightnings Domain.
The black-armored ugly man and the red-dressed woman felt the pressure lift, and their faces relaxed, as they took deep breaths. The blue-robed man raised his hand and waved it once more, and the golden lightning clouds in mid-air flashed twice before rapidly dispersing, transforming into 72 golden flying swords and an octagonal jade plate. These objects revolved around the man's body.
The blue-robed man gazed at the flying swords and jade plate, a faint smile on his lips, and then swept his sleeve in a wave.
A burst of emerald-green light shot out from his sleeve, enveloping the flying swords and jade plate, and then withdrawing them. The man's figure flickered, and he appeared before the black-armored man and the red-robed woman.
"You two, are you cultivators from the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Realm?" the blue-robed man asked.
"Yes, I am Zhao San Lei, a disciple of the Shen Xiao Sect, and this is Miao Xian Zi, a loose cultivator of the Golden Immortal realm. Thank you, senior, for saving our lives. May I ask your esteemed name?" The black-armored man, sensing the profound aura emanating from the blue-robed man, showed a respectful expression and asked.
The red-robed woman also bowed to the blue-robed man, her expression extremely respectful.
"My surname is Shi, and you don't need to know my given name. Do you two have a map of the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Realm?" The blue-robed man's eyes flashed as he spoke.
This blue-robed man was actually Han Li.
He had departed from the Eight Desolate Mountains, and after obtaining some clues along the way, he arrived at the Five Radiant Thunder Realm after nearly 20 years. During this time, Han Li had been contemplating the Heavenly Sword Array in the Flower Branch Space, and his understanding of the array had grown deeper. He had become more skilled in setting up the array, unlike when he first comprehended it.
The Heavenly Sword Array was incredibly powerful, but his Blue Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword was somewhat inferior in comparison. It didn't match the array very well.
Therefore, Han Li was overjoyed to arrive at the Five Radiant Thunder Realm and immediately entered the depths of the realm to temper his flying sword using the power of the thunder.
He used several thunder and lightning secret techniques from the "Five Thunder Orthodox True Scripture" and combined them with the power of the Xuan Tian Gourd to re-forge the 72 Blue Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords.
After re-forging, the Blue Bamboo Bee Cloud Swords' internal thunder and lightning laws had greatly increased, reaching the level of a fifth-grade immortal artifact. Their properties had also changed, evolving into the "Du Tian Shen Lei" of the 36 Heavenly Thunders, which was an unexpected surprise.
"I have one," Zhao San Lei hastily replied, taking out a map jade slip and handing it to Han Li.
Han Li accepted the jade slip and scanned it with his divine sense, nodding to himself.
The map on the jade slip was quite detailed, with the locations of the Jiu Yuan Guan and Bai Cuo Shan clearly marked. It was sufficient for his use.
"Senior, are you going to the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Realm? I've lived in the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Realm for many years and am familiar with the area. I can guide you," Zhao San Lei said, a hint of expectation in his eyes.
"That's not necessary, this map jade slip is enough. The Five Radiant Thunder Realm is quite dangerous, and your cultivation is not strong. It's best for you to leave quickly," Han Li said calmly.
Zhao San Lei's face fell upon hearing this, his eyes flashing with disappointment.
He had intended to guide Han Li to the Shen Xiao Sect, not to actually guide him. The Shen Xiao Sect specialized in thunder and lightning laws, and if they could invite Han Li to the sect, it would be a great achievement. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned, and Han Li refused his offer.
"Senior's words are wise, I was too reckless. We'll take our leave now. If senior needs any help, you can come to the Shen Xiao Sect and find me," Zhao San Lei said, bowing to Han Li.
The red-robed woman also bowed to Han Li, her expression respectful.
But at this moment, the scenery before them rapidly changed, and their eyes became unfocused. They stood there, frozen.
Han Li withdrew his hand, which had been pointing at the two of them. He had used a secret technique to probe their memories, but he didn't sense that they had recognized his identity or had any intention of reporting him to the Heavenly Court.
Although he had altered his appearance, the Blue Bamboo Bee Cloud Sword had been revealed, and those who had seen his wanted poster might still be able to connect the sword to his identity. Now that he was close to the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Realm, he couldn't afford to be careless.
Han Li's fingers flashed with light once more, and he inserted them into the two people's brows. He muttered to himself, and a half-hour passed.
Zhao San Lei and the red-robed woman flew out of the Five Radiant Thunder Realm.
"Zhao, where are we going now? Back to Jin Yan City?" the red-robed woman asked.
"That's right, Sun Chong Shan's treachery was unexpected. Fortunately, the sudden thunderstorm drove away the thunder beasts, or we would have fallen already. This matter can't be let go like this!" Zhao San Lei said coldly.
"We must demand an explanation!" the red-robed woman's face was also filled with anger as she nodded.
The two of them transformed into a purple and red streak of light, flying towards the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Realm.
As they flew away, Han Li finally emerged from the Five Radiant Thunder Realm, gazing in the direction they had gone.
He had just used a secret technique to modify their memories, erasing the part where they met him and replacing it with a scene where they encountered a thunderstorm that drove away the thunder snakes, allowing them to narrowly escape.
Although killing them would have been more convenient, Han Li was not a bloodthirsty person and didn't want to slaughter them indiscriminately. He was willing to expend more effort to avoid doing so.
Moreover, after reaching the Great Luo Realm, he would face the Three Corpse Severing Tribulation, and reckless actions would ultimately affect his mental state.
Han Li's gaze lingered on the two people's receding figures before he turned and flew away.
Han Li didn't linger any longer, turning back to gaze at the still thundering Thunder Domain before flying off in a different direction.
Just as he did, his brow twitched, and he stopped his escape light, his hands forming a seal to activate his magic.
As his face glowed with a faint red light, the Wheel of Reincarnation mask flickered into existence, and a light screen appeared before him.
He fixed his gaze on the screen, his eyes shining with great joy, for he had received a response to his task of searching for materials containing the Time Law.
Han Li hastily opened the task, but his entire body suddenly froze.
Before him, a slender figure emerged from the void, her face covered with a crimson mask, looking familiar yet unexpected - it was Jiao San.
"Jiao San, how is it you? You have the materials containing the Time Law?" Han Li asked, his eyes flashing with curiosity.
"Brother Han, it's been a long time. I wouldn't deceive you, having taken on your task," Jiao San replied, her voice light and carefree, as if she hadn't noticed Han Li's doubt.
"Thank you, Jiao San. The materials are exactly what I need. How many spirit stones do you want?" Han Li asked, taking a deep breath.
Jiao San held out a half-meter-long, cyan-colored ancient wood, identical to the one that Mi Luo Old Ancestor had intended to give him but hadn't.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he realized that Jiao San's materials were the same as the one he needed.
"Brother Han, your help in the Tai Sui Immortal Mansion is still unpaid. This small material is hardly worth mentioning. If you need it, just take it," Jiao San said, her voice calm and composed, as she activated her magic.
The transmission array on Han Li's task interface flashed green, and the ancient wood materialized before him.
Han Li stared at the wood, his mind racing with thoughts. He didn't immediately take it.
"The Tai Sui Immortal Mansion matter has been settled. I couldn't possibly take this treasure for free. Please, Jiao San, name your price or propose a trade," Han Li said, shaking his head.
"If that's the case, I'll propose a condition. After the Jiu Yuan Observation task begins, you'll do something for me, and that will be considered payment for this material," Jiao San said, smiling.
"What is it that you need me to do? Please, tell me," Han Li asked, his curiosity piqued.
"You don't need to worry, it's not a difficult task, and it won't put you in danger. I just can't explain it in detail right now," Jiao San said, shaking her head.
"Alright, I agree. By the way, when will the Wheel of Reincarnation's task for the Jiu Yuan Observation begin?" Han Li asked, after a moment's thought.
"It's been delayed, and I'm not sure when it will start. But I think it won't be too long, maybe a hundred years at most," Jiao San replied.
Han Li's heart relaxed slightly upon hearing this.
Within a hundred years, Xiao Bai should still be able to make it.
"Brother Han, I don't know where you are now, but the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Domain is in turmoil. It's best if you don't go there for now. Find a place to cultivate in seclusion, and I'll notify you when the time is right," Jiao San said, her eyes serious with concern.
Han Li merely nodded, neither confirming nor denying her words.
The two chatted for a bit longer before ending their transmission.
Han Li took out the ancient wood and examined it, his eyes shining with excitement.
With this wood, he would be able to balance the five Time Law forces within him, and advancing to the Great Luo Realm would be almost guaranteed. However, this breakthrough would require a safe and stable location.
Han Li put the wood away, pondered for a moment, and then flew towards the deeper regions of the Savage Wilderness Domain.
The Savage Wilderness Domain was filled with fierce beasts, but it was safer than the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Domain. Jiao San had also warned him not to enter the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Domain for now.
Han Li had recently come from the Ba Huang Mountains, so he was familiar with the Savage Wilderness Domain. He quickly found a safe location in the deeper regions.
The area was a range of mountains with abundant water sources and underground fire, making it shrouded in dense fog, making it difficult to detect from high altitudes.
Han Li carefully explored the surrounding mountains, finding no unusual signs, and then opened a temporary cave dwelling at the foot of a mountain peak. He set up layers of restrictions around the area.
He completed all this in less than half a day, having done it many times before.
Han Li opened the Flower Branch Space and entered it.
He had a limited amount of spirit stones and Time Law forces within the Years God Lamp, and the space inside was currently empty.
"Master, how's the bamboo sword's refinement going?" Xiao Bai asked, welcoming Han Li.
"It's going smoothly," Han Li replied. Han Li's eyes sparkled with excitement as he said, "Not yet, my current cultivation is not enough, even with your help, I'm not confident in our chances of success. However, I recently obtained a treasure that will greatly aid my cultivation, so I plan to close up for a period of time to attempt to break through to the Mahayana stage."
Xiao Bai's eyes widened with excitement, but then he frowned, "Breaking through to the Mahayana stage! Master, you cultivate the Time Law, if you can break through, your power will surely increase greatly, and we can definitely rescue Old Master! However, the time required to break through to the Mahayana stage is not short, will it delay the rescue of Old Master? The King only gave me 200 years..."
Han Li nodded thoughtfully, "Even if I reach the Mahayana stage, I still won't be certain of success, I need to combine it with the right timing and circumstances. Don't worry, I have a plan."
Xiao Bai wanted to say more, but Han Li's eyes suddenly shifted to a white fireball in the distance, and he swiftly made a hand seal.
A golden light shot out and disappeared into the fireball, which then dissipated, revealing the figure of Jing Yanzi, who flew over to Han Li, babbling excitedly.
After years of bitter cultivation, Jing Yanzi's body had grown stronger, and his Fire Law had become more powerful.
"Xiao Bai, Jing Yanzi, I'm going to attempt to break through to the Mahayana stage, although I've set up defensive restrictions outside, if a strong enemy comes, it's still not safe. Please go and keep watch outside."
Xiao Bai patted his chest, "Don't worry, Master, I'll take care of it!"
Jing Yanzi also exclaimed, making a guarantee, and then they both flew out.
Han Li smiled, then activated the Guangyin Tian Xuan Array, and the time flow in the flower branch space changed.
This time, Han Li didn't know how long it would take to break through to the Mahayana stage, so he started the time difference space to be safe.
After doing all this, Han Li flew to the attic, took out a piece of blue ancient wood, and operated the Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique, condensing a golden ring around the wood.
With a loud "crack", the blue ancient wood was crushed, and countless golden light points flew out, merging into the golden ring, and then transforming into 50-60 time law crystals, which wrapped around the Dong Yi divine wood.
Although the time law crystals on the Duan Shi fire stick were still a few more, the time law crystals on the five physical objects were now basically balanced.
The five physical objects suddenly lit up, surrounding Han Li and flying rapidly.
Han Li's heart was shaken, and a sense of enlightenment emerged, the bottleneck of the Mahayana stage that had been stuck in front of him began to loosen.
"Indeed, as Master said, balance is the most important thing!" Han Li thought to himself, feeling grateful to Mi Luo Lao Zu.
Then Han Li took out the various preparations for breaking through to the Mahayana stage, especially the Xuan Zhen Dan, and placed them beside him.
Last time, he had stopped before reaching the end, so he hadn't used the dan.
Han Li closed his eyes, sat quietly for half a day, waiting for his heart to calm down, before slowly operating the Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique.
A dazzling golden light burst forth from his body, engulfing him.
A massive time law energy began to churn in the attic, causing the attic to shake and the surrounding heaven and earth to tremble, slowly gathering towards Han Li.
...
In the North Cold Immortal Domain, in the ancient continent's outer sea, there was a sea area known as the East Flowing Sea.
In this sea area, which was always frozen, there was a deep blue sea area that was not frozen, and within it, there was a black trench that descended to the bottom of the sea.
At the bottom of the trench, there was a gray-white stone monument, which was the entrance to a secret realm, known as the "Floating Mountain" secret realm.
This secret realm was rich in spiritual herbs, and was originally an important resource area for the Zhu Long Dao sect, where Han Li had once been stationed. However, after the decline of the Zhu Long Dao sect, this secret realm was taken over by the North Cold Immortal Palace.
In the secret realm, on a white stone platform on a green mountain peak, a middle-aged man with a gray-white robe and a disheveled beard, was holding a white jade wine pot, leaning against the railing, looking intoxicated.
His eyes were bloodshot, and his expression was desolate, as he gazed out at the surrounding void, where thousands of peaks floated, each covered in lush vegetation, and hanging with green vines.
He was originally one of the 36 deputy masters of the Zhu Long Dao sect, and was quite powerful. However, during the sect's upheaval, he had been slow to react, and was eventually demoted to manage this secret realm.
Compared to his former glory, he now looked extremely downcast.
"I am the one who laughs, I am the one who is crazy, you rebels are just dogs in the Immortal Palace, what is there to be carefree about?"
As he thought about those rebels, now nothing more than dogs in the Immortal Palace, the gray-robed man felt a sense of satisfaction, and he gulped down a mouthful of wine, laughing loudly.
Two of his trusted disciples, who had been exiled to this place with him, exchanged a glance, and transmitted a message to each other:
"Master is having one of his episodes again, let's not let anyone hear about it, or we'll be dragged down with him..."
"I was fortunate enough to become his direct disciple thanks to the ancestral incense, but now I'm being dragged down by him, stuck in this broken place, when will we ever have a chance to rise?"
The two disciples said no more, and instead leaned against the railing, gazing out at the depths below, where a gray mist filled the air, and the shadows of floating mountains flickered in and out of sight.
But no matter how beautiful the scenery, it was dull after a while.
Just then, a loud horn blast echoed from the depths below.
The two disciples furrowed their brows, and looked over at the gray-robed man, but he seemed completely uninterested, still drinking alone, his face twisted in anger.
The two disciples saw this, and smiled wryly, before leaping into the air, and speeding downwards.
They hadn't flown more than a thousand feet before they saw the mist below, and the shadows of countless figures flying upwards, like crazy.
"It's not good, the White Ghosts have come, the White Ghosts have come..." the cries echoed up from below, accompanied by the sound of wailing.
The two disciples heard this, and their faces changed, one of them shouting: "Aren't there arrays to block them? What's there to be afraid of?"
"They can't be blocked, the White Ghosts have gone mad...!" someone shouted.
"What's going on, tell us!" the other disciple grabbed a terrified junior, and shouted.
"The White Ghosts below have gone mad... they've broken through the mist, and aren't afraid of the arrays, they're pouring up by the thousands, and destroying the arrays..." the junior disciple said, his voice shaking.
The two disciples heard this, and were about to ask another question, when they saw the mist below, and the sound of "隆隆" echoed up, as a massive, indistinct shadow surged upwards.
"Form the array, form the array, form the array..." one of the disciples shouted, his voice trembling.
But at this point, the crowd was in chaos, and no one was listening.
"Whoever takes a step back will die!" just then, a loud shout echoed from above, and the gray-robed man descended from the sky, his figure suspended in mid-air.
He flung out his sleeve, and a blast of wind and thunder shook the air, dispelling the wine fumes, and restoring his dignity.
As he released his mid-Golden Immortal aura, the entire secret realm was instantly subdued.
"It's just a bunch of White Ghosts rebelling, this has happened many times before, even a ordinary elder who was stationed here was able to handle it, now that I'm here, what's there to be afraid of? Form the array at once!" the man said coldly.
His words had a profound effect, and the thousands of fleeing disciples finally calmed down, and began to form arrays.
As soon as the arrays were formed, the mist below began to churn, and countless White Ghosts surged out, climbing up the floating mountains, and attacking the arrays.
"Kill them..." the gray-robed man said coldly.
As soon as he spoke, the entire secret realm erupted into chaos, with massive explosions echoing through the air.
A large array erupted with flames, shooting out massive fireballs that streaked across the sky, and plummeted towards the depths below.
Other arrays unleashed icy blasts, forming massive ice cones that shot downwards, and other arrays released spiritual treasures and talismans, all of which struck the depths below.
The secret realm was in chaos, with explosions echoing through the air, and countless White Ghosts were killed, their bodies falling to the depths below, but even more White Ghosts surged up, piling up corpses on the floating mountains.
"Something's not right, something's not right..." the gray-robed man frowned, his eyes fixed on the scene below.
He focused his mind, and his divine sense shot downwards, probing the depths below.
But as he delved deeper, his divine sense was blocked, and he couldn't continue to probe downwards.
As he watched, the White Ghosts surged up, and were about to overwhelm the disciples, the gray-robed man raised his hand, and a massive, blue-green ring appeared behind him. The grey-robed man pointed forward, and a circular ring of light appeared, shooting out beams of light that flew straight down, killing a large number of white ghosts.
However, as the grey-robed man watched more and more white ghosts die, he felt increasingly uneasy.
These white ghosts had already escaped the mist that obscured their vision, and they didn't seem to be attacking, but rather fleeing in terror. But what could be chasing them in this abyss?
Just as the grey-robed man was wondering, a strange aura began to emanate from the depths of the abyss, a grey-white mist that spread rapidly upwards.
From the mist, a group of robust, blue-skinned apes emerged, chasing after the white ghosts.
The white ghosts were no match for the apes, and they were quickly slaughtered. The apes then occupied the hovering mountain peak, brandishing wolf-toothed clubs and gazing up at the humans with ferocious eyes.
"Master, what are these things?" two disciples asked, fleeing back to the grey-robed man's side.
The grey-robed man didn't recognize them, and remained silent.
At this moment, a loud whistling sound came from the mist below, and a massive spiral of mist rose up, carrying three tall figures with it.
The grey-robed man gazed at the three figures, feeling a chill run down his spine. The aura emanating from them was so powerful that he didn't dare to look directly at them, and could only guess at their cultivation level, which seemed to be at least at the Taiyi Later Stage.
One of the three figures had eyes that were long and narrow, skin as white as a corpse, and a face that seemed to be devoid of blood. He was holding a small, white, cat-like creature with soft fur and large eyes.
If Han Li were present, he would have immediately recognized this person as Gui Mu, the one who had given them a hard time in the Grey Realm.
"Looks like a secret realm," Gui Mu said, stroking the creature in his arms, "but from the density of the spiritual energy here, it's definitely a Celestial Domain."
However, his eyes didn't seem to notice the thousands of Xuanlong Dao and Celestial Palace cultivators present.
"Who are you?" the grey-robed man asked, trying to muster his courage.
Gui Mu glanced at him, then turned to the two figures beside him and said, "Kill them all, destroy their souls, and don't leave a single one alive. Prepare to guide more of our people here."
As soon as he finished speaking, the two figures beside him vanished, and the blue-skinned apes charged upwards, attacking the cultivators.
The entire abyss was filled with the sound of screams and wails.
"Celestial Domain, we're here..." Gui Mu said, a cold smile spreading across his face.
...
The Zhouyuan Celestial Domain.
Recently, a shocking piece of news had spread throughout the eight great continents under the Celestial Domain.
The original Palace Master of the Celestial Palace, Ti Hu True Person, a great Da Luo cultivator, had suddenly gone mad one day and killed all 130+ Celestial Officials in the palace.
Even the Celestial Domain's Monitor, a cultivator with unfathomable power, was killed when he tried to stop him.
The entire Zhouyuan Celestial Domain was thrown into chaos, and Ti Hu True Person disappeared without a trace.
However, just seven days later, his name appeared on the "Heavenly Execution List" in the Celestial Domain, becoming a fugitive with a large reward on his head.
Rumors spread that Ti Hu True Person was not actually mad, but had been a spy from the Wheel of Rebirth Temple all along, and had escaped back to the temple after completing his mission.
The Heavenly Court sent several Monitor Sages to capture him, but he remained elusive.
...
The Jinnan Celestial Domain.
A long-abandoned secret realm suddenly appeared, attracting the attention of the four great sects and the Celestial Palace.
Originally, the Celestial Palace had mediated the distribution of resources in the secret realm, but after the various factions entered the realm, two of the great sects' leaders and core disciples were killed, with the culprit's trail leading to the other two sects.
The four great sects then began to fight each other, with each side suffering heavy losses.
Just as the Celestial Palace thought that the conflict was getting out of hand, the four great sects suddenly turned their attention to the Jinnan Celestial Palace.
It turned out that during their infighting, the sects had discovered some hidden clues, and realized that the Celestial Palace had been manipulating them all along.
The four great sects then joined forces, overthrowing the Jinnan Celestial Palace and forcing the Palace Master to flee.
The Grand Jin Yuan Immortal Realm, Jiuyuan Observation.
A continuous range of mountains, like a dragon lying on its back, stood tall and proud, with majestic peaks rising high into the air.
Among the hundreds of peaks of varying shapes and sizes, there was one solitary peak that was not particularly high, but its scenery was exceptionally beautiful, shrouded in mist and clouds, with a hint of greenery visible, like a pipa hiding its face, evoking a thousand thoughts.
On this solitary peak, there were four snow-white waterfalls cascading down from the front, back, and right sides, flowing straight down three thousand feet, like the Milky Way descending from the heavens, splashing out waves of water that resembled a thousand pearls, and in the high air, three seven-colored flying rainbows appeared, resplendent and dazzling.
In the mountains, the sounds of apes crying out echoed back and forth, and in the high air, one could occasionally see immortal cranes flying in formation, with the air filled with the soft, flowing colors of the aurora, a manifestation of the abundant heavenly energy.
At the peak, there was a circular observation platform protruding from the mountain, where a middle-aged Taoist stood, dressed in a dark green robe, wearing a lotus flower crown.
His posture was upright, his demeanor majestic, with a face that was average in shape, but with a radiant complexion, and a subtle aura of jade-like clarity surrounding him, making one feel that he was a divine being.
At this moment, the man was gazing out at the scenery, but his brow was furrowed, as if he was troubled by some hidden concern.
Just then, an elderly man dressed in a blue robe appeared from the rear of the mountain, his figure slender, his face gaunt, with a white beard hanging from his chin, exuding an air of elegance and refinement.
"Disciple Qingxu, greeting Pure Jun Shishu," the old man said, bowing respectfully.
The middle-aged Taoist, addressed as "Pure Jun Shishu," was known as Pure Jun Zhenren in the immortal realm, and was the closed-door disciple of the founding ancestor of the Jiuyuan Observation, with a high position in the sect and a great reputation in the immortal realm.
Moreover, he was currently in the late stages of the Da Luo cultivation, temporarily holding the position of master of the Jiuyuan Observation.
"You've returned, what's the result of the investigation?" Pure Jun Zhenren asked.
"Reporting to Shishu, the Heaven-Controlling Vessel has indeed reappeared in the immortal realm, and is currently in the possession of a person named Han Li," Qingxu replied.
"Han Li?" Pure Jun Zhenren's brow furrowed, asking.
"This person appears to be from the Beihuan Immortal Realm, and has stayed in the Zhulong Dao for a long time, but it seems that he is actually a cultivator from the lost Xia Nan Zhou Jie, who has ascended to the immortal realm," Qingxu said.
"Ah, to be able to ascend from the lost world, he must be extraordinary, is there a record of his ascension at the Flying Ascension Platform?" Pure Jun Zhenren asked.
"There is... The person who received him was a stone pillar temple cultivator named Gao Sheng, but it seems that he intentionally concealed a lot of information in order to recruit him into their sect, resulting in the records being unclear. Moreover, this person did not enter the stone pillar temple, but instead disappeared during the process of going there," Qingxu said.
"Ah, what happened?" Pure Jun Zhenren asked, puzzled.
"What exactly happened, it's impossible to investigate now, only that after that, this person disappeared for three hundred years, and when he reappeared in the heavenly court's vision, it was during the time of the Zhulong Dao's downfall. From then on, he wandered through multiple immortal realms, and had multiple conflicts with the heavenly court, but somehow managed to escape each time. Recently, he stirred up trouble again, killing the East Lord of the Xiaojin Yuan Immortal Palace, Dongfang Bai," Qingxu said.
"What is his cultivation level?" Pure Jun Zhenren asked, his brow furrowed.
"Taiyi Peak," Qingxu replied.
"A mere Taiyi cultivator, yet he can single-handedly kill his way into an immortal palace, this kind of power and audacity is certainly not ordinary. So, it seems that the likes of She Chan also died at his hands?" Pure Jun Zhenren asked.
"Earlier, when Lanyan Shizhi returned, he reported to the sect that She Chan indeed died at his hands. Later, Miao Fa Shimei personally took action, but was disrupted by Chi Meng, resulting in this person escaping once again. Since then, we have lost track of him, and do not know where he is currently," Qingxu said.
"This matter concerns the Heaven-Controlling Vessel, and must be taken seriously, if we can retrieve it, the significance to our Jiuyuan Observation will be immense," Pure Jun Zhenren said, his brow furrowed.
"Miao Fa Shimei is currently outside searching for him, and has not returned yet, one-third of the Jiuyuan Observation's shadow guards have been arranged to handle this matter, and once this person reveals himself again, he will certainly not be able to escape our notice," Qingxu said.
"Now that the immortal realm is becoming increasingly chaotic, our several immortal realms are not at peace, with the Tianxing Immortal Realm and the Tongzhou Immortal Realm being the most turbulent, the two Shishu are both busy handling the situation, and four of the eight great elders are also away, we must be prepared to prevent any chaos in the immortal realm, and must not disturb the several old ancestors who are in seclusion," Pure Jun Zhenren sighed, saying.
"Shishu, please be at ease, our Jin Yuan Immortal Realm has always been strictly guarded, and is as solid as a rock, who would dare to cause trouble?" Qingxu said.
"Ah, how is that Jin Tongzi?" Pure Jun Zhenren asked.
"At first, he was quite lively, full of energy, but now he has become much more obedient, eating and drinking in the observation, apart from not being able to move freely, he has already considered himself a member of the observation," Qingxu said, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.
"Last time, Shifu investigated him with a secret method, and said that his origins were quite deep, and it seems that he is quite fond of him, so we must be prepared to prevent the old ancestor from treating him as a gift to be given to the Bodhi feast, you should arrange a few more gifts that are suitable for the occasion," Pure Jun Zhenren said. "Yes." Qing Xu bowed and said.
...
The Barbarian Domain.
A mountain range shrouded in thick fog, with bursts of colorful thunderbolts exploding continuously, causing the heavens and earth to rumble.
The vast cloud sea above was stirred by an immense power, transforming into a massive cloud dragon that descended from the sky, connecting with the fog on the mountain, and pouring into one of the mountain peaks.
In a cave beneath the mountain, which had been newly opened, a small, delicate boy with golden stripes on his forehead and red lips, along with a silver flame bird, were shocked and amazed. They watched as the heavens and earth's primordial energy, which was somewhat chaotic but incredibly thick, gathered from all directions and poured into a silver light gate in front of them.
This boy was naturally Xiao Bai, and the silver flame bird was naturally Jing Yan.
"This is..." Xiao Bai's eyes widened in shock as he turned to the silver flame bird.
The bird transformed into a small, silver flame person and nodded repeatedly at Xiao Bai.
"This is too amazing... just twenty years and he's about to break through to the Great Luo Realm!" Xiao Bai's face lit up with a radiant smile as he clapped his hands.
The surging primordial energy was too intense, and as it passed through the silver light gate, it sounded like a dragon's roar, causing Xiao Bai and the bird to retreat.
At the same time, the Flower Branch Space was also undergoing a drastic transformation. The violently surging primordial energy was like a stormy attack on the small cave, putting it to the test.
The bamboo forest within the space was shaking violently, and the roots of the spiritual bamboo were glowing as they absorbed the primordial energy, dispersing it throughout the space.
The newly built bamboo tower was radiating a green light, and it seemed to come alive, growing three feet taller.
The spiritual medicine garden in front of the tower was like a paradise, with various spiritual medicines sprouting and blooming. The Two-Lived Tree, which had been growing slowly, was now rapidly growing taller and nearing maturity.
The water pool in front of the tower, which contained the Golden Lotus, was boiling violently, with large bubbles rising to the surface and releasing a misty fog.
Within the fog, dozens of golden lotus flowers bloomed, filling the pool.
The changes in the Flower Branch Space were caused by the dispersal of the primordial energy, but the majority of it was pouring into the bamboo tower.
The entire tower was surrounded by a radiant glow, and with the misty fog as a backdrop, it seemed like a heavenly paradise.
Inside the tower, Han Li sat cross-legged, surrounded by a five-colored glow. His body was like jade, with golden meridians visible beneath his skin. His spiritual sea was filled with a golden light, and his Yuan Ying was sitting in his dantian, surrounded by a temporal aura.
The primordial energy from outside the tower was being absorbed by Han Li, transforming into his power.
For Xiao Bai, Han Li had been in seclusion for only twenty years, but for Han Li, who was within the space, he had actually spent two thousand years cultivating under the Light of the Heavenly Pillar.
After two thousand years of relentless cultivation, the five temporal artifacts had finally reached a state of perfect balance, and Han Li was about to break through to the Great Luo Realm.
Han Li's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, and two golden lights shot out from his pupils. The primordial energy surrounding him was drawn into his body, and his aura was still unstable.
His clothes were fluttering wildly, and his body was radiating a brilliant light. The air around him was filled with an intense energy, and the sound of his clothes rustling was like a never-ending stream.
Above the tower, a faint, shimmering light appeared in the void, like a river of light.
Han Li slowly stood up, took a deep breath, and felt an immense clarity in his spiritual sea. The flow of spiritual energy around him seemed to be more vibrant than ever before.
Even the tiny, intricate spaces outside the tower seemed to be within his grasp.
Han Li arrived at the main building's exterior, looking up at the river of light in the sky. The stars twinkled like a thousand rivers had merged into one.
He gazed at the river, and suddenly, the stars began to move, tracing a path of glittering starlight, like a meteor shower.
His heart stirred, and he felt a strange sensation, as if the river was emitting waves of time law power.
He scanned his surroundings, and the space around him seemed frozen, enveloped by the time law power, entering a unique state.
Han Li witnessed this extraordinary scene, and his mind immediately reacted. He formed a hand seal, and the Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique began to circulate within him. The five time law objects, including the True Words Treasure Wheel, emerged and floated in the air around him.
As he spread his hands, the five objects flew into the river of light above his head.
The threads of time law power within the objects began to disperse, like cotton threads falling into the river, merging with the light.
The river of light erupted in a blaze of golden light, descending like a golden rain, flooding the entire space, and filling it with time law power.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat, thinking that all the time law threads had dispersed into the void. He quickly waved his hand.
A pale golden light screen expanded, forming a massive time domain, enveloping the entire space.
He waved his hands in the air, trying to recall the scattered time law threads through the domain. However, it had no effect.
Instead, the five time law objects, sensing the domain's appearance, released transparent Dao patterns that merged with the surrounding space.
The domain began to fluctuate intensely, and the True Words Treasure Wheel let out a loud roar, leaving Han Li's side and flying into the air, transforming into a full moon suspended in the void.
Golden light rays burst forth from the moon, illuminating the entire domain, its radiance surpassing the sun's, yet without any heat.
At the same time, the Fantian Hourglass fell to the ground, transforming into a sea of sand that spread out, filling the domain with a golden hue.
Han Li watched the scene, feeling a strange sensation in his heart.
This time, the transformation of the time law objects seemed different from before.
The True Words Treasure Wheel, suspended in the air, displayed a more solid connection to the domain, as if it was about to merge with it.
"Could it be that it's about to reach the level of creation?" Han Li thought, shocked.
Before he could finish his thought, the Light and Shadow Purification Bottle above his head suddenly tilted, pouring its golden liquid onto the sandy ground.
The liquid flowed through the sand, but instead of seeping in, it grew stronger, forming a golden river that flowed through the sand.
The sand began to shift, forming hills and valleys, taking on the shape of mountains and rivers.
The Eastern Yi Divine Tree's shadow fell onto the sandy hills, and suddenly, a lush forest emerged, spreading out.
All the emerging landscapes, like the moon above, began to merge with the domain, undergoing a strange transformation.
Han Li realized that his domain was changing, and the merging speed was extremely slow. He immediately jumped into the air, floating in a seated position.
He fully activated the Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique, releasing his time law power and spiritual energy into the domain.
As his power dispersed, the merging speed of the time law objects increased, but it was still very slow.
At this rate, even with the support of the Light and Shadow Heavenly Array, it would take an unknown amount of time to succeed. The array would consume a large amount of spiritual stones, and he had only set it up for a hundred years, equivalent to ten thousand years.
Subtracting the two thousand years he had spent in seclusion, he was left with only eight thousand years.
It was impossible to stabilize the domain's creation level within eight thousand years, and he didn't have that much time to waste.
"Time is insufficient... Perhaps I should focus on completing the fusion of one object first." Han Li sighed, speaking to himself.
He decided to focus on the Eastern Yi Divine Tree, and with a hand seal, he directed the time law power and spiritual energy towards it.
The other time law objects' merging speed slowed down, while the Eastern Yi Divine Tree's light grew more solid.
"It's effective," Han Li thought, pleased with himself. Han Li chose the Dong Yi Divine Wood first because he wasn't confident in the outcome of this method, so he didn't choose to merge with his most familiar True Speech Treasure Wheel.
As time passed, Han Li's heart remained calm and peaceful. He continuously released the spiritual energy and time law power from his body to nurture the spiritual domain's maturity.
Before long, another two thousand years passed in the Flower Branch Space.
However, for the world outside the space, only twenty years had passed.
Twenty years ago, Xiao Bai had already sensed that Han Li had successfully closed his cultivation, but he had been waiting for him to emerge, yet Han Li hadn't come out. Xiao Bai's heart was filled with doubts.
"He should have already succeeded in his cultivation, by right, he should have come out already?"
"Why is it taking so long? It's really making me anxious!"
"Could something unexpected have happened? No, no, Master has a good fortune, how could something unexpected happen?"
"Is it that he's had some extraordinary encounter? Yes, it should be that... but time is running out..."
Xiao Bai paced back and forth, his face sometimes filled with anxiety, sometimes with confusion, as he asked the Fire Bird repeatedly.
He wasn't worried about Han Li's safety, because through the connection between them, he knew Han Li was fine. He was worried that if he spent too much time here, he might not be able to rescue Jintong before he had to return to the Barbarian Plains.
The Fire Bird, of course, didn't know, and could only shake its head in a helpless manner.
Xiao Bai's mind was filled with doubts, and he wanted to enter the Flower Branch Space to take a look, but he was afraid of disturbing Han Li's cultivation, so he could only endure it.
...
Inside the cave, Han Li was staring intently at the void below him, where a golden tree forest had formed. The forest was now very solid, and the time law power it contained was very dense.
Han Li's spiritual domain had already reached the level of the Creation Realm.
"It's actually only taken two thousand years..." Han Li was very satisfied with this result.
He knew that condensing a spiritual domain was a very time-consuming and laborious process. Normally, it would take tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years to reach the initial stage of the Creation Realm.
Han Li guessed that his spiritual domain had been able to enter the Creation Realm so quickly because of the high level of his time law cultivation, and also because his five time law objects each had their own five elements properties.
All things in the world came from the harmony of yin and yang, and conformed to the five elements. His five time law objects could combine the five elements, giving him a unique advantage in condensing the "Creation" realm.
Han Li was delighted, and his gaze swept over the other time law objects, but he could only say to himself, "This time is limited, and I can only wait for another opportunity to create the rest of them..."
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his hand, intending to retract his spiritual domain.
But just then, a strange noise came from the Flower Branch Space, and Han Li's heart was filled with doubt. He looked in the direction of the sound.
He saw that a blue light had suddenly appeared in the spiritual medicine garden, flying towards him, and had crashed into the golden tree forest in his spiritual domain.
Han Li looked closely, and saw that the object that had flown into the golden tree forest was a strange tree with lush branches.
"This is... the Two Lives Tree?" Han Li's heart was shocked, and he recognized that the strange tree was the new tree he had cultivated from the Two Lives Tree's broken roots, which he had obtained from the True Speech Sect's ancient ruins.
But in his memory, the Two Lives Tree grew very slowly, yet the tree in front of him seemed to have already matured.
Just as he was wondering, a shocking scene appeared.
The blue tree had fallen into the forest, and had begun to grow roots into the ground. The blue light on its surface began to fluctuate, and it seemed to be transforming into a blue tree forest.
In the midst of the light, the blue tree forest began to overlap with the golden tree forest, and a series of fine threads began to connect them, as if they were merging into one.
"Is this the fusion of law objects and spiritual domains to form a real realm? Isn't this a phenomenon that only appears in the Heaven Man Realm?" Han Li's heart was shocked, and he couldn't help but exclaim.
The Heaven Man Realm's spiritual domain was able to surpass the Creation Realm and the Transformation Realm because it could combine with law objects that had the same attributes as its own power, allowing it to make the spiritual domain real.
Once the spiritual domain could be made real, its power would naturally increase, and it would be in a position of suppression over the previous two realms.
A cultivator in their own Heaven Man Realm spiritual domain was like a master of a small heaven and earth, and would be unbeatable when facing enemies who entered their domain.
Han Li saw this situation and no longer felt the need to leave in a hurry, instead waiting for the Two Life Tree and the Eastern Yi Divine Wood Forest to fully merge.
However, at this moment, an unexpected scene appeared once again.
Only to see the Guangyin Tiandi Great Array, which was set up in the flower branch space, suddenly tremble with a massive light, its radiance filling the entire space, and even suppressing the light of Han Li's spiritual domain.
Han Li saw this and his heart tightened.
Could it be that the Xian Yuan Stone had been depleted, and the Guangyin Tiandi Great Array could no longer be maintained?
Just as he was wondering, a dazzling golden light suddenly rose from the center of the array, drawing an arc in the air, and rushed towards him.
The golden light enveloped a golden circular plate with various symbols flashing on its surface.
Han Li took a closer look and discovered that the plate was none other than the Jun Tian Ri Gui, which he had used to set up the Guangyin Tiandi Great Array.
He worried that it would affect the spiritual domain's creation, so he made a grasping motion with his hands, turning them into two cyan light palms, wanting to grab the Jun Tian Ri Gui.
However, he saw that the Ri Gui drew an arc in the air, suddenly changing direction, and rushed straight up towards the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel suspended in the air.
A loud thunderclap echoed in the air, and the Jun Tian Ri Gui exploded as it approached the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel.
However, what was strange was that the Jun Tian Ri Gui exploded, but its contained golden attribute time law power did not disperse, instead condensing into a golden light that merged with the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel.
The golden light wrapped around the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel like a silk thread, causing the originally illusory treasure wheel to start taking shape, and the golden light it emitted became even more solid.
Han Li had prepared for this scene, having experienced the merging of the Two Life Tree, and his heart was filled with joy.
He himself didn't expect that this closed-door meditation would bring so many gains.
However, he couldn't understand why the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel, which hadn't entered the realm of creation, would also merge with the Jun Tian Ri Gui, just like the Two Life Tree had merged with the Eastern Yi Divine Wood Forest.
Could it be that the spiritual domain's boundaries could be directly transcended?
Han Li was puzzled, and suddenly felt that his spiritual domain was a bit off, the faint golden light screen surrounding him was trembling in a regular, small amplitude.
Immediately after, a loud, muffled sound echoed.
The Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel above his head suddenly shook violently, and a powerful attractive force emerged from it.
"Damn it..."
Han Li's heart sank, and he quickly waved his hand to cast a spell, wanting to interrupt the merging of the Jun Tian Ri Gui and the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel.
However, this merging had already reached a critical stage, and intervening at this moment would certainly cause great damage, and the Jun Tian Ri Gui might even collapse and disappear, while the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel would also suffer heavy damage.
But Han Li couldn't care about these things at this moment.
This merging of the two would require a large amount of time law power, and the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel, which hadn't entered the realm of creation, couldn't provide such power.
And Han Li's own time law power had been depleted during the merging of the Two Life Tree and the Eastern Yi Divine Wood Forest, so he couldn't support the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel at this moment.
Han Li worried that the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel and the Jun Tian Ri Gui's merging would forcefully absorb his spiritual domain's power to nourish themselves.
As expected, with the attractive force from the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel growing stronger, the spiritual domain's light screen began to shake violently, and a thread of golden light started to separate from it, swimming towards the top like a tadpole.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and his hands shone with a brilliant light as he condensed two massive, ethereal hands in the air, clasping towards the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel.
The air was distorted by his hands, and a ripple effect spread out, pressing towards the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel, trying to sever its connection with the spiritual domain.
However, this was all in vain, as when Han Li's hands approached the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel, the golden light it emitted wrapped around his hands like a thousand golden threads, blocking his advance.
This light contained extremely pure time law power, and Han Li, with his current abilities, was unable to overcome it, and could only watch as his spiritual domain slowly dissolved.
Han Li wouldn't sit idly by, and with a thought, the Eastern Yi Divine Wood Forest suddenly shook violently, its leaves rustling, and a dense, worldly law power surged towards the sky.
The ground was filled with the sound of wind, and a layer of golden sand flew up, swirling towards the sky like a storm, and the winding river also churned with muddy waves, surging upwards.
In response, a rain of fire and stars descended from the sky, crashing down towards the ground.
The entire spiritual domain was in chaos, and the other four time law powers simultaneously launched a counterattack, colliding with the Zhen Yan Treasure Wheel in a massive explosion.
"Boom..."
A deafening sound echoed, and a blinding golden light exploded, transforming into a golden wave that swept across the spiritual domain. The golden light spread, and the Sky Pavilion Array burst forth with a wave of temporal fluctuations. The two energies didn't clash, but instead merged together, giving birth to a strange power that enveloped the entire spiritual realm. Han Li's heart was shocked by this phenomenon.
The golden light screen suddenly contracted, shrinking down to a radius of several dozen feet around Han Li.
A metallic clanging sound echoed, and the space outside the spiritual realm seemed to solidify. The bamboo forest stopped swaying, the mist ceased to rise, and even the wind appeared to come to a standstill.
At the same time, the True Speech Treasure Wheel and the Jun Tian Ri Huo above Han Li's head, the strange attractive force disappeared, and the two seemed to enter a relatively calm state.
Han Li's mind was filled with doubts, and he didn't know what was happening.
He tried to recall his spiritual realm, but to his surprise, he had lost control of it and couldn't retract it.
Han Li's face changed, and he tried to leave the spiritual realm, but when he attempted to exit the range, he found that his spiritual realm had frozen in place, trapping him inside.
"This is troublesome..." Han Li said with a furrowed brow.
It was clear that the fusion of the Jun Tian Ri Huo and the True Speech Treasure Wheel had caused some changes in the Sky Pavilion Array and the spiritual realm, resulting in Han Li's spiritual realm being sealed.
He stood still for a moment, thinking of a plan. Since his spiritual realm was out of control, he needed to regain control of it to solve the current predicament.
However, regaining control of his spiritual realm wasn't easy. The True Speech Treasure Wheel was currently transcending the Creaation Realm, and he needed to solve this problem first.
Han Li's time law power was insufficient, and he couldn't help the True Speech Treasure Wheel complete its transformation smoothly.
Fortunately, the current space had stabilized, and as long as he continued to cultivate the Great Five Elements Fantasy Technique, he could condense more time law power and eventually succeed.
Han Li's heart was filled with a sense of urgency. Time was precious, and if the Sky Pavilion Array was still functioning normally, he would have six thousand years to spare.
This way, he might still be able to escape and rescue Jin Tong before the Wheel of Rebirth took action.
But if the array had stopped working due to the Jun Tian Ri Huo's separation, then he would truly be trapped in this spiritual realm for thousands, or even tens of thousands, of years.
Han Li steeled himself and sat down, continuing to cultivate.
Time passed, and several thousand years went by.
The spiritual realm was filled with golden light, and the air was filled with time law energy.
Han Li, wearing a blue robe, sat on the ground, his hair disheveled, and his eyes filled with a puzzled expression.
"Although the True Speech Treasure Wheel has entered the Heaven Man Realm, and the Jun Tian Ri Huo has merged with it, why..." Han Li muttered to himself, looking around at the still-sealed spiritual realm.
Even after promoting the fusion of the Jun Tian Ri Huo and the True Speech Treasure Wheel, Han Li was still unable to leave the spiritual realm.
"Is it still not enough?" Han Li wondered, his voice barely above a whisper.
Time passed again, and several thousand years went by.
The Sky Pavilion Array's Sanyuan stone should have been depleted, and the True Speech Treasure Wheel should have become substantial. The spiritual realm should have returned to normal, but Han Li was still trapped.
During these thousands of years, Han Li had cultivated tirelessly, and the changes in the spiritual realm had become more pronounced.
The ground had formed mountains and valleys, and a mountain range had taken shape. The scenery was more solid than before, although it still didn't compare to the lush green forests that grew on the mountains.
The River of Time remained unchanged, still looking empty and hollow, and hadn't yet entered the Creation Realm.
"Why... why..." Han Li's hair was disheveled, and his eyes were wild as he shouted at the sky.
With a loud cry, he jumped up and punched the spiritual realm with a golden fist.
A massive golden fist shadow condensed, striking the spiritual realm with a deafening crash.
However, the golden light screen only shook violently for a moment before dissipating into layers of golden light, which eventually disappeared.
Han Li's anger dissipated, and he sat back down, continuing to cultivate.
"Perhaps when the other time law manifestations enter the Creation Realm, I'll be able to break through this predicament?" Han Li thought to himself, still unable to understand the situation.
The years passed by like flowing water, and another 90,000 years went by in an instant.
The scenery within the Flower Petal Space was as if it had been frozen in time, with no changes whatsoever.
Han Li was still sitting cross-legged in his Spiritual Realm, his face covered in a thick black beard, his eyes calm and serene, exuding an aura of age and wisdom.
The restrictions of the Spiritual Realm were far more severe than he had imagined, and it had been 20,000 years since his five Time Law Incarnations had been completed, and his Spiritual Realm had entered the Realm of Creation.
Among them, the True Word Treasure Wheel and the Eastern Yi Divine Tree had directly materialized, reaching the Heavenly Human Realm.
However, this unbalanced state had been difficult to break, and his Spiritual Realm's abnormal state had made it impossible to lift the restrictions.
"Success or failure lies in this one move, let's see what you're capable of," Han Li said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he raised his head.
As soon as his words fell, he raised his hand, and a golden light burst forth, and the Lotus Flower Treasure Lamp flew out, passing over the True Word Treasure Wheel and reaching the highest point of the Spiritual Realm.
This lamp was not an ordinary object, but the Sages' Lamp that Han Li had obtained after much hardship from the Years' Tower.
On it, countless star-like Disrupted Time Flames scattered, flashing with a faint light.
As the Sages' Lamp hung in the air, the countless star flames seemed to be ignited in an instant, and the starlight began to rapidly condense, finally gathering into a single point, transforming into a golden flame that flew down and landed in the lamp's chamber.
A soft "whoosh" sound echoed.
The Sages' Lamp's surface suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light, and the countless symbols on its surface flashed and flew out, disappearing into the Spiritual Realm's light screen.
Immediately after, the entire lamp began to fade away, its body suddenly flashing with light, transforming into countless fireflies that flew towards the sky, following the symbols and disappearing into the light screen.
Han Li looked up, and saw a round moon hanging in the sky, surrounded by countless stars, its beauty leaving him breathless.
His heart stirred, and his body's Five Elements Fantastical World Incantation began to operate at full force, his mind communicating with his Spiritual Realm, sensing every change within it.
The mountain peaks formed by the yellow sand were still and unchanged, but under the cover of the Eastern Yi Divine Tree's forest, a layer of green had appeared, giving off a vibrant and lively atmosphere.
The River of Time still only had a faint, illusory glow, but it seemed to be flowing smoothly, giving off a sense of being in harmony with the mountains.
Han Li knew that once he found the Water Attribute Time Law Incarnation and the Earth Attribute Time Law Incarnation, and merged them into his Spiritual Realm, he would be able to make the entire Spiritual Realm's Five Elements communicate, reaching the Realm of Mutual Generation and Harmony.
At that time, his Spiritual Realm would truly be in the Heavenly Human Realm.
"Come, let's see how stubborn you are," Han Li said, his heart filled with anger, as he swung his hands.
The round moon above him suddenly burst forth with golden light, casting down countless rays of light, and the ground beneath him began to shake violently, the Eastern Yi Divine Tree's branches and vines growing wildly, extending towards the ground.
However, the range of the golden light was limited to the Spiritual Realm, and once it reached the outside, it would automatically dissipate into thin, golden threads.
The Two-Life Tree's roots could only reach the edge of the Spiritual Realm, and once they extended into the real world, they would wither and shrink.
Han Li had already grown accustomed to this phenomenon, having tried many times before.
He had thought that if he could break through the Spiritual Realm and destroy the Light of Time Heavenly Array that was causing the distortion, he might be able to break the current stalemate.
However, unless it was an attack containing powerful Time Law energy, it would be impossible to penetrate the Spiritual Realm's seal, and Han Li's five Time Law Incarnations had already merged with the Spiritual Realm, so he could only rely on the Spiritual Realm's power.
The True Word Treasure Wheel and the Eastern Yi Divine Tree were not suited for attacking, so Han Li had spent a lot of time creating the Disrupted Time Fire, and then merged the powerful Sages' Lamp into it.
"Fall..." Han Li's voice exploded.
The sky was filled with flames, and countless star flames broke free from the light screen, falling towards the ground.
In the midst of the roaring flames, the Disrupted Time Flames transformed into enormous fireballs, like a rain of fire and stars, falling from the sky.
A loud, thunderous sound echoed.
Han Li's Spiritual Realm was thrown into chaos, the mountain peaks formed by the yellow sand crumbling and breaking apart, turning into a sea of golden dust.
The Spiritual Realm's light screen was broken through in an instant, and the ground beneath was struck by the powerful force, causing the earth to rise up and surge towards the bamboo building.
The array core that had been set up there was destroyed, and the Light of Time Heavenly Array's glow flashed once before stopping.
Immediately after, Han Li saw the round moon-like True Word Treasure Wheel above him, a symbol belonging to the Heavenly Day Clock flashing once before extinguishing, and the Time Law energy it released rapidly decreasing.
The Spiritual Realm's light screen flashed once, and its range expanded, re-encompassing the entire Flower Petal Space.
Han Li felt a sense of relief, as the strange, restrictive energy that had been surrounding him finally disappeared.
He felt a mix of emotions, a sense of joy and regret. If it weren't for his previous greed during his closed cultivation, which accelerated the creation process of the spiritual domain, he wouldn't have been trapped in the spiritual domain and missed the opportunity to rescue Jintong.
"I'm afraid Xiao Bai has already been summoned back by Bai Ze," Han Li sighed and said.
After speaking, he waved his hand to collect the spiritual domain and walked towards the bamboo pavilion, starting to gather the materials for the Guangyin Tianxuan Great Array.
As he arrived at the bamboo forest, his eyes suddenly flashed, and he bent down to pick up a Xianyuan stone that was placed at the center of the array.
"How is this possible?" Han Li wondered, examining the stone.
The Xianyuan stone's spiritual light was dim, but it hadn't turned gray and white, indicating that it still had some remaining spiritual energy.
Just as Han Li was puzzled, the bamboo pavilion's door suddenly opened, and Xiao Bai rushed out.
"Master, what's going on? You stayed in the Flower Branch Space and didn't come out, and even closed the door, I couldn't get in!" Xiao Bai complained as soon as he saw Han Li.
However, when he saw Han Li's worn-out face and beard, his brow furrowed in concern.
"You... you haven't returned to the Barbarian Realm?" Han Li asked in surprise.
"It's only been a few years, why would I return to the Barbarian Realm? Master, are you okay... what happened, why did you lock the door to the Flower Branch Space?" Xiao Bai asked, noticing something was off.
Han Li explained the situation to Xiao Bai, who listened intently.
"Two thousand years, plus another two thousand years, and then nine thousand more years, that's almost ten thousand years... according to the time difference of the Guangyin Tianxuan Great Array, it doesn't add up..." Xiao Bai counted on his fingers.
"How many years have passed outside?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed.
"Less than fifty years," Xiao Bai replied, holding up his hand.
"Fifty years..." Han Li's eyes widened in shock, and he stood there for a long time, unable to believe it.
Xiao Bai thought Han Li had gone mad, but then he noticed the change in Han Li's aura and his eyes lit up with excitement.
"Master, you've reached the Daluo realm!"
Han Li nodded, still in shock, and said, "No wonder the Xianyuan stone still has spiritual energy... it makes sense now."
Xiao Bai was confused, "What are you talking about? You're making me even more confused."
Han Li explained, "The time difference conversion of the Guangyin Tianxuan Great Array is only a hundred times, so in the four thousand years before the anomaly, only forty years passed outside. But after the anomaly, the array's time difference conversion efficiency increased greatly, becoming a thousand times. So, in the last ten years, I spent almost ten thousand years in the array."
Xiao Bai was stunned by the numbers, but he understood that Han Li had spent ten thousand years cultivating in the past decade, and his heart was filled with shock and awe.
"This Guangyin Tianxuan Great Array is so powerful?" Xiao Bai exclaimed.
Han Li smiled, "It was a coincidence, and I was trapped in it, almost unable to come out."
Xiao Bai laughed, "Good fortune and bad fortune are intertwined, as long as the outcome is good, it's fine."
Han Li nodded, but his mind was already thinking about how to replicate this coincidence in the future, which would be a huge advantage for his cultivation.
"Where's Jintong?" Han Li asked.
"He's still outside, keeping watch. I saw that the Flower Branch Space's restrictions were lifted, so I came in to take a look," Xiao Bai replied.
"I'm sorry to have worried you," Han Li said with a smile.
"Hehe, how does it feel to have reached the Daluo realm?" Xiao Bai asked.
"My previous cultivation had some issues, and my spiritual domain is still unstable. Since there's still time, you can help me guard it for a while longer, and I'll stabilize my cultivation," Han Li said.
"No problem! I'll go tell Jintong, he's been worried about you too," Xiao Bai said.
Han Li nodded, and Xiao Bai left.
After Xiao Bai left, Han Li's thoughts stirred, and a layer of golden light expanded, enveloping the entire Flower Branch Space.
As he twisted his wrist and snapped his fingers, the spiritual domain inside changed, with mountains and rivers shifting, trees swaying, and the time law aura becoming extremely dense.
Han Li walked through the domain, almost without needing time, and with just a thought, he could change the scenery and move instantly.
He made a few more attempts, becoming more familiar with his spiritual domain, and his heart felt more confident about his upcoming journey to the Jiuyuan.
Time flew by, and it had been over a decade since then.
In the vast expanse of the Da Jin Yuan Immortal Realm, the city of Jin Ge stood tall.
Jin Ge City was located in the northwest of the Da Jin Yuan Immortal Realm, and was one of the few major cities in the realm, alongside the Nine Yuan Sect's Nine Yuan City, the Bao Zao Mountain's Bao Zao City, and the Jin Yuan Immortal Palace's Jin Yuan City.
Unlike the other three major cities, which were clearly under the control of powerful forces, Jin Ge City was a relatively free place, with no single force dominating it.
The city was home to numerous small and medium-sized forces that refused to be oppressed by the Nine Yuan Sect, the Bao Zao Mountain, and the Jin Yuan Immortal Palace. These forces had formed an alliance, known as the Ri Yue Alliance.
Although the Ri Yue Alliance's top-tier fighting force was not on par with the Nine Yuan Sect and the Jin Yuan Immortal Palace, it had immense potential. The alliance was particularly kind to small and medium-sized forces, as well as lone cultivators, attracting more and more of them to join its ranks.
Inside the city, in a luxurious wine loft with nine floors, three people sat quietly drinking wine in a private room. One of them was Han Li.
The other two were a black-clad young woman and a white-robed young man, who were actually Ti Hou and Xiao Bai in disguise.
Han Li had emerged from his secluded cultivation earlier than expected, and had come to the Da Jin Yuan Immortal Realm to attend to some matters. He had made significant progress in his cultivation, and his confidence had grown.
Just as Han Li was about to make his move, Ti Hou finally awoke from her slumber, and had successfully advanced to the Da Luo realm. This news filled Han Li with joy.
"I didn't expect to find a place like this in the Da Jin Yuan Immortal Realm, where we can temporarily relax without being bothered by the Nine Yuan Sect or the Jin Yuan Immortal Palace," Xiao Bai said, holding up a cup of green wine and taking a large gulp.
"Don't be too careless, though," Han Li cautioned. "Although Jin Ge City is under the control of the Ri Yue Alliance, we don't know if the Nine Yuan Sect or the Jin Yuan Immortal Palace have any hidden agents here. We should still be cautious."
"With Ti Hou here, we don't have to worry about anything," Xiao Bai said with a smile. "She can sense the malicious intentions of our enemies, and no one can hide their true intentions from her."
Han Li glanced at Ti Hou, and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.
Ti Hou's advancement to the Da Luo realm had not only increased her strength, but also her ability to sense the emotions of others. She could now detect the malicious intentions of her enemies, making her an invaluable asset to the group.
Han Li had personally tested her abilities, and even with his own strong spiritual sense, he couldn't hide his intentions from Ti Hou.
However, if he were to use his Time Law to protect himself, he could potentially conceal his true intentions from Ti Hou. But anyone who used such a method to approach Han Li would be immediately suspicious, and wouldn't need to be sensed by Ti Hou.
"I cultivate the Laws of the Soul, so my senses are naturally more acute in this regard," Ti Hou said. "But don't rely too heavily on my abilities. Other cultivators who have mastered the Laws of the Soul have methods to conceal their soul fluctuations, and may be able to evade my detection."
"Really?" Xiao Bai asked, surprised.
"Cultivators who have mastered the Laws of the Soul are extremely rare, and we're unlikely to encounter them," Han Li said with a smile. "But if we do, Ti Hou should be able to sense them. At that time, we'll need to be even more cautious. With Ti Hou by our side, our safety is guaranteed."
Ti Hou shot Han Li and Xiao Bai a glance, but a hint of a smile played on her lips.
"I'll be more careful and investigate our surroundings," she said.
Han Li smiled, and his gaze drifted out the window.
He had been in Jin Ge City for some time, and had been trying to gather information about the Nine Yuan Sect and Jin Tong through various channels. However, the Da Jin Yuan Immortal Realm was currently in a state of turmoil, and the Nine Yuan Sect had withdrawn its forces, making it difficult for Han Li to gather any information.
"Don't worry, Master," Xiao Bai said. "There's still a long time before the Bodhi Feast, and our Young Master should be safe for now."
Han Li nodded, and his gaze returned to the window.
Just then, a loud bell tolled in the distance, and the sound echoed throughout the city.
Han Li's eyes lit up, and he looked in the direction of the sound. His gaze fell upon a large commercial building in the distance, which occupied several miles of street space.
The building was made of a sky-blue material, and was adorned with countless star-like lights. It was extremely grand and majestic.
On either side of the building's entrance stood a pair of jade-carved qilin, accompanied by a row of guards wearing sky-blue vests. The guards were all Body Refiners, and their strength was impressive, with over a hundred opened meridians.
The guards' vests were adorned with hidden treasures, and the building's entrance was flanked by a large sign that read "Ri Yue Pavilion" in bold, dragon-like script. The sign exuded an aura of power and authority, and it was clear that the person who had written it was extremely powerful.
As Han Li watched, a series of lights flew towards the building from the sky, and a group of cultivators appeared at the entrance. They walked into the building, and Han Li's eyes followed them.
The Ri Yue Pavilion was a place of great interest, and Han Li's curiosity was piqued. He decided to investigate further, and perhaps find some clues about the Nine Yuan Sect and Jin Tong. These cultivators were all extraordinary, with many existing in the Taiyi realm, and their faces all showed excitement as they discussed the matter.
"This is the once-in-a-thousand-years Grand Treasure Festival, and I heard that the auction at the Day Moon Pavilion will feature many rare and precious items that are hard to come by."
"The Day Moon Pavilion has been getting more and more prosperous, and I heard that they plan to compete with the Hundred Forge Mountain during this Grand Treasure Festival, so they must have prepared many treasures. Our family's resources are limited, so we can't participate, but it's still good to take a look."
"I brought all of my family's assets with me this time, hoping to buy 1-2 Advancement Pills to break through my current realm."
"I plan to buy a suitable magical artifact, so I can go to the Wilderness Domain and hunt down fierce beasts!"
From afar, on the top floor of the wine shop, Han Li also stood up.
"The auction is about to begin, let's go."
Xiao Bai heard this and immediately jumped up, his face showing some excitement.
"Xiao Bai, although you're using the Wheel of Reincarnation mask to conceal your aura, you still possess the true spirit bloodline of the Mo Eye Pixiu, and the Wheel of Reincarnation mask may not be able to conceal it completely. The auction is crowded, so it's best if you don't reveal your face." Han Li suddenly said to Xiao Bai, and then didn't wait for a response, waving his hand to release a stream of golden light that enveloped Xiao Bai, and then put him into the Flower Petal Space.
"Let's go." After doing this, Han Li said to Qiuhun, and then walked towards the stairs.
"Yes." Qiuhun smiled and followed him.
Han Li came to the Golden City this time not only to investigate the news of the Jiu Yuan Guan, but also for this auction.
The Hundred Forge Mountain, as the top-tier artifact refinement sect of the True Immortal realm, would hold a grand celebration every thousand years, which would be a joint event with all the branches of the Great Golden Source Immortal Domain. It was usually done through an auction, and the people of the Great Golden Source Immortal Domain called it the Grand Treasure Festival.
The other merchant guilds of the Great Golden Source Immortal Domain would also take advantage of this opportunity to hold their own auctions, competing for attention and profits.
The Day Moon Alliance, as a powerful alliance that was not inferior to the Hundred Forge Mountain, also operated a large merchant guild, and naturally would not remain idle.
In recent years, as the Day Moon Alliance's power grew, the competition with the Hundred Forge Mountain during the Grand Treasure Festival became more intense.
The Great Golden Source Immortal Domain, as one of the three immortal domains of the True Immortal realm, had top-tier sects like the Jiu Yuan Guan and the Hundred Forge Mountain, and was especially known for the Hundred Forge Mountain's artifact refinement. Therefore, countless precious materials flowed into the Great Golden Source Immortal Domain from all the large and small immortal domains.
So, every time the Grand Treasure Festival was held, the goods that appeared were the rarest of the rare.
Han Li had just left the Eight Wastes Mountain, worrying about how he could find the last Time Law artifact to balance the "Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique", and it was only when he learned about the Grand Treasure Festival from the Wheel of Reincarnation that he felt relieved.
He had originally planned to spare no expense to buy the last Time Law artifact at the Grand Treasure Festival, but unexpectedly obtained the treasure from Jiao San.
However, Han Li still had high expectations for the Grand Treasure Festival.
After all, he would soon be going to the Jiu Yuan Guan, and before that, he needed to increase his strength as much as possible.
Moreover, it wasn't just him, Qiuhun had also advanced to the Mahayana realm, and didn't have a suitable magical artifact, so it would be best to take advantage of this opportunity to acquire one or two.
However, the Hundred Forge Mountain and the Jiu Yuan Guan had a close relationship with the Heavenly Court, so Han Li definitely wouldn't dare to go to the Hundred Forge Mountain's headquarters, which was why he came to the Golden City, where the auction was being held.
Han Li and Qiuhun entered the Day Moon Pavilion, and to avoid drawing attention, they both suppressed their cultivation to the late stage of the Taiyi realm.
"Welcome, two seniors, to our Day Moon Pavilion's auction. I am Lan Mei, a disciple of the Day Moon Pavilion's executive, and I will guide you." A beautiful girl with blue hair and a blue dress immediately came to greet them, her cultivation reaching the late stage of the Golden Immortal realm.
"Lead the way." Han Li said calmly.
"Two seniors are both peak existences of the Taiyi realm, and have the qualifications to enter the VIP area. Please follow me." Lan Mei said, leading the way.
"This time, what kind of treasures will appear at the Day Moon Pavilion's auction? Is there a list? I'd like to plan ahead and allocate my immortal stones accordingly." Han Li asked as they walked.
"Please take a look, two seniors." Lan Mei took out two blue jade slips and handed them to Han Li and Qiuhun.
"Auction houses usually keep the list of auctioned items secret to pique the customers' curiosity and use the mystery to make a profit. The Day Moon Pavilion's auction is different, and they're willing to inform the customers in advance." Han Li's face showed a hint of surprise as he took the jade slip, and he lightly smiled.
His previous question was just a casual remark, but he didn't expect to actually receive the list.
"These are the rules set by our Day Moon Alliance's leader, who said that doing business values honesty and doesn't require pretending to be mysterious. Our Day Moon Alliance has developed to this point thanks to our honesty. This list is a gift to every guest who comes to the Day Moon Pavilion." Lan Mei spoke of the Day Moon Alliance's leader with a hint of admiration, and lightly smiled.
The noble alliance master's insight is truly remarkable. Han Li's eyebrows twitched, and he nodded in agreement.
As he spoke, his divine sense had already entered the jade slip, and his face slightly changed.
The jade slip listed over ten thousand auction items, including their starting prices, and was extremely clear and concise.
However, the auction order was not indicated, but this was not difficult to understand. If the guests knew the auction details too clearly, it would lack some excitement.
With Han Li's current memory ability, he quickly finished looking through the auction items, memorized them, and had a rough idea of what he wanted to bid on.
"Where do the two seniors come from? What treasures do you want to buy? Are you preparing for the Great Luo breakthrough?" Lan Mei asked.
"We are wandering cultivators, always on the move, and we came to the Day and Night Pavilion's auction without a specific goal in mind. We'll just take a look," Han Li said with a chuckle.
"Ah, I see. We, the Day and Night Pavilion, place great importance on this auction, and have prepared many precious items, including immortal artifacts, elixirs, materials, and techniques. Everything is available, and the two seniors can browse at will, and participate in the auction if they see something they like," Lan Mei said with a smile.
Han Li nodded and asked a few more questions about the auction, and Lan Mei answered them in detail, making Han Li quite satisfied.
On the side, Qi Huan saw Han Li and Lan Mei chatting and laughing, and couldn't help but pout, refusing to acknowledge them, and closed her eyes to examine the jade slip.
Before long, Lan Mei brought Han Li and Qi Huan to a separate room.
The room was not large, only two to three zhang in size, with a long, narrow chair and a white stone table, on which were placed spiritual tea, immortal fruits, and other extraordinary items.
Although the room was simply decorated, it gave a sense of cleanliness and tidiness, and the air was filled with a faint, refreshing fragrance, which was calming to the mind.
The room was enclosed on all sides, except for the front, which had a transparent window, allowing them to see the large square in front, which was over 20 to 30 li in size, and was filled with seats, almost all of which were occupied by people waiting for the auction to begin.
The noble guest seats, like Han Li's, were in a fan shape, floating in mid-air.
"Alright, I don't need you to attend to me, you can go now," Han Li said, nodding in satisfaction, and then turned to Lan Mei.
"Yes, if the two seniors need to summon me, just ring this small bell," Lan Mei replied, placing a yellow copper bell on the table, and then withdrew.
After she left, Han Li waved his sleeve, and a layer of blue light enveloped the entire room.
"Qi Huan, why haven't you spoken up?" he asked, turning to Qi Huan.
"Master, you and that little girl were chatting so intimately, I didn't dare interrupt," Qi Huan replied, her face still, and her eyes not meeting Han Li's.
"There's nothing intimate about it, I was just asking her about the auction details," Han Li said with a hint of amusement.
Qi Huan's expression slightly improved, but she still let out a soft snort.
"Alright, the auction is about to begin, don't be stubborn. You looked at the jade slip for so long, did you see anything you liked?" Han Li asked.
"I did see two immortal artifacts, but their starting prices are not low, and it will likely take a lot of spirit stones to bid on them," Qi Huan said, her face showing hesitation.
"Those two artifacts are indeed suitable for you, and as for the spirit stones, don't worry about it," Han Li said, his divine sense examining the two artifacts and their starting prices, his brow furrowing slightly, but then relaxing into a smile.
He had previously used the Light Shadow Heavenly Array to cultivate, consuming nearly 20 million spirit stones, and now he had 50 million spirit stones left. Although the two artifacts were valuable, the laws they contained were relatively rare, and he estimated that there wouldn't be many bidders, so it shouldn't be a problem to bid on them.
He had reached the Great Luo realm, and couldn't make any new breakthroughs in the short term, so he didn't need to use the time difference space for now, and could use the spirit stones.
"Thank you, Master!" Qi Huan exclaimed, her face lighting up with joy.
Just then, a series of calls echoed in Han Li's mind, and it was the Flame Boy from the Flower Branch Space.
Although the calls didn't form a sentence, Han Li understood the Flame Boy's meaning, and it needed some fire-type yuan force to replenish its previous consumption.
"No problem," Han Li replied, calming the Flame Boy.
The auction list had many materials with rich fire-type yuan force, and they were not expensive, so buying some would be fine.
Xiao Bai was also in the Flower Branch Space, shouting and making a ruckus, but he wasn't asking Han Li to buy him any treasures, rather, he wanted to come out and watch the auction. Han Li reluctantly extended a strand of his divine sense into the flower branch space, projecting the scene of the auction hall outside.
Just then, a loud, resonant sound echoed through the hall, signaling the official start of the auction.
On the auction stage, a flash of red light appeared, and a stout, elderly man with a wide face and large ears materialized out of thin air.
Han Li's gaze flickered, and he noticed that despite the old man's unassuming appearance, he was actually a mid-stage Da Luo cultivator, serving as the auctioneer.
"Welcome, esteemed guests, to the Golden Origin Sect's once-in-a-millennium Treasure Gathering Festival! We're honored to have you here at the Day and Night Pavilion. We hope you'll find something that suits your tastes and leave with a treasured item. Without further ado, let's begin the auction of our first treasure!"
The stout old man bowed, and several blue-robed attendants carried a jade box onto the stage.
Inside the box lay a yellow crystal the size of a grinding stone, surrounded by swirling, earthy auras. A dense, earthy law fluctuation emanated from the crystal, affecting the gravity in the surrounding area, making it several thousand times heavier. The attendants struggled to lift the box.
"Please behold, this Earth Emperor Crystal hails from the Wu Tu Sect, born from the depths of the earth, where it absorbed the essence of the land for billions of years. Its material is incredibly hard, and it contains an abundance of magnetic, earthy law fluctuations, making it more than sufficient for crafting a fourth-grade, earth-attribute treasure. The starting price is five million spirit stones, and each bid must be at least one hundred thousand."
The old man's words were straightforward, yet they conveyed a sense of reliability.
As soon as he finished speaking, the hall erupted into a flurry of discussion, with many attendees displaying excitement.
Han Li's eyes widened as he gazed at the Earth Emperor Crystal.
Although he had seen the crystal on the jade slip, he was still impressed by its grandeur.
The Earth Emperor Crystal was considered the pinnacle of earth-attribute materials, rivaling the Heaven's Gold Drill in its quality. It was the most coveted treasure among cultivators who practiced earth-attribute laws.
Moreover, the crystal could be used to craft a fourth-grade treasure.
In the realm of treasure grades, fourth-grade was a critical threshold.
While fifth-grade treasures were not rare, they were still relatively uncommon. Typically, only high-ranking cultivators who had reached the Da Luo stage could acquire one, either through effort or financial means. With sufficient materials and time, they could refine their treasure to the fifth grade.
Han Li's own sword, the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword, was a testament to this. Its foundation was solid, and with the aid of the Five Lights Thunder Sea and the cultivation methods from the Five Thunder True Scripture, it had become a fifth-grade treasure.
However, fourth-grade treasures were a different story altogether. Crafting one required materials of the highest quality, as well as extraordinary technical skill, bordering on the divine. It was said that even after successful creation, the treasure would still face a trial by fire.
Han Li wasn't entirely familiar with the specifics, but he knew that a fourth-grade treasure's power was unmatched, capable of shaking the heavens and destroying the earth.
In the True Immortal Realm, fourth-grade treasures were extremely rare, even among high-ranking cultivators.
The Earth Emperor Crystal, with its exceptional quality, was a treasure of unparalleled value.
Han Li's eyes sparkled as he gazed at the crystal.
Indeed, the Treasure Gathering Festival lived up to its reputation, with the first auction item being such a precious treasure.
Although Han Li didn't need the crystal, he didn't bid on it.
However, many cultivators in the hall were eager to acquire the treasure, and the bidding quickly surpassed ten million spirit stones. In the end, a cultivator from the VIP section won the auction with a bid of twelve million spirit stones.
"Next, we have a Fire Dao Dan, a fifth-grade treasure..."
The stout old man continued to introduce the next auction item.
The Treasure Gathering Festival was indeed a spectacle, with one extraordinary treasure after another appearing on the stage, captivating the audience and pushing the atmosphere to new heights.
Although the prices were exorbitant, many cultivators were willing to pay for the treasures they desired, as these items were truly rare and hard to come by.
As the auction continued, Han Li remained seated, observing the proceedings without participating.
"Next, we have a fifth-grade treasure, the Ghostly Shadow Claw, crafted from the claw of a Da Luo-stage Ghostly Shadow Beast from the Ming Hai Sect. It has been infused with numerous malevolent spirits, eighteen types of ghostly blood, and thirty-six types of ghostly energy. After being refined in the Ghostly Shadow Fire for a hundred million years, it has become a treasure with immense, shadowy law fluctuations, boasting extraordinary piercing and corrosive abilities."
The stout old man revealed the next treasure, a massive, black claw with nine fingers, each finger adorned with fleshy, webbed skin. The claw emitted a cacophony of ghostly wails, as if it were a demonic hand.
The audience gasped in awe, and the atmosphere in the hall became even more electric.
Han Li's eyes lit up slightly as he saw the black giant claw, and he straightened his body.
The nearby Ti Huan stared intently at the black giant claw, her eyes flashing with an otherworldly glow, her slender body tense.
This was one of the two divine artifacts that Ti Huan had been seeking.
The other people in the auction hall exclaimed in surprise and admiration, discussing the artifact among themselves.
The fat old man made a hand seal, and a burst of spiritual energy flashed into the black giant claw. The artifact's surface was surrounded by a swirling black aura, and dense black talismans flew out, releasing a powerful yin wind.
Although the auction hall was surrounded by restrictive spells, the chill of the yin wind still swept through the entire hall, causing some of the weaker cultivators to shiver.
As the old man chanted, the black giant claw suddenly grew larger, transforming into a house-sized claw that grasped a nearby black stone pillar. The pillar was over a hundred feet tall and emitted a thick, metallic glow.
According to the Dayan Pavilion's custom, any attack-type divine artifact being auctioned had to be demonstrated, so that the customers could better understand its power. The black stone pillar was used for this purpose, having been specially refined to be extremely durable.
Several divine artifacts had already been demonstrated on the pillar, and it was now covered in dents and scratches, but still intact.
With a light "pu" sound, the black stone pillar shattered into over a dozen pieces, its surface showing signs of corrosion and melting. A wave of green smoke rose from the broken pillar.
The crowd gasped in shock.
Ti Huan's eyes flashed with an otherworldly glow, and she almost couldn't contain her excitement.
Han Li's brow furrowed, however, as he realized that this divine artifact's power was far beyond anything he had seen before.
Considering the prices of the previous divine artifacts, this one would likely be extremely expensive.
He had only five million spirit stones, which would be enough to buy this artifact, but he would have trouble affording the next ones.
"This old man's cultivation is not based on the yin ghost laws, so I can only bring out less than 10% of its power. If someone with the corresponding laws were to use this artifact, its power would be unimaginable. Enough boasting, let's start the bidding. The starting price is eight million spirit stones, and each bid must be at least five hundred thousand spirit stones more than the previous one." The fat old man announced the start of the bidding.
"Eight million six hundred thousand!"
"Nine million two hundred thousand!"
"One million!"
...
Perhaps the demonstration of the divine artifact's power had been too impressive, but despite the rarity of cultivators who practiced the yin ghost laws, there were still many people bidding. Han Li hadn't even had a chance to bid yet, and the price had already risen to one million spirit stones.
He didn't participate in the bidding yet, as the competition was still fierce, and he didn't want to get caught up in it.
Since he was determined to get the artifact, he would bid at the end.
Ti Huan glanced at Han Li, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating.
After a moment, when the price had risen to one million five hundred thousand spirit stones, the number of bidders had dwindled.
"One million six hundred thousand!" Han Li pointed to a blue jade tablet on the table, and a blue glow appeared on its surface as he bid.
"One million six hundred fifty thousand!" A voice came from a nearby VIP room, belonging to an elderly cultivator.
Han Li turned to look at the room, his eyes flashing with a purple-black glow.
The opposing VIP room was surrounded by powerful restrictive spells, but they couldn't block Han Li's Nine Yin Magic Eyes.
Han Li had previously opened up most of his body's spiritual apertures in the Demon Blood Gate, and his eyes had also undergone a transformation, allowing him to see through the spells.
The Nine Yin Magic Eyes had initially been surrounded by a purple glow, but as Han Li's cultivation deepened, the glow had grown stronger.
However, when the technique reached a higher level, the purple glow would fade, and the eyes would turn black, allowing the cultivator to see through the nine yin.
Han Li's current Nine Yin Magic Eyes were close to reaching this level.
The elderly cultivator in the opposing VIP room was a mid-Deity Transformation cultivator, surrounded by a cold aura. He held a white staff that seemed to be made of human bone, and his expression was tense.
The elderly cultivator was unaware of Han Li's probing, and his face showed signs of anxiety, as if he had reached his limit.
"Master, the man's spiritual aura is showing signs of anxiety and tension, it seems he has no more spirit stones to spare." Ti Huan's eyes were closed, and her body was surrounded by a faint black glow, as she spoke.
Han Li glanced at Ti Huan in surprise, then bid again.
"One million eight hundred thousand!" He added one hundred fifty thousand spirit stones to his bid.
The elderly cultivator's face twitched, and he let out a long sigh, putting down his staff and giving up.
The other bidders in the hall also fell silent, as the price had already risen too high.
The divine artifact was indeed powerful, but it was no longer worth the price.
Han Li smiled slightly, and Ti Huan's face also lit up with a bright smile.
The fat old man was pleased with the high price, and was about to conclude the auction.
"One million nine hundred thousand!" But just as he was about to speak, a cold voice came from a distant VIP room.
Ti Huan's expression turned grim, and she gritted her teeth.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he turned to look at the room, his eyes flashing with a purple-black glow as he pierced through the walls and saw the situation inside. Inside the private room, six people sat, all wearing black robes with hoods covering their faces.
The black robes emitted a flowing, water-like black glow that blocked Han Li's Nine Yin Demon Eye, which was a mysterious treasure.
The six people sat silently, making it unclear who was the one bidding.
"Hmm..." One of the black silhouettes, slightly smaller than the others, lifted its head, seemingly sensing Han Li's probing. It waved its hand, and a thick, red mist suddenly filled the private room, completely blocking Han Li's Nine Yin Demon Eye.
"Two hundred million!" Han Li's face sank, but he quickly recovered and spoke.
At the same time, he made a gesture to Ti Huan, who understood and closed her eyes. A dark, black glow emanated from her body as she probed the opponent's divine soul fluctuations.
"It's not working, the bidder is also cultivating a divine soul law, and they're skilled at hiding. I can't sense their divine soul fluctuations." Ti Huan opened her eyes, looking dejected.
Han Li's heart sank upon hearing this.
"Two hundred and twenty million!" The cold voice seemed impatient, rapidly increasing the bid by twenty million to try and intimidate Han Li.
"Master, it's too expensive, let's just forget it." Ti Huan hesitated, poking Han Li with her finger, and whispered a warning.
However, her words were tinged with reluctance, obvious to anyone.
"Two hundred and fifty million!" Han Li gave Ti Huan a reassuring glance and bid again, not backing down.
The auction hall erupted into a commotion as people turned to look at Han Li's private room.
Han Li had already set up a restrictive light screen in the room, blocking the probing gazes of the surrounding people.
"Two hundred and seventy million!" The cold voice paused, then bid again.
"Three hundred million!" Han Li's face remained expressionless as he suddenly bid an incredibly high price.
In reality, he was also feeling a pang of pain, spending three hundred million spirit stones to purchase the Ghostly Phantom Claw was a bit too high. However, he had already promised Ti Huan that he would get the two treasures, no matter what.
Moreover, the Ghostly Phantom Claw was a rare and excellent treasure, matching Ti Huan's law attributes perfectly, so it wasn't a bad deal.
In the opposing private room, a tall, thin figure suddenly lifted its head, revealing a pair of eyes as cold as a vulture's. It gazed at Han Li's private room, its eyes flashing with a cold light.
After a moment, it let out a cold snort and didn't bid again.
The auctioneer, a fat old man, asked for the price three times, then finally announced the winner of the Ghostly Phantom Claw.
Han Li let out a sigh of relief, but his brow furrowed as he looked at the remaining two hundred million spirit stones in his possession.
The other treasure that Ti Huan coveted was not inferior to the Ghostly Phantom Claw, and its price would likely be high. Additionally, there were the items that Jing Yin wanted, so the spirit stones might not be enough.
He furrowed his brow, looking pensive.
Soon, the auction house sent someone to deliver the Ghostly Phantom Claw. The person who arrived was none other than Lan Mei.
Han Li paid the spirit stones, and Ti Huan eagerly waved her hand, releasing a black glow that enveloped the Ghostly Phantom Claw. She then began to cultivate and refine it.
"Lan Mei, does your auction house purchase treasures?" Han Li asked, ignoring Ti Huan.
"Of course, we do. What treasure does the elder want to sell?" Lan Mei's eyes lit up as she replied.
Han Li waved his hand, and over a dozen blue crystals the size of human heads appeared beside him. They pulsed with an intense, electric glow.
A powerful electric law erupted from the crystals, causing Lan Mei's body to shudder violently. Her face turned pale.
Han Li saw this and waved his hand, releasing a golden electric glow that covered the crystals, masking most of the electric law.
Lan Mei finally steadied herself, took a deep breath, and thanked Han Li.
"These are Thunderstone!" She carefully examined the crystals, her eyes wide with shock.
"Thunderstone is a high-grade material for electric laws, almost as valuable as Earth Emperor Crystal or Heavenly Gold Drill." Han Li's expression remained calm as he asked, "How much are you willing to pay for these?"
These Thunderstones were discovered by Han Li when he was collecting electric essence in the Five Elements Thunder Domain. They were extremely valuable.
"These Thunderstones are of the highest quality, each one worth over a million spirit stones. Such a large transaction, I'm not authorized to make. Please wait, I'll go ask the executive elder to come." Lan Mei apologized and quickly walked away.
Han Li didn't hurry, looking down at the auction hall below.
The auction had resumed, but the item being auctioned was not what he wanted.
He glanced at it, then turned his attention to the private room from earlier, his mind racing.
The six people in that room were all dressed in black, their faces hidden. If they were just scattered cultivators, they wouldn't need to be so secretive.
Could they be from the Nine Yin Sect, the Hundred Refinement Mountain, or the Golden Source Sect? What were they doing in Jin Ling City?
Han Li's mind suddenly had an inexplicable thought: could these people be connected to him?
As he thought this, his brow furrowed.
"Master, your mind is unsettled, what has happened?" Ti Hu (Crying Ghost) opened her eyes and asked.
"Ti Hu, take a look at the six people in that private room, and try to find out their identities and purpose for coming here," Han Li transmitted his voice.
Ti Hu didn't understand Han Li's intentions, but nodded and focused her attention on the private room.
At that moment, the door to the private room opened, and a Daoist nun in a green robe with blue eyebrows walked in.
This Daoist nun was a Da Luo realm cultivator, looking rather young, with rosy cheeks and an aura of fragrance, as if she were a plant spirit transformed into human form.
"Stone friend, please, I am the Chief Elder of the Day Moon Pavilion, you may call me He Hua Xian Niang (Lotus Flower Immortal Maiden)," the Daoist nun glanced at the Thunder Stones beside her, her eyes flashing with light, but quickly withdrew her gaze and smiled at Han Li.
"He Hua Xian Niang, no need to be polite, can the Day Moon Pavilion afford these Thunder Stones?" Han Li asked indifferently.
"Stone friend, you're joking, even if there were a thousand, or ten thousand Thunder Stones, the Day Moon Pavilion could still afford them," He Hua Xian Niang replied with a smile.
"The Day Moon Pavilion indeed has deep roots, then please, He Hua Xian Niang, estimate the price," Han Li raised an eyebrow and smiled.
He Hua Xian Niang glanced at the Thunder Stones and quickly withdrew her gaze.
"These Thunder Stones are of exceptional quality, and the quantity is not small, let's say each Thunder Stone is worth one hundred and fifty million spirit stones, you have thirteen, that's a total of one thousand nine hundred and fifty million spirit stones, let's round it up to two million spirit stones, how's that?" He Hua Xian Niang asked with a smile.
Han Li had already inquired about the price of the Thunder Stones, and had thought that selling them for one thousand five hundred million would be a good deal, but now he was selling them for two million spirit stones, so he naturally had no objections.
"He Hua Xian Niang, you're a straightforward businesswoman, I have some other materials to sell," Han Li waved his hand, and took out a pile of materials, which were the leftover items from cleaning up the Flower Branch Space.
He had put these items up for sale in the Reincarnation Hall, but over the years, not many had been sold, so he might as well get rid of them all at once.
"These things are quite miscellaneous, but there are a few decent items among them, let's say I'll take them all, four hundred million spirit stones, how's that?" He Hua Xian Niang glanced at the items and asked.
Han Li didn't haggle, and nodded.
Perhaps he was losing a bit, but it was better to get rid of them all at once and avoid any further trouble.
After the transaction, Han Li gained two million four hundred million spirit stones, almost recovering the amount he had spent earlier, and his mood was greatly improved.
He Hua Xian Niang finished the transaction and didn't linger, quickly leaving with the blue-browed attendant.
"Master," as soon as He Hua Xian Niang left, Ti Hu spoke up.
"What did you discover?" Han Li asked through transmission.
"Those people haven't spoken in a while, and I didn't gather any information, but I've figured out the identity of one of the six people, you know him too," Ti Hu replied.
"Who is it?" Han Li asked.
"It's the Blue Color we met at the Sui Yue Xian Fu," Ti Hu responded.
"Blue Color? Are you sure?" Han Li was startled and asked.
"I'm certain, I was only paying attention to the bidder's spiritual aura earlier, and didn't notice the others, but now I've taken a closer look, and one of them is definitely Blue Color," Ti Hu's expression was firm.
Han Li knew that Ti Hu's perception of spiritual auras was extremely keen, and wouldn't be mistaken, so he nodded slowly.
Blue Color was from the Jiu Yuan Guan, and the other five people were likely also from the Jiu Yuan Guan, but what were they doing here?
"Continue to monitor their movements, and report back to me if you discover anything," Han Li instructed Ti Hu.
"Don't worry, Master, their private room's restrictions can't block my perception," Ti Hu guaranteed.
Han Li left the matter to Ti Hu, and continued to watch the auction below.
Time flew by quickly, and the auction had already gone through several rounds.
"The next item is a Tai Yi peak Three-Legged Golden Crow Beast Core, containing boundless fire energy, suitable for refining magical tools, or cultivating the fire energy within, the starting price is three hundred million spirit stones, each bid must be at least ten million," the fat old man announced the next item, a golden-red beast core the size of a bowl, radiating a dazzling light.
Han Li's eyes lit up, this was the item he had been looking for to help the Jing Yan Tong Zi recover.
This Three-Legged Golden Crow Beast Core was a rare treasure, but compared to other items, it was somewhat inferior, and the VIPs didn't seem interested, so Han Li raised the price slightly, and bought it for five hundred million spirit stones, putting it into the Flower Branch Space.
The Jing Yan Tong Zi's body flashed with flames, transforming into a flame bird, and swallowed the beast core, letting out a few happy cries before flying into the depths of the Flower Branch Space to refine it.
At this moment, the auction stage presented the next item, a long, black jade box, covered in seals, with a strong, cold, ghostly energy emanating from it.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he sat up straight, while Ti Hu beside him looked surprised, gazing at the jade box.
The fat old man mumbled some words, broke the seals, and opened the box, revealing a black, short flute, made from a piece of leg bone, with a skull at one end, looking extremely eerie.
A powerful, cold, ghostly energy burst out, with a mournful, wailing sound, like a saw cutting through the mind, making it hard to bear.
Han Li's eyes locked onto the flute, and he sat up straight, his expression solemn. The obese old man hastily waved his sleeve, and a burst of white light erupted from the auction stage, forming a white light screen that enveloped the black short flute. The crowd below finally felt a slight relief.
"Next, we have the Scattered Soul Ghost Flute, also a treasure of the Ghost Path, personally crafted by the ancestor of the Wan Gui Sect, Niuli Shangren, in the Realm of the Dead Sea. Although it was damaged in the battle of the Dead Sea and fell to a fifth-grade treasure, its power still surpasses that of ordinary fifth-grade treasures. You've all seen its power, and its main effect is to attack the soul. It's not suitable for demonstration, so let's begin the bidding. The starting price is one million yuan stones, and each bid must be at least fifty thousand yuan stones higher."
The obese old man introduced the black short flute and announced the start of the bidding.
Han Li's heart initially felt a surge of joy, but then his brow furrowed.
This black short flute was the second treasure that Ti Hu had valued, and the jade slip had only mentioned that it was an artifact that attacked the soul. He had not expected it to be so renowned, and it was previously a fourth-grade treasure.
With this in mind, the price of this treasure would likely be much higher than that of the Ghostly Claw. Although Han Li had around four million yuan stones, he might not be able to afford it.
As Han Li pondered, the bidding had already begun, and the price had risen to two million yuan stones after several rounds.
"Two million five hundred thousand!" Han Li's thoughts turned rapidly, and he raised his hand to bid, increasing the price by five hundred thousand yuan stones.
He had limited yuan stones, so he could only try to intimidate the other bidders.
Indeed, Han Li's bid caused the entire hall to fall silent, with many people looking shocked and unwilling to bid further.
"Two million eight hundred thousand!" A cold voice suddenly spoke up, and it was the person who had competed with Han Li for the Ghostly Claw.
Han Li's brow furrowed slightly, and he was about to bid again.
"Three million!" Another cold and arrogant voice spoke up from a different VIP box.
Han Li looked over and saw a young man in a blue shirt, with an extraordinary demeanor.
"Three million three hundred thousand!" Han Li raised his hand to bid.
"Three million four hundred thousand!" The young man in the blue shirt frowned slightly, looked at Han Li's box, and spoke in a low tone.
"Three million six hundred thousand!" The cold voice spoke up again, with a determined tone.
The young man in the blue shirt's body trembled, and he stopped bidding.
"Four million!" Han Li declared firmly.
The crowd erupted into a commotion, with everyone looking at Han Li's box and whispering among themselves about his identity and wealth.
Han Li ignored the crowd and glanced at the box where the young man in the blue shirt was sitting.
The box was silent for a moment, and Han Li's heart slowly calmed down.
"Four million five hundred thousand!" However, just as he was about to relax, the cold voice spoke up again.
Han Li let out a long sigh and smiled wryly, turning to Ti Hu and saying:
"Ti Hu, it seems that the other party has more wealth than me, and we won't be able to get the Scattered Soul Ghost Flute."
But to his surprise, Ti Hu's eyes were closed, and he seemed to be ignoring Han Li's words.
Han Li found this strange but didn't disturb him.
At this point, no one else bid, and the obese old man asked three times before declaring the Scattered Soul Ghost Flute sold.
Just as he did, Ti Hu opened his eyes, revealing a look of surprise and excitement.
"Master, I just overheard a conversation between those people, and I obtained some important information."
"What information?" Han Li was about to tell Ti Hu that the Scattered Soul Ghost Flute had been sold, but he stopped and asked instead.
"I'm not sure I can repeat it clearly, Master. You should see for yourself."
Ti Hu pinched his fingers together, and a thread of black light entered Han Li's brow.
Han Li's mind flashed with a black light, which then burst open, revealing a scene from the VIP box.
"Senior Jin's wealth is truly impressive, able to spend such a large amount of yuan stones so easily." A black-clad person spoke with admiration.
"A mere trifle, nothing to be concerned about." A tall, thin figure spoke with a sense of pride.
"Enough, we've bought the necessary items. We've already wasted too much time. Let's focus on the main task and capture the Devouring Gold Immortal. If we let him escape again, we'll all be in trouble." A petite, cold-voiced woman spoke up, but her voice was somewhat indistinct.
"Yes, yes..." The others seemed to fear her and hastily agreed.
The scene was brief, and it disappeared after a few moments.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and a strange glint appeared in his eyes.
The people from the Jiu Yuan Pavilion were trying to capture the Devouring Gold Immortal. Could it be that Jin Tong had escaped from the Jiu Yuan Pavilion?
Master, do you think the person they mentioned, the Metal Devouring Immortal, is Jin Tong? Ti Hu asked.
What? You've found a lead on the boss? Xiao Bai exclaimed, hearing Ti Hu's words, in the flower petal space.
It's not impossible... Jin Tong is clever and resourceful, it's possible he escaped from the Jiu Yuan Guan. Han Li said, ignoring Xiao Bai, his voice low.
But if Jin Tong is nearby, why didn't he sense even a hint of his presence?
However, Jin Tong has now reached the Da Luo realm, his spiritual power has transcended, and he may have refined the spiritual imprint Han Li left in his body.
Master, those people have left. Ti Hu's eyes flashed, and he spoke.
Han Li heard this and turned to look, the six people had left the private room, quickly walking away.
Let's go, follow them. Han Li said, standing up without making a sound.
The auction was still only halfway through, and there were definitely many more treasures to be auctioned off, but he couldn't care about that now.
After the six people had walked far away, Han Li and Ti Hu left the room, following them, and quickly exited the auction hall.
The six people left the Ri Yue Pavilion, immediately flying towards the distance.
The city was filled with people at this hour, with people dressed in all sorts of strange and exotic clothing, so the six people, despite wearing black clothes, didn't attract any attention.
Han Li and Ti Hu followed from a distance, Xiao Bai was making a big fuss in the flower petal space, Han Li couldn't help but let him out.
The six people quickly arrived at the edge of the city, stopping for a moment.
This place was far from the bustling city center, and was inhabited by low-level cultivators and ordinary people.
One of the black-clad people stepped forward, taking out a blue crystal ball, and after a series of hand seals, a blue glow appeared inside the crystal ball.
At this moment, a faint golden light flashed within the blue glow.
That's right, the person is here. The black-clad person spoke, a female voice, belonging to Lan Yan.
Good, we've finally found this person's whereabouts. The petite figure exclaimed, then immediately made a series of hand seals.
A series of silver lights shot out from her sleeve, and a silver flag appeared, entering the nearby void.
The void in front of her trembled slightly, and a transparent half-sphere of light appeared, enveloping a large area.
The light screen had numerous silver patterns, looking mysterious and unusual, unlike ordinary seals.
The light screen had just appeared when it suddenly flashed and disappeared, without attracting the attention of the nearby cultivators.
With the Qian Kun Yi Qi Great Array, the Metal Devouring Immortal won't be able to escape. Another black-clad person laughed.
Enough talk, let's just capture the person! The petite figure coldly snorted, and flew forward, merging with the void.
The surrounding area appeared to have a series of transparent ripples, but they quickly disappeared.
The other five people followed closely, also entering the void.
After the six people had disappeared, three figures appeared in the air, it was Han Li and the others.
The three people's bodies were surrounded by a faint blue glow, looking like they were wearing a blue cloak.
This blue glow completely concealed their auras, without leaking out even a hint.
Han Li made a hand seal, and a golden light shot out, entering the void.
The void in front of him rippled with silver light, condensing into a series of symbols, which firmly blocked the golden light.
The two sides briefly clashed, before dissipating and disappearing.
This spatial seal is quite powerful, although it's not difficult to break, but it's likely that the five people will detect our tracks. Han Li frowned.
Spatial seals are no problem, just leave it to me, you two hide in my belly first. Xiao Bai said, his body flashing with white light, transforming into a Pi Xiu shape.
Xiao Bai opened his mouth, swallowing Han Li and Ti Hu, then his body began to glow with a white light.
The white light flashed, and Xiao Bai's body slowly merged with the surrounding void, transforming into a white shadow floating in the void, moving forward, and soon reached the seal.
The void in front of him rippled with silver symbols, trying to block the white shadow.
But the white shadow swirled and dissipated, like a cloud, and merged with the silver symbols, slowly passing through.
After the seal, the void appeared to have a series of white clouds, which gathered together, condensing into Xiao Bai's figure.
He opened his mouth, and two figures flew out, revealing Han Li and Ti Hu.
Xiao Bai, I didn't know you had this kind of divine ability, being able to penetrate spatial seals. Han Li said, slightly surprised.
Hehe, our Mu Yan Pi Xiu bodies have a natural spatial ability, our bloodline contains some spatial power. Xiao Bai's body flashed with white light, transforming back into his human form, with a proud expression. Han Li smiled faintly and then gazed forward, his eyebrows suddenly furrowing.
The six figures had vanished, leaving no trace behind.
"Master, those people haven't disappeared, but have used magic to conceal their tracks. They're currently heading forward, and although we've used Xiao Bai's evasive symbol to hide our tracks, being too close still risks being discovered." Chi Huan's eyes gleamed with a hint of mystery as she pointed forward.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he immediately spotted the six figures in the distance, surrounding a small courtyard in a secluded alley.
"Let's go," Han Li said, his eyes flashing as he flew towards the courtyard.
Chi Huan and Xiao Bai hastily followed.
Han Li and the others concealed their auras, and Chi Huan used her secret technique to suppress their spiritual energy, only then approaching the courtyard.
Just as they were about to arrive, a loud explosion erupted from the courtyard.
A brilliant golden light burst forth, transforming into a golden vortex that swept across the surroundings, carrying with it a storm of wind and thunder that flattened the courtyard, leaving it in ruins.
Han Li and the others immediately halted their advance, retreating to the shade of an ancient tree.
As they watched, five or six figures flew out of the smoke, landing on the ground nearby. They were the same people Han Li had met at the Hundred Refinements Conference.
As the golden light dissipated, Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he sensed a familiar aura.
"Not Jin Tong, but him..." Han Li exclaimed in surprise.
"Huh, it's not the boss, who is it?" Xiao Bai asked, puzzled.
Just as he finished speaking, a young man in a golden robe appeared amidst the ruins.
The man's features were handsome, and his face still bore the lazy expression Han Li had seen before. It was Qu Xian, the Devouring Gold Immortal.
"Ugh, why do you people keep pestering me?" Qu Xian scanned the surrounding crowd, his eyes lingering on each face before sighing.
"Friend, we don't need to resort to violence. If you return to the Heavenly Court with us, you'll see that I'm telling the truth. We truly mean no harm and only wish to treat you with courtesy and invite you to the Bodhi Banquet," a woman's voice said.
Han Li followed the sound and saw a woman in a black robe with a slender, curvaceous figure.
"Are they from the Heavenly Court? I thought they were from the Jiuyuan Sect," Chi Huan said, puzzled.
Han Li was equally perplexed, wondering why Lan Cai had gotten entangled with the Heavenly Court.
"I've been wronged by the Heavenly Court before, and I only just escaped from the Years Tower. You're coming after me again, and you expect me to trust you?" Qu Xian sneered.
"Perhaps there's been a misunderstanding," the woman replied emotionlessly.
"Save your breath. If you're truly treating me with courtesy, then I refuse to go. You can leave now," Qu Xian said, his voice cold.
"Fine, since you're not willing to listen, don't blame us for what's to come," the woman retorted, her voice icy.
As she spoke, she raised her hand, and a crimson mist burst forth from her sleeve, transforming into a fiery cloud that engulfed the area above Qu Xian's head.
At the same time, the ground erupted with countless tiny red dots that grew brighter and brighter, as if a swarm of fire ants were crawling out of the earth, leaving behind a trail of molten rock.
Han Li's eyes widened as he watched, his brow furrowing in concern.
"Isn't that...?" he muttered.
"Who is she, Master?" Xiao Bai asked, surprised.
"Don't be ridiculous, that's Chi Meng, a powerful cultivator of fire-attribute magic. She's also a Da Luo cultivator, and her methods are not to be underestimated," Han Li replied, his voice stern.
Xiao Bai rubbed his head, still gazing at the commotion.
The fire ants had almost surrounded Qu Xian, leaving only a small circle of empty space around him. It was unclear whether Chi Meng had intentionally spared him or if the ants were naturally afraid of the Devouring Gold Insect.
"Enough chatter, let's attack!" one of the black-robed figures, a tall, muscular man with a hoarse voice, shouted.
The others, except for Lan Cai, began to attack Qu Xian with their magic.
The muscular man took the lead, waving his sleeve to unleash a dark mist that spawned seven or eight terrifying creatures, the Luo Tian Ghost Kings, which charged towards Qu Xian.
"Looks like the person I sensed earlier, who cultivates divine soul magic, is him. His methods are similar to mine, but he's focused on the dark and sinister aspects, making him inferior," Chi Huan observed.
"Trivial tricks, how dare you show off?" Qu Xian sneered.
With a single step, he stomped the ground, causing a massive shockwave that sent the fire ants flying. A golden ripple spread out from his foot, forming a series of concentric circles that repelled the ants.
As the ants retreated, Qu Xian's fist glowed with an intense golden light, which he used to blast the Luo Tian Ghost Kings. The creatures let out ear-piercing screams as they were torn apart, their bodies disintegrating into dark ash.
A massive, golden sword, adorned with flashing symbols, descended from the sky, splitting the air and striking Qu Xian with incredible force.
Qu Lian's shoulder took the brunt of the sword, and his shoulder was stained with blood. He let out a muffled groan and his body began to glow with a golden light. Despite the pressure, he managed to stand up again, and his wound began to heal.
The one controlling the giant sword was a short, black-robed man. Seeing Qu Lian's recovery, he let out a cold snort and manipulated the sword to strike down again. The sword descended heavily, causing Qu Lian's body to tremble, but he remained standing.
"Haha, is this all you've got?" Qu Lian laughed mockingly.
Chi Meng, who had been watching, sneered and said, "I've heard that the body of a Xi Jin immortal is indestructible, but it seems that's not the case."
Chi Meng waved his hand, and a swarm of fire ants crawled onto Qu Lian's body, leaving behind a trail of burns and black scars.
Qu Lian glanced at the ants before ignoring them. His arms shook, and a golden light burst forth, sending the ants flying and forcing the giant sword to retreat.
Qu Lian stomped his foot, and a golden ripple spread out, propelling him into the air. He attempted to escape, but a dark fog coalesced into a giant ghost, which swallowed him whole.
Inside the ghost's mouth, Qu Lian felt his mind grow cloudy, and before he could react, gray, translucent chains shot out from all directions, piercing his body. The chains seemed to freeze his spiritual energy, rendering him unable to move.
The other attackers closed in, unleashing a flurry of flames, swords, and fists. Qu Lian's face twisted in pain, but he endured the attacks, seemingly unscathed.
"This insect's body is indeed formidable," the tall, dark-robed man said, his voice hoarse. "Let me destroy his divine sense, and even if he becomes a fool, he'll still be of use."
He produced a black, short flute and raised it to his lips. Han Li watched from a distance, sensing that something was off.
The flute let out a sudden, urgent sound, and black, swirling symbols appeared on its surface. The sound waves radiated outward, sweeping across the area.
Qu Lian's calm demeanor faltered, and his face contorted in agony. He felt as though an invisible saw was tearing through his divine sense, attempting to cleave it in two.
The sound waves intensified, and the saw disappeared, replaced by countless, sharp drills that bored into Qu Lian's divine sense.
"Ahh..." Qu Lian's anguished cry echoed through the air.
Han Li, who had been prepared for this, felt the sound waves' effects, but his divine sense was strong enough to withstand them. Chi Meng, who was also affected, glared at the flute player.
Only Xiao Bai, who had recently inherited the power of the Mo Ye Pixiu, was unable to resist the sound waves. His body trembled, and his eyes widened in pain.
Chi Meng's eyes flashed red, and a vertical pupil appeared, shooting out two dark red beams that struck Han Li and Xiao Bai's foreheads.
Han Li's mind cleared, and Xiao Bai's pain subsided.
"Ah, Han Li, I've been searching for you everywhere," Chi Meng said, his voice dripping with malice. "I didn't expect you to deliver yourself to me."
Chi Meng's figure appeared above Han Li, Xiao Bai, and Chi Meng, who had been hiding until now. Han Li brought the other two out of hiding, and they hovered in mid-air, surrounded by a dark red, spiritual domain.
"That's quite a hassle, Chi Meng," Han Li said, smiling fearlessly.
Chi Meng's eyes narrowed, sensing the changes in Han Li's aura. "Han Li, you've... Ah, never mind. You're just a foolish mortal."
Lan Yan, who had been watching from a distance, felt a pang of surprise. "Han Li, you..."
Chi Meng's gaze swept over Han Li, and her expression changed. "You've reached the Da Luo realm? That's impossible!" The great Luo realm is nothing but a child who has not yet beheaded the three corpses. This time, I will not let you escape from my hands again. Chi Meng laughed lightly.
Unlike other realms, the great Luo realm can advance one layer with each beheading of a corpse, and with three corpses beheaded, one can cross the difficult-to-surpass heavenly chasm and achieve the Daozu realm.
Each beheading is extremely dangerous, and if successful, one's strength will increase significantly. The difference between each small realm is no different from the original great realm.
With their own people numerous and powerful, Chi Meng naturally had complete confidence in taking down Han Li. The only thing to be cautious of was the strange and sudden escape technique he had used before.
Chi Meng drank a sound, and with a wave of her hand, a crimson glow burst forth, forming a massive spherical light screen that expanded to cover an area of hundreds of li.
Han Li and the others felt the air around them suddenly become scorching hot, and they were already trapped in Chi Meng's spiritual domain.
The surroundings were filled with flames, and eight firefalls descended from the sky, while the ground turned into a lake of magma.
The air around them seemed to boil, and the ground within a thousand li was scorched, with all the lakes and rivers evaporating, leaving behind a trail of cracks and fissures.
Xiaobai felt his mouth dry, as if the spiritual energy of the surroundings was being drained by the scorching power of the spiritual domain.
"This woman doesn't seem to be a kind person," Xiaobai said.
"It looks like last time we fought, she didn't use her full strength," Han Li said, frowning.
"Xitang Elder, you and Swordqiu Elder will take care of that Jinxin Immortal. The rest of you, come with me and take down this person," Chi Meng ordered.
The tall, dark-robed man who cultivated the yin soul law, and the short, dark-robed man who controlled the golden sword, both responded in unison.
The other two black-robed men flashed towards Chi Meng's side.
"Ti Hu, go and rescue Qu Lin," Han Li instructed.
"Okay," Ti Hu replied, and was about to leave.
"You think you can just come and go as you please in my spiritual domain?" Chi Meng's eyebrows rose in anger.
With a wave of her hand, the magma lake below erupted, and a hundred-zhang-tall fire giant slowly rose from the depths, holding a massive fire sword, blocking Ti Hu's path.
Ti Hu saw this and snorted coldly.
With a flick of her wrist, a black ghost claw appeared in her palm, and with a swift motion, she tore through the void, slicing the fire giant into several pieces.
She glanced at the ghost claw in her hand, which she had just obtained, and nodded in satisfaction.
The fragmented fire giant reformed into magma, flowing back into the magma lake.
"You think this fire spirit is rare? I have as many as I want in my spiritual domain," Chi Meng sneered.
As soon as she finished speaking, the magma lake erupted even more violently, and fire giants emerged one after another, wielding fire swords, charging towards Han Li and the others.
Han Li's hand turned lightly, and a layer of golden light screen unfolded, forming a pale golden spiritual domain that merged with Chi Meng's fire spiritual domain.
Inside the spiritual domain, time flow accelerated, and the fire giants' sword-wielding speed slowed.
Ti Hu flew out, and with another wave of her ghost claw, dozens of black claw marks appeared, slicing through the fire giants once again.
Her figure flashed by, and she was about to head towards Qu Lin.
But just as she was about to pass by, a magma dragon suddenly burst forth from a hanging magma waterfall, its jaws wide open, biting down towards Ti Hu.
Ti Hu was not afraid, and with another wave of her ghost claw, she sliced through the magma dragon.
However, the magma dragon did not dissolve like the previous fire giants, but instead, its severed body reformed in a flash of red light, continuing to bite down towards Ti Hu.
"You don't need to worry, just go forward," Han Li's voice suddenly sounded in her ear.
Ti Hu heard this and did not continue to attack, but instead charged forward.
Just as the magma dragon's jaws were about to close around her, a sound of rushing water suddenly erupted, and a golden river burst forth from the ground, flowing into the magma dragon's mouth.
The magma dragon's body froze, emitting white smoke.
Ti Hu took advantage of the water's momentum and charged forward, passing through the magma dragon's body, and arriving in front of Qu Lin.
Qu Lin looked at Ti Hu, who had come to rescue him, and Han Li in the distance, a complex expression flashing across his eyes.
Xitang Elder saw this and blew his short flute once more, but the sound waves did not disperse, instead gathering together and charging towards Ti Hu.
Ti Hu's mouth curved into a smile, and she seemed to be thinking about how much her strength would increase if she ate the elder.
Xitang Elder saw her smile and felt a shiver run down his spine, despite his usual composure.
Chì Mèng gazed at the golden river that suddenly appeared beneath her, a hint of surprise flashing in her eyes.
"I didn't think you'd already condensed a Creation Realm spiritual domain, but it's just a mere river, not even the purest Water Attribute Law's power. What can you do to me? Ha ha..." Chì Mèng laughed.
However, she soon couldn't laugh anymore.
The surrounding void began to transmit intense Time Law fluctuations, and a mountain range with undulating peaks and valleys emerged, covered in blue-green forest, with a golden sun-like orb suspended in the sky, and starlight twinkling around it.
"How is this possible? You're only at the early stages of the Mahāyāna Realm, how could you condense such a complete Creation Realm spiritual domain?" Chì Mèng's expression changed, her eyes filled with incredulity.
Condensing a spiritual domain was never an easy task, requiring not only immense mental energy and time, but also abundant resources and opportunities.
Ordinary people, even those who had reached the Creation Realm, could only form simple, single-domain spirits and domain spirits. Chì Mèng's own magma waterfall and flame giant were examples of this. For Hàn Lì to condense a spiritual domain with mountains, water, sun, and moon, was truly rare.
This sudden realization made Chì Mèng take Hàn Lì's strength seriously.
"Blue Color, come help," Chì Mèng thought to herself, turning to glance at Blue Color, who was still standing in place. "Don't forget what you're seeking!"
Blue Color, however, didn't immediately move, his body wavering slightly, showing hesitation.
Chì Mèng's cold voice reminded him, "Don't forget what you're seeking!"
Blue Color's eyes flashed with a hint of resignation, and he finally flew towards Chì Mèng.
Hàn Lì saw this and frowned slightly.
Just then, a sudden change occurred!
A dazzling white light flashed, and Xiao Bai felt his eyes being pierced by the intense light, momentarily blinding him.
Under the pressure of Hàn Lì's spiritual domain, Chì Mèng's slender figure suddenly flashed towards him, unrestrained.
Her hand lifted, and a semi-transparent light shield descended from above, instantly enveloping Hàn Lì and Xiao Bai.
Chì Mèng's eyes lit up, and she quickly formed a hand seal, activating the nine crimson dragon spirits on the light shield. The dragons spat out flames, engulfing the two figures within.
A pained cry echoed out.
Chì Mèng's expression changed, and she quickly stopped the light shield's power, only to see that the two black-robed figures she had brought were being enveloped by the shield, their black robes burnt and tattered.
"What's going on?" Chì Mèng asked, shocked.
Hàn Lì's voice, laced with mockery, came from a short distance away, "You've already been deceived once, how could you fall for it again?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hàn Lì's body began to glow with a soft light, and he stepped forward, instantly appearing before Chì Mèng.
His hand held a green bamboo sword, which suddenly slashed out, its blade flashing with golden lightning and electric sparks.
Chì Mèng's eyes widened, and she barely managed to raise a hand to block the attack, but was still sent flying by Hàn Lì's sword.
Chì Mèng's body was numb, her hand burning with pain, and she tumbled through the air, finally stabilizing herself after a thousand feet.
However, before she could even catch her breath, a massive fireball descended from the sky, a deluge of fire rain pouring down towards her.
Chì Mèng's heart tightened, and she tried to move, but her ankles were bound by blue-green vines, rendering her immobile.
She attempted to cast a spell to break free, but her speed was slowed to an extreme, and she couldn't even form a seal.
In a desperate bid to escape, she let out a mighty roar, and her body was enveloped by a fierce, blazing fire.
This fire was her true fire, which responded to her spiritual domain, causing the magma waterfall to surge upwards, colliding with the fire rain.
The blue-green vines binding her ankles were also repelled by the flames.
Chì Mèng broke free, and her body soared into the air, attempting to flee from the nearby forest.
It was only then that she realized Hàn Lì's Time spiritual domain was not just a simple Creation Realm, but possessed some of the power of the Heaven and Earth Realm.
If she continued like this, she might end up in a precarious situation.
"You two, what are you waiting for? Release your spiritual domains and counteract his influence!" Chì Mèng shouted at the two black-robed figures.
The two figures exchanged a glance, and their hands moved in unison, unleashing a joint spiritual domain.
A black light emanated from their bodies, merging into a single, expansive black light screen that overlapped with Hàn Lì's spiritual domain.
The black light screen enveloped the surroundings, causing the earth to shudder, and the mountains and rivers to sink. The ground dropped by ten feet.
Hàn Lì's body also sank slightly, his figure wavering. On the other side, Xiaobai could no longer withstand the powerful gravitational pressure and fell to the ground.
Far away, Ti Hou was engaged in a fierce battle with the Creek Tang elder, his body radiating a dark red glow, his aura extremely terrifying.
The Creek Tang elder, skilled in the art of dark soul laws, stood opposite him, his face covered in a layer of white bones, looking like an evil ghost, his black flute playing a haunting melody.
The already cracked earth began to spew forth a dark mist, and a massive city emerged from the ground.
The city was covered in thorns and spiked with human skulls, its gates bearing the ancient seal of "Fengdu" in blood-red letters, emitting a dense and intense aura of dark energy.
Creek Tang stood atop the city, his black flute playing an increasingly sharp and discordant tune.
As the melody reached its climax, the gates of Fengdu's ghost city swung open, releasing a massive wave of dark energy, and countless terrifying dark creatures poured out, rushing towards Ti Hou.
The sky was shrouded in dark clouds, and the air was filled with an icy chill, as a layer of frost formed on the ground.
Ti Hou, however, was not afraid, and instead seemed to be excited, licking his lips.
He charged forward, his body unyielding, like a warrior charging into battle, his ghostly claws swiping through the air, leaving behind a trail of black lightning-like marks, tearing through the countless dark creatures.
Ti Hou's mastery of the ghostly claws had grown, and their power had increased exponentially, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, and the dark creatures were unable to withstand him.
The dark energy released by the creatures was absorbed by Ti Hou, and their army was unable to resist him.
Meanwhile, Qu Lin had closed in on Sword Hill, who immediately swung his sword in a wide arc, aiming for Qu Lin's neck.
Qu Lin, however, simply ducked, and opened his mouth, revealing rows of sharp teeth, and bit down on the sword.
There was a loud cracking sound as the sword shattered, and Qu Lin's teeth left a gaping hole in the blade.
"You're looking for death..." Sword Hill's face contorted in anger.
Qu Lin, however, remained calm, and took a step back, his eyes fixed on Han Li.
He seemed to be thinking, "I never thought that the person who would save me today would be him?"
Han Li, meanwhile, was engaged in a fierce battle, the two black-robed figures combining their powers to create a gravity domain, which countered Han Li's time domain, slowing him down.
Red Dream took advantage of the opportunity, and launched a new attack, her hands weaving intricate patterns, summoning a massive vortex of molten rock, which hurtled towards Han Li.
The vortex was not only incredibly hot, but also had a powerful suction force, which threatened to pull Han Li in.
Han Li, however, remained calm, and with a wave of his hand, his domain erupted, causing the earth to shudder, and a massive mountain range rose into the air, moving towards Red Dream.
The mountain range was accompanied by a wave of temporal ripples, which disrupted the vortex, and the two black-robed figures were caught off guard, their domain collapsing.
The mountain range, which was actually an illusion, did not have a physical impact, but the roots of the Eastern Divine Tree, which had taken root in the mountain, extended downwards, wrapping around the two black-robed figures, and piercing their skin.
The delicate roots injected themselves into their blood vessels, causing the two figures to cry out in agony, before falling silent.
Red Dream's face turned ugly, and she glanced over at Sword Hill and Creek Tang, who were also struggling, and shouted, "You're just a mere Great Luo initial stage, and yet you're able to make me so miserable, today I won't kill you, I'll make you suffer."
With a wave of her hand, the air around her seemed to ignite, and all the heavenly energy in the area was burned away, creating a vacuum-like effect.
Red Dream's body was surrounded by a fiery aura, her hair ablaze, her eyes blazing with golden flames, as if she was a primordial fire god, radiating an aura of terror.
She raised her hand, and a flower-like flame shot out, hurtling towards Han Li.
Han Li, however, was prepared, and with a punch, he condensed a massive fist, which clashed with the flame, producing a deafening explosion.
The explosion died down, and the flame had already burned through the fist, heading straight for Han Li.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and with a flick of his wrist, a sword appeared, and with a swift slash, the flame was dispersed.
But just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a strange energy fluctuation appeared in front of him.
A massive, golden flower bloomed behind Red Dream, its petals unfolding like a peacock's tail, or the thousand hands of the Bodhisattva.
"You should be proud that you can make me use the Heaven Scorched Earth Flame. Now, you can die." Chi Meng's voice was like a thunderclap.
At this moment, her eyes had transformed into two bright red orbs, as if there was a boundless sea of flames churning within them. The light was so intense that it was hard to look directly at her.
The next moment, the flames behind her erupted in a massive blaze, and countless golden petals flew towards Han Li. The flames illuminated the entire sky.
With Chi Meng as the center, the temperature within a radius of ten thousand miles skyrocketed, and the air became distorted and scorched. The ground cracked and turned red, making it feel like being in a furnace. Even breathing became difficult.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged, and his eyes only narrowed slightly. The spiritual domain that had expanded to a thousand miles suddenly contracted, only covering a radius of a few dozen meters.
He saw Han Li's hands form a seal, and the round moon above his head began to rotate, emitting countless golden rays of light. The mountains and rivers on the ground began to shift, and a storm of golden sand rose into the air.
The trees on the mountain swayed as if blown by the wind, and the sound of rustling leaves filled the air. The flow of time also began to move, and the sky was filled with a brilliant light. The atmosphere within the spiritual domain changed in an instant.
The golden petals that flew towards Han Li were incredibly fast, but when they entered his spiritual domain, they slowed down. The flames on the petals began to tremble, and the speed of the petals decreased. Thin threads of fire began to separate from the petals, disappearing into the void.
The distance of a few dozen meters was like an invisible barrier, making it difficult for the petals to cross. With each inch they moved forward, some of the flames were separated, weakening their power.
By the time the petals reached Han Li, they were only a faint, spark-like glow.
"How is this possible?" Chi Meng's mind was filled with shock.
In her opinion, it was Han Li's spiritual domain that had consumed her flames. But Han Li knew that the flames were not being consumed, but rather, they were being broken down by the power of the Five Elements Fantasy, reversing their flow of time.
This was like the first time Han Li had seen the Time-Space Crystal Wall. Any external objects that entered the Five Elements Fantasy would be repelled by the powerful time force, reversing their flow of time.
"You've lost," Han Li said with a cold smile, taking a step forward.
Chi Meng knew that the Time Law was one of the three supreme laws, and it was naturally superior to the other laws. But she had never expected such a crushing advantage, and her heart was filled with fear.
The flames on her body surged, and she attempted to flee.
"Where do you think you're going?" Han Li asked with a cold smile, expanding his spiritual domain to ten thousand miles once again.
The round moon in the sky flew down, chasing after Chi Meng. The True Word Treasure Wheel's power was even stronger when it was closer to her, and Chi Meng felt the binding force growing stronger, slowing her down.
At this moment, she could only raise her hand and point at her brow, saying, "Break."
As she spoke, the two black-robed figures who had been suppressed by Han Li's spiritual domain suddenly had a flame mark appear on their brows. A fierce flame erupted from their bodies, and they exploded into a ball of fire.
The blast wave swept out, destroying Han Li's spiritual domain and sending golden sand flying everywhere. The trees on the mountain were also destroyed, leaving behind blackened scars.
Han Li, who was connected to the spiritual domain, felt the impact and coughed up blood.
But in that brief moment, Chi Meng had already disappeared into the distance.
Meanwhile, Qu Lin had finished his battle, and the cultivator named Jian Qiu had been defeated. Qu Lin had revealed his true form and swallowed Jian Qiu whole.
The cultivator Xi Tang had also been defeated by Ti Hun, who had used his Ghost Claw to restrain him.
As it turned out, the cultivator Xi Tang was actually quite powerful, and his spiritual domain was filled with strange and exotic objects. However, he had encountered Ti Hun, who was a natural nemesis.
"Don't kill him, please don't kill him," a voice begged.
It was Lan Yan, who was pleading with Ti Hun.
Ti Hun nodded and shot a dark red beam of light from his brow, which struck Xi Tang and bound him with a secret technique.
"I'll never let you extract any information from me," Xi Tang said, his eyes flashing with determination.
But before Ti Hun could react, a dark aura erupted from Xi Tang's body, and a ghostly creature emerged from his right eye socket. The creature's mouth was open wide, and it bit down on Xi Tang's head.
Ti Hun's eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly moved to stop the creature. Almost simultaneously, a dark glow appeared in the dantian of Xi Tang, the elder, and it seemed to be on the verge of exploding.
"Be careful..." Han Li exclaimed.
Ti Hu saw this and her eyes flashed with an eerie red light. She rapidly retreated, disappearing from view.
The next instant, a deafening crash shook the air.
A black column of light shot up, transforming into a massive black whirlwind that swept across the area.
In an instant, the winds changed and the sky grew dark. A powerful, invisible force enveloped the surrounding space, making it impossible to escape.
The explosion of Da Luo's dantian was powerful enough to stir up the heaven and earth.
In the midst of the chaos, Han Li's figure darted around the edge of the whirlwind, quickly pulling out Xiao Bai, Ti Hu, Lan Yan, and Qu Lin. Using his spiritual energy, he tied them together with a rope made of spiritual energy.
A loud rumbling sound echoed through the void, and a massive silver lightning bolt descended from the sky, forming a lightning array that surrounded them. In an instant, they vanished from their original location.
The vast expanse of the heaven and earth was left with only the violent winds and chaotic void ripples, which continued to ravage the area without end.
...
Outside the Golden City, in a mountain valley, there was an underground dark river. The space inside was quite spacious.
Han Li and the others, who had been transported away using the lightning array, appeared in the underground space of the dark river.
"Brother Han, I will never forget this favor you have done for me. If I have the chance, I will definitely repay you," Qu Lin said, bowing his fist in gratitude.
"I was just passing by and didn't expect to run into you. I don't know why those people from the Heavenly Court are chasing you. Is it because of the Time Tower incident?" Han Li asked, puzzled.
"I'm not sure either. They didn't say much when they caught up to me, and they didn't mention anything about the Time Tower. But this isn't the first time they've chased me, and it's not unusual," Qu Lin replied, thinking for a moment.
Han Li listened to this and turned his gaze to Lan Yan, who was looking a bit lost and forlorn. "Brother Lan, aren't you from the Nine Yuan Observatory? Why are you involved with those people from the Heavenly Court?" he asked.
"I... I was trying to save my brother..." Lan Yan replied, his face filled with bitterness.
"Lan Yuanzi... what's going on?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
"My brother is now just a strand of spirit, and I tried many methods to save him after returning to the sect, but they all failed. Then I heard that Xi Tang, the Da Luo cultivator who practices the Yin Soul Law, had a way to revive my brother. I went to find him and asked for his help. They found out that I had seen Qu Lin in the Time Tower and remembered his aura, so they used that to track him down. That's why I was with them," Lan Yan explained, sighing.
Qu Lin heard this and shot a glance at Lan Yan, his eyes flashing with a hint of killing intent.
"Do you know why the Heavenly Court people are chasing Brother Qu?" Han Li asked, his brow raised.
"They just wanted to use me, and they didn't say what their plan was," Lan Yan replied.
"Brother Han, do you remember the people from the Huai Yang sect we met in the Time Tower?" Qu Lin asked suddenly.
Han Li thought for a moment, and a strange expression flashed across his face.
"You're saying that their goal this time is the same as before, to extract the Law threads from your body?" Han Li asked.
"We'll know if we investigate," Ti Hu said, her eyes gleaming with a sly light.
"Investigate...?" The others looked at her in confusion.
Ti Hu smiled mischievously and pointed to her own brow, where a vertical eye appeared. A dark red light shot out, and a residual soul was bound by a dark red chain, struggling to break free.
Han Li looked closely and saw that the residual soul was identical to Xi Tang's face.
"How did you get this residual soul? His dantian has already exploded, and he even summoned an evil spirit to devour his own spirit. How did you manage to get this?" Qu Lin asked, surprised.
"I have my ways," Ti Hu said, looking pleased with herself.
Qu Lin saw that she didn't want to explain, so he didn't press the matter. However, his eyes still held a hint of curiosity.
"Her true form is a punishment beast, skilled in the Yin Soul Law. It's not difficult for her to do this," Han Li explained with a smile.
Lan Yan heard this and his eyes lit up, looking at Ti Hu with a mixture of curiosity and caution.
Han Li noticed the change in his expression and said, "Let's investigate and see what we can find out."
"Alright," Ti Hu said, nodding. She shot a blood-red crystal thread from her brow, which entered the residual soul of Xi Tang.
The residual soul, which had been struggling to break free, suddenly stopped moving, and the red light surrounding it disappeared.
Here is the translation of the chapter:
A moment later, Ti Hu's eyebrows furrowed, and the crimson silk threads flew back into his eyes.
The remaining soul of the old man Creek Teng immediately flashed with a bloody light, and then completely dissipated.
"How was it?" Xiao Bai asked curiously.
"This guy left a hand behind when he self-destructed, and most of the memories in his soul have already dissipated on their own. The remaining memories are also incomplete, but the part about Qu Lin is still clear. It seems that they weren't targeting Qu Lin alone." Ti Hu said with a furrowed brow.
"What do you mean?" Han Li asked.
"According to his memories, the Heavenly Court seems to be collecting and capturing cultivators with special law powers. Qu Lin's true form is a Golden Devouring Immortal, and he cultivates a rare devouring law, which is why they're after him." Ti Hu said.
"Did he know why they were capturing these cultivators?" Han Li asked.
"There's no information about that in this Creek Teng's memories. He probably didn't know either, and was just following orders." Ti Hu said.
Han Li's expression turned contemplative upon hearing this.
Ti Hu's wrist turned, and a black storage bangle appeared in his palm. After refining it, he searched through it.
"Ha ha, it's back in my hands." Ti Hu said with a smile, taking out the black ghost flute and playing with it.
"Senior Han, Senior Ti Hu, I have a request..." Lan Yan suddenly knelt down and bowed.
Ti Hu was surprised, and took a step back.
Han Li knew what Lan Yan wanted, and didn't move, accepting her bow.
"You want Senior Ti Hu to use the Yin Soul Secret Art to save Lan Yuanzi, right?" Han Li asked, looking at her.
"Please, Senior Ti Hu, help me... no matter what you want me to do, I'll do it." Lan Yan begged, her voice trembling.
Ti Hu's eyebrows furrowed, and he turned to Han Li.
Han Li didn't speak, but nodded and transmitted a few words to Ti Hu.
"I can help you, but I've never done this before, and I'm not sure if I'll succeed." Ti Hu said after a moment.
Lan Yan looked up at Ti Hu, and her eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation.
But soon, her expression turned resolute again, and she said, "As long as Senior Ti Hu is willing to help, I'll be eternally grateful. As for whether it'll succeed, that's up to fate."
"Alright, since you're so sincere, I'll help you. But if my master has any requests for you in the future, you should know what to do." Ti Hu nodded.
"I've already said that I'll do anything, even if it means giving up my life." Lan Yan said solemnly.
"Qu Lin, what are your plans now?" Han Li asked.
"I came to this Great Jin Yuan Immortal Domain because I sensed the presence of someone like me. Although I almost got caught just now, I'm not leaving yet. After I recover, I'll continue on to the Nine Yuan City." Qu Lin said.
"Since we're headed in the same direction, why don't we travel together?" Han Li suggested.
Qu Lin didn't respond immediately, but instead thought for a moment.
Han Li didn't press him, and waited for his answer. Qu Lin's cautious nature made him wary of being persuaded, and Han Li knew that the more he tried to convince him, the more likely he was to resist.
"Master, why are you inviting him to travel with us? He looks like a wolf in sheep's clothing, and it's not safe to have him by our side." Xiao Bai asked via transmission.
"This guy is probably here because he was attracted by the aura of the Golden Child. Having him with us will make it easier to find the Golden Child's trail later on." Han Li replied.
"I see, so it's for the sake of the Golden Child. In that case, it's fine." Xiao Bai nodded.
"If we travel together, it'll be easier to take care of each other, but won't it be easier to expose our tracks if there are more people? And what if the Red Dream finds us?" Qu Lin asked cautiously.
"Don't worry about that, Qu Lin. If you travel with me, you can just hide in my Cave Heaven treasure, and the Red Dream won't be able to find you." Han Li smiled.
"If that's the case, then I'll trouble you, Senior Han. I'll travel with you." Qu Lin said.
"Very well, I'll have you stay in the bamboo pavilion in my Cave Heaven to rest and recover. Please forgive me for the inconvenience." Han Li said.
"No need to apologize, no need to apologize." Qu Lin nodded.
Han Li waved his hand, and a silver light door appeared in the air, leading to the bamboo pavilion in the Spirit Medicine Garden.
Qu Lin bowed and stepped through the door.
Han Li smiled and said, "Let's go." Han Li stepped into the room and looked around, discovering that the room was filled with spiritual energy and that there were restrictive arrays set up around the perimeter.
These arrays were naturally unable to block him, but if he were to destroy them, Han Li would immediately sense it. Given Han Li's current strength, Qū Lín was not confident that he could guarantee a victory.
As he pondered, he walked into the room and sat down on a soft couch, closing his eyes to meditate.
"Blue Yuan's soul is incomplete, do you have a method to help him?" Han Li asked, closing the silver light door behind him and turning to face Tí Hún.
"I have a secret technique to nurture souls, which can first nurture his soul and then find a new body for him to possess," Tí Hún replied.
"Thank you, Tí Hún," Blue Yuan said, tears of joy in his eyes.
"You should thank our master," Tí Hún said.
"Thank you, Han Li," Blue Yuan said, bowing his head.
Han Li was about to speak when he suddenly felt a sense of awareness, and with a wave of his hand, the silver light door reappeared, revealing the original bamboo building in the flower branch space.
"Tí Hún, take them back to the cave to cultivate and nurture Blue Yuan's soul," Han Li said.
Tí Hún nodded and walked into the light door, followed by Blue Yuan and Xiao Bai.
After they left, Han Li closed the silver light door and took out a red mask from the Wheel of Rebirth Temple, covering his face.
As the mask glowed with a crystalline light, a red light screen appeared before him.
In the light screen, a slender figure emerged.
Han Li looked at the figure and immediately recognized it as Jiǎo Sān.
"Jiǎo Sān, you've finally contacted me," Han Li said, smiling.
"Sorry, I've been busy lately, and I only managed to contact you now," Jiǎo Sān said, her eyes widening in surprise. "Han Li, your strength has increased significantly, have you reached the Great Luo Realm?"
"Jiǎo Sān, you have a keen eye, how did you see through my cultivation?" Han Li asked.
"I was taught a technique to sense a person's aura and cultivation level through their shadow and expression," Jiǎo Sān said, smiling. "But it's not a big deal, let's not talk about it. Where are you now, Han Li?"
"I've entered the Great Golden Source Heavenly Domain, I have some things to take care of," Han Li replied, recalling Jiǎo Sān's previous warning.
"No problem, the situation in the Great Golden Source Heavenly Domain is different from before, you can enter without any issues," Jiǎo Sān said, smiling.
Han Li's eyes flickered, and he sensed that Jiǎo Sān was also in the Great Golden Source Heavenly Domain.
"Jiǎo Sān, have you contacted me to begin the task?" Han Li asked.
"Yes, I have. Can you reach the Ninth Yuan City within 30 years?" Jiǎo Sān asked, her expression serious.
"No problem," Han Li replied, calculating the distance between the Golden City and the Ninth Yuan City.
"That's good, and there's another thing, Han Li, since you've reached the Great Luo Realm, please take this," Jiǎo Sān said, waving her hand.
A black mask appeared in the transmission array, identical to the one Han Li wore, with the name "Dragon Five" written on it.
"The Wheel of Rebirth Temple's masks come in four colors: blue, green, red, and black, representing our identity and status within the temple," Jiǎo Sān explained. "The black mask is the symbol of the temple's core members."
"Is the Wheel of Rebirth Temple planning to promote me to a core member?" Han Li asked, taking the black mask.
"Our temple master has long heard of your name and wishes to summon you, but due to his busy schedule, he hasn't had the chance," Jiǎo Sān replied. "However, he intends to promote you to a core member after the Ninth Yuan City task is completed. To become a core member, one must have exceptional talent and have made significant contributions to the temple. You, Han Li, have made rapid progress and reached the Great Luo Realm, but you still lack contributions. Our temple master wishes to ensure your safety during the Ninth Yuan City task, so I was ordered to give you this black mask ahead of time. After the task is completed, you will be formally promoted."
"Temple Master!" Han Li's heart skipped a beat.
He had heard of the temple master's reputation and knew that he was an extraordinary person, possibly even a Dao Ancestor.
Hearing that this person had been paying attention to him, Han Li felt a sense of trepidation.
"Thank you, Temple Master and Jiǎo Sān, for your kindness," Han Li said, then expanded his divine sense to examine the black mask.
The mask felt weightless and invisible, as if it didn't exist at all.
Han Li's eyes lit up with excitement, realizing that the black mask's ability to conceal his aura was far superior to the red mask's. He wondered how many precious materials had been used to create it, and how much effort had gone into its creation.
He couldn't help but feel a sense of pride and gratitude towards the temple master and Jiǎo Sān for their trust in him.
Jiao San smiled and said, "You and I belong to the Wheel of Rebirth Hall, and Han Li is someone I introduced to you, so it's only natural that I would do these things. By the way, Han Li, after you arrive at Jiuyuan City, you can go to the Fengyun Guest House in the outer city district. That's a place where our hall has secretly set up a presence, so you can feel safe staying there."
However, Han Li just flipped the mask in his hand and didn't say anything for a moment.
"Han Li, is there anything you're not clear about?" Jiao San asked, slightly taken aback.
"Han Li understands what Jiao San just said, but now that it's come to this, shouldn't Jiao San tell me some details about this mission?" Han Li looked at Jiao San deeply and asked.
In the past, Han Li's cultivation was still at the Taiyi Realm, and his cultivation was weak, so he didn't dare to ask too many questions about the Wheel of Rebirth Hall's mission. He was afraid of getting too deeply involved in the struggle between the Wheel of Rebirth Hall and the Heavenly Court.
But now that his cultivation had greatly improved, his attitude towards things was completely different. He was no longer timid and hesitant.
"Han Li, it's not that I don't trust you, but I really don't know much about the details of this mission. Even if I wanted to tell you, I wouldn't know where to start," Jiao San said with a sigh, her face apologetic.
"Jiao San, let's not use such evasive language. We've known each other for a long time, and I think you're not an ordinary person within the Wheel of Rebirth Hall. You must know something about this mission. Since we're going to cooperate, it's better to be honest with each other," Han Li said with a smile, his fingers moving slightly as he flipped the mask in his hand.
"I'm not evading, I really don't know. This mission is very important, and it's being personally overseen by a high-ranking person within the hall. I'm just a small liaison officer, so I wouldn't know the details," Jiao San said with a bitter smile.
Han Li saw that Jiao San's attitude didn't seem fake, so he thought to himself, "Tixi, is this person telling the truth?"
"Tixi, this person is just a virtual projection, and I can't sense any changes in their spiritual aura. But judging from Jiao San's expression, it doesn't seem like she's lying," Tixi's voice echoed in Han Li's mind.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he listened to Tixi's words.
"Although I'm just a liaison officer and don't have the authority to know the details of this mission, I did ask around about the things you're concerned about, Han Li," Jiao San said, seeing Han Li's expression.
"Oh, tell me," Han Li asked calmly.
"Jintong is currently still in Jiuyuan Tower, and she's not in any danger. The people of Jiuyuan Tower are planning to capture her and present her to the Time Dao Ancestor at the Bodhi banquet. Since the Bodhi banquet is still some time away, Jintong is safe for now, and Jiuyuan Tower might even try to increase her cultivation to make her a more impressive 'gift'," Jiao San said.
Han Li's eyes flashed with understanding as he listened to Jiao San's words.
He had already known the purpose of Jiuyuan Tower's capture of Jintong, but hearing it from Jiao San confirmed his suspicions, and he felt a sense of relief.
"As for you, Han Li, it seems that the higher-ups want you to complete some task, and they'll tell you where Jintong is and how to rescue her. However, I couldn't find out what that task is," Jiao San continued.
"Thank you for your efforts, Jiao San," Han Li said with a bow, but his mind was already racing with thoughts.
He wondered what task the Wheel of Rebirth Hall wanted him to complete, but he couldn't think of anything for the time being, so he just let the thought pass.
"Han Li, don't worry about this. Although our hall's methods are mysterious, we wouldn't harm our own people. You're now a core member of our hall, and we wouldn't plot against you," Jiao San said, returning to the main topic.
"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have joined the Wheel of Rebirth Hall," Han Li said with a nod.
"I'm glad you understand," Jiao San said, nodding.
The two of them chatted for a few more sentences before ending their conversation.
Han Li thought for a moment, then called out Xueying and Tixi from the flower petal space. He took off the red mask and put on the black mask, using his fingers to activate it.
A dark, black aura emanated from the mask, enveloping his body, and Han Li's figure became indistinct.
Tixi and Xueying looked at him with shock, as they couldn't sense any aura from Han Li, as if he was a void.
"The Wheel of Rebirth Hall is indeed powerful. This black mask's concealment effect is even stronger than my Heaven-avoiding symbol," Xueying exclaimed.
Han Li sensed his own situation and was quite satisfied. He activated the mask again, and his body transformed rapidly, changing into a black-faced, bearded man.
"Tixi, lend me some of your spiritual energy," Han Li said, tapping Tixi's shoulder with his palm, and a devouring force emerged, quickly absorbing Tixi's spiritual energy.
Tixi's expression changed, but she didn't move, allowing Han Li to absorb her energy.
Han Li didn't absorb too much, stopping after a moment. He then closed his eyes.
A short while later, a layer of black aura appeared on his body, emitting a dark, ghostly energy that was identical to Tixi's aura, without any flaws. Anyone who saw Han Li would think he was a cultivator of ghostly arts.
"This...," Xueying's eyes widened in shock.
Tixi also looked at Han Li with a stunned expression.
Because at this moment, Han Li's body and aura were completely different from before, and the black mask had even changed his spiritual aura. The black mask from the Wheel of Reincarnation could absorb the vital energy of others, merge it with itself, and disguise itself as others. This method was indeed much more clever than a simple shape-shifting technique. Han Li's face lit up with joy, and he nodded in agreement.
"With this mask, your safety is greatly improved. You're going to Jiu Yuan City next, and I'll stay hidden in the Flower Branch Space with Xiao Bai. We don't have any stealth abilities, so we'll just wait here and avoid causing any trouble for you," Tian Lin said.
"Keep an eye on Qu Lin and Lan Yan for me. Qu Lin's physical body is strong, but his Xian God's soul is relatively weak. Tian Lin, your divine powers are just right to restrain him," Han Li transmitted his voice.
"Don't worry, Master, I'll keep a close eye on Qu Lin," Tian Lin replied.
Xiao Bai also patted his chest, making a guarantee.
Han Li smiled, waved his hand, and pulled Xiao Bai and Tian Lin into the Flower Branch Space. Then, he left the underground and emerged outside.
He wore a contemplative expression, quickly transformed into a black light, and flew towards Jin Ge City. He soon entered the city from the west entrance.
Inside the city, everything was calm, with cultivators discussing the upcoming auction event at the Day and Night Pavilion. Even the occasional passing patrols seemed normal.
Han Li observed the scene, knowing that his battle with Chi Meng and the others had not caused any widespread chaos, and that the Day and Night Alliance had successfully suppressed the disturbance. He secretly let out a sigh of relief.
He then moved, flying towards the eastern part of the city.
Jin Ge City was a bustling metropolis, with shops everywhere, mostly with golden decorations, giving off a sense of luxury and extravagance, but lacking the grandeur and majesty of a typical large city.
Han Li couldn't help but admire the Day and Night Alliance, which had managed to survive and thrive among the powerful forces of Jiu Yuan Guan, Bai Zao Shan, and Da Jin Yuan Xian Gong, despite not having any powerful backing. Perhaps it was because of this extravagant yet harmless nature.
Jin Ge City was enormous, and Han Li flew for half a day before stopping at a golden great hall in the eastern part of the city.
The entrance of the great hall had a sign that read "Day and Night Boat Travel" in large characters.
The entrance was bustling with people coming and going.
Han Li walked in, and inside, he found a vast space of several hundred zhang, with people surging forward, all heading towards the inner part of the great hall.
At the inner part of the great hall, there were several dozen entrances, each with a name written above it, corresponding to the names of various locations in the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain.
Jiu Yuan City, Jin Yuan City, and Bai Zao City were among them, and the most people were entering these three entrances.
Han Li scanned the area, then walked towards the entrance with the sign "Jiu Yuan City".
The Day and Night Boat Travel was a transportation industry under the Day and Night Alliance, which had developed a special flying boat called the Day and Night Flying Boat. This boat could harness the power of the sun and moon, allowing it to fly at incredible speeds, traveling between the major cities of the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain, transporting goods or passengers.
The Day and Night Flying Boat was not only fast but also cheaper than the transmission arrays. Many small and medium-sized forces, as well as rogue cultivators, preferred it.
Although Jin Ge City had a transmission array connected to Jiu Yuan City, the transmission arrays in the Xian Domain were all under the control of the Heavenly Court, which had strict monitoring arrays, especially with the recent turmoil in the Xian Domain. Han Li didn't want to take the risk, even with the black mask.
Moreover, the Day and Night Flying Boat was fast enough, and it would take less than thirty years to reach Jiu Yuan City.
Han Li entered the Jiu Yuan City entrance, walked through a long corridor, and suddenly found himself in a large hall.
The hall was filled with seats, and many people were already seated. Two Day and Night Alliance cultivators in blue robes stood nearby.
When they saw Han Li enter, one of the cultivators immediately approached him, bowing and saying, "Fellow cultivator, are you here to take the Day and Night Flying Boat to Jiu Yuan City?"
"Not bad," Han Li replied, nodding.
He didn't want to draw attention to himself, so he suppressed his cultivation to the Gold Xian level.
"Fellow cultivator, you're just in time. The flying boat to Jiu Yuan City departs once a month, and the next one is leaving in a day," the cultivator said with a smile.
"Oh, that's great. What's the cost?" Han Li asked, his eyes lighting up.
Just then, a voice came from the side, and four cultivators walked over.
The four cultivators were all at the Gold Xian level, and the leader was an old man in a gray robe with a smile on his face.
Behind him were three people: a young man in black clothes, who looked no more than twenty and had a hint of youthfulness on his face; a woman in a red dress, who was plump and had a beautiful face; and a nun in a white robe, who had a stunning appearance and a high bun on her head, giving the impression that she was a cultivator who had not yet shaved her head. She was also carrying a snow-white long sword on her back, which seemed out of place.
Han Li saw the four people and was taken aback. The reason was that, apart from the young man in black clothes, he recognized the other three.
The old man in the grey robe and the young woman in the red dress were the same two people that Han Li had met in the Five Elements Thunder Domain earlier. Their names were supposed to be Sun Chongshan and Miao Xianzi.
However, on that day, Sun Chongshan had abandoned Miao Xianzi and another black-armored man to escape on his own, and they should have borne a grudge against each other. Han Li wondered how they had ended up together again.
The white-robed nun's appearance and figure were similar to those of Yu Menghan, a human woman Han Li had met in the Ling Huan realm, and he couldn't help but stare at her for a moment.
However, it had been a long time since they had last met, and they were now separated by two realms. Han Li couldn't confirm her identity at the moment.
The white-robed nun seemed to have noticed Han Li's gaze and turned her head away, her eyebrows furrowed.
"Big cabin ticket?" Han Li asked, his expression immediately returning to normal.
"The guest rooms on the Day and Night Divine Vessel are divided into three types: big, medium, and small. The big cabin ticket costs three thousand spirit stones, the medium one costs two thousand, and the small one costs one thousand. If we five people buy a big cabin ticket together, although it will be a bit crowded, we can save a lot of spirit stones. What do you think, friend?" the old man in the grey robe asked with a smile.
Han Li looked at the middle-aged cultivator from the Day and Night Alliance, who was standing quietly to the side and didn't seem to be objecting to the old man's suggestion.
"Sorry, I'm used to living alone. Thank you for the offer, friend," Han Li said, shaking his head.
The old man's face fell, but he didn't try to persuade Han Li further. He nodded slightly and led the other three people away.
Han Li glanced at the four of them and then bought a small cabin ticket from the middle-aged cultivator.
With only one day left, Han Li didn't have the time to go out and explore. He found a place to sit in the hall, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.
Earlier, he had used up a lot of his energy in the big Luo battle with Chi Meng, and he needed to recover. This was a good opportunity to do so.
As he sat there, Han Li secretly cultivated his energy and kept an eye on the four people, especially the white-robed nun.
The nun looked very similar to Yu Menghan, and her aura was also similar. Could it be that she was really Yu Menghan?
However, when Han Li had left the Ling Huan realm, Yu Menghan's cultivation had not even reached the Nascent Soul stage, and her talent was not particularly good. How could she have cultivated to the Golden Core stage in such a short time?
Although Liu Le'er's cultivation had also progressed rapidly, and she was now close to the big Luo stage, she had the bloodline of the Nine-Tailed Fox and the support of the Tianhu clan's cultivation resources. It was a different story.
The white-robed nun seemed to be a lone cultivator, and she was careful with her spirit stones. She probably wasn't Yu Menghan, but just someone who looked similar.
The old man in the grey robe and the others continued to chat with the cultivators who came in, trying to find someone to share a cabin with.
As the departure time approached, more and more people came in, but most of them had already bought their tickets and were just gathering.
The old man in the grey robe and the others asked seven or eight people, and finally found someone willing to share a cabin with them. It was a middle-aged man with triangular eyes and a fierce expression, and his cultivation had reached the Golden Core stage.
However, his clothes were a bit tattered, and his skin was rough. He looked like a lone cultivator.
After finding the fifth person, the old man in the grey robe and the others sat down and waited for the Day and Night Divine Vessel to depart.
Before long, half a day had passed.
The room was now full of people, and it was time to depart.
"Everyone, please follow me," the two cultivators from the Day and Night Alliance said, walking towards the back of the hall.
The crowd stood up and followed them.
At the back of the hall, there was a door, and behind it was a corridor. After walking through the corridor, they came to a large square.
In the center of the square was a huge flying boat, over three hundred feet high and seven or eight hundred feet long. The hull was rounded, like a giant egg.
The flying boat was a deep blue color, with intricate blue and white symbols etched into its surface. The symbols formed a complex pattern of arrays, which looked very mysterious.
"This is the Day and Night Divine Vessel. It's indeed extraordinary," Han Li said, looking at the arrays on the flying boat. They were all star arrays, and they seemed to be even more complex than the ones in the Ji Lin realm.
Below the flying boat was an entrance, and Han Li followed the others inside.
The interior of the Day and Night Divine Vessel was divided into ten layers, each with many rooms of different sizes. The space was utilized to the fullest.
Han Li found his room according to the ticket, and it was very small, only a few feet long and wide. There was only a bed and a small chair, and it was very simple.
However, Han Li was not someone who cared about material comforts. He closed the door and sat down on the bed, then released his divine sense to explore the surroundings.
The walls of the room had arrays that isolated it from the other rooms. However, these arrays were not enough to block Han Li's divine sense.
"Ah!" he exclaimed.
It turned out that the old man in the grey robe and the others were staying in the room next to his.
Their room was bigger than Han Li's, but it was still very simple. There was only a bed and a small table.
"Let's make do with the space," the old man in the grey robe said with a smile.
Han Li's eyes narrowed slightly as he watched the group through the arrays. The white-robed nun and the mysterious girl saw that the space was so narrow, and their eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
"There's only one bed, let Yu Xianzi and Miao Xianzi take a seat, and we three men will just find a place to rest." The black-clothed youth glanced at the white-robed nun and said.
"Yu Xianzi!" Han Li heard the black-clothed youth's words, and his heart moved slightly.
But before the black-clothed youth finished speaking, the triangular-eyed middle-aged man had already taken a big step forward, sat down on the bed, and lay down.
"You..." The black-clothed youth's face sank.
"This bed is in the room, and whoever gets here first gets to sit on it. Hehe, you want to use it to please the girls, that's your business, I don't have the time for that." The triangular-eyed man chuckled, then stretched and lay down on the bed.
The black-clothed youth was furious, and in his family, he was respected and had never been treated like this before. He clenched his fists, ready to explode.
The triangular-eyed man turned his head and looked at the black-clothed youth, his triangular eyes staring at him, and a cold, snake-like glint flashed in his eyes.
The black-clothed youth shivered, and his anger was suddenly extinguished, disappearing without a trace. He stood there, stunned.
"Everyone is on the same boat, and we're all in the same room, so we should value harmony. Since Lin Daoyou is tired, let him rest well, and we can sit on the floor and meditate." The gray-robed old man intervened.
The black-clothed youth snorted, took the opportunity to back down, and sat down in a corner of the room.
The triangular-eyed man burst out laughing, but didn't care about the others and closed his eyes.
The black-clothed youth's eyes flashed with a hint of deep-seated resentment, but it quickly disappeared.
The gray-robed old man, the white-robed nun, and the red-dressed young woman all sat down, and the room quickly became quiet.
...
Han Li withdrew his probing consciousness, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
The people next door were quite interesting, and it was likely that something interesting would happen along the way.
He quickly put aside his thoughts, made a gesture, and a series of cyan lights fell on the room, opening up multiple layers of prohibition light curtains, enveloping the room tightly, and only then did he stop.
At this moment, the Dayu Divine Boat shook and rose into the air.
Han Li looked out of the room through a small window and saw that the Dayu Divine Boat was quickly rising into the sky, and the Golden City below was rapidly becoming smaller. The Dayu Divine Boat trembled slightly, then turned into a blue light and flew towards the Jiuyuan City at an incredible speed.
The Golden City quickly disappeared from view, and the Dayu Divine Boat's speed was unimaginable.
Han Li saw this scene and was both surprised and delighted.
The Dayu Divine Boat's flight speed was not slower than his own flight speed, and at this speed, he could definitely reach Jiuyuan City within 30 years.
He quickly withdrew his gaze, raised his hand, and a few golden lights flew out, transforming into four or five golden Dao soldiers, guarding the room.
He then waved his hand again, opening the entrance to the Flower Branch Space, and stepped inside.
"Master, have you already set off towards Jiuyuan City?" Qiuhun saw Han Li enter and approached him.
Xiaobai was currently practicing in the distance and didn't come over.
Han Li nodded, briefly explaining the situation of boarding the Dayu Divine Boat.
"I found out from Creek Tang's divine soul memory that Master, you should take the Dayu Divine Boat to Jiuyuan City." Qiuhun said.
"Huh, where are Qu Lian and Lanyan?" Han Li's brow suddenly furrowed, and his gaze swept around.
He couldn't sense the auras of Qu Lian and Lanyan.
"Qu Lian was just snooping around the Flower Branch Space with ill intentions, so I took advantage of the situation and used a secret technique to put him to sleep. As for Lanyan, although she has a request for us, she's been quite obedient, but people's hearts are hard to fathom, so I also put her to sleep to be safe." Qiuhun pointed to the attic in the distance and said.
Han Li's consciousness probed, and Qu Lian and Lanyan were both in the attic, unconscious, and he nodded in approval.
"It's good that you're cautious."
He had come in to use the time difference space to continue his closed-door cultivation, and Qu Lian and Lanyan would have caused some trouble. Even if Qiuhun hadn't taken action, he would have found a way to seal their divine senses.
As he thought, Han Li raised his hand, and a series of golden lights flew out, falling on the attic where Qu Lian and Lanyan were, opening up multiple layers of prohibition, and only then did he feel at ease.
He then came to the Light Shadow Heavenly Array, which had been damaged, and the entire array was dark and not functioning.
Last time, to escape from the Ling Domain, Han Li had no choice but to destroy a corner of the Light Shadow Heavenly Array.
Fortunately, the Light Shadow Heavenly Array was set up by him, and the materials were still available, so repairing it wasn't difficult.
Han Li flipped his hand, and a small pile of materials appeared on the ground, and he began to repair the array.
After half a day's busy work, the Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array was finally repaired and once again shone with a brilliant light.
Han Li took out all the Xian Yuan stones from his body and placed them beside the Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array, providing energy for the array to operate.
After completing these tasks, he sat down cross-legged beside the grand array, hesitating for a moment before opening his Spiritual Domain, covering the Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array.
He didn't open his Spiritual Domain too wide, only covering an area of about 20-30 zhang around him, as the larger the Spiritual Domain, the more energy it consumed.
Tie Hun, who was standing not far away, was also covered by the Spiritual Domain.
Seeing Han Li open his Spiritual Domain, Tie Hun's face showed a hint of surprise, clearly not understanding Han Li's intentions, but she didn't make a sound to disturb him.
Han Li glanced at Tie Hun with his peripheral vision, but didn't let her leave, instead muttering to himself as the Spiritual Domain's golden light flashed, and the five treasures, the Zhen Yan Bao Lun, the Duan Shi Huo Bao, and others, appeared out of thin air.
The Zhen Yan Bao Lun and the Duan Shi Huo Bao flew up into the sky, transforming into a golden round moon and a golden sun, the Huan Chen Sha Lao fell to the ground, transforming into a golden sea of sand, the Dong Yi Shen Mu sank into the sand sea, and the sand and earth split open, revealing a lush forest, the Guan Yin Jing Ping's light flashed, transforming into a golden river, flowing rapidly.
In an instant, Han Li's Spiritual Domain had almost become a real world, with only the sand sea and the golden river seeming slightly illusory.
At this moment, the Zhen Yan Bao Lun, which had transformed into a golden round moon, suddenly descended, hovering above the Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array.
The Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array's light surged, rapidly operating, and the Zhen Yan Bao Lun also burst forth with several times its original light, rapidly operating, but in the opposite direction, the two resonating with each other.
At this moment, the Spiritual Domain's space was also filled with the sound of wind, golden sand flying up, the golden river's waves churning, the golden sun's flames blazing, and the lush forest's leaves dancing wildly, the five Time Laws' powers fiercely colliding.
Han Li's brow furrowed, his Spiritual Domain once again escaping his control, automatically operating.
However, having experienced this before, he didn't panic, allowing the Spiritual Domain and the Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array to resonate together.
A loud explosion suddenly erupted, a blinding golden light bursting forth from the Zhen Yan Bao Lun, transforming into a golden wave that swept across the entire Spiritual Domain.
As the golden light spread, the Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array also burst forth with a wave of time, the two merging into one.
The entire Spiritual Domain's space, with its five fiercely colliding Time Laws' powers, rapidly calmed down, everything returning to tranquility, but the Spiritual Domain's time flow speed rapidly accelerated, reaching a rate of ten thousand times in an instant.
"This is..." Tie Hun's face revealed a look of shock.
As someone who had seen much and was well-versed in the world, she quickly sensed the change in the Spiritual Domain's time flow speed, and then gazed at Han Li with admiration.
Han Li's previous creation of a hundredfold time difference space had already left Tie Hun astonished, and now this ten thousandfold time difference space left her even more amazed.
"Master is indeed a Heaven-ordained person, and his future prospects are boundless..." Tie Hun thought to herself, and then immediately sat down, cultivating the You Ming Gui Zhou and the San Hun Gui Di.
These two treasures were extremely powerful, especially the San Hun Gui Di, which could easily scatter a cultivator's soul with a single blow.
Unfortunately, neither Tie Hun nor Xi Tang Lao had had the chance to refine the treasures, so they couldn't unleash their full power, or else Xi Tang Lao wouldn't have been defeated so easily.
Han Li didn't know that his actions had made Tie Hun even more devoted to him, and seeing the time difference space reappear, he secretly let out a sigh of relief.
This ten thousandfold time difference space wasn't formed by chance, and as long as he could master it, his cultivation speed could increase by another hundredfold.
However, at this moment, his Spiritual Domain's connection to him was severed, and he had to find a way to safely dispel this time difference space, or else he would have to destroy the Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array every time he wanted to leave.
Han Li closed his eyes, circulating the "Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue" as he sensed the flow of time within the Spiritual Domain.
This time difference space was the result of his Spiritual Domain and the Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array merging, and to dispel this space, he had to find a way to control the Spiritual Domain again.
In reality, he had tried this method before, but at the time, he was anxious and gave up after a few attempts, instead using brute force to break the time difference space.
Now, Han Li had entered this time difference space for the second time, and his state of mind was much calmer, as he carefully sensed the surroundings and operated the Time Laws.
In the blink of an eye, five or six hundred years passed.
Han Li slowly opened his eyes, a hint of joy flashing in his gaze.
After these years of cultivation and contemplation, he had discovered some things he hadn't noticed before.
Firstly, he had basically understood the principle behind the formation of this time difference space.
The formation of this time difference space still relied on the power of the Jun Tian Ri Hu, the Jun Tian Ri Hu had disappeared, but its contained Time Laws' powers and divine abilities hadn't been lost, they had just merged with the Zhen Yan Bao Lun, making the current Zhen Yan Bao Lun equivalent to the Jun Tian Ri Hu.
That's why the Zhen Yan Bao Lun could resonate with the Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array, creating a time difference space.
However, his "Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue" and the Guan Yin Tian Xuan Grand Array had produced a strange effect, amplifying the time acceleration to ten thousand times. Secondly, there was the issue of the time-space consumption. Originally, the Light of Years Array required the consumption of celestial stones and time law power to activate.
The integration of the Supreme Heavenly Sundial and the True Words Treasure Wheel had made the new time-space the same, except that the time law power was no longer provided by the Years of Time Lamp, which had already merged with the Time Severing Torch.
The time law power of the time-space was now provided by his spiritual domain.
Having successively merged the Years of Time Lamp, the Supreme Heavenly Sundial, and the Two Lives God Tree, Han Li's spiritual domain now contained an immense amount of time law power, more than enough to support the operation of the Light of Years Array.
Moreover, even if the time law power in his spiritual domain was exhausted, as long as he was given some time, he could recover.
Han Li had always been worried about the time law power in the Years of Time Lamp being exhausted, and having to find new time law objects to supply the Light of Years Array.
Now, this problem had been solved, and he no longer had to worry.
However, it was also because of the integration of the Supreme Heavenly Sundial and the Years of Time Lamp into his spiritual domain that the current time-space had certain limitations.
Han Li raised his hand, and the golden sun transformed from the Time Severing Torch flew down, stopping in front of him.
The golden sun's golden flames were rolling, but through the golden flames, one could see over a hundred and eighty time law patterns, except that five or six of them had already dimmed.
The existence of the spiritual domain had its own limitations, and once all the time law patterns had dimmed, the spiritual domain would automatically dissolve. Now that the spiritual domain and the Light of Years Array had formed a time-space, the situation should still be the same.
This meant that Han Li had found a way to dissolve the time-space.
However, this method was too rigid and inflexible, and in case of an emergency, he couldn't respond immediately, so it was not feasible.
He waved his hand, and the golden sun flew out, returning to the sky.
Han Li raised his five fingers, and five golden lights shot out from his fingertips.
The golden lights contained countless golden runes, emitting an incredibly powerful five-element law power.
He muttered to himself, and his hands flew quickly to form a seal. The five golden lights rotated rapidly, transforming into five golden rings, emitting an explosive increase in time law power, before entering the golden moon, the golden sun, the lush forest, the surging river, and the golden sand.
The golden moon, the golden sun, the lush forest, the surging river, and the golden sand glowed simultaneously, and the entire spiritual domain roared to life, impacting the sealing power outside.
The spiritual domain space immediately shook, but that was all, and no matter how hard it tried, the sealing power outside remained unbreakable.
Not far away, Qi Hong, who was meditating with his eyes closed, was startled awake, but seeing Han Li's serious expression, he did not speak, standing quietly beside him.
The entire spiritual domain was like a stormy sea, but the sealing power outside remained firm, unmoving, and the spiritual light around the Light of Years Array flashed violently, as if it was about to collapse.
"It seems that relying solely on brute force is still not enough," Han Li hastily stopped the impact.
If he continued, the sealing power outside would not be broken, and the Light of Years Array would be destroyed first.
Although that would also dissolve the time-space, he was looking for another solution.
Han Li looked around his spiritual domain, frowning, but not discouraged.
After observing for five or six hundred years, he still hadn't discovered the reason for the spiritual domain being sealed, but he had some ideas about how to dissolve this sealing.
Han Li waved his hand, and a golden light flew out, enveloping the celestial stones near the Light of Years Array, before returning. All the celestial stones disappeared, taken away by him.
Han Li then formed a seal with his hands, and the golden light on his body rapidly dimmed, his spiritual energy and time law power completely withdrawing, severing his connection with the spiritual domain.
The spiritual domain was formed using his spiritual energy, and as long as the source was cut off, the spiritual domain should automatically close.
Han Li made this move, and the nearby spiritual domain immediately flashed, as if it was about to close.
He saw this scene, and his heart was filled with joy.
But at this moment, a massive devouring power emerged from the surrounding spiritual domain, and Han Li's hidden spiritual energy was instantly pulled out, re-entering the surrounding spiritual domain.
The flashing spiritual domain immediately stabilized.
Moreover, since the Light of Years Array no longer had celestial stones to supply it, it began to frantically absorb the spiritual energy from the spiritual domain.
Under the dual absorption, Han Li's spiritual energy rapidly decreased.
He narrowed his eyes, allowing his spiritual energy to be drawn out.
Han Li concentrated his mind, holding his breath, wanting to see if the spiritual domain would continue to operate after his spiritual energy was depleted.
He had advanced to the Great Luo Realm, and his spiritual energy was incredibly deep, but under the dual absorption of the spiritual domain and the Light of Years Array, it was still depleted after a small half-day.
However, the absorption of the spiritual domain and the Light of Years Array did not stop, and they continued to crazily extract his spiritual energy.
Han Li's body was quickly drained of its spiritual energy, but the devouring force did not stop, instead it continued to squeeze out his body's thick blood force, and then devour it.
He gritted his teeth and struggled to hold on, but the surrounding spiritual realm did not dissipate even though his spiritual energy was depleted. The devouring force instead grew stronger, as if it would not rest until it had sucked him dry.
"No!" Han Li's heart tightened, and he was about to take out the spiritual stones and put them back near the Guang Yin Tian Xuan great array.
But just as he was about to do so, a sudden change occurred!
The surrounding spiritual realm suddenly fluctuated, and a powerful devouring force several times stronger than before enveloped him, seeping into his body and penetrating his meridians.
Han Li's body immediately became stiff, and he couldn't even move a finger.
"What's going on!" he exclaimed, trying to mobilize his body's energy, but to no avail.
His body's blood force was quickly devoured, and his body began to weaken, his mind becoming cloudy and disoriented, as if he was about to fall asleep.
Tie Xuan saw this and, although she didn't know what was happening, she felt that Han Li's situation was not good.
"Master!" she cried out, rushing towards Han Li.
But just as she did, a strong golden light burst out of Han Li's body, forming a turbulent golden wave that sent Tie Xuan flying.
Innumerable golden lights burst out of Han Li's body, surging wildly in all directions.
At this moment, Han Li's eyes were closed, and he seemed to be in a half-dream, half-awake state.
"Whoosh!" The golden lights suddenly reversed direction and formed a golden sphere about a zhang high, enveloping Han Li.
Innumerable golden symbols danced around the sphere, emitting a sense of completion and perfection, repelling the devouring force emanating from the spiritual realm.
Han Li's body, which had been rapidly losing its blood force, suddenly stopped, and he jolted awake.
He steadied himself and looked at the golden sphere surrounding him, a hint of surprise in his eyes.
The next moment, a profound and mysterious law of the universe flowed into his mind from the golden sphere.
Han Li's mind was like a thunderclap, as the entire Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue cultivation technique flowed through his mind, along with the words of advice from Mi Luo Old Ancestor, and his own past insights and understandings of the technique.
All these insights merged into one, forming a complete whole.
"The Five Elements revolve, endless and unceasing..." Han Li's eyes were half-open, half-closed, and he pushed his right hand forward.
A thick golden light burst out of his palm, containing a multitude of time law crystals.
Han Li had collected various materials to refine the time law crystals, and after advancing to the Da Luo realm, he had produced many more. Now, he had a total of 330 time law crystals.
The golden light swirled and converged on a single point, and the time law crystals wrapped around it.
A powerful time law fluctuation erupted, and the golden light and crystals disappeared, transforming into a golden sphere the size of a human head, radiating boundless time law fluctuations.
The golden sphere flew out and merged with the surrounding spiritual realm.
The entire spiritual realm violently shook, and the Guang Yin Tian Xuan great array stopped operating.
Han Li's vision blurred, and he found himself back in the flower branch space.
The golden sphere surrounding him had disappeared, and he collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.
At this moment, his face was deathly pale, but his eyes shone with joy.
He had finally escaped from that space.
The golden sphere formed by the time law seemed to be the legendary ultimate form of the law, the Law Sphere.
Mi Luo Old Ancestor had once told Han Li that the law had several forms, including law crystals, law rings, and the ultimate form, the Law Sphere.
Only by truly understanding the law to a high level could one display the divine power of the Law Sphere.
Who would have thought that he would attain this level after his narrow escape?
"Master, are you okay? I was scared to death!" Tie Xuan rushed over and supported Han Li's body.
Han Li nodded to Tie Xuan, indicating that he was fine, and then took out two recovery pills and swallowed them, followed by cultivating to refine the medicinal energy.
Tie Xuan saw that Han Li was weak and didn't continue to cultivate, instead sitting down to guard him.
The heaven and earth energy in the flower branch space converged towards Han Li, and at the same time, a multitude of heaven and earth energies from the outside space permeated the flower branch space.
Not only that, but various other energies, including fire, lightning, wood, and demonic energy, also flowed into his body.
A Da Luo realm cultivator's control over the heaven and earth energy was far more refined than before.
Da Luo, the realm of eternal freedom and containment of all space.
This realm was no trivial matter! Han Li slowly opened his eyes, his face restored to its normal color, and the energy of his body had fully recovered.
After advancing to the Great Luo realm, he could now absorb the energy of the heavens and earth, and his injuries healed at an incredible rate. Moreover, the East Elixir Divine Tree had merged with the Two Life Tree, allowing him to recover even more quickly.
The Two Life Tree seemed to have a restorative effect on physical injuries, and the East Elixir Divine Tree had inherited this property, which greatly benefited Han Li.
"Master, what happened earlier? Are you alright?" Qī Hún asked with concern.
"It's nothing, I just set up a new time-space difference, and it wasn't fully stable, causing a backlash. But it didn't cause any significant damage, just consuming a lot of my energy. I've fully recovered now," Han Li replied, not explaining the details to Qī Hún.
Qī Hún let out a sigh of relief. "As long as you're alright, that's all that matters."
Han Li smiled and turned to look at the distant Flower Branch Space. He raised his hand, and two golden lights shot out, enveloping Xiao Bai and the Jing Yan Tong Zi, bringing them to his side.
Han Li's control over his powers was now extremely refined, and Xiao Bai and the Jing Yan Tong Zi didn't even notice they had been moved. They continued to cultivate as usual.
Han Li waved his hand, and the Time Spirit Domain opened once more. The Light Shadow Heavenly Array combined with the domain, creating a time-space difference of a million times.
As the domain enveloped Xiao Bai, he suddenly became aware of his surroundings and looked around in surprise.
The Jing Yan Tong Zi was still refining the Three-Legged Golden Crow's demon core, completely absorbed in his cultivation.
"This is my new time-space difference, where time flows at a rate a million times faster than the outside world. You'll both cultivate here from now on," Han Li said calmly.
"A million times faster? That means if we cultivate for a million years here, only one year will pass in the outside world?" Xiao Bai exclaimed in shock.
"Master has recently grasped this divine ability, so let's go cultivate elsewhere and not disturb him," Qī Hún said, leading Xiao Bai to the side.
Han Li closed his eyes, calmed his mind, and began to circulate the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique".
He had been busy with various matters, especially the time-space difference, which had been troubling his mind.
Now that the problem was solved, he felt completely relaxed and could focus on his cultivation, aiming to break through to the next level.
Unfortunately, Han Li didn't have any suitable elixirs to consume, so he could only absorb the energy of the heavens and earth to cultivate. However, he had already opened most of his 1,800 spirit apertures, so breaking through to the next level would be relatively easier.
A golden light emanated from his body, enveloping his figure and condensing into a massive golden orb that pulsed like a giant heart.
As the orb pulsed, a concentrated energy of the heavens and earth flowed into it from all directions.
Time passed, and 180,000 years went by in the blink of an eye.
The time-space difference suddenly fluctuated, and the golden orb trembled before rapidly shrinking and disappearing, revealing Han Li's figure.
His body was still surrounded by a golden aura, with countless golden points of light, indicating that he had opened 460 spirit apertures.
Although he hadn't consumed any elixirs, Han Li had opened 100 spirit apertures in 180,000 years.
However, he didn't focus on this achievement, instead gazing at the air, his eyes fixed on the True Word Treasure Wheel. He raised his hand, and the wheel descended, stopping in front of him. The last temporal pattern on the wheel was slowly fading away.
"Indeed..." Han Li murmured to himself.
When the temporal pattern disappeared, the time-space difference would collapse.
He had opened 1,800 spirit apertures, and the time-space difference had lasted for 180,000 years. According to his calculations, each spirit aperture could maintain the time-space difference for about 100 years.
Han Li's eyes sparkled with thoughts, and he realized that he needed to increase the number of spirit apertures in his body.
At the same time, Qī Hún and Xiao Bai also regained their awareness.
Xiao Bai had fully refined his father's bloodline energy, and his aura was now entirely that of a human. His energy had increased significantly, almost reaching the mid-stage of the Great Luo realm.
Han Li sensed Xiao Bai's aura and couldn't help but feel a flash of surprise before quickly regaining his composure.
Xiao Bai, as the only heir of the Mò Yǎn Pí Xiū, had a close relationship with the White Emperor, who would naturally provide him with various cultivation resources.
Although 180,000 years of cultivation was a short period for a Great Luo realm cultivator, Xiao Bai's progress was still impressive.
Qī Hún's aura had also increased, but not as much as Xiao Bai's. However, her Dispersed Soul Ghost Flute had been fully refined, and the ghostly notes surrounding it were a testament to its power.
Han Li only glanced at the flute, and his mind was filled with the sound of ghostly wails. His divine sense was shaken, and he quickly calmed himself, looking away.
The Jing Yan Tong Zi had also stopped cultivating, and his energy had fully recovered. He had even become stronger, with flames dancing around his body, radiating intense light and heat.
"Everyone's strength has made great progress, not bad." Han Li's gaze swept over the three of them, Ti Hu, Xiao Bai, and Jing Yan Tongzi, and nodded in approval.
"Master has created such a good environment for us, if we don't work hard to cultivate, wouldn't that be ungrateful to you?" Ti Hu smiled.
"Master, why did you suddenly stop?" Xiao Bai asked.
He was in the middle of cultivating a secret technique, and just as he was about to reach the crucial point, he was interrupted, which made him feel unsatisfied.
"A thousandfold time difference space, isn't that something that can be set up easily? I estimate that it won't be possible to set it up again for a while." Han Li shook his head.
At this moment, the time dao patterns in his body had all become dim, and he needed time to slowly recover. Moreover...
Han Li turned to look at the Xian Yuan stone beside the Light Years Heavenly Array, which was almost depleted.
He had obtained the storage magic tool from Xi Tang, but the Xian Yuan stone inside was almost all gone, and had been used to purchase the Scattered Soul Ghost Flute.
The next time he wanted to use the time difference space, not only would he have to wait for the time dao patterns to recover, but he would also have to gather a large amount of Xian Yuan stone.
"If we recover to the same time flow as the outside world, it's unlikely that we'll have any significant breakthroughs in a short period of time." Xiao Bai sighed.
"You don't even thank Master for setting up the time difference space for us to cultivate, and yet you dare to speak in this tone." Ti Hu used the Scattered Soul Ghost Flute to knock on Xiao Bai's head.
A wail of ghostly energy invaded Xiao Bai's mind, causing his body to shudder.
"Ow!" Xiao Bai's divine soul felt like it had been bitten by a fierce ghost, and he jumped up in pain.
He wanted to pounce forward to retaliate, but after glancing at the Scattered Soul Ghost Flute, he didn't dare to.
"Alright, stop making a ruckus. Although I can't set up the time difference space, you can just consolidate your cultivation in the Flower Branch Space. I'll go take a look at the outside situation." Han Li separated Xiao Bai and Ti Hu, and then his figure flashed as he left the Flower Branch Space.
Ti Hu and Xiao Bai were just playing around, and didn't really want to fight. After Han Li left, they each found a place to sit down and continue cultivating.
Han Li went outside, and the few dao soldiers in the room were still there, without any abnormalities.
He nodded secretly, and looked out the window.
Below was a golden mountain range, shining brightly, and even the trees and plants had a golden color.
From this landscape, he couldn't determine where the Sun and Moon Divine Boat was currently located, so he opened the door and walked out.
However, he returned to the room in a short while.
Just now, he had gone out to ask around, and the Sun and Moon Divine Boat had already flown more than half the distance. If nothing unexpected happened, it would take around ten years to reach the Ninth Heaven City.
Han Li didn't return to the Flower Branch Space. Without the time difference space, it was all the same, and staying outside allowed him to respond to any unexpected movements of the Sun and Moon Divine Boat.
He sat down on the bed, crossed his legs, and took out a stack of jade slips.
These were the intelligence reports he had gathered in the Golden City, regarding the Great Golden Source Heavenly Domain and the Ninth Heaven Observatory. Although these reports were just trivial matters, it was always good to know more.
"Ah, what about that white-clothed nun?" Han Li's eyes lit up as he suddenly remembered something.
He had been so busy cultivating in the Flower Branch Space that he had almost forgotten about her.
Han Li's eyes gleamed with purple-black light as he looked towards the wall beside him.
The wall had a restrictive formation, and the room next door also had a restrictive formation, but how could they block Han Li's Nine Underworld Demon Eyes? The situation inside was clearly visible to him.
The white-clothed nun and the others were just sitting quietly, without anything happening.
Han Li's face was thoughtful, considering whether he should find an opportunity to directly ask the white-clothed nun if she was indeed Yu Meng Han, rather than just guessing.
At this moment, a commotion came from outside.
"Hmm, what's happening?" Han Li's eyebrows rose.
The wall in the room flashed with blue light, and a round light shadow appeared, with blue symbols forming a simple blue magic array.
"We respectfully inform all fellow daoists that a fifth-level golden wind is approaching, but everyone doesn't need to worry, the divine boat's defensive restrictive formations are sufficient to withstand it. Please remain calm and stay in your respective rooms, don't move around." A gentle voice came from the blue magic array.
"Golden wind..." Han Li's eyes flashed.
He had also investigated some information about the Great Golden Source Heavenly Domain, and understood that the golden attribute yuan qi was extremely rich.
It was precisely because the golden attribute yuan qi was too rich that it would occasionally cause a disturbance, forming a kind of heavenly calamity called the golden wind.
The golden wind's power varied, depending on its level, and the Great Golden Source Heavenly Domain divided it into nine levels, from lowest to highest.
A fifth-level golden wind was already quite powerful, but the Sun and Moon Divine Boat should be able to withstand it.
The voice from the magic array fell silent, and a loud rumbling sound came from the distance.
Han Li looked out the window, and saw a golden line appear in the distance, followed by a thunderous roar. The golden line quickly thickened, becoming a boundless golden windstorm.
The windstorm swept through, causing the entire space to fly sand and rocks, and a deafening roar echoed through the air. The mountains below were instantly destroyed, and countless golden rocks were swept up in the windstorm, rolling in with incredible speed. "Turns out this is the Golden Gale, its power is indeed not small." Han Li muttered to himself.
At this moment, the outer wall of the Sun Moon Divine Vessel flashed with blue light, and a thick layer of blue light condensed into a protective shield, covering the entire vessel.
The blue light shield flashed with countless star patterns, resembling the True Extreme Membrane of a Xian cultivator, giving off an unbreakable feeling.
Just as the Sun Moon Divine Vessel had deployed its shield, the Golden Gale stormed in.
The entire sky suddenly darkened, and then a loud, earth-shattering sound erupted, causing the Sun Moon Divine Vessel to violently shake and be blown away, with a scream coming from within.
At this moment, the restrictive talismans on the Sun Moon Divine Vessel glowed brightly, like a flowing star cloud, and quickly stabilized the vessel in the midst of the storm, continuing to move forward, albeit at a much slower speed.
Han Li, of course, was not intimidated by this minor event, and he carefully sensed the situation outside the Golden Gale with his divine sense.
At this moment, a figure flashed in the Flower Branch Space, and Ti Hou's figure flew out, landing in the room.
"Master, I sense a panicked emotion coming from outside, what's happening?" Ti Hou asked with a serious expression.
She immediately saw the Golden Gale raging outside the vessel, and her face revealed a look of surprise.
"It's just a special heavenly calamity in this Xian domain, the Sun Moon Divine Vessel has encountered it, so the passengers are a bit panicked." Han Li explained.
"Ah, I see." Ti Hou's expression relaxed.
"Ti Hou, you're here, I have something I want to ask of you. There's a female cultivator in the next room, who looks like an old friend I met in the lower realm, but it's been many years, and I'm not sure, can you help me investigate?" Han Li asked.
With Ti Hou's divine sense, it should be easy to investigate the Gold Xian cultivator from afar.
"No problem, who is it?" Ti Hou replied, slightly startled, and nodded.
"The white-robed nun in the next room." Han Li pointed to the adjacent room.
"She's a beauty, is she the master's love interest?" Ti Hou's divine sense swept towards the next room, and her small mouth pursed, her slender fingers intertwining.
"She's just an old friend, not someone I'm familiar with, otherwise I would have recognized her myself, and wouldn't have bothered you." Han Li shook his head and smiled.
"I'll just cast a spell to investigate." Ti Hou chuckled, nodded, and began to weave a spell with her hands.
But just as she was about to release the spell, Ti Hou's expression suddenly changed, and she let out a soft "ah" sound, stopping her hand.
"What's wrong?" Han Li asked.
"The people in the next room are quite strange, especially one of them, who's even more interesting." Ti Hou smiled mysteriously.
"Interesting?" Han Li was taken aback.
"I think they're about to make a move, Master, if you're interested, you can come and take a look, we can investigate later." Ti Hou smiled enigmatically.
Han Li's interest was piqued, and he turned his Jiu You Magic Eye towards the next room.
In the next room, the white-robed nun and the others had stopped their cultivation, looking at the raging Golden Gale outside with fear in their eyes.
They were all Gold Xian cultivators, and if they were outside at this moment, they would likely be reduced to dust.
The Golden Gale was getting stronger, and golden wind blades began to appear, slashing at the Sun Moon Divine Vessel's blue shield.
"Boom boom boom..." The sound of countless explosions echoed, releasing boundless flames, but the blue shield remained unbroken.
However, the shield couldn't block the deafening sound, which penetrated into the Sun Moon Divine Vessel, causing the passengers with lower cultivation to feel their qi and blood churning, and they felt extremely uncomfortable.
The white-robed nun and the others' room was near the ship's wall, and the sound was the loudest, so they had set up over a dozen layers of restrictive talismans, and even taken out their own magical instruments to protect themselves, but unfortunately, they had little effect against this heavenly calamity.
The group's faces were all pale, and they could only grit their teeth and endure.
"Ah!" The gray-robed old man's face suddenly turned red, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, his aura becoming disordered.
"Brother Sun, are you okay?" The red-robed woman nearby asked anxiously.
The black-robed youth looked over, his face filled with concern.
The white-robed nun's eyes flickered, but her expression remained calm, without any change.
The triangular-eyed man glanced at the gray-robed old man, and his eyes flashed with disdain.
"It's nothing, I was injured in a battle some time ago, and my internal injuries haven't healed yet, the shock just triggered my old wounds." The gray-robed old man took a deep breath, and waved his hand.
The red-robed woman and the black-robed youth's faces relaxed.
"Everyone, this Golden Gale will continue for a while, and if we keep getting shaken like this, we'll all suffer internal injuries. I have a spatial magical instrument that can protect us from this shock." The gray-robed old man took out a pill and swallowed it, hesitated for a moment, and then said.
The Spatial Immortal Artifact? That's great, Brother Sun, please deploy it quickly, this noise is really unbearable," said the red-clad woman.
"Brother Sun, if you have any divine abilities, please assist us," said the black-robed youth, his face also filled with pain.
"Brother Sun's words seem to have left something unsaid, this immortal artifact is quite troublesome to activate," said the triangular-eyed man, his brow furrowing.
"Brother Lian's words are not wrong, this immortal artifact is a broken five-grade artifact, its restrictions are damaged, and it's difficult to activate, requiring the five of us to work together to deploy it, and it will consume a lot of our spiritual energy, I don't know if the four of you are willing to lend me a hand?" said the gray-robed elder.
"Consuming some spiritual energy is better than enduring this suffering," said the triangular-eyed man, a hint of greed flashing in his eyes before disappearing.
The red-clad woman and the black-robed youth also nodded in agreement, only the white-robed nun remained silent.
"Yu Xianzi, what's your intention?" asked the gray-robed elder, looking at the white-robed nun.
The white-robed nun's eyebrows furrowed, seemingly hesitant.
But the golden wind blades outside the flying boat grew denser, and the sounds transmitted inside grew louder, shaking her heart and making her almost breathless.
"Since Brother Sun's immortal artifact can let us avoid this noise, I'll naturally lend my strength," said the white-robed nun, her voice like a gentle stream, exceptionally melodious.
Han Li heard the white-robed nun's voice for the first time and his eyes lit up.
This voice was almost identical to Yu Menghan's.
With a similar face, name, and voice, it was unlikely to be a coincidence, and he was now 90% sure that this woman was Yu Menghan.
"Good, let's start quickly," said the gray-robed elder, delighted, and spat out a small, dark red three-legged cauldron.
The cauldron's design was ancient and simple, with half of its surface carved with simple patterns of flowers, birds, insects, and fish, and the other half inscribed with dense, glowing ancient characters.
Unfortunately, one of the cauldron's legs was broken, slightly ruining its overall aesthetic.
Han Li examined the cauldron and nodded slightly, it seemed to be an extraordinary treasure.
But just as he was about to speak, his body suddenly shook, and his eyes locked onto the ancient characters on the cauldron, his face revealing a strange expression, with a mix of surprise and excitement.
"Master, what's wrong?" asked Ti Hu, noticing Han Li's unusual behavior.
But Han Li didn't respond to Ti Hu's question, as if he hadn't heard it.
The gray-robed elder spat out a stream of golden light, which entered the cauldron, and simultaneously, his hands flew quickly, shooting out a barrage of magical seals that entered the cauldron.
The cauldron's mouth suddenly emitted a dark red glow, like a liquid spreading outward, but at a slow pace.
"Everyone, quickly lend me a hand, and use your spiritual energy to activate the cauldron!" shouted the gray-robed elder.
The red-clad woman and the others heard his words and raised their hands, each shooting out a stream of spiritual energy that entered the three-legged cauldron.
The cauldron violently shook, emitting a powerful suction force.
The five people's spiritual energy immediately surged out, and within a few breaths, 30% of it was absorbed.
Fortunately, the cauldron's suction force soon slowed down, and with a loud rumble, the dark red glow burst out, instantly filling the entire room and enveloping the five people.
Enveloped by the dark red glow, the outside noise disappeared, and the white-robed nun and the others' faces relaxed.
"Thank you, everyone..." said the gray-robed elder, turning to the other four with a smile.
But just as he spoke, a green shadow flashed before him, and a soft sound was heard, as a dark green snake-shaped sword pierced the gray-robed elder's abdomen.
A series of green glows erupted from the sword, wrapping around the elder's body.
The gray-robed elder's skin instantly turned green, and with a thud, he fell to the ground, his breath gone.
Then, a figure appeared, and the triangular-eyed man's shadowy form materialized beside the three-legged cauldron, his hand bursting out with a yellow glow that transformed into a large yellow hand, grasping the cauldron.
A series of rapid changes occurred, and the other three people only reacted after a moment.
"Li, what are you doing?" shouted the black-robed youth, his face filled with anger.
The white-robed nun and the red-clad woman were also shocked and angry, but didn't speak.
The triangular-eyed man coldly smiled, not responding to the three people, and with a wave of his hand, the yellow hand holding the cauldron began to retract.
But just as he did, the dark red glow that had filled the room suddenly collapsed, enveloping the five people's bodies, and then rapidly shot back into the cauldron.
Neither the white-robed nun and the others, nor the triangular-eyed man, had time to react, as they were all sucked into the cauldron, disappearing from sight.
The room was left with only the dark red cauldron floating in the air. At this moment, the room's void fluctuated, and Han Li and Qi Hun's figures appeared.
Han Li's expression had returned to calmness, but he still stared at the ancient text on the small, dark red cauldron.
"This cauldron actually has the ability to capture and store, it seems it's not an ordinary spatial artifact. However, those people have all been captured inside the cauldron, what should we do now? Wait for them to come out?" Qi Hun also examined the small cauldron, then asked.
Han Li didn't speak, remaining silent for a moment before opening his mouth to spew out a cluster of cyan flames, enveloping the three-legged small cauldron and intensely burning it.
...
White-clothed nun and the others' vision blurred, and the next moment they appeared in a dark red space.
This space was quite large, approximately 20-30 li in size, with the ground and sky both presenting a dark red color, giving off an intense pressure. The air was filled with a chilling aura, making them feel uncomfortable.
The group appeared on a broad square in the center of the space, surrounded by nine dark red stone pillars, each several dozen zhang high. The pillars were engraved with complex array patterns, seemingly forming a large array.
Unfortunately, three of the stone pillars were broken, and the array patterns had also collapsed.
Nearby, a series of majestic buildings stood, almost filling the dark red space. However, most of the buildings had collapsed, with many large craters and massive fissures on the ground, indicating that a brutal battle had taken place here.
The four individuals were shocked by the sudden change, and momentarily forgot about their animosity, instead looking around cautiously.
At this moment, the gray-robed old man's corpse suddenly inflated, transforming into a blood-red, flesh-like tumor, roughly a zhang in size, with fresh blood and green spots scattered about, looking extremely terrifying.
The triangular-eyed man and the others saw this scene, their faces changing, and hastily retreated.
However, the blood-red tumor suddenly came to life, rolling and chasing after the triangular-eyed man, its speed surpassing his. In an instant, it closed the distance to within a dozen zhang.
The triangular-eyed man was shocked, and a green glow flashed on his body. He turned around and shot towards the left rear, his finger pointing.
A green light shot out from his sleeve, and the green snake sword flew out, transforming into a hundred-zhang-long green sword light, slashing towards the blood-red tumor.
Unexpectedly, the sword light hadn't reached the tumor when it suddenly exploded, releasing a massive blood-red energy wave mixed with fragments of flesh, sweeping across an area of several hundred zhang.
The triangular-eyed man's heart was filled with shock, and he spat out a cluster of black light, transforming into a flower-patterned, ancient black shield, blocking the front of his body.
The next moment, a loud explosion sounded, and the energy wave swept towards him, sending him flying several thousand zhang away, shield and all.
Although the black shield had blocked the energy wave, the contained power still sent the triangular-eyed man's blood surging.
As he was about to suppress his energy, a cold aura attacked him from behind, and the nine golden knives suddenly shot out, already mere inches from his back.
The golden knives were thin as a cicada's wing, with a strange, double-headed beast carving on the handle, emitting a piercingly cold aura.
The triangular-eyed man was shocked, and his shoulders shook. A green light screen shot out from his body, welcoming the nine golden knives, while he dodged to the side.
However, at this moment, the double-headed beast carving on the knife handle suddenly opened its mouth, releasing nine golden sound waves that enveloped the triangular-eyed man.
The triangular-eyed man's face contorted in pain, his body momentarily frozen.
At this moment, the nine golden knives' light suddenly expanded, intersecting with each other, forming a golden knife array that enveloped the green light screen. With a swift motion, it tore the screen apart, turning it into fragments.
The golden knife array then enveloped the triangular-eyed man, and with another swift motion, it sliced his body into seven or eight pieces, fresh blood splattering everywhere.
A green light shot out from the triangular-eyed man's remains, fleeing towards the distance, which was actually his nascent soul.
However, at this moment, a figure appeared out of thin air, extending a golden hand, and grasping the green nascent soul. It was the black-robed youth.
"Hah! Lian Yun, you dared to be arrogant towards me earlier, but now you've finally fallen into my hands! You'll be begging for mercy, but I'll make you suffer for a hundred years, trapped in the yin fire, unable to live or die!" The black-robed youth sneered, his face twisted in cruelty.
From afar, the white-clothed nun saw the black-robed youth's cruel expression, her brow furrowed, and a hint of disgust flashed in her eyes. However, she suppressed it, and together with the red-dressed young woman, flew towards him.
"Brother Tie, Lian Yun was greedy and despicable, stealing and killing Sun Brother. He deserved to die. However, this place is filled with strange energies, so let's first join forces to investigate." The white-clothed nun said.
"Agreed." The black-robed youth hastily composed himself, and stored away the green nascent soul and the nine golden knives.
He waved his hand, sending a golden light towards the triangular-eyed man's remains, aiming to retrieve his storage pouch and the green snake sword.
However, at this moment, the ground on the square suddenly emitted a dark red glow, and then vanished, taking the triangular-eyed man's remains and the green snake sword with it.
The black-robed youth's golden light grasped at nothing, and he was left stunned.
The white-clothed nun's face also changed, her eyes rapidly scanning the surroundings.
"Lian Yun indeed deserved to die, but there's no need to investigate this place. You two should just surrender." A voice suddenly echoed, and the void in front of them fluctuated, revealing a figure - the gray-robed old man, who smiled and said.
Sun Daoist, weren't you killed by Lianyan?" The black-robed youth's face was filled with shock as he saw the old man.
"Two of you..." The white-robed female nun's face also showed surprise, and then she remembered the gray-robed old man's words. Her expression suddenly changed.
She transformed into a white shadow and shot towards the side. A thin red light grazed her body but didn't hit her.
A thin red light also appeared behind the black-robed youth, piercing through his chest.
With a loud "bang," the black-robed youth's chest exploded, and fresh blood sprayed from his mouth. He fell to the ground, his breathing chaotic.
Behind the two, the red-robed woman lowered her hand, her face expressionless. Her hands still had remnants of the red light.
"You're in cahoots with each other!" The white-robed female nun's shadow flashed, appearing several hundred feet away. Her eyebrows were inverted as she shouted.
"Ha ha, Yu Xianzi is indeed clever, but this is my territory. You can struggle all you want, but it's useless." The gray-robed old man smiled faintly and raised his hand.
The array patterns on the six stone pillars surrounding the square suddenly lit up, and a sharp, shrill sound filled the air. Countless dark red lights shot out from the pillars, weaving together into a massive light net that descended towards the white-robed female nun.
At the same time, a giant, grotesque face appeared on one of the stone pillars, its mouth open wide. It spat out a dark red light that enveloped the black-robed youth on the ground.
The black-robed youth, who had been trying to struggle, was immediately immobilized by the light.
The white-robed female nun's face changed as she saw this scene. She shot towards the outside of the square, and her body was surrounded by a purple electric glow that expanded rapidly, forming a purple lightning spirit domain.
Innumerable purple electric snakes swirled within the domain, and the electric arcs at the center of the vortex were blindingly bright.
A thunderous roar filled the air!
The purple lightning within the domain suddenly gathered at the center of the vortex, and in the next instant, a blinding lightning sword shot out, carrying boundless power as it struck the dark red light net.
The dark red light net was torn apart, and the white-robed female nun flew out from the spirit domain, about to escape through the opening.
"You underestimate me, but what use is your spirit domain here?" The gray-robed old man raised an eyebrow, then laughed and stretched out his hand.
A dark red mountain peak suddenly appeared in the sky, pressing down on the spirit domain. The domain shattered, and the white-robed female nun's body was frozen in place before plummeting to the ground.
The stone pillar nearest to her displayed a giant, grotesque face that spat out a dark red light, enveloping the white-robed female nun's body.
A strange power emanated from the light, and the white-robed female nun's body became immobile, just like the black-robed youth.
The gray-robed old man slowly descended, standing on the square. The red-robed woman also landed beside him, her face expressionless and wooden, like a puppet.
"Sun Chongshan, this is all your doing, isn't it? You've been plotting to lure us into this space. What do you plan to do?" The white-robed female nun looked at the red-robed woman, her voice stern.
The gray-robed old man ignored the white-robed female nun's question and waved his hand. A black storage ring and a green snake sword appeared before him, belonging to the three-eyed man.
At the same time, the white-robed female nun and the black-robed youth's storage devices flew out, landing in the gray-robed old man's hands.
"Excellent, excellent, a great harvest!" The old man's eyes gleamed with excitement as he examined the storage devices.
"You want to murder us for our wealth? Don't forget, the Day and Night Divine Vessel has strict regulations. Boarding and disembarking require verification of each room's occupants. You can't kill us here and expect to escape punishment from the Day and Night Alliance." The white-robed female nun's face darkened.
The black-robed youth's face also turned pale.
"Hehe, Yu Xianzi, don't worry. I won't kill you, but I'll turn you into the puppet spirits of the Nine-Nine Yan Luo Array. From the outside, you'll look no different from before, just like this." The gray-robed old man sneered, then pointed his finger.
Another stone pillar displayed a giant, grotesque face that spat out a light, which enveloped the ground. The three-eyed man's corpse appeared, and then was sucked into the ghostly face's mouth.
The ghostly face chewed for a moment, and then spat out the three-eyed man, who looked identical to before, with the same aura and expression. However, his eyes were dull and lifeless, just like the red-robed woman.
"How's that? Will the Day and Night Alliance discover any flaws?" The gray-robed old man laughed smugly. “Ah, this is indeed a remarkable method, truly eye-opening.” A voice suddenly appeared, echoing through the square.
“Who is that?” The gray-robed old man’s face changed color, his eyes scanning the surroundings as he rapidly made hand seals, seemingly urging something into action.
However, there was no unusual occurrence in the surroundings, and instead, the dark red glow enveloping the white-robed female nun and the black-robed young man suddenly flashed and disappeared.
The light from the array patterns on the stone pillars surrounding the square also flashed and extinguished, and the massive blood-red peak in the air vanished, restoring the dark red space to calmness.
The white-robed female nun and the black-robed young man hastily stood up, looking around in all directions.
“How is this possible? The Yama Tripod is mine! I had already completed the ritual, how could it be taken away from me?” The gray-robed old man’s face contorted in a fierce scowl, his voice hoarse with rage.
He made vigorous hand seals, but the surrounding space did not respond in the slightest.
“Ah, this treasure is called the Yama Tripod? Not bad, not bad.” Two figures suddenly appeared in mid-air, Han Li and Qiuhun, slowly descending.
“Are you two! You dare to steal my Yama Tripod, you will die!” The gray-robed old man saw the two and hesitated for a moment, but his eyes soon turned blood-red, and he swung his hands wildly.
“Boom!” A loud explosion sounded!
Dozens of dazzling treasured lights shot out from his body, mostly high-grade immortal artifacts, as well as some powerful talismans, lightning pearls, and fire pearls, all hurtling towards Han Li.
Standing beside Han Li, Qiuhun stepped forward, his body radiating a blinding black light. With a single push, a massive black light sphere, dozens of meters in size, shot out, enveloping the gray-robed old man’s immortal artifacts and talismans.
Those immortal artifacts and talismans slowed down, as if trapped in a quagmire, unable to move.
Qiuhun then raised his sleeve, and the black light sphere, along with the objects inside, flew into his sleeve, disappearing without a trace.
“Who...who are you two?” The gray-robed old man’s face turned pale, his voice trembling with fear.
The white-robed female nun and the black-robed young man, witnessing this scene, felt a sudden change in their expressions, sensing the unfathomable aura emanating from Han Li and Qiuhun.
“With your cultivation, you possess so many immortal artifacts and treasures, it seems you have become quite skilled at killing and plundering.” Han Li glanced at the gray-robed old man, his voice detached.
The gray-robed old man’s face turned even paler, his body trembling uncontrollably.
“Thank you, esteemed seniors, for saving us.” The white-robed female nun and the black-robed young man hastily approached Han Li, bowing in gratitude.
Han Li glanced at the black-robed young man, raised his hand, and with a wave, the young man vanished, leaving the area.
The white-robed female nun, witnessing this, felt a slight tremble in her body, her expression becoming even more respectful.
People with extremely high cultivation often have peculiar habits, and it’s best not to offend them.
“What is your name?” Han Li walked towards the white-robed female nun, asking.
“Reporting to senior, my name is Yu Menghan.” Yu Menghan hastily replied.
“Looking at your aura, you are a cultivator from the lower realms who ascended to the immortal realm. Which realm did you ascend from?” Han Li asked, his voice calm.
Yu Menghan hesitated for a moment before answering, “Senior, I indeed ascended from the lower realms, and my origin is the Linghuan Realm.”
“Indeed, you are from the Linghuan Realm. You possess a unique aura from that realm, and I also have a connection to the Linghuan Realm. It seems we have a predestined relationship. I see that you have a considerable amount of Lei Yuan energy accumulated within you, likely due to consuming a certain heavenly treasure with lightning attributes. Unfortunately, your current cultivation method is not particularly impressive. I have a lightning-attribute cultivation method here, which I will gift to you, hoping you won’t waste this opportunity.” Han Li smiled faintly, handing Yu Menghan a purple jade slip.
The jade slip contained a lightning-based cultivation method from the “Five Thunder True Scripture.”
Yu Menghan was taken aback, feeling a sense of familiarity with the person before her, but couldn’t quite recall where she had met him before.
Han Li didn’t say anything else, raised his hand, and with a wave, Yu Menghan’s figure disappeared, leaving the area.
“That person isn’t your friend, Master? Why didn’t you reveal your true identity and meet with her?” Qiuhun’s voice echoed in Han Li’s mind.
“Times have changed, and now is not the time for me to reveal my true identity and meet with her. It’s better to settle this karma and let things be.” Han Li shook his head, his voice calm.
Qiuhun smiled faintly, not saying anything else.
Han Li turned his attention to the gray-robed old man, walking towards him.
“Senior... junior is guilty of countless crimes, and I was blinded by my own desires. I am willing to return the Yama Tripod to you, please give me a chance to redeem myself.” The gray-robed old man knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly.
“Don’t worry, I’m not here to seek revenge. Whatever wrongs you committed in the past have nothing to do with me. I have a few questions for you, answer them honestly, and I might spare your life.” Han Li said calmly.
He wasn’t a righteous cultivator, and he had committed his share of wrongdoings, but he only targeted those who had malicious intentions towards him, unlike the gray-robed old man, who killed for treasures.
The old man in gray robes was overjoyed and quickly replied, "This tripod, you are from where?"
Han Li asked in a deep voice.
"I report to my senior, this tripod was obtained by me in a relic within the Tian Shang Xian Domain," the old man in gray robes replied respectfully.
"Tian Shang Xian Domain?" Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, as he had never heard of this domain despite his extensive knowledge of the various xian domains.
"It's a small xian domain, and the spiritual energy is sparse, with few resources. The Tian Court has abandoned it, and there is no cross-domain transmission array set up there, so few people know about it. I was being pursued by enemies back then, and I was swallowed by a spatial rift while fleeing, and I accidentally arrived there," the old man in gray robes explained.
"Ah, you're quite frank," Han Li said, glancing at the old man in gray robes.
"I dare not speak falsely to my senior," the old man in gray robes said, lowering his head.
"I saw the name 'Yan Luo Zhi Fu' on the tripod's inscription, do you know this place?" Han Li asked, his eyes narrowing.
He had been paying attention to the old man in gray robes and his companions, even going so far as to consume his own energy to use the "True Word Transcendence Technique" to forcibly take control of the tripod. The reason for this was the four characters "Yan Luo Zhi Fu" on the tripod.
Since his last journey through time and space, he had been searching for information about Yan Luo Zhi Fu, but unfortunately, he had found nothing.
Today, he had finally found a lead, and he was not about to let it slip away.
"Yan Luo Zhi Fu? I've never heard of this name, perhaps it's a place in the Tian Shang Xian Domain. It's said to be near the Nine Underworlds, and there are many places with the name 'Yan Luo'," the old man in gray robes said.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed as he listened, and he glanced at Qi Huan.
Qi Huan nodded slightly.
"You're answering honestly, I'll keep my promise and spare your life for now. You can stay here for the time being, and after some time, take me to the Tian Shang Xian Domain. When the time comes, I'll let you go," Han Li said.
The old man in gray robes was overjoyed and quickly agreed.
Han Li waved his hand, and the old man in gray robes' eyes turned black as he fell to the ground, unconscious.
Han Li didn't bother with him anymore and looked around the dark red space, his gaze finally falling on the six stone stele surrounding the plaza.
"These stone stele are quite extraordinary, containing a strange and ancient power. I wonder what kind of law it is that can revive the dead?" Qi Huan's beautiful eyes sparkled with interest.
"Although there are three thousand great dao, in reality, there are countless laws in the world. How can we possibly know them all? You mentioned earlier that one of the Sun family members was interesting, was it Sun Zhongshan?" Han Li sighed and changed the subject.
"No, I meant her," Qi Huan pointed to a woman in red robes standing nearby.
Han Li followed Qi Huan's pointing finger and was taken aback.
"Her spirit and soul are completely different from those of a normal person, containing a strange and ancient death energy. Now I know, it's because of these six stone stele," Qi Huan continued.
"This treasure has a yin-cold attribute, which isn't suitable for me. You can take control of it. Since you're interested in this place, research it thoroughly, and also keep an eye on Sun Zhongshan," Han Li said, his eyes not showing any interest.
He waved his hand, and a dark red light enveloped Qi Huan's body.
"Thank you, Master, for the treasure," Qi Huan was overjoyed and quickly bowed in gratitude.
Han Li didn't stay any longer and left the area, returning to his residence without meeting with Yu Meng Han again.
Qi Huan also returned to her residence and sat down next to Han Li, researching the tripod.
Outside, the golden wind continued to blow, but the Day and Night Divine Vessel had already passed the most difficult period and was moving forward at a faster pace.
About half a month later, the Day and Night Divine Vessel finally passed through the golden wind disaster and returned to its original speed, continuing towards the Nine Yuan City.
Ten years passed quickly, and the Day and Night Divine Vessel finally arrived at the Nine Yuan City.
Han Li stood in front of the window, looking at the giant city in the distance. Despite having seen many magnificent cities and regions, he was still shocked.
The Nine Yuan City gave him the first impression of being incredibly tall, with city walls that stretched up to several tens of thousands of feet, rivaling the nearby towering peaks. The city walls seemed to be a natural barrier, blocking the view, and the entire city was like a massive beast, sprawling across the land.
The second impression was of its vastness, as the Nine Yuan City's area was boundless, stretching beyond his line of sight. The city walls continued to stretch out, engulfing the surrounding mountains.
The city's streets were countless, with people flowing like a river, and the city's aura was dense, with a profusion of spiritual energy.
Han Li took a deep breath and withdrew his gaze, sitting down in a cross-legged position.
The Day and Night Divine Vessel descended from the sky and landed in the city.
Half an hour later, Han Li walked out of a high tower in the city, blending in with the crowd.
The high tower was filled with people, and a white-robed nun, Yu Meng Han, walked out quickly, looking around as if searching for someone. She didn't find anyone and showed a disappointed expression, standing still for a moment before walking away.
Han Li walked quickly through the streets, his movements swift and confident.
Although he was visiting the Nine Yuan City for the first time, he moved with ease, without any hesitation.
Jiao San had informed him of the city's situation and the location of his lodgings. The streets were lined with tall and grand shops, selling all sorts of goods, including magical artifacts, elixirs, and materials. It seemed that the city was even more prosperous than the Golden City.
The city was bustling with activity, as if preparing for a grand festival. Many shops were decorating their storefronts.
Han Li's eyes flickered, but he didn't stop to investigate. He continued to walk quickly forward.
This was the territory of the Jiu Yuan Sect, and although he didn't feel like he was being watched, he couldn't shake the feeling that there were many eyes monitoring the city.
According to the information he had received from Jiao San, the safest place to stay was the designated location. He had to be extremely cautious when going anywhere else.
After half a day, Han Li arrived at a small alley on the outskirts of the city. The alley had a small inn, but the door was closed.
He carefully examined the inn's front door, especially the stone lion at the entrance. A hint of a smile flashed in his eyes as he walked up to the door and knocked in a rhythmic pattern.
"Who is it?" a lazy voice replied from inside. The door didn't open.
"Shopkeeper, do you have any available rooms? I'd like to stay here," Han Li said, still knocking on the door.
The door remained silent for a moment, and only opened after Han Li stopped knocking.
"Do you want to stay?" a young boy in a short shirt asked, looking Han Li up and down.
"Yes, I've come to Jiu Yuan City to do some business. I need to stay for half a year," Han Li said, using the pre-arranged code phrase.
"Ah, please come in," the boy said, his eyes lighting up as he stepped aside to let Han Li in. He immediately closed the door behind him.
Han Li's eyes flickered as he stepped into the courtyard. It seemed that the inn was surrounded by a special barrier, and the pressure in the air dissipated significantly.
He felt a sense of relief as he followed the boy to a room in the inn. A middle-aged man with a rich appearance was sitting at a desk, calculating accounts. He looked up as he heard footsteps.
"Shopkeeper, this guest wants to stay," the boy said.
"May I ask your name, sir? How long do you plan to stay?" the shopkeeper asked, waving his hand for the boy to leave. He closed the door and asked in a cold tone.
"I'm Han Li. I plan to stay for half a year," Han Li replied, taking out a red mask and flashing it briefly before putting it away.
These were the pre-arranged code phrases.
"Ah, welcome, Senior Han. Jiao San has already instructed me to let you stay here," the shopkeeper said with a smile, his tone somewhat flattering.
"Is Jiao San here?" Han Li asked.
"Jiao San is not here at the moment, but she has sent a message saying that you can stay here safely. She will come to meet you soon to discuss the details of your task," the shopkeeper said.
"I'll wait a bit longer," Han Li said, his brow furrowed for a moment before relaxing.
"Please follow me, Senior Han," the shopkeeper said, leading Han Li to the inner courtyard.
They walked through several turns, arriving at a small, clean, and tidy courtyard with a blue-tiled roof.
Han Li nodded in satisfaction.
"Senior Han, you must be tired from your journey. Please rest. If you need anything, just ring the small bell in the courtyard. I'll take my leave," the shopkeeper said, bowing.
"Wait, I have something to ask you," Han Li said, stopping the shopkeeper.
"Please, Senior Han, ask me anything. I'll do my best to answer," the shopkeeper said, looking slightly surprised.
"I noticed that the city was decorated with lanterns and streamers when I arrived. What's going on?" Han Li asked.
"Didn't you know, Senior Han? The Heavenly Court's messenger is about to arrive at Jiu Yuan Sect to issue the thirty-six invitations to the Bodhi Banquet. The city is preparing for the event," the shopkeeper said, looking somewhat astonished.
"Ah, I didn't know. I've been busy with my cultivation and haven't heard about this. I know about the Bodhi Banquet, but what's the significance of the thirty-six invitations?" Han Li asked.
"The Bodhi Banquet is the most important event in the Heavenly Court. All the major sects in the True Immortal Realm want to attend, but the Heavenly Court only issues a limited number of invitations. Before the Bodhi Banquet, the Heavenly Court will issue invitations to the major sects, and then the internal forces of the sects will compete for the invitations. The same is true for the Da Jin Yuan Sect. This time, the Heavenly Court has issued thirty-six invitations to the Da Jin Yuan Sect, and all the major forces in the sect will gather in Jiu Yuan City to compete for the invitations," the shopkeeper explained.
"I see. When will the Heavenly Court's messenger arrive in Jiu Yuan City?" Han Li asked.
"I don't know exactly, but it should be soon," the shopkeeper said.
Han Li nodded, asking a few more questions about the competition for the invitations. He then dismissed the shopkeeper.
He entered the room, habitually setting up several layers of barriers around him. He sat down, looking thoughtful.
Jiao San had told him to arrive in Jiu Yuan City within thirty years, which coincided with the time the Heavenly Court's messenger would arrive. The task from the Wheel of Reincarnation was likely related to the competition for the Bodhi Banquet invitations.
Han Li shook his head, deciding not to think about it anymore. He looked towards the depths of Jiu Yuan City.
"Jin Tong, I'll wait for you. I'll definitely rescue you," he thought to himself, before closing his eyes and sitting in meditation.
Months later, on a clear morning.
The sun had not yet risen over the city walls, but the streets of Jiyuan City were already bustling with people.
Unlike the usual crowded and hurried pace, today's pedestrians in the city were all relaxed and idle, either chatting in groups of three or five, or leaning against the walls.
These people all had a look of anticipation on their faces, occasionally glancing up at the sky, as if waiting for something.
Among the crowd, a handsome young man in white clothes walked slowly towards the city center, listening to the conversations around him.
He was none other than Han Li, who had changed his appearance and aura with the black mask of the Wheel of Rebirth Hall.
"I heard that this time, the celestial envoy from the Zhongtu Xian Domain is extremely arrogant, with a large entourage and even the head of the Jinsiyuan Xian Palace accompanying him, attracting a lot of attention along the way," said a brown-robed old man.
"Of course, as a celestial envoy from the Heavenly Court, his identity is not ordinary, otherwise why would the head of the Jiyuan Observatory, Pure Jun Zhenren, personally welcome him? Besides, this time he is bringing the 'Bodhi Order', a treasure that many Daluo cultivators covet, who wouldn't be eager to meet him?" said a middle-aged man in elegant clothes.
"That's the proof of attending the Bodhi Banquet, who wouldn't want it?" someone exclaimed.
Han Li just listened, not speaking or stopping, and continued walking towards the end of the street.
"Ah, he's arrived!" someone shouted.
The street immediately erupted into a commotion, with everyone stopping their conversations and looking up at the sky.
The young man in white clothes also stopped, standing at the corner of the street, looking up at the sky.
A dazzling golden light burst forth, like the sun rising, and a seven-colored rainbow appeared, illuminating the surrounding area.
After a moment, the crowd's necks were stiff from looking up, and their eyes were dry, but still, no one appeared.
Just as someone was about to complain, a celestial music sounded from the sky, followed by a colorful light that spread from outside the city, crossing over the city walls and extending into the city.
The city's defensive formations opened a wide path, allowing the light to shine through.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he saw that the colorful light had formed a grand road, with five-colored lotus flowers floating on it, emitting a fragrant aroma that enveloped the entire city.
"Rumble, rumble"
A series of thunderous sounds echoed through the air, and on the grand road, eight golden-armored qilins galloped forward, their hooves pounding the ground like thunder.
Behind them, a magnificent carriage was drawn, with intricate carvings and precious stones, looking like a golden palace.
The carriage was followed by a long procession of people, including armored cavalry and celestial cultivators, although the number was not as exaggerated as the rumors.
At the front of the carriage, a high-ranking official stood, wearing a golden crown and a heavenly official's robes, with a proud expression on his face.
Han Li glanced at him, feeling a sense of dislike, and was about to turn away when his eyes fell on the two people behind the official.
One of them was a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance, wearing a celestial palace robe, who looked like the head of the Jinsiyuan Xian Palace, Lu Chuanfeng.
The other was a stunningly beautiful woman in a red dress, who immediately caught the attention of half the city's population.
"Chimeng, how is it her?" Han Li's eyebrows furrowed in surprise.
As he wondered, a light burst forth in the sky, and a group of people descended, standing on the grand road.
Compared to the celestial envoy's grandeur, these people seemed much more subdued, but their arrival caused the entire city to erupt in cheers and applause.
Han Li looked closely and saw that the leader was a man in a dark green robe, wearing a lotus flower crown, with a ordinary face but a radiant aura.
It was clear that this person was none other than the head of the Jiyuan Observatory, Pure Jun Zhenren.
Behind him stood two other cultivators, one of whom was a thin, elderly man with a high cheekbone and a wispy beard, wearing a ancient-looking gray robe, with an otherworldly aura.
The other was a middle-aged man with a robust build, wearing a purple robe, with a stern expression, looking like a statue of a heavenly king.
Han Li knew that these two men were likely the two vice-heads of the Jiyuan Observatory, Yang Junzi and Lei Jun Zhenren. Behind the two of them, there were over a dozen people, all of whom had a reverent and respectful demeanor.
Han Li immediately noticed another familiar face among them, which was none other than the Miao Fa Xian Zun who had pursued him in the past.
At this moment, Miao Fa's attention had already shifted past the Tian Xing Xian Zun and was now fixed on the figure of Chi Meng, who was standing behind him. Chi Meng did not back down, and instead glared back at Miao Fa. The two women's gazes collided, and a faint spark of tension seemed to flash between them.
It was clear that the animosity between the two women had been thoroughly established during their previous encounter.
"Welcome, Tian Xing Xian Zun, to the Nine Yuan Guan. We have been remiss in our hospitality." Chun Jun Zhen Ren said with a loud and clear voice.
"Please, do not be so polite, Chun Jun Zhen Ren..."
Han Li saw that the two sides had begun to exchange pleasantries, and immediately lost interest in continuing to watch. Amidst the thunderous applause of the crowd, he pushed his way through and returned to the guesthouse.
As soon as he entered his own courtyard, Han Li saw a tall and stalwart young man, and a young woman dressed in white, wearing a dou gong, standing at the entrance of the courtyard. They seemed to be waiting for him.
As soon as he saw the two of them, Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he looked at them without speaking.
"Dragon Five Dao Friend, won't you invite us in for a cup of tea?" the woman in the dou gong suddenly asked with a smile.
"You are Jiao San Dao Friend?" Han Li asked tentatively.
"The Tian Xing Xian Zun has arrived, and I should also inform you of the contents of this mission." the woman in the dou gong said.
"Please, come in."
Han Li no longer hesitated, and walked forward to open the courtyard's seal, welcoming the two of them in.
The three of them entered the house and sat down around the table.
Han Li noticed that the tall and stalwart young man had been gazing at him intently since he entered the courtyard, sizing him up from head to toe without any attempt to conceal his intentions.
"Jiao San Dao Friend, may I ask who this is?" Han Li asked, his curiosity piqued.
"He is one of the vice-hall masters of the Lun Hui Temple, Wu Yang Dao Friend." Jiao San explained.
Han Li's expression changed slightly upon hearing this name.
"It seems that you really do know me." the young man who had been silent until now said.
"I saw your portrait in the Zhen Yan Men ruins, and also heard of you from Re Huo Dao Friend." Han Li said.
"Re Huo... is that scoundrel's disciple?" Wu Yang's expression changed, and he thought for a moment before a hint of anger appeared on his face.
"Dao Friend, please do not be agitated, that Re Huo Dao Friend did not follow Qi Mo Zi in his rebellion, and besides, he has already fallen in the Hui Jie." Han Li quickly said.
"I heard from Gan Jiu Zhen that Qi Mo Zi almost died at your hands?" Wu Yang's expression changed again, and he asked.
Han Li had not heard the name Gan Jiu Zhen in a long time, and it took him a moment to react and connect it to Jiao San. He nodded, and said: "I was lucky enough to defeat him, but unfortunately, I was unable to kill him. So, does the 'Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue' really exist on your person?" Wu Yang suddenly asked.
As soon as he asked this question, the atmosphere in the room became somewhat tense.
"You want it? I can give it to you." Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he remained silent for a long time before speaking.
Wu Yang's expression changed slightly, and he seemed to be taken aback by Han Li's straightforwardness.
"This cultivation technique originally belonged to the Zhen Yan Men, and I can only be considered a half-disciple of Mi Luo Lao Zu. You are the true orthodox heir of the Zhen Yan Men, and passing it on to you would be a way of repaying the debt of Mi Luo Lao Zu's teachings." Han Li said calmly.
Wu Yang's eyes flashed with a hint of guilt, and he remained silent for a long time before speaking.
"This 'Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue' you should take good care of, and not let it truly fall into obscurity." Han Li asked in puzzlement.
"Why is that?" Han Li asked.
"Back then, except for the traitor, all the other brothers had died in the line of duty, and only I managed to survive. I can be considered to have betrayed the sect, and besides, I have allowed Qi Mo Zi to roam free for so many years, and was unable to avenge the sect. What qualifications do I have to inherit the 'Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue'?" Wu Yang said with a bitter smile.
Han Li tried to persuade him further, but Wu Yang waved his hand and said: "My mind is made up, you do not need to say anything more."
"If that is the case, then the cultivation technique will remain with me for now. If you have a change of heart and wish to rebuild the Zhen Yan Men in the future, I will return it to you then." Han Li could only agree.
Here is the translated text:
Wu Yang nodded after hearing Han Li's words, and his eyes fell on Han Li's body once more, with a hint of approval.
"You've already caught up with each other, let's discuss the main topic now," said Jiao San.
Han Li looked at Jiao San and asked, "Before we begin, can you tell me about Jin Tong's current situation?"
Jiao San replied, "For now, I can only tell you that Jin Tong is temporarily safe. We have already discovered her location, and if you complete your task, we will inform you of her whereabouts and provide necessary assistance."
Han Li furrowed his brow and asked, "So, completing the task is the condition for you to tell me Jin Tong's location?"
Jiao San's expression remained unchanged, and he said calmly, "Han Dao friend, it's not that we're threatening you. Your task is just one crucial part of the entire task. Once you complete it, we can proceed with the next plan, and only then will you have the opportunity to rescue Jin Tong."
Han Li was silent for a moment before asking, "What is my task?"
Jiao San replied, "The Heavenly Court's messenger has arrived at the Nine Yuan City, and the selection conference will likely be held soon. We want you to participate in the selection and compete for a spot to attend the Bodhi banquet."
Han Li asked, "How will the selection conference proceed?"
Wu Yang explained, "The Bodhi banquet has allocated a hundred spots for the entire Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain. The Nine Yuan Guan, Bai Cuo Shan, Jin Yuan Xian Domain, and the Day and Night Alliance will each take a portion of the spots. At most, only ten to twenty spots will be left for the other sects in the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain to compete for. You will need to fight with the other competitors to obtain one of the spots."
Jiao San added, "The biggest challenge for you in this selection is that you must conceal your identity while winning, and ultimately obtain a Bodhi token."
Han Li shook his head and said, "This is impossible. Although I'm not well-known in the Jin Yuan Xian Domain, many people know me. I just saw Chi Meng Zhi, the Da Luo cultivator, in the city. If I participate in the selection and fight with others, they will surely recognize my identity, and I won't be able to save Jin Tong, let alone myself."
Jiao San said, "Han Dao friend, don't worry. The black mask I gave you earlier is specifically for this purpose."
Han Li frowned and said, "How can it help? Although the mask can conceal my aura and change my appearance, my cultivation technique and spiritual energy will still be recognizable once I start fighting."
Jiao San replied, "You're underestimating the mask's abilities. When you wear it, you can absorb a portion of the opponent's spiritual energy and aura, and after merging it with your own through a secret technique, you can achieve a level of deception that even a Da Luo cultivator may not be able to detect, as long as you don't use the Time Law."
Han Li asked, "But I'm not from the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain, so don't I lack the qualifications to participate in this selection?"
Wu Yang said, "You can rest assured, your identity for participating in this selection has already been arranged. You will be competing under the name of a Xian Shan Sect elder."
Han Li had heard of the Xian Shan Sect, which was a mid-sized sect in the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain that had not joined the Day and Night Alliance. Although its power was not insignificant, it had never been known to have any dealings with the Lu Xian Hall.
Han Li asked, "So, the Xian Shan Sect is a secret pawn of the Lu Xian Hall in the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain?"
Jiao San replied, "You could say that. However, only a few people within the Xian Shan Sect know about this. This time, their sect master, Zhou Xian Yang, will personally lead the team to participate in the selection conference and has already settled in the sect's mansion in the west of the city. When the time comes, you just need to wear this token and find him, and he will know what to do."
Jiao San handed Han Li a white jade ring and said, "Your task is to complete your part of the work, and later we will tell you where Jin Tong is being held and how you can rescue her."
Han Li thought for a moment before nodding silently.
Jiao San and Wu Yang then left, and as they departed, Wu Yang suddenly said, "You've already received the old ancestor's opportunities, learned the 'Great Five Elements Fantastical World Technique', and helped my Zhen Yan Sect severely injure the traitor Qi Mo Zi. You're already half a member of my sect, and as your senior, I'll give you a gift to commemorate our meeting."
Wu Yang handed Han Li a golden inkstone, which landed in his hand.
Before Han Li could decline, Wu Yang and Jiao San had already dispersed and disappeared into the courtyard.
Han Li held the golden inkstone and examined it carefully, seeing that it was engraved with a sleeping yellow cow, its lines flowing smoothly, and its shape lifelike. He infused some spiritual energy into it, and the inkstone's surface rippled with golden waves, emitting a powerful aura of earth-attribute law.
Han Li's heart was delighted, and he carefully examined the inkstone again, finding no marks or seals on it. He didn't rush to refine it, instead storing it in his storage ring.
Later, he waved his hand, and a silver light door appeared before him. Han Li stepped through the door and entered the Hua Zhi Dong Tian.
He arrived at a room on the second floor of the bamboo building, where he saw Qi Huan sitting on the bed with her eyes closed, her face pale.
Blue Yan, who was standing by the window, immediately approached Han Li, bowed, and said... Han Li.
"How is it?" Han Li asked, seeing that her face was not good, but her eyes had a faint glow, and she asked.
"The previous Soul Planting Ceremony went smoothly, my brother's soul has been planted in the Dream Flower, and only needs to rest for a while. It's just that the Wailing Soul Girl has exhausted herself too much, and is a bit worn out..." Lan Yan said with some guilt.
Han Li looked at the Wailing Soul, and his gaze fell on a black round basin on the round table in the room.
Inside the basin, a dark red loose soil was planted, and a strange black stem was growing, with seven black leaves on top, and a layer of silver crystal light floating on top, and a white flower bud the size of a fist was growing, with a faint glow, shining dimly.
Han Li's divine sense swept over, and he sensed Lan Yuanzi's aura.
"After all, it's a matter of the soul, and we can't be careless. If there's anything that needs help, just say so." Han Li said.
"Brother Han and Wailing Soul have helped me so much, I'm already grateful, where would I dare to have any other hopes, just hoping that one day I can repay Brother Han by being a cow or a horse." Lan Yan's face was solemn, and she said quickly.
Han Li saw this, and didn't say anything else, just comforted her with a few words, and then turned and left.
...
The west of Jiuyuan City was a place where several rivers converged, the terrain was low, but it was flat and open.
Because of the water system, the vegetation was dense, and the scenery was unique. Many medium-sized sects in the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain had spent a lot of money to buy a piece of land here, and used it to open a sect's courtyard.
The Xian Shan Sect, as a medium-sized sect in the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain, was no exception, and occupied a place with a dense water system, and built a large Xian Shan Courtyard.
On this day, a white-clothed, snow-like handsome young man came to the door of the courtyard, holding a folding fan in his hand.
The guard saw his majestic appearance, and his extraordinary aura, and couldn't see through his cultivation level, so he didn't make things difficult for him, and simply made a transmission.
After a long time, a long-bearded old man in a plain white robe came out.
The old man heard the guard's words, and thought that it was a big shot, but when he came to the door, he saw that it was a young man with a excellent appearance, and his cultivation level was only in the middle of the Golden Immortal, so he was a bit annoyed.
"Is it Brother Han who wants to see our sect master? Unfortunately, our sect master is not in the courtyard today, Brother Han, if you have any business, you can tell me, and I'll pass it on to him when he returns." The old man's face was unchanged, and he asked.
The young man heard this, and his eyebrows furrowed, and he held a white jade ring in his hand, and said, "Since you're not the sect master, I won't talk to you, let your sect master come and see me."
This young man was naturally Han Li.
The long-bearded old man heard this, and his eyes flashed with anger.
"Do you think my cultivation level is too low, and I'm not qualified to let him come and see you?" Han Li asked.
Before the old man could answer, his aura suddenly changed, and his cultivation level surged, and in the blink of an eye, he reached the middle of the Tai Yi.
The long-bearded old man saw this, and his face changed again, and he was shocked.
Being able to suppress one's aura was not unusual, but being able to suppress it so naturally, and making himself look foolish, was really rare.
"Ah, it's Brother Han, I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you." The old man hurriedly bowed.
At the same time, he was secretly transmitting a message, telling the people inside the courtyard to be prepared, in case it was an enemy who came to the door.
"Don't worry, I don't have any malicious intentions, I just want to see your sect master about something. I know he's in the courtyard, so you can take this token and go in, he'll see me when he sees it." Han Li sighed, and said.
He handed the jade ring to the old man.
"I'll obey, please wait for a moment, Brother Han." The old man hastily accepted the token, and said.
After saying that, he flashed and rushed into the courtyard.
Not long after, a white light flashed from the courtyard, and a giant man with a sturdy build appeared, with a national character face, and a warm smile, and he walked towards Han Li.
"Brother Han, it's been a long time, haha..." The giant man's voice was loud, and it shook the door.
...
Han Li swept his gaze across, only to see that the iron tower giant had a rugged face, thick eyebrows, and a robust physique, exuding an aura of immense power. He was clearly a middle-stage Da Luo cultivator.
Although the other party's words seemed to convey a sense of familiarity, Han Li didn't recognize him. However, after a few moments of contemplation, Han Li grasped the situation and pretended to be familiar with him, greeting him with a smile: "Zhou Daoist, it's been a long time since we last met..."
As they approached each other, they exchanged a brief glance before engaging in a polite conversation.
The old man with the long white beard, who had been watching from the side, slightly narrowed his eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he hadn't caused any trouble for this person, and it seemed that he was indeed an acquaintance of his sect's master.
Zhou Xianyang and Han Li walked together, chatting and laughing, until they reached the inner courtyard of the mansion.
"Zhu Lao, please prepare a banquet for today. I want to use the 'Qing Lan Jade Dew' that's been stored for ten thousand years to welcome our old friend," Zhou Xianyang said with a smile, addressing the old man.
"Understood," the old man replied, nodding.
After the old man left, Zhou Xianyang led Han Li into the house, and with a wave of his hand, a silver light door appeared.
Without saying a word, they stepped through the door and entered a secret room.
"The Zhu Lao you saw earlier is a spy planted by the Jin Yuan Xian Palace. I had to put on a show of being old friends to avoid arousing suspicion," Zhou Xianyang said, bowing his fist.
"It seems that being a mole isn't easy," Han Li chuckled.
"Ha! Fortunately, Zhu Lao is a bit cautious, but not clever enough. These years have been relatively peaceful. Now that something big is happening, I'm already prepared," Zhou Xianyang said in a low voice.
"Earlier, Jiao San Daoist didn't tell me much about the situation. He just said that once I arrived, I should follow your arrangements," Han Li said, bowing his fist.
"You're being polite, Han Daoist. Jiao San Daoist told me that I should follow your lead and provide you with all the necessary assistance," Zhou Xianyang said with a smile.
"I'm not being polite. I don't know much about this task, so I'll have to trouble you to explain the details," Han Li said, his eyes narrowing slightly.
"The Tian Ting's Bodhi banquet is a rare event that happens only once every five million years. It's an opportunity for the entire Xian realm to gather and share the Bodhi fruit. However, in the past, only those who received an invitation were qualified to attend. This time, it's different, as they're only providing a quota without restricting the participants," Zhou Xianyang explained.
"Ah, it wasn't like that before... What's the reason behind this arrangement?" Han Li asked.
"I'm not sure, but for the Wheel of Reincarnation, it's not a bad thing. This time, the Jin Yuan Xian Domain has a quota of one hundred spots, with nine of them going to the Ji Yuan Guan and Bai Zao Shan, and the remaining twelve going to the other sects. We need to compete for one of those spots," Zhou Xianyang said, shaking his head.
"Who are the other sects participating, and what's their strength?" Han Li asked.
"The Ri Yue Alliance has already taken control of most of the medium and small sects in the Jin Yuan Xian Domain. They're responsible for allocating their own quota. As for the remaining twelve spots, they're being contested by the other medium-sized sects that aren't part of the Ri Yue Alliance. Although the competition is reduced, there are still ninety-six sects participating," Zhou Xianyang said.
"From ninety-six sects, only twelve spots are available. If things go smoothly, it'll take three rounds of competition to win. And since the Bodhi banquet is so prestigious, I reckon each sect will send their strongest cultivators to participate," Han Li said, his brow furrowing.
"That's correct. However, we can be relieved that the sect masters and elders usually don't participate in the competition. But we can't rule out the possibility that some sect masters might participate personally, despite their status," Zhou Xianyang said, nodding.
"Since you're saying that, I suppose you think someone might actually do that?" Han Li asked, smiling.
"Yes, I'm thinking of our sect's arch-nemesis, the master of the Gu Yang Peak, Si Kong Jian. He's a cunning and ruthless person who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals. He even killed one of our sect's talented disciples to avenge his own son. Since then, he's been hiding in the Gu Yang Peak, and we've been unable to catch him," Zhou Xianyang said, his voice filled with hatred.
"What's his cultivation level and strength?" Han Li asked.
"Si Kong Jian was at the early stage of the Da Luo realm, but he's been in seclusion for years. I'm not sure if he's successfully broken through to the middle stage. However, even in his early stage, his strength was half a level higher than his peers. We can't underestimate him. Ideally, we'd prefer not to encounter him at all," Zhou Xianyang said, his expression serious.
"Since it's a random draw, we can't avoid him. I'd like you to prepare a detailed report on him. If we do encounter him, I'll be prepared. Are there any other people we should be aware of?" Han Li asked.
"There's Luo Yuanshan from the Qing Hui Lin, Zhao Bolao from the Wu Ji Shan, and Zi Luoxianzi from the Tian You Hu... These people have considerable strength and might represent their sects. I'll prepare a report on them for you as well," Zhou Xianyang said, listing several names.
"That's great," Han Li said, smiling. Zhou Xianyang expressed some concern, "This time, Fellow Han's participation in the selection requires borrowing my junior brother's identity, Chang Qi. He has been wandering outside for years, and not many people in the sect have seen his face, so it's not a problem to deceive others. However, my junior brother is a Xuan repair cultivator, and he hasn't practiced many of our sect's techniques. He only relies on his physical Xuan repair skills to reach the Taiyi later stage. Fellow Han, if you participate in the selection with his identity, many of the immortal family's techniques might not be usable."
Han Li smiled, "Xuan repair? Ah, that's exactly what I need." He thought to himself, "I understand why Jiao San wanted me to come here."
Zhou Xianyang's eyebrows rose in surprise, "Could it be that Fellow Han is also a Xuan repair cultivator?"
Han Li's heart stirred slightly, and he secretly activated the Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong. His body suddenly emitted a powerful aura, and over 900 Xuan apertures lit up, illuminating the entire secret room.
Zhou Xianyang's expression changed, and he muttered, "I didn't expect Fellow Han's Xuan repair skills to have reached such a level. My junior brother can't even compare to you."
He didn't know that Han Li had only revealed a portion of his Xuan apertures, not wanting to scare him.
Han Li smiled, "I'm afraid I've disappointed you, Sect Master Zhou."
Zhou Xianyang's expression relaxed, and he said, "In that case, there's no need to worry. Chang Qi, come out."
Han Li looked towards the inner hall and saw a slender, weak-looking young man emerge from the shadows. He was dressed in a green robe and looked like a refined scholar, not at all like a Xuan repair cultivator.
The young man bowed, "Greetings, Senior Brother, Fellow Han."
Han Li returned the bow, "Fellow Daoist's Xuan repair skills are quite impressive, almost reaching the level of returning to the truth and storing energy in the bones."
The young man, Chang Qi, looked at Han Li with shining eyes, "Fellow Han can see through my foundation. I'm afraid I still have much to learn."
Han Li smiled, "Fellow Chang is too modest."
Zhou Xianyang asked, "Fellow Han, there's still over a month before the Bodhi Feast selection. In this month, you need to familiarize yourself with my junior brother's techniques as much as possible. Although you can't perfect it, at least try to make it convincing. Also, do you know how to use the Luan Huan Hall's mask?"
Han Li nodded, "Jiao San has already taught me."
Zhou Xianyang said, "Then let's begin. Fellow Han, you can start now."
Han Li and Chang Qi exchanged a glance, and the latter nodded slightly.
Han Li apologized, "I'm sorry..."
He then activated a hand seal, and his face began to blur. The black mask on his face appeared, and the symbols on it lit up, emitting a thick, black fog that enveloped his body.
The fog condensed into a line, like a living creature, and slid down to Chang Qi's feet.
Chang Qi stood still, his face tense, as the black fog surrounded him.
Han Li and Chang Qi stood facing each other, with the fog creating a bridge between them. Their faces were indistinct, but it was clear that Chang Qi's aura was being drawn into the fog, towards Han Li.
Zhou Xianyang watched from the side, his eyes shining with expectation.
After about half a quarter of an hour, the fog surrounding Chang Qi began to dissipate, and the black line on the ground retreated, returning to Han Li's body.
Han Li's body began to shrink, becoming the same height as Chang Qi.
The fog then reversed its flow, returning to the black mask, which absorbed it all. The mask emitted a dark glow, and when it faded, a new face appeared on Han Li's body, identical to Chang Qi's.
Zhou Xianyang's eyes widened, and he inspected the two "Chang Qi"s, but he couldn't tell them apart. The real Chang Qi, having lost some of his spiritual energy, looked more like an imposter than Han Li.
"It's no wonder that the Wheel of Rebirth Palace's highest-grade divine mask is so extraordinary. With this kind of transformation, it's almost as if I'm the real deal." Chang Qi couldn't help but exclaim.
"Marvelous, marvelous... with this, even many of the elders of the Xianyun Sect wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the real and fake." Zhou Xianyang clapped his hands in admiration.
"Next, I hope you'll share with me the unique aspects of your cultivation method." Han Li asked Chang Qi.
Since he was skilled at disguising himself to avoid trouble, Han Li's movements and demeanor changed as he spoke, making him seem almost identical to Chang Qi. Zhou Xianyang and the others were full of praise.
"Of course." Chang Qi nodded.
"I'll go collect some information on the participating sects for this selection. You two can discuss the details here." Zhou Xianyang said, before leaving.
The room was left with only the sound of Han Li and Chang Qi's discussion.
...
A month passed quickly.
On this day, the entire city of Jiuyuan was empty, with almost everyone gathered at the foot of Jiuyuan Mountain.
The selection for the Bodhi banquet was being held at the mountain gate of Jiuyuan Temple.
Han Li had already changed his appearance and was disguised as Chang Qi, following Zhou Xianyang and several elders of the Xianyun Sect to Jiuyuan Mountain.
Along the way, Han Li was quiet but occasionally exchanged a few words with the Xianyun Sect elders.
Although he was pretending to be Chang Qi, who was rarely seen by others, he still had a few acquaintances among the elders.
However, Han Li responded with ease, and his movements were so natural that he didn't reveal his true identity.
The group arrived at the foot of Jiuyuan Mountain, and from afar, they saw a towering mountain range that pierced the clouds.
The mountain range stretched far and wide, with lush greenery and a thick layer of fog covering the upper half. A majestic cloud sea array protected the mountain, with colors flowing and swirling within.
Near the mountain gate, a waterfall cascaded down, and a rainbow hung in the air. The sound of cranes and monkeys could be heard, and the air was filled with the scent of immortals.
In front of the mountain gate, a massive square had been built, with many areas divided and a series of high platforms erected for the martial arts competition.
The area outside the platforms was divided by arrays, and thousands of people had gathered to watch. From the ground to the air, the crowd was dense and uncountable.
Han Li and the others followed the path and arrived at the mountain gate, where they were greeted by a massive semicircular stone platform.
A three-story, twelve-sided pagoda stood tall at the gate, unlike the ordinary pagodas in the mortal world. It was made of spirit jade, resembling a massive piece of green jade.
A white jade plaque hung above the pagoda, with the words "Jiuyuan Shengjing" written in ancient script.
Han Li looked through the pagoda and saw a winding stone path leading up to a misty area, where the scenery was hidden from view.
On the semicircular platform, Han Li saw rows of seats, densely packed and facing the platforms. They were led by the Jiuyuan Temple disciples to a seat on the left side, not far from the center.
Zhou Xianyang greeted several familiar sect leaders, then sat down, followed by the others.
"Rumor has it that the Xianyun Sect's Chang Qi, who has been traveling outside, has returned. I've never had the chance to meet him before. Could you introduce him to me?" A white-haired old man asked, looking at the Xianyun Sect group.
Han Li had already reviewed the information Zhou Xianyang had collected and recognized the old man as Zhao Yuancai, the master of Wujishan. His nephew, Zhao Bolao, was also present, a Taiyi period cultivator with ice attribute abilities.
"Chang, since Master Zhao wants to meet you, come and pay your respects." Zhou Xianyang said with a smile.
Han Li bowed and said, "I've met Master Zhao."
Zhao Yuancai sized Han Li up, then exchanged a glance with a slender, pale-faced young man in white robes, who was standing behind him. They seemed to be communicating silently.
Han Li knew this young man was Zhao Bolao, and they exchanged a nod.
"Your inner energy is compact, and your aura is stable. No wonder Master Zhou has been keeping you hidden. With your presence, the Xianyun Sect is sure to win the Bodhi banquet." Zhao Yuancai said, nodding his head.
Han Li could sense that Zhao Yuancai was trying to hide his true intentions, but he was actually looking down on him.
Zhou Xianyang noticed this and smiled to himself, thinking that if Zhao Bolao were to encounter his "Chang Qi", it would be a good show.
As they exchanged pleasantries, a man in a green bamboo-patterned robe, followed by several elegant women in white robes, walked onto the platform and headed towards another seat.
Han Li's eyes followed the man, and he saw that it was a cultivator from the Qingyun Sect, who was said to be a master of the wind attribute. As soon as this person arrived, Zhou Xianyang's face sank, and a flash of anger appeared in his eyes.
Zhao Yuanlai also followed his gaze, and his face also changed slightly, revealing a hint of disgust.
"Si Kongjian, this scoundrel, always pretends to be a humble gentleman, but who in the Golden Source Immortal Domain doesn't know that he's a hypocrite?" Zhao Yuanlai said loudly, without lowering his voice.
Han Li also looked over, and saw Si Kongjian holding a cup of tea, presented to him by a woman beside him. Si Kongjian seemed to have heard Zhao Yuanlai's words, and his eyes narrowed slightly as he looked over.
His appearance was indeed worthy of the four words "handsome and elegant", and his eyebrows rose slightly as he revealed a hint of a smile, a challenge to Zhao Yuanlai and Zhou Xianyang.
"This scoundrel, why didn't he bring his great disciple, and not even the elder of the isolated Yang Peak? He only brought some female disciples?" Zhao Yuanlai wondered.
"Don't guess, this old scoundrel is probably willing to sacrifice his dignity, thinking that he can personally participate in the selection and compete with the younger generation." Zhou Xianyang said, without surprise, glancing over at Si Kongjian.
"This..." Zhao Yuanlai heard this, and was slightly shocked.
As the head of a sect, personally participating in the selection was not impossible, but it was not common for the sect leaders to do so, as it would affect the sect's reputation. If they lost, it would be a loss of face for the entire sect.
"Boom..."
As the two were talking, a loud bell rang out from the Nine Yuan Immortal Domain's mountain gate.
The sound of the bell echoed through the mountains, and a cloud of colorful clouds floated over, passing over the high jade plaque pavilion, and landing on the circular stone platform.
The stone platform flashed with a radiant light, and five figures appeared.
The sect leaders who were participating in the selection stood up, adjusted their clothes, and bowed to the five figures.
Han Li also bowed, but his eyes were observing the five figures.
The person in the center, wearing a golden crown, and dressed in heavenly official attire, was the messenger from the Heavenly Court, who had come from the Middle Earth Immortal Domain.
On his left was a person wearing a dark green robe, and a lotus flower crown, who was the master of the Nine Yuan Immortal Domain, Chun Jun.
On his right was a person of average height, with a ordinary face, and a warm smile, who was the master of the Golden Source Immortal Palace, Lu Chuanfeng.
On either side of these two, were two people who Han Li had never seen before, but had heard of from Zhou Xianyang.
One was a purple-robed old man, with a pale face, and a swollen body, who looked tired and sluggish, and was the master of the Day and Night Alliance, Tian Xing.
The other was a tall, black-haired young man, with a high forehead, and a white lock of hair, who looked elegant and refined, and was the master of the Hundred Creations Mountain, Huo Yuan.
According to what Jing Yang had said, Huo Yuan was already the fifth generation master of the Hundred Creations Mountain.
As the five figures appeared, the square erupted in a loud cheer.
Chun Jun walked forward, and raised his hand to silence the crowd, and the square quickly quieted down.
Then, he walked back, and spoke with the Heavenly Court messenger, before arranging the people to sit down.
"Coinciding with the Bodhi Festival, we have received the Heavenly Court's great favor, and wish to share it with the cultivators of the Golden Source Immortal Domain, and have therefore decided to announce the Twelve Bodhi Edicts, to be transmitted to the various great sects, and give the cultivators the opportunity to participate in the Bodhi Festival, and enjoy the Bodhi fruit." Chun Jun said loudly, facing the crowd.
The crowd was overjoyed, and it seemed as if they had already received the Heavenly Court's favor.
"Heavenly favor, benefiting all living beings..."
"Heavenly favor, benefiting all living beings..."
The crowd began to chant, and the square was filled with a wave of sound.
The Heavenly Court messenger seemed pleased, and smiled slightly.
The people beside him, except for Tian Xing, who was sleeping, were all smiling.
At this time, a Nine Yuan Immortal Domain elder, who was responsible for hosting the competition, walked forward, and said:
"Our Golden Source Immortal Domain is vast, and has many sects, but the Bodhi Edicts are limited, and only twelve will be given out. It will depend on the strength of the various sects to see who will receive them."
"The Heavenly Court's gift, we must do our best." The ninety-six sect leaders stood up, and bowed.
"Earlier, each sect had submitted their list of participants, and now, please have the cultivators who are participating in the competition come forward, and draw lots for the first round." The elder said loudly.
Han Li heard this, and looked at Zhou Xianyang, before walking forward, and standing beside Zhao Yuanlai.
At the same time, the other sects' participants also walked forward, and gathered at the front.
Han Li stood still and scanned the area, discovering that many of the people Zhou Xianyang had mentioned earlier were now present on the stage.
Among them were Luo Yuanshan from Qing Hui Lin and Zi Luoxian from Tian You Hu, as well as Si Kongjian, who had disregarded his position as sect leader to participate in the selection.
The audience below was not pleased with Si Kongjian's actions, and some even felt that he was shameless. The surrounding area was filled with jeers and catcalls.
Si Kongjian, however, remained calm and composed, opening his fan with a "pap" sound and gently waving it back and forth. He seemed completely unaffected by the commotion.
Although the crowd was murmuring in disapproval, they couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for Si Kongjian's audacity. After all, if he succeeded in obtaining the Bodhi Command, the benefits would be enormous, enough to make anyone's eyes burn with envy.
From this perspective, Si Kongjian's gamble didn't seem foolish at all.
"Zhou Sect Leader, if your friend is lucky enough to draw Si Kongjian, you must make sure to defeat him. That way, the reputation of the Lone Yang Peak will be dragged down to the bottom, and you'll be able to avenge your long-held grudge," Zhao Yuanlai said with a smile.
"Drawing lots is just a matter of chance," Zhou Xianyang replied with a smile, but in his heart, he was secretly hoping that Zhao Bola would encounter Si Kongjian.
In reality, Si Kongjian's strength was already evident, and his reputation for being cunning and ruthless was well-known. Naturally, the others hoped to avoid facing him.
"I have 96 numbered tokens here. Each of you will choose one, and the number on the token will be your selection number. Later, we'll pair you up according to your numbers, and the first number will compete against the 96th number, the second number against the 95th number, and so on. Do you all understand?" the host elder asked.
"Understood," the participants replied in unison.
"Begin selecting your numbers," the host elder said, tossing the tokens into the air.
The 96 tokens flew up, shining brightly like stars, and hovered above the participants' heads.
The participants reached out and grabbed a token, and Han Li did the same, using a thread of spiritual energy to sense the number on the token.
"Number 91..." Han Li muttered to himself.
The surrounding crowd also looked at their tokens, and Si Kongjian's number became the focus of attention. He didn't hide it, instead, he raised his hand and showed off his token, which had the numbers "90" on it.
"How could this be..." someone in the crowd exclaimed.
The crowd turned to look, and saw a man with a pointed horn on his head and bulging cheeks, clutching a token and staring at Si Kongjian in despair.
The others felt a mix of emotions, including relief and sympathy for the unfortunate man.
"Ah, what a unlucky fellow. Brother Zhao, what's your number?" Zhao Bola asked, approaching Han Li.
Han Li showed him his token, and Zhao Bola's face stiffened. He then showed Han Li his own token, which had the number "6" on it, corresponding to Han Li's number 91.
"This is indeed... fate," Zhao Bola said with a wry smile.
He looked at Han Li with a mixture of sadness and regret, but his mouth twitched with suppressed laughter.
Earlier, when Zhao Yuanlai had communicated with him, they had already determined that "Chang Qi" was a useless and unremarkable person. Now that he had stumbled upon this great opportunity, he couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement.
"This... please, brother Zhao, go easy on me," Han Li said, trying to hide his true intentions.
"Brother Chang Qi, same to you," Zhao Bola replied, his confidence growing. He was still polite on the surface, but his tone was laced with sarcasm.
"The tokens have been selected. Please, the first 12 numbers and the last 12 numbers, proceed to the 12 Earthly Branches martial stages for the competition. The rest of you, please wait and prepare," the host elder announced.
Han Li and Zhao Bola happened to be among the first batch of participants, and according to the Earthly Branches, they were assigned to the 6th stage, the Si stage.
Si Kongjian's stage, the Wu stage, was right next to theirs, separated by only a hundred feet.
As the crowd cheered, the 24 participants took their places on the stages.
Zhou Xianyang and Zhao Yuanlai didn't have time to celebrate that Han Li and Zhao Bola hadn't drawn Si Kongjian, before they saw the two of them standing on the same stage.
"This is indeed... a coincidence," Zhou Xianyang and Zhao Yuanlai said in unison, almost simultaneously. The two people's tone had a hint of surprise and a dash of schadenfreude.
"Master Zhou, our two families' sects have always been close, so no matter the outcome of the battle, let's not damage our harmony." Zhao Yuancheng turned to Zhou Xianyang and smiled as he said.
Zhao Yuancheng naturally thought that he had the upper hand, and was paving the way for Zhao Bolao to defeat Han Li.
"That's natural." Zhou Xianyang smiled in response.
Not to mention that Han Li was impersonating his own disciple, even if it was really Chang Qi fighting, he still had confidence in his own disciple.
The people sitting in the center of the stone platform, surrounded by the ring of the martial stage, were not very concerned about the battle on the stage. They were chatting with each other, creating a small, isolated world around themselves, and even those sitting next to them couldn't hear what they were saying.
"Phoenix Heavenly Envoy, I've heard that there have been disturbances all over the True Immortal Realm recently. Not only is the Wheel of Rebirth Temple restless, but even the Gray Realm is stirring up trouble. What's going on?" Pure Jun True Person asked.
"The Northern Cold Heavenly Domain, the Qing Mang Heavenly Domain, and the Black Mountain Heavenly Domain have all seen signs of Gray Realm creatures' activities, but they're all just small skirmishes, nothing to worry about." Phoenix Heavenly Envoy replied with a smile.
Pure Jun True Person's brow furrowed slightly upon hearing this. If the Heavenly Court was taking this attitude, it was a problem in itself.
"Didn't the Heavenly Court have some arrangements in the Gray Realm before? Has something changed?" Pure Jun True Person asked.
"There has been a change in the Gray Realm. The originally neutral Black String Domain has started to ally with the Wheel of Rebirth Domain, and the Nine Abyss Domain has also cut off its connection with our Heavenly Court under pressure. In short, it seems that they have unified their opinions and are now launching a large-scale invasion of the Immortal Realm." Phoenix Heavenly Envoy's face showed a hint of hesitation before he continued.
Pure Jun True Person was already aware of some of the information, but hearing it from Phoenix Heavenly Envoy's mouth still surprised him.
Many years ago, their ancestors had analyzed the future situation of the Immortal Realm, and now it seemed that it was slowly coming true.
As the two of them were talking, the square erupted in cheers, and the elder announced the start of the battle.
"Excuse me, Brother Bolao." Han Li looked at Zhao Bolao, bowed, and said.
"Please, Brother Chang, just attack." Zhao Bolao returned the bow, smiling.
He waved his hand, and a white light screen appeared, expanding to cover the entire martial stage.
The light screen shimmered, and a pattern of six-petaled snowflakes appeared on its surface, densely packed and beautiful.
"Brother Bolao's ice-attribute law's power is indeed profound, I've gained some insight." Han Li smiled.
"I've heard that Brother Chang is skilled in the cultivation of the body, so today I'll ask for your guidance." Zhao Bolao's words were polite, but his actions were ruthless.
He waved his hand, and a blue, icy aura burst forth from the ground, and the air was filled with the sound of ice freezing. A layer of blue ice crystals spread out, covering the entire martial stage.
Han Li stomped his foot, and a surge of white energy burst forth, shattering the blue ice crystals that were about to engulf him.
Zhao Bolao's smile grew wider, and he waved his hand again, summoning a wave of icy aura. The ground erupted with icy spikes, shooting towards the sky like spears.
Han Li's body glowed with a white light as he jumped into the air, avoiding the spikes.
Zhao Bolao followed closely behind, his hand grasping a blue long spear. With a swift stab, he aimed for Han Li's back.
Han Li could have easily dodged, but he was currently impersonating Chang Qi, and if he showed any unusual speed, it would only attract suspicion.
So, he simply sank his shoulder, and his body descended, landing on the tips of the icy spikes. He allowed the spear to pierce his shoulder.
Zhao Bolao's eyes widened in surprise, and he poured his spiritual energy into the spear. The spear's tip glowed with a blue light, and a wave of icy energy burst forth, freezing Han Li's shoulder and arm.
"Sorry, Brother Chang." Zhao Bolao's face was filled with a mixture of surprise and annoyance.
The spear in his hand trembled, and a surge of energy shattered the ice crystals that had formed on Han Li's arm.
Han Li felt a numbness in his arm, and the blue ice crystals that had frozen his arm shattered, disappearing into the air.
"How is this possible?" Zhao Bolao's face turned ugly as he stared at Han Li's arm.
"Brother Bolao, you might not understand our cultivation of the body. This little bit of icy energy isn't enough to harm me. You shouldn't hold back." Han Li's face was warm and smiling.
He raised his hand, and his arm glowed with a white light, as if it was bathed in starlight.
Zhao Bolao was shocked by the sight, and his body suddenly retreated while his hand wielded a long gun that shone with white light, stirring up the air in front of him.
In front of him, a dense array of gun silhouettes appeared and disappeared in an instant, and the air was filled with a sudden snowstorm, the temperature dropping rapidly. A whirlpool of ice and snow formed, rushing towards Han Li like a tide, as if to engulf him.
Han Li, however, didn't slow down, his body charging forward with his arm wrapped in white light, shining brightly.
A loud "bang" echoed through the air!
The massive ice and snow whirlpool shattered, and Han Li's figure burst out of it.
The star power on his fist hadn't diminished much, and it struck Zhao Bolao's chest with a loud crash.
However, the expected dull thud and the sound of shattering bones didn't occur. Han Li felt as if he had punched a bundle of cotton, his fist passing through Zhao Bolao's chest.
The next moment, Zhao Bolao's chest burst open, revealing a large hole, and a large amount of water poured out.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he tried to withdraw his arm, but the water in the hole immediately wrapped around his arm, exerting a powerful force that made it impossible for him to pull it out.
Suddenly, Zhao Bolao's body liquefied, turning into a transparent water person, his body soft and boneless, wrapping around Han Li's body like a layer of glue, immobilizing him.
At the same time, on the other side of the ice, a blue light flashed, and another Zhao Bolao appeared.
"Originally, I was fighting a domain spirit, which was quite unexpected," Han Li muttered.
Zhao Bolao said with a smile, "Sorry, fellow cultivator, you're out of the competition."
Zhao Bolao's hands moved swiftly, and the snowflakes on the ice surface erupted, shooting out countless dense snowflakes that flew towards Han Li like a storm.
The entire stage was engulfed in a frenzy of ice and snow, making it impossible to see anything.
On the ring-shaped stone platform, Zhou Xiangyang looked on in surprise, while Zhao Yuanlai had a smug expression on his face. The others were more focused on their own participants, while also paying attention to the competition between Shi Kongjian and his opponent.
Zhao Yuanlai said to Zhou Xiangyang, "It's a shame, but someone has to win or lose. This time, it's just the way it is."
Zhou Xiangyang, however, was puzzled, muttering to himself, "It shouldn't be like this... Does he only have this much power?"
Before he could finish speaking, a bright white light suddenly flashed on the "巳" stage, forming a massive whirlpool that exploded with a loud bang.
The ice domain that had been covering the stage shattered, and a massive amount of snow and ice flew out, sweeping towards the surroundings.
The people around felt the cold wind and snow, and the temperature dropped rapidly. Those with weaker cultivation were trembling with fear, their teeth chattering, and they hastily activated their cultivation techniques to protect themselves.
When the snow and ice dissipated, everyone looked at the "巳" stage, only to see Zhao Bolao lying unconscious on the ground, while Han Li stood beside him, his face pale, his lips blue, and his sleeves torn.
Zhou Xiangyang let out a sigh of relief, then turned to Zhao Yuanlai, who had a pale face, his previous triumphant expression gone.
Zhao Yuanlai's mouth twitched, and he didn't speak, only nodding his head.
The crowd was shocked by the sudden outcome on the "巳" stage, and the competition on the "午" stage had also reached its conclusion, with the opponent of Shi Kongjian being defeated, his body broken and thrown off the stage.
Shi Kongjian stood across from Han Li, his eyes filled with a challenging gaze.
Han Li, however, seemed to be in a state of disarray, but in reality, he was just pretending. He looked at Shi Kongjian, his eyes flashing with a cold light, which made Shi Kongjian's eyebrows furrow in surprise.
Not long after, the other stages also reached their conclusions, and new competitions began.
Han Li's competition for the day had ended, and he wouldn't be competing again until the next day. He didn't return to the ring-shaped stone platform but instead went back to his residence.
After returning to his dwelling, he immediately opened the Huazhi Cave Heaven and checked on the situation inside.
The Wailing Soul was still helping the Blue Yuanzi to nourish his soul, while Qu Lin seemed to be in a state of closed cultivation, adhering to his agreement with Han Li, not leaving the bamboo pavilion beside the spiritual medicine garden.
The next day, the second round of competitions began, and Han Li drew the name of Chu Zhong, the Palm Law Elder of the Wu Shang Sect.
As for Chu Zhong, the Xian Shan Sect had limited information about him, as he rarely left the Wu Shang Sect and mostly cultivated within its walls.
Han Li only knew that Chu Zhong cultivated the earth attribute law, and his cultivation was higher than Zhao Bolao's, being a early-stage Da Luo cultivator. Han Li was the first to walk up to the "丑" (Ugly) character martial stage, while the Chu Zhong elder arrived slightly later and descended onto the stage.
Han Li's gaze swept across, and he saw that the elder had snow-white hair, a dark complexion, and a ordinary build, even slightly shorter than average. He wore a short-sleeved shirt with his sleeves rolled up, revealing a dark arm. At first glance, he seemed no different from a common martial artist from the lower realms.
However, Han Li noticed that the elder's eyes had a faint golden glow, and his posture was peculiar, with his back slightly hunched and his arms hanging in front of him. It was as if he was an old ape from the mountains, exuding a faint aura of decay.
Despite this, Han Li was impressed by the elder's inner strength and raised his opinion of him.
On the ring-shaped stone stage, Zhou Xianyang still sat in his original position, while Zhao Yuanqi, who had lost the opportunity to compete for the Bodhi command, sat beside him. Both of their expressions were calm, as if they didn't care about the events of the previous day.
"Zhou Sect Master, do you know this Chu Zhong elder?" Zhao Yuanqi asked, looking at the elder on the stage.
"Our Wujidao has no dealings with your Xianshan Sect, and this Chu Zhong elder is rarely seen outside. I've only heard of his name and don't know him personally," Zhou Xianyang replied.
"I had a encounter with him in the past, but it didn't go well. He's not an easy opponent," Zhao Yuanqi said with a smile. "In my opinion, among all the candidates for the selection, aside from Si Kongjian, he's the most difficult to deal with."
Zhou Xianyang heard this and smiled inwardly, realizing that Zhao Yuanqi was there to watch the commotion.
"Chang's luck is really bad. Yesterday, he barely won against your sect's Zhao Bolao, and today he's facing such a formidable opponent. It seems he'll have to be more serious," Zhou Xianyang said, his expression unchanged.
His words implied that Han Li hadn't been serious in his previous battle and had only won against Zhao Bolao by chance.
Zhao Yuanqi's face turned red with anger, but he couldn't express it. After a moment, he said, "Let's wait and see Chang's impressive performance."
In reality, after returning the previous day, he had asked Zhao Bolao why he had lost to Chang Qi. He had assumed that Chang Qi had hidden some trump card or used some underhanded tactic.
However, after asking, Zhao Bolao himself couldn't explain why he had lost, only saying that Chang Qi had suddenly burst out with a powerful force that exceeded his limits, and he had been knocked out with a single punch.
As they spoke, the battle on the stage had already begun.
Han Li bowed to Chu Zhong and didn't wait for the elder to make the first move. Instead, he took the initiative and struck, his arms vibrating with a loud crash. His body flashed behind the white-haired elder in an instant.
His fist shot out, and the tip of his fist exploded with a white light, accompanied by a thunderous sound.
Zhao Yuanqi, who had been watching the commotion, was also shocked by this sudden display of speed and power.
Chu Zhong seemed to be stunned by Han Li's sudden attack, and for a moment, he didn't move.
However, just as Han Li's fist was about to strike the elder's back, a dark light suddenly rose from the ground, and a black stone wall erupted from the ground, separating Han Li from the elder. At the same time, the stone wall struck Han Li's arm.
The timing was perfect, neither directly resisting Han Li's attack nor directly attacking him. Instead, the stone wall struck Han Li's armpit, achieving a two-for-one effect.
Han Li's fist missed, and he was struck by the stone wall, sending him flying into the air. Before he could stabilize himself, Chu Zhong's figure had already caught up, and he struck Han Li's back with a straightforward punch.
The fist was surrounded by a circle of black light, and as it hit Han Li's back, it exploded with a loud noise.
Han Li felt a sudden pressure on his back, as if the air had condensed into a solid mass. The force was so strong that it sent him crashing to the ground, causing the special martial stage to shudder violently.
Han Li's feet sank into the ground like steel knives, and the stone stage cracked open with a series of shocking fissures.
The ape-like Chu Zhong then rose high into the air, his body surrounded by an eerie black light. His legs were bent, and his entire body seemed to be pressed down by an invisible force.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he felt the pressure from above, as if the sky itself was pressing down on him. The air around him seemed to solidify, making it impossible for him to move or dodge.
"Drink!"
Han Li let out a loud roar, and his body's over 900 acupoints lit up simultaneously. He raised his arms, using the Great Power Golden Vajra technique to circulate the star power within his body. His palms formed a "supporting heaven" stance, and he raised them to meet the falling Chu Zhong.
The white light on his palms surged violently, as if opening a celestial curtain. The two forces collided, causing a massive explosion of black and white light.
The surrounding air was violently shaken, and a massive shockwave erupted, sweeping towards all directions.
The onlookers were shocked by this sudden explosion, and they turned to look at the "丑" character stage. However, only the black and white light remained, and the figures of the two combatants were obscured, making it impossible to see what was happening.
On the circular stone platform, Zhao Yuanlai's mouth was agape, unable to speak for half a day, while Zhou Xianyang glanced uneasily at the center position, afraid that the pure and upright Pure Jun Zhenren and others would notice something amiss.
The originally conversing Pure Jun and others were indeed attracted by the two's strike, drawing their gaze over.
"Hehe, your Golden Origin Immortal Domain is indeed hiding dragons and tigers, these two are quite impressive." Feng Tian Xian Shi rarely spoke, and even more rarely offered praise.
The master of the Golden Origin Immortal Palace, Lu Chuan Feng, heard this and smiled, nodding his head without speaking, but Pure Jun Zhenren suddenly opened his mouth and said:
"One has a gravity law, the other has a mysterious physical body, their combat strength is indeed not bad, worth observing."
The Heavenly Star Venerable, who had been dozing off with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them wide, staring at Han Li and the others, thinking about whether to pull their respective sects into the Day and Night Alliance.
On the performance platform, the black and white light beams cancelled each other out, and the momentum gradually subsided.
Han Li's figure reappeared in an instant, and then simultaneously flashed, becoming blurry and unclear once more.
The surrounding crowd couldn't help but focus their attention on this performance platform, their eyes rapidly moving to follow Han Li's trail.
A loud "bang" sound echoed out, and Han Li's figure leapt into the air, diving down with a punch.
A white light condensed on his fist, transforming into a snow-white light pillar that shot down towards Chu Zhong below.
Chu Zhong's shoulders shrugged, and his spine suddenly protruded like a dragon's backbone, emitting a series of "popping" sounds, and then his figure sprang up, actually charging straight towards the white light pillar.
A strange symbol appeared on his forehead, and a dark light with a metallic sheen emerged, not dodging or avoiding, but instead using a head-butting motion to collide with the light pillar.
"Boom boom boom..."
A series of explosive sounds echoed out, and Chu Zhong's figure charged upwards, his body radiating hundreds of light points.
"Actually, he's also a Mysterious Body cultivator..." Han Li's brow furrowed, his figure pressing downwards.
The white light pillar between them shortened, and the distance between them rapidly decreased, finally colliding with a loud "boom".
The heaven and earth's energy surged again, and the two separated, the air filling with dust and smoke.
Before the dust settled, a black light screen began to expand, covering the entire performance platform, and a water-ink painting-like black mountain peak appeared in the air, its shadowy form floating in the distance.
Along with a low, muffled sound, black light beams shot down from the air, making the entire space feel heavy and oppressive.
The dust that had yet to settle was instantly pressed down by the gravity, and Han Li, standing on the stone platform, stumbled and almost fell.
The stone platform beneath him suddenly shattered, turning into a pile of rubble.
"This Chu Zhong elder is not only a Mysterious Body cultivator, but has also cultivated such a powerful Creative Domain, I think it's hopeless for Brother Han this time." Zhao Yuanlai looked at the situation on the performance platform, somewhat gloating.
"Zhao Mountain Lord, don't be too quick to judge, let's wait and see." Zhou Xianyang said.
He didn't know Han Li's true cultivation, only that it was definitely not weak, but limited by not being able to reveal his identity, and not being able to use his own techniques, facing Chu Zhong was indeed somewhat difficult.
The crowd around the platform cheered and applauded, the other performance platforms' battles entering a white-hot state, looking extremely lively.
The attention of the people on the circular stone platform was still focused on Han Li's "ugly" platform.
Han Li tried to lift his leg, but found that the surrounding space's gravity had increased at least a hundredfold, making even this small action extremely difficult.
"Brother Han, if you don't release your domain to counter mine, you'll definitely have no chance of winning." Chu Zhong floated in mid-air, his hands hanging down, speaking in a flat tone.
"Brother Chu, it's not that I'm arrogant, but I've actually only cultivated my physical body, and haven't touched upon the domain." Han Li replied, looking up at Chu Zhong.
"Even so, Brother Han, it's still better to admit defeat early." Chu Zhong's hands formed a seal, and he said.
As soon as he finished speaking, his seal was complete, and he raised his palm, striking down towards Han Li.
The water-ink painting-like black mountain peak in the air suddenly sank downwards, plummeting dozens of feet.
Han Li's face contorted in a silent scream, and he felt the surrounding space's gravity pressure increase by another tenfold, his body almost unable to withstand it.
"Crack crack crack..."
The sound of his bones and joints grinding under the pressure echoed in Han Li's ears.
He gritted his teeth, and suddenly let out a loud roar.
His fists clenched, and the nine hundred plus acupoints on his body lit up, the True Extreme membrane on his body also radiating a brilliant light.
The starlight from the True Extreme membrane created a small, enclosed space around him, repelling the surrounding black light beams.
Then, the acupoints on his legs lit up, and a powerful starlight burst forth, shooting out a brilliant light that resembled a fountain, propelling Han Li's figure into the air, charging towards Chu Zhong.
Although his power was great, under Chu Zhong's gravity law, his speed was reduced, and in the latter's eyes, it seemed somewhat laughable.
"Still not giving up?" Chu Zhong sneered, his figure flipping over, diving down. Its two ape-like arms suddenly shook, and a loud "crackling" sound echoed through the air.
Han Li's hands quickly formed a seal, and his fists simultaneously pounded downwards.
The water-ink mountain peak behind him suddenly shook violently, and massive black stones detached from the mountain, transforming into a black meteor shower that howled as it descended.
"Rumble rumble..."
The air was in turmoil, and countless black stones fell, engulfing Han Li's figure.
A series of thunderous explosions echoed through the air, and Han Li's body not only didn't fall under the impact of the black stones, but instead, his fists shattered the stones into powder, and his entire body was like a white light arrow, shooting upwards.
A loud explosion echoed through the air.
Another massive black stone shattered, and Han Li's body pierced through it, immediately facing a figure that suddenly appeared in front of him.
The figure's fist was raised, and a black light burst forth from the acupoint on his arm, fiercely striking Han Li's chest. The force was so great that it tore through the air, creating rifts in the void.
Han Li was caught off guard, and only managed to cross his arms, holding them horizontally in front of his chest to block the attack.
Just as the black light enveloped Han Li's arms, the Xuanwu blood vessels in his body suddenly surged, and his arms immediately split open, revealing a series of black, turtle-shell-like markings.
A deafening explosion echoed through the air, and Han Li's body was like a falling meteor, crashing down from the sky, smashing through countless black stones, and slamming into the ground.
The already ruined martial arts stage collapsed, and a massive black hole, over a hundred zhang deep, opened up, with shocking fissures spreading to the surrounding stages.
Several cultivators from the Nine Yuan Sect quickly flew up to stop the spreading power, preventing the other stages from being affected.
"Good..." A shout of admiration suddenly echoed through the air.
The crowd erupted into cheers, all excited by the intense battle.
On the ring-shaped stone platform, Zhou Xianyang's expression was tense, and he kept glancing at the black hole.
"Now, Sect Master Zhou, don't you think my words were too early?" Zhao Yuanlai couldn't help but smile.
At the center of the platform, the Palace Master of the Golden Source Sect, Lü Chuanfeng, furrowed his brow, looking puzzled.
"Did you notice that the elder from the Xianyang Sect seems to have the Xuanwu blood vessels in his body?"
"It seems they're not very pure, otherwise, he wouldn't have been unable to withstand that blow." Tianxing Zunzhe seemed a bit disappointed.
"Not bad." Chun Jun Zhenren nodded in agreement.
The Phoenix Heavenly Envoy, however, was already looking away, his attention focused on another stage.
In his opinion, the outcome of this battle was already decided, and there was no need to waste any more attention on it.
Just as his gaze shifted away, the water-ink mountain peak suddenly shrunk, rapidly falling towards the ground, and embedded itself into the massive pit, sinking down.
A deafening explosion echoed through the air, and the entire square shook violently.
On the "ugly" stage, the dust settled, and Chu Zhong's figure landed on the top of the water-ink mountain peak, still hunched over, resembling a hunchbacked old ape.
The crowd saw this and knew that the outcome was already decided, and they all cheered for Chu Zhong.
The Nine Yuan Sect elder, who was hosting the event, waited for a moment, then flew up, intending to declare Chu Zhong the winner.
But just as he was about to do so, a sudden change occurred.
The water-ink mountain peak, which had been embedded in the ground, suddenly shook violently, and a burst of white light shot out from the gap between the mountain and the pit, illuminating the sky.
The entire square shook violently, and the water-ink mountain peak, which had seemed so heavy, began to slowly rise, flying out of the pit.
The crowd watched in awe as Han Li, with his hands raised to the sky, lifted the massive mountain peak, his body radiating an intense aura. The number of acupoints on his body had already surpassed a thousand.
"How is this possible?" Zhao Yuanlai's eyes widened in shock.
Zhou Xianyang was also trying to maintain a calm demeanor, pretending to have expected this.
The crowd erupted into cheers, like a tsunami.
Chu Zhong, standing on the mountain peak, changed his expression, squatting down and pressing his hands on the mountain, channeling his spiritual energy and law power into it.
The mountain peak, already weighing over a thousand jun, grew even heavier, and its gravity increased, causing it to fall towards the ground once more.
However, Han Li, who was under the mountain peak, seemed to have anticipated this, and had already activated the Da Li Jin Gang Jue, punching out a massive fist that tore through the void, creating a tunnel that Chu Zhong's law power couldn't interfere with.
Han Li's body flashed through the tunnel, and in the blink of an eye, he appeared on the mountain peak, his fingers raised, pointing at Chu Zhong.
He then punched out a massive fist, striking Chu Zhong with incredible force.
Chu Zhong's heart skipped a beat as he saw Han Li's body enveloped in a white glow, which seemed to be burning with an intense energy that made him feel like he couldn't muster the courage to fight back.
In a daze, he felt as though the person charging towards him wasn't a human cultivator, but a powerful ancient beast.
Chu Zhong took a deep breath, steadied himself, and formed a hand seal with his fingers. He then made a pulling motion with his hands, and the air around him seemed to ripple and distort.
The "丑" character platform shook with a series of sharp, piercing sounds, and the air on either side of him seemed to condense into a dark, swirling vortex that caused the space around him to collapse inwards.
Under the influence of the gravity law, the space on the platform had become severely distorted, and Han Li felt as though he was being pressed down by an invisible force. He also felt a powerful, unseen barrier in front of him, and a crushing pressure on his body.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he began to circulate his "天煞镇狱功" technique. His body's acupoints glowed brightly, and the starlight surrounding him seemed to shrink and condense into a sharp, sword-like shape that pierced downwards.
There was a loud, cracking sound as the dark energy vortex split open, and Han Li's figure disappeared into the void.
The sound of thunder echoed through the air, and the space around Chu Zhong returned to normal.
The crowd looked on, and saw Chu Zhong standing still, his hands still in the shape of a pulling motion, while Han Li hung suspended in mid-air above him, his fingers pointing at Chu Zhong's forehead.
"I...I lost," Chu Zhong said, defeated.
"Chu Daoist, I apologize," Han Li said, as he flipped himself over and landed on his feet, bowing to Chu Zhong.
The crowd cheered, and their attention turned to the other platforms.
"Ha! Zhao Shanzhu, my junior brother is really full of surprises!" Zhou Xianyang said, looking at Zhao Yuanlai with a smile.
"If he wins one more round, your sect will receive a Bodhi token, a rare honor indeed. Let's see if he can pull it off," Zhao Yuanlai said with a hint of jealousy.
As they spoke, the elder in charge announced the winner of the match, and Han Li and Chu Zhong exchanged bows before leaving the platform.
This time, Han Li didn't return to the Xianyang pavilion immediately, but instead went to the circular stone platform to watch the other matches.
His battle with Chu Zhong had taught him that in a fight where he could only use his Xianyang identity, he needed to be more aware of his opponent's laws and techniques in order to gain the upper hand.
Now that the next round had begun, Han Li saw that the "亥" character platform was empty, with only a mess of debris remaining. It seemed that the fight had ended earlier than expected, and the winner was none other than the peak master of the solitary Yang peak, Si Kongjian.
The other platforms were also nearing the end of their matches, with rainbow-colored lights flashing and thunderous sounds echoing through the air.
Among the participants, Han Li was particularly impressed by Luo Yuanshan of the Qinghui forest, Wen Changtian of the Gertian gate, and Zi Luoxianzi of the Tianyou lake. Wen Changtian had the highest cultivation level, and was clearly at the mid-stage of the Daluo period. If he could overcome the bottleneck, he would become a mid-stage Daluo cultivator. Zi Luoxianzi's laws were the most unusual, and were based on the purple crystal law, which had a mesmerizing effect. Luo Yuanshan, on the other hand, was a human cultivator with a blue birthmark on his face, and what caught Han Li's attention was his ruthlessness in battle.
As the last match came to an end, Han Li left the area and returned to the Xianyang pavilion.
The next day, Han Li followed the Xianyang sect members to the arena.
Today was the final day of the competition, and the crowd was even larger than before. On the high platform, besides the five people, there was an additional person - Chi Meng.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat when he saw her. He had just fought a fierce battle with her not long ago, and she was incredibly strong and cunning. Today, he had to be on his guard and not let her see any weaknesses.
Han Li closed his eyes and slowly regulated his breathing.
Before long, the elder in charge announced the start of the third round, and the participants were invited to come forward and draw lots.
Han Li opened his eyes and stood up.
"Junior brother, this final round is all up to you," Zhou Xianyang said, looking at Han Li seriously.
If he won this round, he would receive a Bodhi token.
"Don't worry, senior brother," Han Li said with a slight smile, seeming to have complete confidence in himself. Zhou Xianyang's expression calmed down upon seeing Han Li's demeanor.
Han Li stood up, subtly glancing around the surroundings.
The competition had already gone through two rounds, and it was almost time to reveal the results. Han Li wondered what Wu Yang, Jiao San, and the others were doing, and what the Wheel of Rebirth would do next.
Han Li transmitted a message to Ti Hu, warning him to be cautious and not to underestimate the situation. Then, Han Li and the other twenty-three people stepped onto the stage again.
"Alright, please begin selecting your numbers," the host elder said, nodding slightly at Han Li and the others before tossing the objects into the air.
Twenty-four orbs emitting brilliant light flew into the air and landed on the heads of Han Li and the others.
Everyone raised their hands to catch the orbs, each grabbing one.
Han Li also caught an orb, which had the number eight written on it.
A soft laugh came from the side, and it was Si Kong Jian, who had an orb with the number seventeen written on it. He smiled as he looked over at Han Li.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, but he quickly relaxed.
"This is terrible, it's actually Si Kong Jian!" Zhou Xianyang thought to himself, his heart sinking.
Although he knew Han Li's true cultivation level had reached the Great Luo Realm, Han Li had to mimic the fighting style of Chang Qi, hiding his true identity and unable to fully utilize his strength.
Si Kong Jian, on the other hand, was a highly experienced Great Luo cultivator, renowned for his achievements. He had easily won the previous two rounds, and his strength seemed to have improved even further.
Han Li, with so many concerns, was now facing Si Kong Jian. Could he win?
The other people from Xian Shan Zong didn't know Han Li's true strength, and their faces turned even more unsightly upon seeing the situation.
"Ha ha, it seems that Brother Chang's luck has run out, and he's actually facing Si Kong Jian in this final round. However, with Brother Chang's incredible strength, Si Kong Jian shouldn't be a problem, right?" Zhao Yuanlai said with a mocking smile.
Zhou Xianyang coldly snorted, not saying a word.
At this moment, only twenty-four people remained, and the stage was divided into twelve arenas for simultaneous matches.
Han Li and Si Kong Jian's match would take place on the "Un" arena.
"Hehe, this Si Kong Jian, as the peak master of Gu Yang Peak, is actually participating in the competition himself. His face is quite thick, isn't it?" Tian Xing Zun said with a chuckle from the high platform.
"This competition doesn't have any rules against sect leaders participating, so we cultivators should be practical and focus on gaining benefits. Only those with short-sighted vision would give up on the current benefits for the sake of appearances." Huo Yuan coldly said.
Xian Shan Zong, Gu Yang Peak, and other sects maintained their independence on the surface, but in reality, they had already established connections with the Tian Yue Alliance and the Bai Zao Mountain.
In the current chaotic state of the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain, it was difficult to survive without a strong backing.
Xian Shan Zong had a good relationship with the Tian Yue Alliance, which was planning to annex Xian Shan Zong. Gu Yang Peak, on the other hand, was close to the Bai Zao Mountain, and Tian Xing Zun and Huo Yuan naturally didn't get along.
"Please, both of you, calm down. According to the rules, there is no restriction on sect leaders participating in the competition. However, I think Xian Shan Zong's Chang Qi has extraordinary strength, and it's not certain that he will lose to Si Kong Jian." Chun Jun said, trying to mediate.
"Ah, according to Chun Jun's opinion, who do you think will win between Chang Qi and Si Kong Jian?" Lü Chuanfeng, the palace master of the Jin Yuan Xian Palace, asked with a smile.
Chun Jun looked at Lü Chuanfeng and silently cursed him for his cunning smile. This competition seemed to be a battle between Chang Qi and Si Kong Jian, but in reality, it involved the struggle for power among the major factions of the Tian Yue Alliance. If handled poorly, it would offend one or both of the factions.
"These two individuals have incredible strength, making it difficult to predict the outcome. Moreover, Palace Master Lü's 'Yu Xū Shén Mù' is a divine ability that can see through the smallest details. If we're discussing insight, only Feng Tian Xian Shi and Chi Meng can compare to you, Palace Master Lü. This question should be asked to you instead." Chun Jun said with a laugh.
Feng Tian Xian Shi's face lit up with a hint of pride upon hearing the praise.
"Ha ha, the 'Yu Xū Shén Mù' is nothing to brag about. Chun Jun's 'San Cai Wang Qi Technique' is far more exquisite and not inferior to my 'Yu Xū Shén Mù' in any way. We all want to hear your wise words, Chun Jun. Why are you being modest?" Lü Chuanfeng smiled.
Chun Jun shook his head, laughing, and turned to ask Feng Tian Xian Shi, "What do you think, Feng Tian Xian Shi?"
"These two individuals have remarkable strength, and the others are not weak either. Compared to the cultivators trained by the Tian Court, they are not much inferior." Feng Tian Xian Shi said, scanning the twenty-four people on the stage and avoiding the main topic.
Feng Tian Xian Shi's praise was excessive, and Chun Jun chuckled, saying, "The Tian Court is the ruler of the myriad realms, and we, the cultivators of the Jin Yuan Xian Domain, cannot compare to the Tian Court's elite warriors."
"Although the Tian Court's warriors are exceptional, the Jin Yuan Xian Domain has abundant resources and is not inferior to the Tian Court in many ways. It's only natural that we can cultivate such talented individuals. However, it would be better if they were willing to serve the Tian Court sincerely." Chi Meng said calmly.
The atmosphere on the stage changed, and the others looked at each other with a hint of unease.
Feng Tian Xian Shi's eyebrows furrowed, and he glanced at Chun Jun with a hint of suspicion.
"Chi Meng, what are you saying? We have always followed the Tian Court's lead, and if there are any orders, we will obey without hesitation." Chun Jun hastily said, trying to correct the situation.
The others also expressed their loyalty, saying they would follow the Tian Court's commands.
"Hehe, I was just joking, everyone. Please, don't take it seriously." Chi Meng covered her mouth, laughing.
The others laughed as well, and the atmosphere on the stage returned to normal.
As the people on the high platform were speaking, the contestants on the various platforms below had already taken their positions.
With the host elder's command, the platforms erupted in a kaleidoscope of spiritual lights and thunderous collisions.
On the platform marked "Wu", Han Li and Si Kong Jian stood facing each other, not immediately making a move.
"Chang Dao friend, it's been a long time, your cultivation has made significant progress, truly commendable. However, Chang Dao friend, in the previous two trials, you didn't reveal your true strength, did you?" Si Kong Jian's eyes flickered with a hint of a smile.
"Si Kong Sect Master is too kind, speaking of strength, you, sir, also didn't reveal your full strength in the previous two battles. Could it be that you're planning to suddenly erupt, catching Chang Mo off guard? If that's the case, you might be disappointed." Han Li replied calmly.
Si Kong Jian's eyes narrowed, a hint of abnormal energy flashing in his eyes.
"Chang Dao friend's words are not small, I wonder if his strength can match his words!" He coldly shouted, waving his sleeve.
Five or six dozen cyan lights shot out from his sleeve, each one a flying sword imbued with spiritual energy, descending upon Han Li like a storm.
Han Li's figure flickered, and the platform beneath him exploded with a loud "boom", creating a large crater. However, he had already disappeared in an instant.
Si Kong Jian's face changed upon seeing this, and he quickly took out a small, dark green clock and tossed it into the air.
The clock rotated rapidly, its surface flashing with green light, and it expanded into a massive, dark green bell that released a torrent of green light. The light coalesced into a cylindrical green light screen that enveloped Si Kong Jian's body.
As the bell rotated slowly, ancient, intricate patterns could be seen etched onto its surface, surrounded by countless tiny, green symbols that seemed to be dancing in the air. It appeared to be an extraordinary defensive treasure.
Just as the dark green bell appeared, the space behind Si Kong Jian began to distort, and a golden fist, shining with dazzling light, emerged from the void. It seemed to be made of solid gold and struck the green light screen with a slow yet forceful motion.
Behind the golden fist, Han Li's figure reappeared.
A deafening "boom" shook the air!
The green symbols on the bell's surface churned violently, and the green light screen shattered simultaneously, the bell itself disintegrating into countless fragments that exploded outward in all directions.
Si Kong Jian's figure reappeared, his face filled with shock, as he rapidly retreated.
Han Li let out a low growl, and the over 900 acupoints on his body burst forth with starlight, his other hand flashing with a golden palm that struck the air.
The space above Si Kong Jian's head shook with a loud "boom", and a massive, starlight-infused palm descended upon him.
A terrifying, colossal force emanated from the golden palm, causing the surrounding void to collapse.
A massive "crash" shook the air!
Si Kong Jian's entire body was struck, slamming into the platform like a meteorite, creating a massive crater.
Han Li's face was cold and stern, and he unleashed the full power of his acupoints, causing the starlight on his body to flash rapidly. He crossed his arms, striking the air with a swift motion.
A deafening "boom" shook the air once more, and two more starlight-infused palms emerged from the void, intersecting as they struck towards Si Kong Jian's body.
The first palm had transformed into a fist, striking Si Kong Jian's body like a shooting star.
Han Li's consecutive attacks were as swift as lightning, relentless and merciless, aiming to take advantage of Si Kong Jian's underestimation and end the battle in an instant.
Otherwise, given Si Kong Jian's cultivation at the peak of the early Da Luo Realm, if the battle were to drag on, Han Li's current strength would be limited, and he might not be able to emerge victorious, or even risk exposing himself.
A series of dramatic changes unfolded in an instant, leaving most of the onlookers stunned and unable to follow Han Li's speed.
On the high platform, Chun Jun Dao person let out a soft gasp, his face filled with surprise.
Chi Meng's eyebrows twitched as he gazed at Han Li.
The other few individuals also changed their expressions, each with different emotions.
Tian Xing Zun's face was filled with delight, but Huo Yuan's eyebrows furrowed.
In the crater on the platform, Si Kong Jian's eyes were bulging with rage, his body having been struck by the starlight-infused palm. The dark energy within the palm was still churning, and his meridians were trembling, making it impossible for him to mobilize his spiritual energy.
He gritted his teeth, letting out a low growl, and a layer of cyan symbols appeared on his skin, radiating a burst of cyan light.
The next instant, he broke free from the crater, his body transforming into a cyan light screen that blocked the incoming attacks.
The two palms and one fist struck the cyan light screen, unleashing a deafening "boom".
The cyan and golden lights clashed violently, exploding outward in all directions, releasing a massive spiritual pressure that shook the nearby light screens and caused the platform to tremble violently.
The cultivators maintaining the nearby restrictive formations changed their expressions, hastily casting spells to stabilize the formations.
The cyan light screen was deeply indented, flashing violently, yet it remained taut, blocking the attacks for a brief moment before shattering.
However, Si Kong Jian had already recovered during this brief interval, his body radiating a brilliant green light that rapidly expanded, enveloping the entire platform, and he opened his spiritual domain.
Within the spiritual domain, countless green lights flashed, and a multitude of dark green trees emerged, twisting and turning as they struck the three starlight-infused palms. The treetop's branches floated out with an eerie green glow, emitting a unique wood element law.
A light sound echoed!
Three starlight giant palms were easily pierced by the branches, and the starlight on the palms quickly dimmed, as if the energy within was being swallowed. In an instant, they vanished.
Han Li's expression turned solemn as he witnessed this scene. He was about to charge forward but stopped himself.
The wood element domain in front of him was quite peculiar, and he couldn't act rashly.
"Ah, this wood element law is quite unique," said Chun Jun Daoist from the high platform, nodding his head.
"Although Chang Qi's methods are quite ruthless and clever, he's only a minor cultivator. He may have caught Si Kong Jian off guard, but once Si Kong Jian recovers, he won't be a match for him," said Huo Yang with a hint of smugness.
"The battle is far from over, and the outcome is still uncertain," said Tian Xing Zun with a light snort.
"Then let's wait and see," Huo Yang chuckled.
On the other side of the stone platform, Zhou Xian Yang's hands were clenched into fists, his face tense with anxiety.
"Chang Daoist just gave me a good beating, now it's my turn," Si Kong Jian said, flying out of the large pit with a cold expression. He waved his hand, and the seal on his hand changed.
The heavenly energy around the platform began to fluctuate wildly, surging towards the green spirit domain. The large tree within the domain began to twist and contort, as if numerous green giant pythons were charging towards Han Li from all directions.
Han Li was currently examining the properties of the wood element law in the surrounding domain, searching for a way to break it. Witnessing this scene, his expression turned solemn.
He swiftly rotated his body, and his two arms became blurry as they transformed into countless illusory shadows that charged towards the green giant trees from all directions.
In an instant, a loud whistling sound erupted!
Numerous golden fist shadows appeared, wildly charging towards the surrounding green giant trees.
The golden and green lights clashed violently, and although the giant trees could absorb spiritual energy, they weren't particularly sturdy. The fist shadows, infused with immense power, easily shattered them.
Moreover, Han Li had realized that the green trees couldn't absorb the starlight energy within his fist shadows, making them even more susceptible to being shattered.
Si Kong Jian watched this scene unfold, his expression unchanging. Instead, he coldly laughed and continued to stimulate the growth of the green trees within the domain, sending them charging towards Han Li.
At the same time, he pinched his fingers together and waved his hand.
Dozens of blue flying swords shot out, swirling above his head. The swords flashed with blue light, transforming into blue silk threads.
The silk threads trembled, and then transformed into numerous blue lights that burst forth.
The blue lights were incredibly sharp, and Han Li's fist shadows, lacking the power of starlight, were no match for them. The blue lights pierced through the fist shadows, appearing before Han Li and descending upon him like a torrential rain.
Han Li's expression remained calm, and he took a deep breath, his stomach suddenly expanding several times in size, as if he were pregnant. The dozens of mysterious apertures in his throat burst open, emitting an unusual glow and a hissing sound.
"Roar!" he bellowed.
A wave of white sound waves erupted, condensing into countless sound knives and sound guns that shattered the surrounding void, leaving it fragmented and distorted.
The blue lights were swept away by the sound waves, shattering into pieces.
The nearby green trees within the domain were also swept away, exploding into fragments.
The restrictions around the platform began to flash wildly, weakening rapidly, and despite the efforts of the nearby cultivators to maintain them, they were ineffective. The platform itself began to crack, as if it were about to collapse.
Han Li had unleashed the "Tian Sha Zhen Yu" technique, specifically the "Tian Sha Roar" divine ability, which was far more powerful than the "Jin Gang Roar" technique used by the mountain giant ape. He had only recently mastered this technique after achieving great success in his "Tian Sha Zhen Yu" cultivation.
However, he had intentionally modified the technique to avoid revealing his identity.
On the high platform, Chun Jun Daoist witnessed this scene and calmly raised his hand.
A golden light shot out from his hand, merging with the restrictions around the platform.
The restrictions instantly turned golden, stabilizing and becoming more solid. The platform below transformed into a golden color, becoming as hard as gold, and the cracks disappeared.
On the platform, Si Kong Jian's expression changed as he witnessed Han Li's sound wave attack.
However, he quickly regained his composure, and with a slight shrug, a large amount of green mist erupted from his back, carrying a chilly glow that merged with the green trees within the domain.
The green trees instantly developed a steel-like color, their hardness increasing significantly. Han Li's fist shadows, which had previously shattered the trees with ease, now found it much more difficult to do so. Instead, the green trees, now empowered, began to wildly dance and charge towards Han Li, shattering his fist shadows and rapidly closing in on him.
Han Li's fists were originally surrounded by a misty aura that spanned dozens of meters, but in the blink of an eye, it was compressed to only seven or eight meters. The green trees seemed to be about to crash into him.
His face showed no signs of abnormality, but in his heart, he let out a sigh. Earlier, he hadn't been able to instantly defeat Si Kongjian, and now things had indeed become troublesome.
As he pondered, he moved his hands, and each of them grasped a black giant sword.
The sword was taller than him, measuring two to three meters in length, and as wide as a door. It emitted a cold, eerie aura.
On the black sword, a giant dragon-shaped pattern was engraved, which was actually two star arrays, with point-like star patterns interspersed within. There were over two hundred of them.
These two giant swords were the Hei Long Sword, a weapon of Chang Qi, forged from the Nine Heavens' fallen iron to create a star device that could shatter anything.
Han Li let out a loud roar, and with a wave of his arm, the two giant swords transformed into black sword shadows that revolved and danced around him.
He didn't activate the power of the Hei Long Sword star device, instead relying solely on the sword itself to launch an attack.
Even so, the black sword shadows were far more destructive than the fist shadows, and the green trees that entered their range were instantly shredded.
"Roar!"
Han Li let out another loud roar towards Si Kongjian.
A white, misty sound wave shot out, but this time it didn't spread out. Instead, it condensed into a white sound wave that shot towards Si Kongjian.
The white sound wave's trajectory was marked by the destruction of the green trees, which were shattered like withered wood, creating a path about a meter wide.
Han Li's body transformed into a black shadow, following the path as he darted towards Si Kongjian like lightning.
Si Kongjian's eyes widened in shock, and he rapidly recited incantations, his hands forming a seal as a blinding green light appeared in his palm. Countless green runes danced within.
"Go!" he shouted, pushing his hands forward.
The green light shot out, and the surrounding trees converged towards it, merging into a single entity.
With a loud crash, a green giant dozens of meters tall materialized, its body surrounded by a green aura. A massive, earth-shattering wave of wood-elemental energy erupted from its body, causing the surrounding air to tremble.
The giant held a giant green knife, its blade wrapped in green runes, and with a swift motion, it sliced through the white sound wave.
The sound wave shattered, exploding into a thousand pieces.
The green knife paused, then continued to slash towards Han Li.
The entire spiritual realm's energy seemed to be mobilized by the green giant's attack, pressing down on Han Li with overwhelming force.
Han Li was now close to Si Kongjian, but he had no intention of engaging the giant. However, he had no choice but to swing his black dragon sword, striking the giant's knife.
The sword transformed into a black, lightning-fast slash, colliding with the green knife.
With a crisp cracking sound, the green knife shattered into two pieces, but the black dragon sword also developed a crack, eventually breaking apart.
However, Han Li didn't retreat. He vanished, reappearing in front of the green giant's head, his other hand wielding the black dragon sword, which transformed into a black slash that cut through the air, leaving a white mark.
The green giant's head was instantly severed.
Han Li stepped on the giant's shoulder, his body transforming into a residual shadow as he pounced towards Si Kongjian.
But just as he did, the green giant's body exploded with a loud crash, releasing countless green roots that shot out like living tendrils, binding Han Li's body.
The roots were covered in green runes, far more resilient than the previous trees, and they emitted a devouring energy that rapidly absorbed Han Li's spiritual energy.
Han Li's face changed, and he realized that these roots were not only absorbing his spiritual energy but also the energy he had borrowed from Chang Qi. If they continued to absorb it, his true form would be exposed.
He couldn't afford to hide his physical cultivation anymore, so he let out a loud roar, and the over 1,700 acupoints on his body burst forth with light.
A massive, earth-shattering energy erupted from his body, shattering the roots that bound him.
"Ah, Chang Qi's physical cultivation has reached such a realm, almost achieving physical perfection!" Pure Yuan True Person exclaimed, his face filled with surprise.
"Indeed, it's rare to see. I, Tian Tian, have secretly cultivated a batch of Xuan Sages, but Xuan Sage cultivation is extremely difficult. Few have managed to open over 1,000 acupoints. I wonder how he cultivated?" Feng Tian Xian said, sighing in amazement.
Tian Xing Zun was both shocked and delighted, glancing at Huo Yuan with a smug expression.
Huo Yuan's face, however, was stern, and he remained silent. On the other side, Zhou Xianyang and the others were also stunned, their eyes wide with shock as they stood there.
Han Li's performance in the previous match had already shocked them, and they couldn't believe that Han Li's physical cultivation had reached such a level.
On the stage, Si Kongjian was shocked and hastily used his full strength to operate his spiritual domain. The green runes on the tree roots shone brightly, and he used all his might to bind Han Li.
However, Han Li's power was too great, and the tree roots continued to break apart, albeit at a slower pace. It seemed that he was about to break free.
Si Kongjian's face changed color, and he gritted his teeth, causing a burst of green light to erupt from his body, like a green sun.
He suddenly released a massive amount of spiritual pressure, far surpassing his previous level, and it was clear that he had reached the mid-stage of the Great Luo Realm.
However, Si Kongjian seemed to have just recently advanced to the mid-stage of the Great Luo Realm, and his aura was still unstable.
"This... Si Kongjian has indeed reached the mid-stage of the Great Luo Realm!" Zhou Xianyang's face twitched, and his excitement from Han Li's previous display of strength was replaced with a sinking feeling.
After all, in his opinion, if Si Kongjian was only at the early stage of the Great Luo Realm, Han Li might still be able to handle it. But if he was at the mid-stage, the gap was like a chasm, and the chances of winning were extremely slim.
The others from the Xianyang Sect, including Zhao Yuancheng, also looked on with changed expressions.
On the other hand, the Pure Jun True Person and the others on the high platform were calm and composed, as if they had already known about this.
Si Kongjian's body was surrounded by a green glow, and his fingers moved swiftly, as if plucking flowers.
A series of green crystal threads shot out from his fingertips, spinning around before transforming into green crystal rings that sank into the tree roots surrounding Han Li.
The tree roots suddenly grew thicker and more robust, and they emitted a powerful crystal light that resisted Han Li's explosive power.
Han Li was shocked, and his lips moved slightly as he prepared to unleash another "Tianyu Roar" to break free from the tree roots.
But just as he was about to do so, the green light around him flashed wildly, and a series of green trees emerged, wrapping around his body and forming a massive tree cocoon that was several dozen feet tall. The cocoon emitted a powerful wood element law.
Si Kongjian flipped his hand, and a green wooden ruler appeared, adorned with fiery red patterns that emitted a powerful wood element law and fire element law.
He rapidly recited incantations, and a series of green crystal rings flew out from his body, sinking into the wooden ruler.
The wooden ruler suddenly emitted a burst of green and red light, containing two distinct element laws that clashed intensely.
Si Kongjian pointed the wooden ruler at the void, and a green light ball appeared, but it was surrounded by a red flame.
The two element laws clashed intensely within the light ball, emitting a piercing shriek, but they did not explode.
"Go!" Si Kongjian shouted, and the green light ball shot out, initially the size of a human head, but rapidly growing to the size of a house.
It struck the green tree cocoon, merging with it and disappearing.
A powerful fire element law burst out from the cocoon, and a series of dazzling red lights erupted from the cracks in the cocoon.
The originally green cocoon was now engulfed in flames, shrinking rapidly in size and transforming into a spherical shape. The intense wood element law and fire element law within the cocoon clashed intensely, yet complemented each other.
"This is... the Wood God's Thunderbolt!" a voice exclaimed from the stone platform.
The speaker was none other than the beautiful and elegant Red Dream, who gazed at the spherical cocoon with a flicker of surprise in her eyes.
"Wood God's Thunderbolt? Could it be the signature technique of the Wood King Xianzun, the renowned master of the Wood Element Law?" the Pure Jun True Person asked, turning to Red Dream.
The others on the stone platform also turned to Red Dream, their faces filled with curiosity.
Red Dream's eyes sparkled as she began to explain, "It is indeed the Wood God's Thunderbolt, a technique that combines the Wood Element Law and the Fire Element Law. The Wood King Xianzun had once used this technique to defeat a Great Luo Realm cultivator, and it was said that he had even used it to hold off two Great Luo Realm cultivators. Its power is truly formidable... But alas, the Wood King Xianzun was later punished by our sect's Xuanhuo Daozu for his arrogance, and he was severely injured. He disappeared afterwards, and it seems that he has fallen. The wooden ruler in Si Kongjian's hand is likely the Wood King Xianzun's treasured artifact, the Wood King Ruler. Si Kongjian's possession of this artifact explains why he was able to advance to the mid-stage of the Great Luo Realm. However, he has not fully inherited the Wood King Xianzun's divine abilities, and this Wood God's Thunderbolt is merely a shadow of the original technique, reliant on the power of the Wood King Ruler."
The Pure Jun True Person's voice was calm and composed as he spoke, "Although the Wood God's Thunderbolt is not as powerful as the original, it is still a formidable technique. This match is indeed becoming more interesting."
As the Pure Jun True Person finished speaking, a deafening explosion shook the stage, and the Wood God's Thunderbolt burst forth.
A massive red and green light sphere erupted, shattering the surrounding void and creating a massive black hole that swallowed everything in its vicinity.
The stage creaked and groaned under the intense pressure, but fortunately, the Pure Jun True Person had previously reinforced the stage and the surrounding restrictions, preventing a complete collapse.
As the audience watched in awe, they turned their attention to the center of the stage.
Han Li's figure had vanished, consumed by the black hole.
The outcome of the match was still uncertain, but one thing was clear: the battle between Han Li and Si Kongjian had reached a new level of intensity.
Si Kong Jian was still on high alert, muttering to himself as he raised his wooden ruler.
"Huala!"
The green trees in the spiritual realm converged, forming two wooden cocoons that shot out in an instant.
The wooden ruler emitted a flash of spiritual light, and two green fire cores shot out, merging with the cocoons.
The green cocoons burst into flames, transforming into two wooden thunderbolts that shot into the black hole like meteors.
A deafening explosion echoed from the black hole, causing it to distort and expand, almost affecting half of the arena.
The restrictions surrounding the arena emitted a cracking sound, once again showing signs of strain. The onlookers gasped in shock.
Si Kong Jian's face turned pale, and the green glow on his body dimmed significantly. It was clear that using the wooden thunderbolt attack had taken a great toll on him.
Just as he was about to take out a medicinal pill to catch his breath, a piercing shriek echoed from the black hole.
The black hole rumbled, and a red glow shot out, revealing one of the wooden thunderbolts that Si Kong Jian had just released. It shot towards him like a meteor.
Si Kong Jian was shocked, unsure of how his attack had been controlled by his opponent. He hastily activated the green trees in his spiritual realm to block the attack, retreating rapidly.
However, just as he did so, he heard a cold snort, and his mind was filled with intense pain, as if he had been stabbed with a steel needle. He couldn't help but cry out in pain, his retreating figure stumbling.
In that instant, the wooden thunderbolt shattered the green trees in front of him, reaching Si Kong Jian in the blink of an eye. It slammed into him with incredible force.
A deafening explosion shook the air!
The wooden thunderbolt exploded, releasing a blinding flash of red and green light that swept across the surroundings, causing the space to shatter inch by inch.
Si Kong Jian's heart skipped a beat.
He knew the power of the wooden thunderbolt, and he gritted his teeth, using his wooden ruler to create a green light shield that protected his body.
The green light shield was formed just in time, as the red and green light burst forth.
A deafening explosion shook the air!
Si Kong Jian was blown away, but the green light shield around him remained intact, flashing intensely as it withstood the blast.
Although the green light shield was incredibly resilient, it couldn't withstand the full force of the explosion. A small portion of the energy managed to penetrate the shield, striking Si Kong Jian's body.
Si Kong Jian's body emitted a series of cracking sounds as his bones shattered, and his mouth was filled with blood.
Just then, a phantom image shot out of the first black hole, chasing after Si Kong Jian as he was blown away. It slammed into him with incredible force.
The two of them flew out of the arena, crashing into the restrictions surrounding the platform.
The phantom image revealed itself to be Han Li.
He was surrounded by a crystalline light membrane, the true extreme membrane. However, beneath the membrane, his body was covered in tattered clothes, his skin charred and bloody.
Si Kong Jian was struck again, spitting out a mouthful of blood.
Han Li stretched out his left hand, pinning Si Kong Jian to the restrictions surrounding the platform. His right fist shone with golden light, emitting an intense power surge that was almost blinding.
He swung his right fist, and it transformed into a golden phantom image that slammed into Si Kong Jian's chest.
The restrictions surrounding the platform shattered, and Si Kong Jian was blown away like a broken sack, crashing to the ground.
The referee, who had been watching from a distance, flew over and declared Han Li the winner.
The situation had taken a drastic turn, with Si Kong Jian, who had been in the lead, suddenly falling behind. The onlookers were shocked.
Han Li's face showed a mixture of surprise and curiosity as he looked at Si Kong Jian, who was being helped to his feet by the people from the Lone Sun Peak.
"How did you take control of my wooden thunderbolt?" Si Kong Jian asked, his eyes fixed intently on Han Li.
Han Li didn't respond, instead choosing to take a recovery pill and hide his aura behind the black mask.
The pure and unadulterated true person and the others looked at Han Li with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.
Lu Chuanfeng chuckled, saying, "It seems we underestimated this young man. He has hidden abilities beyond his physical strength. He's indeed a formidable opponent, not simple at all."
The pure and unadulterated true person and the others turned their attention to the other arenas, but Chi Xiao, who had been watching the battle, couldn't help but glance at Han Li again, a hint of confusion in her eyes.
Han Li felt the pure and unadulterated true person's gaze move away, and he let out a sigh of relief, walking down from the arena. "Sorry, I have nothing to say." Han Li said calmly and then walked away.
The difference in power between each small realm in the Da Luo Realm was enormous, and Si Kong Jian's mid-stage Da Luo cultivation was extremely powerful. Even if he used all of his Xuan Miao's power, he couldn't win, so he had just been knocked into a space black hole by Si Kong Jian. He had risked using the Xuan Tian Gourd to counterattack and snatch the Mu Shen Pi Li Zi, using a clever trick to win.
Si Kong Jian looked at Han Li's back, his eyes flashing with venom.
"Let's go!" He suddenly roared, turning to walk towards the exit of the Jiu Yuan Guan mountain gate.
The others from the Guo Yang Peak quickly followed.
Han Li returned to the Xian Shan Sect, and everyone immediately came to greet him.
"Thank you, Brother Chang," Zhou Xian Yang said tightly grasping Han Li's hand, his eyes shining with excitement.
"No need to thank me, this is what I should do," Han Li said with a light smile.
He chatted with the others for a few moments, then sat down to meditate and recover from his injuries.
Speaking of which, Han Li and Si Kong Jian's battle, although it seemed complex, was actually the fastest to end. At this moment, the other battles on the other arenas were still ongoing.
However, the battles on the other arenas didn't last much longer, and within half a day, the winners and losers had been decided.
Before long, Han Li and the other eleven people stood on a arena, facing the thousands of surrounding cultivators.
Luo Yuan Shan from the Qing Hui Lin, Wen Chang Tian from the Song Tian Men, and Zi Luo Xian Zi from the Tian You Hu had all won, standing on the stage.
"After three days of competition, the twelve final winners have been chosen, and these twelve Bodhi Tokens will naturally belong to the twelve winning sects," said Chun Jun Zhen Ren with a smile.
The leaders of the twelve sects, including the Xian Shan Sect, stood up and bowed to the surrounding cultivators.
"The Bodhi Token is a treasure of the Heavenly Court, and cannot be lightly given. The award ceremony will be held in the Jiu Yuan Pavilion seven days from now, and we invite all of you to attend," Chun Jun Zhen Ren said.
The crowd below responded in unison.
Chun Jun Zhen Ren quickly announced the end of the competition, and the crowd didn't linger, heading towards the mountain gate.
Han Li and the Xian Shan Sect group headed down the mountain.
But halfway down, they stopped, Han Li's eyes narrowing as he frowned slightly.
On the road ahead, a red figure stood out, it was Chi Meng.
"Xian Shan Sect's Zhou Xian Yang, greeting Chi Meng Xian Zi," Zhou Xian Yang quickly bowed to Chi Meng.
The others from the Xian Shan Sect also bowed, and Han Li nodded to Chi Meng.
"No need to be polite, Sect Master Zhou," Chi Meng said calmly, her beautiful eyes ignoring Zhou Xian Yang and instead looking at Han Li.
"I don't know what Chi Meng Xian Zi wants to do," Zhou Xian Yang said with a smile, his heart skipping a beat as he saw Chi Meng's gaze on Han Li.
"I just wanted to get to know Brother Chang, who showed incredible power in the competition. I don't know if I have the honor of meeting him," Chi Meng said with a smile.
"Chi Meng Xian Zi is an important figure in the Heavenly Court, and such a beauty, willing to lower herself to meet me, I am truly delighted," Han Li said with a calm smile.
"Brother Chang is a witty person, a true gentleman," Chi Meng said with a slight smile.
"Brother Zhou, take the others back to the Xian Shan Sect, I'll be there soon," Han Li said to Zhou Xian Yang.
"Okay, Brother Chang, I'll go first," Zhou Xian Yang said hesitantly, nodding in agreement.
He then bowed to Chi Meng and led the others away quickly.
On the small path, only Han Li and Chi Meng were left.
"The Golden Maple Forest, a famous scenic spot in the Jiu Yuan Guan, is not far from here. Would Brother Chang like to accompany me to take a look?" Chi Meng said with a smile.
Han Li was taken aback, and a figure from his past flashed in his mind. It was Chen Qiao Qian, his fellow disciple from the Huang Feng Valley.
But Chen Qiao Qian had long since turned to dust, and he didn't know if she had been reborn or where she was now.
"Since there is a beautiful scenery, and a beautiful woman, I would be delighted to accompany you, Chi Meng," Han Li said with a calm smile.
Originally, Han Li's cautious nature would not have allowed him to chat with Chi Meng, but now he was pretending to be Chang Qi, and Chang Qi was a lively and charming person who loved beautiful women.
He had no choice but to pretend to be so.
Chi Meng smiled, her beautiful eyes sparkling, and she walked ahead.
Han Li followed, his heart still a bit uneasy.
Han Li and Chi Meng walked forward for a distance, soon arriving at a secluded area.
After turning a corner, a vast mountain valley appeared before them, filled with golden maple trees that shone brightly in the sunlight. The trees seemed to radiate a natural beauty, untainted by any hint of vulgarity.
The golden maples covered the entire mountain, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene that was truly rare.
"These golden maples are called Flowing Light Golden Maples, a rare type of spiritual tree that only grows in areas with dense golden elemental energy. Not only are they beautiful, but they also emit a gentle golden aura that is beneficial for physical cultivation." Chi Meng said as she walked.
"Is that so? Chi Meng fairy not only has extensive knowledge, but also has a deep understanding of physical cultivation. I, Han Li, am impressed." Han Li's eyes seemed to have a hint of distraction, and he praised Chi Meng.
As soon as he arrived at the maple forest, he had discovered the gentle golden aura that permeated the air, which was beneficial for nourishing his body.
"I am just a paper tiger, Chi Meng fairy. Your physical cultivation is nearly perfect, and I am not worthy of comparison. I wonder, how did you manage to cultivate your body to such a realm? There must be some secret techniques involved." Chi Meng's beautiful eyes sparkled as she asked.
"People's physical constitutions are different, and the methods of physical cultivation vary accordingly. I, Han Li, have been traveling extensively, and it was only through chance encounters that I was able to open up some of the mystical orifices in my body. Chi Meng fairy is too kind." Han Li looked at Chi Meng's elegant figure, and replied vaguely.
"I see. It seems that traveling extensively is indeed beneficial. I, too, would like to go out and explore more. Unfortunately, I have limited experience, and my recent trip to Jinjin City was quite eventful." Chi Meng smiled, and then sighed.
"Someone dared to provoke you, Chi Meng fairy?" Han Li's heart skipped a beat, but he struggled to maintain his composure, and asked with a hint of surprise.
"I was sent by the Heavenly Court to capture a fugitive, but things took an unexpected turn, and the person was rescued. Moreover, the people who accompanied me were all killed." Chi Meng's expression turned cold.
"Oh, someone actually dared to obstruct the Heavenly Court's business. I wonder who is so bold. Could it be the fugitive's accomplice?" Han Li asked calmly.
"I don't know if it's the accomplice, but the person's physical strength is extremely powerful. It's similar to yours, Chi Meng fairy." Chi Meng's gaze locked onto Han Li, and she said slowly.
"Why are you looking at me like that, Chi Meng fairy? You don't think I'm the one, do you? My sect has been keeping me hidden for thousands of years, and I have been cultivating in seclusion. I have never left the mountain, and Chi Meng fairy can investigate if she doesn't believe me." Han Li laughed, and said seriously.
Although he was laughing, his heart was secretly sighing. It seemed that no matter how hard he tried to hide, Chi Meng had still discovered something.
This was not surprising, as a Grand Luo Realm cultivator's perception was extremely keen. Even if the Wheel of Reincarnation's mask could perfectly conceal his aura, once he took action, he would inevitably reveal some clues.
However, looking at Chi Meng's expression, it seemed that she was only suspicious.
"Is that so...?" Chi Meng smiled faintly, and her right hand flipped, revealing a white spherical object. The sphere had numerous golden patterns etched onto its surface, and a white vortex swirled within.
"What is this treasure?" Han Li's heart stirred, and he asked.
"This is called the Zhou Tian Instrument, which is capable of sensing and detecting the power of laws. I wonder if you, Han Li, dare to let me test your law power and see if it's similar to that person's?" Chi Meng's gaze locked onto Han Li, her voice growing softer.
At the same time, several powerful auras emerged from the surrounding maple forest, locking onto Han Li.
"This... just because I have a strong physical body, Chi Meng fairy suspects me of being the Heavenly Court's fugitive, and now you want to investigate my law power? Isn't this a bit too much?" Han Li's face turned slightly ugly.
"Please forgive me, I have no choice. If you can prove that you're not that person, I'll apologize and offer you a cup of wine." Chi Meng curtsied, her starry eyes still fixed on Han Li, not relaxing in the slightest.
"Chi Meng fairy's status is lofty, and she's a key figure in the Heavenly Court, as well as the granddaughter of the Red Fusion Dao Ancestor. I, Han Li, am just a lowly elder of the Xian Mountain Sect. If you want to investigate me, please go ahead. However, I must ask, what kind of law power does that person cultivate, so that I won't be wrongly accused?" Han Li's thoughts were racing, and he coldly replied.
They were currently in the Jiuyuan Temple, and if he refused to let Chi Meng investigate, it would only attract more attention, making things worse.
For now, he could only hope that the Wheel of Reincarnation's black mask was more exquisite than Chi Meng's Zhou Tian Instrument.
As Han Li's thoughts turned, he simultaneously activated the "Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique", hiding the time law power within his body.
He also concentrated his spiritual energy, retracting it inward.
At this moment, the time law power within his body suddenly collapsed inward, gathering into a single point, and forming a golden spherical object the size of a chicken egg.
The golden sphere was round and smooth, giving off a sense of perfection, and all the time law power was contained within, without any leakage.
Han Li sensed this situation, and his heart skipped a beat.
"That person's secret technique is a bit mixed, but the main one is the time law power, one of the three supreme laws. Thank you, Han Li, for your cooperation." Chi Meng ignored Han Li's sarcastic words, and smiled faintly.
She began to chant, and the white spherical object in her hand started to rotate, emitting a bright light. The golden patterns on its surface shone brightly, and the white vortex within swirled rapidly.
A formless wave emerged from the sphere, entering Han Li's body.
Han Li's spiritual energy immediately trembled, and his body began to reveal its true state.
His skin surfaced with a black glow, and tiny golden lightning sparks appeared.
At the same time, the golden maple trees surrounding them began to glow, as if they were being stimulated by Han Li's law power. The black light was the law of the universe that Chang Qi was cultivating, while the golden lightning was the law of the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword.
Han Li's Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword had been re-refined a while ago, and the power of the law it contained was completely different from before, and it was not expected to be recognized.
Han Li's time law was hidden deep within his body, stable and unshakeable, and was not affected by Zhou Tian Yi.
Sensing this situation, he was overjoyed, and his expression did not reveal anything, still maintaining a cold and angry demeanor.
Chi Meng saw this scene and was taken aback, but she did not give up, and instead increased her control over Zhou Tian Yi.
The Immortal Qi within Han Li's body trembled even more violently, and more black light and lightning laws appeared, but there was no other change.
"Is that enough?" Han Li asked coldly.
Chi Meng's beautiful eyes sparkled, and she pressed a seal on the white orb, causing the light to disappear.
The Immortal Qi within Han Li's body returned to calm, and the laws surrounding him also disappeared.
"It seems I have misunderstood Chang Dao, I apologize to you, and I will set up a banquet in the Kaiyuan Building in Jiuyuan City to apologize to Chang Dao." Chi Meng said with a bow.
"No need to apologize, is there anything else you need to discuss? If not, I will take my leave." Han Li replied coldly, not waiting for Chi Meng to respond, and turned to leave the Golden Maple Forest.
Chi Meng watched as Han Li's figure disappeared into the distance, her eyebrows still not fully relaxed.
She then turned and disappeared into the Golden Maple Forest, and the other auras in the forest also disappeared.
Han Li returned to the Xianshan Villa, and Zhou Xian Yang had already been waiting for him. As soon as Han Li arrived, he asked, "Han Dao, did Chi Meng discover your true identity?"
"No, she just wanted to see if my physical cultivation was strong, and asked me to teach her about it." Han Li replied, deciding not to tell Zhou Xian Yang about the events that had just occurred.
He had already completed his task, and did not want anything to happen that would affect his obtaining the information about the Golden Child.
"That's good." Zhou Xian Yang said, relieved.
"Speaking of which, Han Dao's physical cultivation has reached such a high level, it's truly enviable. Do you have any secrets to share? I'm willing to exchange 50 million Immortal Coins for it." Zhou Xian Yang asked, his eyes shining with excitement.
"I don't have any secrets, my physical cultivation is just a coincidence." Han Li replied.
Zhou Xian Yang's face fell, disappointed.
"Zhou Dao, I have already completed my task, and obtained a Bodhi Command for the Xianshan Sect. When will you fulfill your promise to me?" Han Li asked.
"Please be patient, Han Dao, Wu Yang has already received the news about the three trials, and what you want has already been sent over. However, I need to receive the Bodhi Command first before I can give it to you." Zhou Xian Yang replied.
"A fair trade, one hand gives the money, the other hand gives the goods. Very well, let's talk again in seven days." Han Li said.
Zhou Xian Yang did not stay any longer, and after exchanging a few words with Han Li, he left.
Han Li sat down, closed his eyes, and began to cultivate.
Seven days passed quickly, and Han Li followed the Xianshan Sect's group to the Jiuyuan Temple.
The Jiuyuan Temple had already sent people to wait for them, and led the Xianshan Sect's group towards the inner temple.
Han Li followed the group, while secretly observing the situation within the Jiuyuan Temple. He had already asked Lan Yan to describe the situation within the temple, and had drawn a map of the temple's layout.
The Jiuyuan Temple was divided into two parts, the outer temple and the inner temple.
Unfortunately, Lan Yan's status was not high, and he had only been to the outer temple before. The inner temple was only visited once or twice, and the map only showed the outer temple's layout.
However, the places Han Li saw now were all on the map, which made him feel more at ease.
A moment later, Han Li and the others arrived at the foot of a massive palace situated on the mid-slope of a mountain. The palace's signboard read "Jiuyuan Pavilion" in three large characters.
"Please, fellow Daoists," their guide said, inviting the Xianshan Sect group to enter the grand hall.
From the outside, the Jiuyuan Pavilion didn't seem particularly large, but its interior space was surprisingly vast, spanning over a thousand meters. It was clear that some kind of spatial material and method had been used in its construction.
At this moment, several sect members had already arrived, and upon seeing the Xianshan Sect group enter, some familiar faces approached to greet them.
Due to Han Li's impressive display of power during the previous duel, some people took the initiative to strike up a conversation with him. Fortunately, Han Li was already familiar with their identities and relationships, so he was able to respond with ease.
Half an hour later, the twelve outstanding sect members had all arrived, while the other sect members had not appeared.
After a brief moment, the sound of bells and drums echoed from the grand hall.
The crowd immediately fell silent, and from the rear hall, Feng Tian Xian Shi, Chun Jun Zhen Ren, Lu Chuan Feng, Huo Yuan, and Tian Xing Zun Zhe emerged.
Behind Chun Jun Zhen Ren, several Jiuyuan Pavilion elders followed, but Chi Meng was not among them. This caused Han Li to feel a slight sense of relief.
"Greetings, Feng Tian Xian Shi! Chun Jun Zhen Ren!" the crowd chorused, bowing in unison.
"No need for formalities," Chun Jun Zhen Ren said with a smile. "Let's get straight to the point. Today, I've invited you all to confer the Bodhi Decree. The winners of the previous duel, please come forward."
Han Li and the other twelve individuals stepped forward from their respective sect groups, standing in a line before Chun Jun Zhen Ren and Feng Tian Xian Shi.
Chun Jun Zhen Ren stepped aside, and Feng Tian Xian Shi took a step forward, bowing to the empty air. "I respectfully request the Bodhi Decree!"
As he spoke, a dazzling golden light burst forth from the void, and a golden, square-shaped treasure box materialized.
Feng Tian Xian Shi bowed to the treasure box, then snapped his fingers, and the box opened automatically. Inside, twelve golden, ancient Bodhi Decrees were arranged, emitting a peculiar aura that seemed to contain some kind of extraordinary energy.
The crowd's faces lit up with excitement as they gazed upon the Bodhi Decrees.
Han Li's eyes merely swept over the twelve Bodhi Decrees, his expression revealing a hint of excitement. However, he didn't place much importance on these highly coveted tokens among the high-ranking cultivators of the Jin Tong Yuan.
His true purpose for coming here was to gather information about Jintong. Now that he was one step away from completing the Wheel of Rebirth Temple's task, he would soon need to consider how to launch a rescue mission.
For someone with his current cultivation level, the Jiuyuan Pavilion was akin to a dragon's lair, making it impossible to force his way in. The ideal situation would be to take advantage of the chaos during the Wheel of Rebirth Temple's action to fish in troubled waters.
However, he still didn't understand the purpose of the Wheel of Rebirth Temple's action, nor did he know if he would have an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.
As Han Li pondered these thoughts, Feng Tian Xian Shi snapped his fingers again, and the twelve Bodhi Decrees flew out of the treasure box, landing in the hands of Han Li and the others.
Han Li accepted the Bodhi Decree with one hand, feeling a slight stir in his heart.
The Bodhi Decree was extremely heavy, and its material was unknown. It felt ice-cold to the touch, and when Han Li made contact with it, he could sense the peculiar energy contained within.
"The Bodhi Decree is a treasure forged by the Time Dao Ancestor himself," Feng Tian Xian Shi said slowly. "With this decree, you will be able to participate in the upcoming Bodhi Banquet. Please, everyone, take good care of it."
Han Li was about to examine the Bodhi Decree further when he heard that it was forged by the Time Dao Ancestor. He immediately stopped, feeling an urge to discard the decree.
"This Bodhi Banquet will be held in the Yaochi Victory Realm," Feng Tian Xian Shi continued. "With this decree, you may bring three people to attend. As for what you can gain from the Bodhi Banquet, that depends on your individual luck."
Just then, a sudden, thunderous roar echoed from a distant location outside the pavilion.
The expressions of the Jiuyuan Pavilion elders changed, and Chun Jun Zhen Ren's brow furrowed slightly as he cast a questioning glance at a stout, bearded elder beside him.
The elder closed his eyes, pointed his fingers at his brow, and began to chant. A golden light swirled around his brow, and a powerful spiritual energy fluctuation emanated from it, seemingly a unique method of spiritual transmission.
After a moment, the elder opened his eyes and said, "Something has gone wrong at the Spirit Beast Mountain's beast enclosure. The mountain's guardian beast, the Bieyan Qilin, has been startled and has broken free, rampaging through the mountain."
"The Bieyan Qilin is a Mahayana-level guardian beast, known for its gentle nature," Chun Jun Zhen Ren said calmly. "Why would it suddenly go berserk? Where is Shanyang Zhenren? Isn't he the one responsible for its care?"
The elder replied, "Shanyang Zhenren has gone to the lower realm to subdue a ferocious beast that has been wreaking havoc in the Shan Yuan Realm. He has not returned yet."
As the elder finished speaking, the commotion outside grew louder, with various spirit beasts and exotic birds crying out in the distance, their sounds echoing through the air.
The stout elder closed his eyes to inquire further, his expression growing increasingly tense. The mountain master, the beast enclosures on the Spiritual Beast Mountain were all damaged by the Biyan Qilin, and more than 70 spiritual beasts escaped and went on a rampage. Many of them used their innate divine abilities to break out of the Spiritual Beast Mountain, and two of them even reached the Jiaohu Garden. Fortunately, Mu Rong Elder stopped them, or else the spiritual plants and grasses would have been severely damaged.
Today, the temple is hosting noble guests, and we cannot be careless. Let's have Lei Jun Elder handle it personally.
The short and stout elder nodded and began to transmit a message.
There's been a bit of a situation inside, please forgive us. Chun Jun True Person turned to Feng Tian Xian Shi and the others, and smiled.
No need to worry, it's just a few spiritual beasts escaping. We'll just catch them and that's all. Feng Tian Xian Shi said nonchalantly.
It's not a big deal... Tian Xing Zun and the others also laughed and spoke.
As for the 12 people from the various sects who came to receive the Bodhi Order, they naturally didn't dare to say a word, and could only sit at the lower seats and accompany them with a smile.
Just as everyone thought the ceremony was over and they could leave, a loud explosion was heard from outside the Nine Yuan Tower, and the entire great hall shook violently.
Immediately after, a series of loud explosions followed.
The sound was far away, but the momentum was not small, and it didn't seem like the sound of spiritual beasts.
What's going on? Chun Jun True Person's expression finally changed, and he asked.
The short and stout elder used his divine soul secret technique to investigate again, but he didn't speak directly, and instead transmitted a message to Chun Jun True Person.
After hearing the message, Chun Jun True Person's face was slightly tense, and a hint of anger appeared between his eyebrows.
Feng Tian Xian Shi, Huo Dao Friend, Lu Gong Zhu, Tian Xing Dao Friend, there are some matters in the temple that require my personal attention. I'll trouble you all to wait for a moment. Chun Jun True Person stood up, bowed to the few people, and said.
Since the temple has matters to attend to, then Chun Jun Dao Friend can go and handle them. We'll just drink some tea and wait. Huo Yuan stood up and said.
Chun Jun Dao Friend can go and handle the matters, no need to worry. The others also stood up and said.
Chun Jun True Person stood up, turned his wrist, and took out a silver silk duster. With a casual wave, a layer of silver ripples appeared in front of him, and a door to a silver space appeared in the void.
Han Li watched and saw that Chun Jun True Person's cultivation was not a space law, and he was able to create a silver space door with a single wave of his hand. The silver silk duster in his hand was definitely a rare and precious space treasure.
Yu Chang, you stay here and entertain the noble guests. I'll go and come back. Chun Jun True Person instructed the short and stout elder.
Then, he retreated and disappeared into the silver ripples.
Feng Tian Xian Shi and the others sat back down, and occasionally chatted and drank tea. Zhou Xian Yang and the others from the 12 sects looked at each other, and some of them were getting anxious.
Everyone, don't worry, the temple master will be back soon. You can just wait here for a moment. The short and stout elder saw the situation and spoke to comfort them.
The 12 sects' people naturally didn't dare to have any objections, and could only sit down and wait.
After about a cup of tea, Chun Jun True Person still hadn't returned.
Is the noise outside because of something happening on that side? Han Li asked Zhou Xian Yang in a transmitted voice.
Our task is just to receive the Bodhi Order, and we don't know anything about the other matters. We don't need to worry about it. Zhou Xian Yang replied in a transmitted voice.
Han Li heard this and knew that he couldn't ask anything else, so he didn't say anything more.
But just then, a loud explosion was heard, and the great hall shook violently. The furniture and decorations were all knocked over, and many people were affected by the shockwave, stumbling and almost falling over.
What's going on... Tian You Lake's Zi Luo Xian Zi's expression changed, and she asked.
The others' expressions also changed, and they all felt the power of the explosion. What made them even more anxious was that this explosion didn't come from far away, but from the Nine Yuan Tower itself.
Han Li looked around and saw that the floor, walls, and ceiling all had a layer of golden light, and inside the light, there were complex and intricate talisman arrays. It was clear that this was a high-level banishment array.
Everyone, don't worry, this Nine Yuan Tower is our sect's stronghold, and it's naturally protected by an independent banishment array. Even a mid-stage Da Luo cultivator wouldn't be able to break through it easily, let alone be harmed by the escaped spiritual beasts. Yu Chang said hastily.
But just as he finished speaking, another explosion sounded, and the great hall shook violently again.
The golden talisman arrays surrounding the great hall also shook violently, and the surface of the arrays lit up with a brilliant golden light, stabilizing the great hall once again.
This time, everyone realized that the situation was not quite right, and some people even showed signs of panic.
Only Feng Tian Xian Shi and the others remained calm and composed, chatting and drinking tea as if the situation outside had nothing to do with them.
Luoyuanshan furrowed his brow and asked, "Elder Yu, judging from the explosion's power, it doesn't seem like an ordinary spirit beast. Could something have happened to your esteemed sect?"
As soon as he spoke, everyone's gaze fell upon the stout elder.
"Everyone, please don't jump to conclusions," Elder Yu said gravely. "It's just that some spirit beasts have escaped, and they all have unique abilities, making them difficult to capture. There's no need to be alarmed, just wait patiently here."
Elder Yu, if something has happened, I hope you'll inform us truthfully. Perhaps we can also offer some assistance?" Zhou Xianyang asked, his brow furrowed slightly.
Elder Yu snorted, "Ha! When has the Nine Yuan Sect ever needed outside help?"
Zhou Xianyang hastily apologized, "I spoke out of turn, forgive me, Elder Yu. Since the Bodhi Order has already been bestowed, we're of no use here. Why don't we leave and return to our respective sects, rather than causing trouble for your esteemed sect?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Nine Yuan Pavilion shook violently once more, with an even greater intensity than before. The wooden pillars in the hall developed visible cracks, and if not for the restrictive spell, the entire structure might have collapsed.
Feng Tianxian, the heavenly envoy, frowned slightly, seemingly displeased. He stood up and asked, "What's going on with the Nine Yuan Sect? It's just a matter of spirit beasts escaping, yet you're making such a big fuss about it?"
The stout elder, naturally, didn't dare to gloss over the heavenly envoy's inquiry. After a brief moment of hesitation, he bowed and explained, "Reporting to the heavenly envoy, the disturbance in the Spirit Beast Mountain was just the beginning. Afterwards, various parts of the Nine Yuan Sect experienced unrest, with multiple incidents occurring simultaneously, making it seem chaotic."
"Where is Pure Jun Zhenren now?" Feng Tianxian asked.
"Our sect leader is currently stationed at the Ancestral Hall, worried that something might happen there. Once the unrest subsides, he will return here," Elder Yu explained hastily.
Upon hearing this, the crowd erupted into chaos once more, requesting that Elder Yu open the restrictive spell and let them leave.
"None of you should make a scene, just wait patiently here," Elder Yu said, his face sinking as he glared at the crowd.
Zhou Xianyang and the others fell silent, not daring to speak further.
"The Nine Yuan Sect has quite the nerve, treating us like this. These people have, after all, received the Bodhi Order and are qualified to participate in the Bodhi Banquet as guests from the Middle Earth Realm. What is Elder Yu trying to do?" Feng Tianxian narrowed his eyes and spoke coldly.
"I don't dare..." Elder Yu apologized hastily.
"Heavenly Envoy, please calm down. Since Pure Jun Dao has personally taken action, there's no need to worry. I've heard that the heavenly envoy is skilled at playing Go, why don't we have a match?" Tian Xingzun, who had been quiet until now, stood up and intervened on behalf of Elder Yu.
"I see that Elder Yu isn't intentionally causing trouble, but since the Nine Yuan Sect has encountered problems, it's indeed not suitable for others to leave at this time," Luochuan Feng added.
Feng Tianxian heard this and naturally understood the underlying meaning, so he sat back down.
Tian Xingzun sat across from him, and with a flick of his sleeve, a green jade Go board appeared on the table between them, along with two Go containers.
Feng Tianxian had initially been uninterested, but upon seeing the objects on the table, a hint of curiosity flashed in his eyes. He opened the black Go container, and a faint purple glow emanated from it.
The Go pieces inside the container were surrounded by a purple aura, with tiny, shining lights on each piece, resembling stars in the night sky. They emitted a gentle, starry power that seemed exquisite.
"Could this be the legendary 'Star River Go' set?" Feng Tianxian's eyes lit up as he asked.
Tian Xingzun smiled, "The heavenly envoy has a keen eye, indeed it is this very set. If you win this game, I'll gift it to you as a bonus, what do you say?"
Feng Tianxian laughed, "Ha! I'm glad Tian Xingzun has a taste for this. I'll play along for a bit."
He immediately set up the board and began playing against Tian Xingzun, no longer paying attention to the others.
After this commotion, the others didn't dare to speak up again, and could only wait quietly for the external chaos to subside.
Huoyuan glanced at the crowd and began discussing the secrets of the Golden Source Realm with Luochuan Feng. However, their conversation was already isolated from the others by a secret technique, making it impossible for anyone to eavesdrop.
The crowd fell silent once more, and the grand hall returned to its former tranquility, with only the occasional sound of Go pieces being placed on the board coming from Feng Tianxian and Tian Xingzun.
"Clack"
Feng Tianxian placed a Go piece that shone with starlight on the middle of the board, a smile on his face.
"Respectful sir, it seems you're intentionally gifting me this game, or else why would you make mistake after mistake, allowing me to gain control of the board?" Feng Tianxian asked Tian Xingzun, smiling.
Tian Xingzun chuckled, "The heavenly envoy is joking, of course. As for Go, I'm naturally no match for you. However, this board is also a formation, and the pieces are like seeds. Once placed, they can't be taken back. Perhaps the game isn't just about the pieces on the board."
Feng Tianxian was taken aback, "What do you mean, sir?"
Tian Xingzun didn't respond, instead smiling and saying, "It's my turn to make a move."
He picked up a white Go piece and placed it on the center of the board.
As the piece landed, the green jade board suddenly lit up with a purple glow.
A violent, starry power erupted from the board, sending shockwaves in all directions, shattering the surrounding furniture and decorations into splinters. Huo Yuan and Lu Chuanfeng were also affected and retreated a hundred feet, looking towards that direction.
They saw that the table with the chessboard had already been reduced to dust, and the Qingyu chessboard had disappeared. On the ground, a large, circular Qing light chessboard with a diameter of tens of feet appeared.
The 19 lines on the board were transformed into thick, white light lines that wrapped around Feng Tian's body, connecting him to the chessboard on the ground, rendering him immobile.
The white chess pieces on the board had formed a complex starlight array, with purple starlight swirling around it, emitting intense starlight fluctuations.
At the same time, Tian Xing Zun, standing opposite him, had a smile on his face, his hands clasped together in a Buddhist gesture.
"Today, I have a great task to accomplish, and I must borrow the head of the Celestial Messenger."
As Tian Xing Zun's voice boomed, his hands suddenly thrust forward.
The white chess pieces on the ground immediately lit up, transforming into dozens of thick, starlight dragons that rushed towards Feng Tian's vital points.
This all seemed to happen in slow motion, but in reality, it occurred in the blink of an eye.
Feng Tian had no time to react, and could only rely on his instincts to activate his own laws, conjuring a layer of pale blue water armor around his body.
When Han Li's gaze fell upon the water armor, he noticed something unusual - the water vapor and ripples on its surface seemed to contain an immense, ocean-like power.
"Tian Xing Zun, have you gone mad?" Huo Yuan exclaimed, his eyes widening in shock.
He flashed forward, intending to intervene, but it was too late.
The dozens of starlight dragons suddenly burst into Feng Tian's water armor, causing a massive disturbance.
The armor's surface churned with clouds and mist, as if the dragons were struggling to move forward.
Huo Yuan, the master of Baizao Mountain, had already reached the scene, with Lu Chuanfeng close behind.
"Your abilities are more impressive than I expected, Celestial Messenger," Tian Xing Zun said, his voice laced with regret.
As he spoke, his hands changed into a different gesture, and his body rapidly retreated.
The dozens of starlight dragons within Feng Tian's water armor suddenly burst into a brilliant, white light.
Within the light, faint purple starlight was visible, releasing a terrifying, starlight-infused energy.
A deafening explosion shook the air.
A massive, starlight energy burst forth from Feng Tian's body, transforming into a towering, white light vortex that rapidly expanded in all directions.
The vortex was accompanied by a howling wind that shredded the surrounding space, causing the air to distort and writhe.
However, the energy seemed to be contained, only affecting the space around Feng Tian, without spreading further.
The top of the vortex had torn open the restrictive array above, creating a large hole in the roof of the Nine Yuan Pavilion.
Tian Xing Zun escaped through the hole, his body transformed into a rainbow-colored light that shot into the distance.
Huo Yuan's eyes blazed with anger as he gazed at the blurry figure within the vortex. He turned to Lu Chuanfeng, who had caught up, and shouted:
"Lu Gong, take care of the Celestial Messenger. I'll go after Tian Xing Zun."
With that, he waved his hand, summoning a ten-foot-long, cyan-purple flying needle that appeared in the air.
He leapt onto the needle, which flashed with symbols, and disappeared into the distance.
Lu Chuanfeng, who had been about to leave, returned to the scene, his brow furrowed in concern.
The other people in the hall, though unaffected by the blast, were shocked and retreated to the corner of the hall, their eyes wide with fear.
They couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. Had Tian Xing Zun, the leader of the Day and Night Alliance, really attempted to assassinate the Celestial Messenger of the Heavenly Court?
Lu Chuanfeng couldn't help but focus his attention on the white light vortex in the hall, ignoring the other people present.
After a moment, the white light vortex finally began to weaken, slowing down until it dissipated into a burst of starlight, and Feng Tianxian Shi's body fell out of it.
Han Li restrained his curiosity and looked at Feng Tianxian Shi.
He saw that his water armor had already disappeared, and his clothes were torn and tattered, revealing deep wounds all over his body.
But what was even more serious was that several important acupoints on his body, including his dantian, had been torn open by the explosion of star power, and the residual energy was still invading his body, causing him immense pain.
"Ahh..."
Feng Tianxian Shi let out a suppressed scream, his anger and hatred reaching a boiling point.
He couldn't remember the last time he had suffered such a heavy injury, and the sudden betrayal by Tianxing Zun had brought him not only physical pain but also spiritual humiliation.
"I will hunt down all the cultivators of the Day and Night Alliance throughout the entire Xian domain," Feng Tianxian Shi said, his voice filled with hatred.
"Xian Shi, you should first tend to your wounds. Huo Shan has already gone to pursue Tianxing Zun, and we can discuss the matter of punishment after he is caught," Lu Chuanfeng said, his brow furrowed with concern.
The Day and Night Alliance was a powerful force, with a vast network of cultivators, and it was impossible to hunt down every single one of them.
"No matter what, I will make Tianxing Zun and the Day and Night Alliance pay a hundredfold price," Feng Tianxian Shi said, his hatred unabated.
As he spoke, he winced in pain again, his face twisted in agony. He glanced at the people from the twelve sects, feeling a sense of shame and humiliation.
The cultivators from the twelve sects didn't dare to look at him directly, exchanging nervous glances instead.
"This is a disaster... a simple ceremony has turned into this..." Zi Luoxian sighed, her face filled with worry.
"We can't stay here, something else might happen...," a white-haired elder said, his brow furrowed with concern.
"We can't just sit here and wait for death. We have to leave," someone else said in a low voice.
"Let's go, let's leave this place..."
Someone called out, and the group of cultivators began to stand up, preparing to leave the hall.
But just as they were about to depart, the short and stout elder, Yu Chang, stepped forward again, blocking their path.
"You can't leave. Our sect leader has given orders that you are not to leave the Jiu Yuan Ge without permission," Yu Chang said.
"Yu Chang, you said earlier that the Jiu Yuan Ge was the safest place, with the strongest restrictive formations. But now that the formations have been broken, this place is a danger zone. Do you still want to keep us here?" Zhou Xianyang asked, his voice loud and clear.
Yu Chang looked embarrassed, unsure of what to say.
"Yu Chang, you have the time to stop us, but why not go and calm down the situation in the sect instead? We just want to leave the Jiu Yuan Ge," Luo Yuanshan said.
"Fine, I'll let the sect elders escort you out. But if anyone tries to sneak away or cause trouble, they will be treated as rebels and killed," Yu Chang said, sighing.
The cultivators listened to his warning, their faces changing.
But they all wanted to leave the Jiu Yuan Ge as quickly as possible, so they nodded in agreement.
Yu Chang then called over several sect elders and ordered them to escort the cultivators from the twelve sects out of the hall in batches.
Han Li was thinking about how to find an opportunity to leave when he heard Zhou Xianyang's voice in his mind.
"Brother Han, our task is complete. We can leave now."
"I still have some business to attend to. I'm not leaving yet," Han Li replied.
"Brother Jiao told me that if you don't want to leave, you should give me the Bodhi command. I'll take care of getting what you want," Zhou Xianyang said.
Han Li didn't hesitate, taking out the command token from his sleeve and handing it to Zhou Xianyang.
In return, Zhou Xianyang handed Han Li a jade pendant.
"Brother Han, I'll take my leave. This place is not safe. Take care of yourself," Zhou Xianyang said.
And with that, he left the hall with the other cultivators from the twelve sects.
Han Li held the jade pendant, thinking for a long time, but still couldn't find a suitable opportunity to leave.
As he watched the batches of cultivators leave, the hall grew quieter, until only a dozen or so Hu Shan sect elders and Han Li remained. These people will be led out of the Nine Yuan Pavilion by you, and none of them should be lost. The elder Yu glanced at Han Li and the others, instructing the last elder of the Nine Yuan Pavilion in the hall.
"Yes." The elder nodded and said.
Then, he led Han Li and the others to the entrance of the hall.
Han Li walked at the end of the group, and with a glance, he saw the Phoenix Heaven Immortal Envoy surrounded by a layer of pale blue light, with a semi-transparent blue crystal the size of a dragon's eye floating above his head, emitting intense water attribute law fluctuations.
Under the nourishment of these layers of water attribute law, the terrifying wounds on the Phoenix Heaven Immortal Envoy's body had almost completely healed, but his aura was still unstable, and the star power raging within him had not yet been cleared.
Just then, Han Li suddenly felt a strong sense of crisis, and a powerful sense of danger swept over him.
He couldn't care about pretending to be someone else, and the time law power in his body instantly activated, his figure blurring as he flashed from the end of the group to the front.
However, at the same time, the temperature in the surrounding air dropped rapidly, and an extremely cold force swept through the entire Nine Yuan Pavilion.
Han Li watched as the Lake Mountain Sect elder, who had just passed by him, was frozen into an ice crystal, and his own body was frozen in place at the moment he was about to step out of the hall.
In a daze, he even felt that the time within a thousand feet had been frozen.
"Bad..."
Han Li's heart cried out, and the cold sensation seeped into his bones, causing the "Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique" to stop working, and his body's immortal spirit power was completely frozen.
It was a strange feeling, as if his divine soul had been sealed by the Isolation Lock Chain, and Han Li's immortal spirit power couldn't be mobilized at all, and no techniques could be used.
Fortunately, he had already attained great success in his cultivation, and his physical body had long since surpassed its former state, so he quickly activated the "Heavenly Extermination Prison Technique", mobilizing the star power within him.
As the technique activated, his body's acupuncture points lit up, and under the ice crystal, a white light appeared, constantly colliding with the blue ice crystal that surrounded him.
However, under the star power's impact, the blue ice crystal didn't show any signs of shattering, and instead, the intense cold force it emitted grew stronger, constantly invading his five organs and six viscera.
Han Li could clearly feel his heart slowing down, and his heartbeat becoming slower, so he quickly mobilized his spiritual energy, summoning the Spirit Flame Fire Bird to protect his heart.
At the same time, the entire Nine Yuan Pavilion was sealed in ice, with a pale blue mist spreading everywhere, and human-shaped ice sculptures stood motionless, looking both exquisite and strange.
The Phoenix Heaven Immortal Envoy was naturally not affected by the ice seal, and he had also sensed the sudden change, so he opened his eyes, looking at the Gold Source Heaven Palace's palace master, Lu Chuanfeng, with a puzzled expression.
"Palace Master Lu, what are you doing? Why have you released your Extreme Cold Spirit Domain?" he asked, furrowing his brow.
"The Immortal Envoy doesn't need to be alarmed, there's a little mouse from the Wheel of Rebirth Hall in the Nine Yuan Pavilion, and once I capture him, I'll lift the Spirit Domain." Lu Chuanfeng's gaze fell on Han Li, and he smiled.
Han Li noticed his gaze, and his heart skipped a beat, realizing that he was the target.
However, amidst his fear, he was also very puzzled, as he had been wearing a mask and hadn't shown any signs of being out of line, so how did Lu Chuanfeng discover his true identity?
Han Li was using all his strength to activate the Heavenly Extermination Prison Technique, trying to break through the ice crystal's seal, while also using the Spirit Flame Fire Bird to resist the intense cold force that was invading his body.
At the same time, he was constantly using his divine sense to connect with the Bottle Spirit of the Heavenly Bottle, and if he was in a desperate situation, he could use the bottle to perform a physical transmigration, allowing him to escape the danger.
But this would mean that he would have to leave the Nine Yuan Pavilion, and rescuing the Gold Child would become even more impossible.
"Is there someone from the Wheel of Rebirth Hall among these people?" the Phoenix Heaven Immortal Envoy asked in surprise.
"I wasn't sure at first, but when I released the Spirit Domain just now, this person used the Time Technique 'Great Five Elements Phantom World Technique' from the True Speech Sect, which confirmed that he is indeed a thief from the Wheel of Rebirth Hall." Lu Chuanfeng smiled.
"I'd like to take a look, which one is the thief from the Wheel of Rebirth Hall?" The Phoenix Heaven Immortal Envoy's gaze turned cold, and he stood up, saying.
He shook off the ice crystals on his clothes and walked to Lu Chuanfeng's side, exhaling a white mist.
"If I'm not mistaken, this person is the newly appeared fugitive on the Extermination List, Han Li." Lu Chuanfeng pointed at Han Li.
"Han Li..." The Phoenix Heaven Immortal Envoy heard the name, and his expression changed slightly.
After a moment of thought, he suddenly realized, "It's actually him?"
"How, do you know him, Immortal Envoy?" Lu Chuanfeng asked.
"Hmph, this person has repeatedly opposed us, the Heavenly Court, and previously even killed the East White of the Small Gold Source Heaven Palace, and escaped. Even the Heavenly Court's Miao Fa Immortal Lord personally pursued him, but returned empty-handed. I didn't expect him to appear here." The Phoenix Heaven Immortal Envoy's expression turned joyful, and he quickly said.
"It seems that this person is not an ordinary person." Lu Chuanfeng's eyes narrowed, and he said thoughtfully.
"It's not just that he's not a ordinary person, he also has a huge..."
Feng Tianxian said this, suddenly realizing he was getting a bit too proud and almost let something slip, quickly swallowing back the words "secret".
"What does the Xian Shi plan to do with this person?" Lu Chuanfeng saw this, didn't pry into the matter, and just smiled, saying.
"Lu Gong Zhu, first lock him up and imprison him, wait for me to report to the Heavenly Court, then make a decision. After this matter, you and I will have established a great merit, and there will definitely be a rich reward." Feng Tianxian said with a smile.
Lu Chuanfeng heard this, his face didn't show any unusual expression, but in his heart, he was secretly unhappy.
Capturing Han Li was clearly his own doing, how did this Xian Shi suddenly make it seem like they both shared the merit?
If he were to report it to the Heavenly Court, he feared that most of the merit would fall to him.
"Please help me protect the law, I want to use the Soul Disk to directly report to the Heavenly Court, during the spellcasting, it's crucial not to be interrupted." Feng Tianxian said, naturally unaware of Lu Chuanfeng's dissatisfaction.
"Xian Shi, please cast the spell, I'll take care of things here." Lu Chuanfeng nodded and said.
Feng Tianxian heard this, didn't care about his own heavy injuries, and immediately sat down cross-legged, his hand moving to take out a white jade disk the size of a plate, holding it in front of him.
Only to see his hands form a seal, and his fingers point at the white jade disk, a virtual point in the air.
The white jade disk floated up, suspended in front of him, the ring-shaped talisman on its surface lit up layer by layer, a series of independent talismans appeared, rapidly rotating along the ring-shaped talisman's trajectory.
Feng Tianxian saw this, his eyes closed, and a series of chanting sounds came from his mouth.
At the same time, a circle of white crystal light appeared around his body, a ring-shaped talisman appeared on his forehead, and a white light shot out, projecting onto the Soul Disk.
The Soul Disk trembled slightly, and a wave of light ripples spread out from it.
Just then, Han Li, who had been frozen into an ice sculpture, suddenly had his white light retract, and a dark red light reappeared, a powerful bloodline energy burst forth.
In a situation where several attempts had failed, Han Li activated the true spirit bloodline in his body, combining it with the Tian Sha Zhen Yu Gong, his body began to change, transforming into a three-headed six-armed divine demon shape.
However, under the extreme cold of the ice attribute law, this transformation process became extremely slow and couldn't be completed in one go.
Han Li let out a loud roar in his heart, directly abandoning the protection of his heart and viscera, allowing the Jing Huo Fire Bird to exit his body, melting the layer of extreme cold ice, helping the bloodline energy to fully exert itself.
"Ah, at this time, don't cause trouble for me." Seeing that the transformation was about to be completed, Lu Chuanfeng sighed and said.
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his sleeve and swung it, a blue talisman suddenly flew out from his sleeve, landing on Han Li's body.
The moment the talisman took effect, Han Li's bloodline energy froze, and his entire body's blood flow stopped, the true spirit bloodline in his body naturally unable to continue circulating, all his efforts were in vain.
Just as Han Li was about to be delayed, Lu Chuanfeng looked at Feng Tianxian and saw that the white jade Soul Disk in front of him was trembling, a blurry figure was beginning to take shape, almost forming.
Just then, a sudden change occurred!
Only to see Lu Chuanfeng make a swift motion, a drop of blood flew out from his palm, forming a blood talisman on the center of his palm, which then slapped down onto Feng Tianxian's head.
A blue light pillar shot out from his palm, instantly pouring into Feng Tianxian's body, making a faint "puff" sound, and then disappeared.
Feng Tianxian was suddenly struck, his eyes snapped open, and his pupils were surrounded by bloodshot eyes, but strangely, the bloodshot eyes were not crimson, but deep blue.
His lips parted, and his throat moved, but he couldn't make a sound, only a blue mist flowed out from his mouth.
The next instant, his entire body turned into blue ice crystals from the inside out, and the white jade Soul Disk in front of him also shattered into ice shards.
"Xian Shi, I'm sorry." Lu Chuanfeng let out a sigh and said slowly.
After speaking, he waved his sleeve, a gust of wind swept over, and Feng Tianxian's body shattered into pieces, along with his Yuan Shen, turning into a pile of blue crystal powder, scattering all over the ground.
Lu Chuanfeng looked at the storage ring and storage seal that had fallen to the ground, didn't even think about picking them up, and instead, a layer of blue frost covered them, directly crushing them into powder.
Han Li witnessed this scene, and his heart was shocked to the extreme.
If the previous sneak attack by Tian Xing Zun on Feng Tianxian was already shocking enough, then the current situation, where the Palace Master of the Golden Source Xian Palace, Lu Chuanfeng, also attacked a Xian Shi of the Heavenly Court, and did so in a ruthless and efficient manner, was even more astonishing.
What was going on?
Before Han Li could think it through, a series of "bang bang" sounds echoed through the Jiuyuan Pavilion. The dozen or so ice sculptures standing beside Han Li suddenly shattered one by one, turning into a blue crystalline powder that covered the ground, just like the Phoenix Heavenly Envoy.
In the end, only Han Li was left.
At this moment, Han Li's heart had already frozen to the point of numbness, and he couldn't believe that Lu Chuanfeng had come to rescue him. If that were the case, there would have been no need to freeze him in the first place.
Han Li had always been cautious and considered the worst-case scenario, which was one of the reasons he had been able to survive in the Immortal Realm.
"Bottle Spirit, Bottle Spirit..."
Han Li called out in his mind, but the Bottle Spirit didn't respond, whether it was because he couldn't use his immortal energy or the Time Law, or for some other reason.
Without the Bottle Spirit's help, Han Li was completely unable to escape.
Just as he was about to use some desperate measures to try and escape, a sudden development occurred.
Lu Chuanfeng suddenly raised his hand and waved it, and a blue light descended from above, sweeping past Han Li's body like a whirlwind. The layer of extreme cold ice that had been covering him melted and disappeared in the blue light.
After Han Li regained his freedom, he was still wary and uncertain, but he quickly hid his aura and put away the Flame Bird.
"Hehe, you don't need to be so cautious. In my spiritual domain, there won't be any leakage of aura," Lu Chuanfeng said with a smile.
"You're also from the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall?" Han Li asked, his guard still up.
"Ah, you're as cautious as the rumors say. Indeed, I am from the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall, and I've been hiding in the Heavenly Court for who knows how many years. This time, I've finally been exposed," Lu Chuanfeng laughed.
"This..." Han Li looked around at the ruined hall and hesitated.
"Ask me anything you want to know. There are some things you can know," Lu Chuanfeng said nonchalantly.
"This is the plan of the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall? I don't believe it. The entire Wheel of Reincarnation Hall has been planning for so long, just to assassinate a Heavenly Court Envoy?" Han Li raised an eyebrow.
"Haha... of course not. If it were just to kill such a useless person, it wouldn't be worth exposing my and the Heavenly Star Venerable's identities at the same time. This is just one part of the plan. But the Hall Master said earlier that you don't need to be involved in the rest of the tasks, so you don't need to know," Lu Chuanfeng said with a smile.
Han Li heard this and frowned, wondering why the Hall Master had mentioned him specifically.
But he didn't ask this question out loud, instead saying:
"What about the mess here? The Nine Yuan Observatory will probably discover the situation soon?"
"The aura here hasn't leaked out yet, and I'll erase all the traces of everyone except you. The Nine Yuan Observatory will take some time to figure out what happened. But it's not a problem, it's just as well that they know. Otherwise, this mess would have been for nothing," Lu Chuanfeng said with a raised eyebrow.
He looked completely different from his usual self, without a hint of his usual gentle and warm demeanor. Instead, he seemed carefree and at ease.
After speaking, he tossed something over to Han Li, who caught it and saw that it was a Nine Yuan Observatory inner disciple's token.
"Later, you'll need to change your appearance and can't appear as Chang Qi again," Lu Chuanfeng instructed.
"Thank you, senior," Han Li said with a nod.
"Alright, go take care of your own business," Lu Chuanfeng said with a lazy stretch, as if he had shed his previous disguise and was now more relaxed.
Han Li nodded and, with a wave of his hand, transformed his face into that of a ordinary-looking young man with a long, thin face.
His clothes also changed into a light, gauzy robe.
Han Li hung the token at his waist and bowed to Lu Chuanfeng before turning to leave.
As he walked out of the hall, he saw that the bodies of the Lake Mountain Sect cultivators had been broken into pieces and were being absorbed into Lu Chuanfeng's spiritual domain, erasing all traces of them.
Han Li's eyes flickered slightly, and he still felt a lingering sense of unease.
After he left the Nine Yuan Pavilion, he immediately flashed towards the mountain forest outside.
A moment later, a white rainbow shot up from the Nine Yuan Pavilion, flying towards the sky.
The already damaged hall collapsed with a loud rumbling sound, sending up a massive cloud of dust.
About a quarter of an hour later.
In the Jiumen Guan, a remote mountain forest, a figure with a hidden aura, Han Li, sat cross-legged on a towering ancient tree over a hundred meters tall, its dense leaves blocking out the sunlight, making his figure invisible.
His hand held the jade pendant, pressed against his brow.
A moment later, the jade pendant's glow dimmed, and Han Li put it away, closing his eyes to think for a moment before opening them again.
The jade pendant contained a map of the Jiumen Guan's region, marking the possible location of Jintong's imprisonment, a forbidden area within the Jiumen Guan that even core disciples and elders couldn't enter at will.
Han Li pondered for a moment before taking out another jade slip to examine it, nodding to himself and muttering:
"The map provided by the Lunhui Hall is indeed similar to the one given by Lanyan, it seems they haven't made any changes. However, I didn't expect Jintong to be imprisoned in such a place, this is quite troublesome..."
As he pondered, a distant "boom" echoed through the air, accompanied by faint cries of battle.
"It seems the Lunhui Hall's actions are not small, the Jiumen Guan, a behemoth with a foundation of billions of years, has fallen into such chaos, it's hard to imagine." Han Li stood at the top of the tree, gazing into the distance, sighing.
After a moment, he jumped down, not flying high into the air, but instead landing softly on the forest floor, flying low towards a nearby mountain peak.
At this time, within the Jiumen Guan, a large group of black-clad, masked figures stormed in, turning the formerly serene place into a battlefield.
Han Li flew through the Jiumen Guan's depths, passing by important locations, all of which had large numbers of Lunhui Hall disciples, with cultivations not low, including high-level experts and even Da Luo realm existence.
The Jiumen Guan naturally dispatched a large number of elders and disciples to engage the invaders, while the sect's various defensive mechanisms were activated.
However, the Lunhui Hall's sudden attack caught the Jiumen Guan off guard, taking advantage of the chaos in the Dajin Yuan Xian domain, and the fact that many high-ranking cultivators were outside, gathered at the Nine Yuan City.
This move was indeed unexpected, who could have thought that the Jiumen Guan, with its illustrious reputation and the presence of the Daozu, would be attacked?
Han Li's mind was filled with doubts: the Lunhui Hall must have invested heavily in this operation, but what was their true goal?
At this time, the Jiumen Guan's disciples, though initially caught off guard, quickly regrouped under the leadership of their elders, using the defensive mechanisms to block the enemy's advance, resulting in a stalemate.
Han Li had no intention of participating in the conflict, transforming into an unremarkable Jiumen Guan disciple, flying quickly towards the sect's depths.
His current identity was unremarkable, and the sect's interior was in chaos, with no one paying attention to him.
Moreover, with his cultivation, unless it was a Da Luo existence, no one could affect him.
Soon, Han Li arrived at the Jiumen Guan's depths, where the Lunhui Hall's people had not yet reached.
He slowed down his speed, using his hands to activate the stealth divine ability of the black mask.
Han Li's body flashed with black light, and he became a vague, shadowy figure, not emitting a single thread of aura, even with his strong divine sense, he couldn't detect anything unusual.
He saw this and felt a sense of joy, continuing to fly forward.
Although the Lunhui Hall's people had not appeared here, the Jiumen Guan had not relaxed its vigilance, activating all defensive and surveillance mechanisms, setting up a network of traps, to prevent the Lunhui Hall's people from secretly infiltrating.
Fortunately, his divine sense was strong, and the Jiumen Guan's mechanisms were unable to detect him.
Half a day later, he landed near a mountain peak, hiding in a concealed location, looking ahead.
He saw two golden peaks rising into the clouds, standing upright like two pillars supporting the sky.
Between the two peaks, a path stretched out.
On either side of the peaks, a boundless golden mist spread out, connecting the sky and the earth, with no visible end, like a natural barrier.
According to the map provided by Lanyan, this place was called the "Jinyu Guan", the entrance to the inner Jiumen Guan.
The Jiumen Guan's outer and inner areas were distinct, Han Li had previously passed through the outer area, and the inner area was the sect's true core region, only accessible to high-ranking members and a select few.
According to the Lunhui Hall's intelligence, Jintong was currently imprisoned in a forbidden area within the inner Jiumen Guan.
The golden mist that filled the air was a super-grade defensive mechanism, said to have been set up by the Jiumen Guan's Daozu, enveloping the entire inner Jiumen Guan, with only a few entrances like the Jinyu Guan.
Han Li examined the Jinyu Guan, his brow furrowing.
The path was currently closed, with a thick layer of golden light covering the entrance. Behind the light curtain, a multitude of cultivators clad in golden armor stood densely packed.
"How did the entrance close? Could it be because of the Wheel of Reincarnation's invasion?" Han Li muttered to himself, gritting his teeth.
He pondered for a moment before his divine sense entered the Flower Branch Space, communicating with Lan Yan and informing her of the situation outside. He also asked about the Golden Jade Barrier.
"Brother Han, now that the Wheel of Reincarnation has invaded the Nine Yuan Sect, the closure of the Golden Jade Barrier is quite normal. The truly important areas of the Nine Yuan Sect are all within the Inner Sect, and it will not be allowed to be lost." Lan Yan's voice echoed in Han Li's mind.
"Do you have a way to pass through this place?" Han Li asked, his heart sinking.
Inside the Flower Branch Space, Lan Yan's face revealed a hesitant expression.
She had told Han Li many things about the Nine Yuan Sect in order to save Lan Yuanzi, but those were not important matters.
However, the Golden Jade Barrier was different, involving the Nine Yuan Sect's core secrets. If the Nine Yuan Sect knew she had told an outsider about this, they would not forgive her.
"Sister Lan, the Nine Yuan Sect is currently in a state of chaos, and no one will notice what's happening here. Moreover, you have never revealed your face, so no one will suspect you." Han Li noticed Lan Yan's hesitation and calmly said.
Lan Yan's face changed, but she quickly calmed down, smiling as she said, "Although you're right, the Nine Yuan Sect has many talented individuals, including those skilled in the art of divination and fortune-telling. I can tell you everything I know about the Nine Yuan Sect, but I have two conditions."
"What conditions?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed.
"One is to please ask Brother Ti Hu to save my brother." Lan Yan glanced at Ti Hu beside her.
At this moment, Ti Hu, Xiao Bai, and Lan Yan stood together in the Flower Branch Space. Qu Lin, however, was still in the attic, cultivating, with Ti Hu having set up layers of restrictions around him.
Regarding Qu Lin, Ti Hu remained vigilant.
"Alright." Ti Hu's face changed, and after a brief discussion with Han Li, he nodded.
"Thank you, Brother Ti Hu." Lan Yan's eyes revealed a hint of excitement as she bowed to Ti Hu.
"What's the second condition?" Han Li asked.
"I have betrayed the Nine Yuan Sect's many secrets, and I can no longer stay in the sect. Therefore, I and my brother want to join Brother Han, and I ask that you accept us." Lan Yan's head bowed, saying something that left Han Li taken aback.
"Join me?" Han Li was greatly surprised.
Ti Hu and Xiao Bai also revealed surprised expressions.
"Not bad, I've interacted with Brother Han twice, and I have some understanding of his strength and character. With Brother Han's power, you can easily protect me and my brother. I can only inform you of the Nine Yuan Sect's secrets without worries if I have Brother Han's protection." Lan Yan calmly said.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he didn't speak.
Lan Yan saw this and remained silent, her beautiful eyes fixed on Han Li without blinking.
"Since Sister Lan has said so, it's not impossible for me to accept you. However, I must make some things clear: I must plant a restrictive divine technique on you to ensure safety. Of course, if I feel you're trustworthy in the future, I will remove the restrictive technique. As for your future cultivation, I won't interfere or provide any assistance; you'll have to rely on yourselves." Han Li didn't consider it for long before saying.
Lan Yan agreed without hesitation, "Alright."
Han Li's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he didn't say anything else. He used his divine sense to communicate with Ti Hu, who took action.
Ti Hu muttered to himself, and a black glow flew out from his hand. The black glow quickly changed, transforming into a black ring with countless tiny black symbols jumping within. It looked extremely mysterious.
"Go!" Ti Hu formed a hand seal, and the black ring turned into a black light, disappearing into Ti Hu's mind.
Lan Yan's body trembled, and her face turned pale, but she quickly recovered, her expression calm and without any dissatisfaction.
"Sister Lan has a strong mind and a discerning eye. Your decision to join Master is undoubtedly wise." Ti Hu's eyes flashed with a hint of praise as he lightly smiled.
"Not bad." Xiao Bai also smiled beside him.
Lan Yan heard their words, and her beautiful eyes sparkled.
"Alright, let's not discuss other matters. Please inform me about the Golden Jade Barrier, Sister Lan." Han Li calmly said.
"Yes, the Golden Jade Barrier is an important checkpoint for entering the Inner Sect. According to the rules, only with the permission of the Sect Master, the two Vice Sect Masters, and the four Great Holy Envoys can one enter. However, with the Wheel of Reincarnation's invasion, the situation might be different. If there's a suitable reason, the Golden Armored Guards inside might open the barrier." Lan Yan composed herself and quickly said.
Han Li didn't know much about the situation at the Nine Yuan Observatory, and couldn't think of a suitable reason, so he asked, "Lan, do you have any good excuses?"
Lan smiled slightly and said, "If the guards at the Golden Jade Gate were anyone else, I wouldn't have a way to get in. But since it's the Golden Thread Guards, I have a plan that might work."
Han Li's eyes lit up as he heard this, and he began to discuss the plan with Lan through voice transmission.
"Although it's still a bit risky, it's worth a try," Han Li said after a moment.
Just then, Ti Hu suddenly spoke up, "Master, even if you can deceive the guards and get into the inner observatory, the enemy's attack hasn't reached here yet. If you go in alone and get discovered, it'll be a desperate situation. Isn't that too reckless?"
Han Li's expression turned thoughtful as he replied, "Given the current situation, I think there won't be many powerful cultivators inside the observatory. It's a rare opportunity. However, your concerns are valid, so I'll contact the Cycle Hall to..."
But before he could finish, his movements suddenly stopped, and a faint smile appeared on his lips before quickly disappearing.
"Master?" Ti Hu sensed that Han Li had stopped moving and asked in confusion.
"It's nothing, there's no need to contact the Cycle Hall," Han Li said.
Ti Hu found Han Li's decision strange, but didn't say anything.
"Lan, come out," Han Li said, waving his hand. Lan's figure appeared beside him, but she was wearing a blue cloak that covered her body and face.
"Let's go," Han Li said, and the two of them flew towards the Golden Jade Gate.
As they approached the gate, a large, golden-armored man emerged from the light screen, his face stern as he shouted, "Who dares to intrude on the Golden Jade Gate?"
This man was over a zhang tall, with muscles that seemed to be knotted like steel wires, and a thick, black beard that bristled like steel needles. He looked extremely powerful, and his cultivation had reached the early stage of the Great Luo Realm.
"Qi Elder, it's me," Lan said, lowering her cloak to reveal her face.
"Ah, Lan, what brings you here?" the golden-armored man asked, his expression changing from stern to surprised.
"Qi Elder, please open the Golden Jade Gate. I have important news to report to the sect," Lan said, her expression serious.
"Now that the enemy has invaded the Nine Yuan Observatory, the three gates are closed, and no one is allowed to enter or exit without a special permit. Do you have a permit, Lan?" Qi Elder asked.
"I was sent by the Miao Fa Saint to investigate the enemy's situation, and due to the urgency of the matter, the Saint did not give me a permit. However, the information I've gathered is extremely important, so I hope Qi Elder can help me," Lan said, producing a pale green token from her hand.
"Ah, the Miao Fa Saint's token!" Qi Elder's expression changed as he saw the token, and he revealed a respectful expression.
The four Great Saints in the Nine Yuan Observatory held extremely high positions, second only to the Observatory Master and Deputy Master. They were far above ordinary elders like Qi Elder.
As for Lan's words, Qi Elder didn't doubt them. He and Lan had known each other since before they joined the Nine Yuan Observatory, and they had maintained a relationship over the years. Qi Elder knew that Lan had been transferred out of the Dark Guard and was now directly under the Miao Fa Saint's command, so it was reasonable that she would be investigating the enemy's situation.
"However, I am responsible for guarding the Golden Jade Gate, and the rules are clear. I'm afraid I must refuse your request, Lan," Qi Elder said, hesitating for a moment before shaking his head.
"Qi Elder, the information I've gathered is extremely important, and it concerns the enemy's goals. If I can report it to the sect, there will definitely be a great reward. However, my position is lowly, and this information needs to be reported to the Miao Fa Saint, who will then report it to the sect. Qi Elder, you've always wanted to enter the Council of Elders, and if you help me today, I can ask the Miao Fa Saint to put in a good word for you with the Observatory Master. Entering the Council of Elders will be easy," Lan said, taking two steps forward and transmitting her voice to Qi Elder.
The Golden Jade Gate's restrictions were extremely powerful, but they didn't block sound.
"Is this true?" Qi Elder asked, his heart racing with excitement.
"Qi Elder, we've known each other for a long time, and you should know that I'm not a person who breaks promises. If you help me today, I'll definitely remember your kindness," Lan replied through voice transmission.
Qi Elder nodded slightly, but his expression still showed some hesitation. After a moment, he said, "Very well, please ask the Miao Fa Saint to explain the situation and give a direct order to open the gate."
"I've been trying to contact her since we started, but she hasn't responded yet. Maybe she's busy with something," Lan said, producing a blue transmission array disk from her hand. The disk's blue light flashed in circles, but there was no response.
Qi Elder's expression turned serious as he saw this, and he fell silent.
"Qi Elder, the two Deputy Masters and the other Saints are also sending people to investigate the enemy's situation. Maybe they'll discover this information soon, and the opportunity for merit will be lost. Don't let it slip away," Lan said, her expression urgent.
Qi Elder's body shook slightly as he heard this, and his lips moved twice before he fell silent.
Just then, the blue light on Lan's transmission array disk suddenly jumped, and a green-robed girl's figure appeared. It was the Miao Fa Saint.
"Connected!" Lan exclaimed, her face filled with joy. The earlier Qi Changlao also revealed a joyful expression.
"Lan Yan, what matter do you have to report to me? I'm busy with something here, so be brief," said Miao Fa Xian Zun in a cold voice.
"Yes, Holy Envoy, I've been investigating those thieves according to your instructions. I've luckily discovered an important piece of information that requires a face-to-face report. However, the Jinyu Pass is currently closed. Please, Holy Envoy, issue a decree to allow Qi Changlao to let me in," Lan Yan quickly said.
"Ah, since it's an important matter that requires a personal report, Qi Changlao, you can open the Jinyu Pass. I'll explain the situation to the Guanzhu," Miao Fa Xian Zun said, looking at Qi Changlao behind the restriction.
"Yes, understood," Qi Changlao hastily replied.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's figure flashed, and she disappeared from the formation.
Han Li's eyes flickered with a hint of a smile, and he immediately hid himself.
At this moment, inside the Huazhi space, Ti Huan Jue closed the transmission formation in front of her.
She was currently disguised as a beautiful, slightly pale green-clad girl, which was Miao Fa Xian Zun's appearance.
"I hope our master is having a smooth time outside," Ti Huan Jue said, nodding to herself.
"The master's preparations are thorough, and the timing is just right. Qi Changlao is also blinded by his desires, and he won't suspect that Miao Fa Xian Zun is an imposter. You can rest assured," said a small white figure beside her.
"I hope so," Ti Huan Jue slowly nodded.
In front of the Jinyu Pass.
"Alright, now that the Holy Envoy has given the order, Qi Changlao, please lift the restriction," Lan Yan said, putting away the transmission array disk and loudly announcing it, seemingly intentionally letting others hear.
Qi Changlao secretly felt grateful to Lan Yan for giving him a legitimate excuse to step down, avoiding criticism from his subordinates.
"Since the Holy Envoy has given the order, I will follow it. Wait, who is this person?" Qi Changlao asked, looking at Han Li beside him.
Han Li was currently emitting a weak aura, and he hadn't noticed him earlier.
"He's called Zhou Yu, a disciple of our sect. I was just discussing the information I discovered with him, and it's related to him. He's a witness, so I need to bring him before the Holy Envoy," Lan Yan explained.
"Disciple Zhou Yu, greetings, Qi Changlao," Han Li said, looking slightly fearful as he bowed to Qi Changlao and took out his identity token.
The token had the image and name of his master, and he had already transformed into Zhou Yu's appearance. He wasn't afraid of being exposed.
However, he hadn't seen Zhou Yu in person, so he couldn't absorb his aura to create a better disguise.
Qi Changlao examined Han Li for a moment, then took out a golden jade gui and pointed it at Han Li's token.
A golden light shot out, piercing the restriction and entering Han Li's token.
Han Li's token suddenly radiated a golden glow, and a figure appeared inside, identical to Han Li's current appearance.
Qi Changlao carefully compared the two, then used his divine sense to investigate Han Li's body. Finding nothing unusual, he nodded and put away the jade gui and his divine sense.
Han Li secretly let out a sigh of relief and put away his token.
"Open the restriction," Qi Changlao ordered.
Eight cultivators in golden robes flew out from the back of the crowd, each taking out a golden flag that was several feet tall. They activated their magic, and the flags unfolded, making a rustling sound as they released a dazzling golden glow.
The glow formed a series of golden waves, each composed of countless tiny golden symbols. As the cultivators continued to cast their magic, the waves converged, forming a golden sphere the size of a human head.
Qi Changlao waved his hand, and a golden light shot out from his body, taking the form of a golden token.
He activated the token, and its surface glowed with a brilliant golden light. A crystal-like light then shot out, entering the golden sphere.
The sphere immediately split into eight pieces, each transforming into a golden symbol that was several feet in size. The symbols merged with the golden glow of the Jinyu Pass.
The thick golden glow surrounding the pass began to fluctuate wildly, then slowly opened a gap just large enough for one person to pass through.
Lan Yan's eyes flashed with joy, and he quickly flew forward, passing through the gap and entering the other side.
Han Li watched, then followed, flying through the gap as well.
As soon as they passed through the restriction, Qi Changlao was about to activate the token to close the exit.
But just as he was about to do so, a sudden change occurred.
As soon as Han Li and Lan Yan passed through the restriction, a dark red glow suddenly shot out from the void outside the entrance of the Golden Jade Gate, and with incredible speed, it flew through the crack in the restriction and entered the inside.
"Not good, quickly close the exit!" Qi Lao's face changed, and he immediately activated the golden token.
A golden light shot out from the token and entered the restriction's light screen.
Almost at the same time, the other eight people also immediately activated the golden flags in their hands, and the exit of the golden light screen quickly closed.
At the same time, Qi Lao spat out two white glows, which transformed into two white giant swords, emitting a chilling aura. The surrounding void appeared to be frozen, with ice crystals floating in the air.
The white giant swords moved extremely quickly, creating a dense array of residual shadows, and in an instant, they caught up to the dark red glow.
However, the dark red glow suddenly brightened, and a series of dark red light waves shook out from within.
The two white giant swords, upon touching the dark red light waves, were immediately repelled, and the white light on the swords seemed to melt like ice and snow, quickly dispersing. The two giant swords were also directly blown away.
A red-robed girl's figure suddenly appeared within the dark red glow, her figure curvaceous and her features delicate. It was none other than Jiao San.
Lan Yan was also shocked by the sudden change, and he stared blankly at the scene before him.
However, Han Li's face remained calm, as if he had expected this all along.
Jiao San glanced in Han Li's direction, a faint smile flashing across her face, and then she raised her hand.
A silver light gate appeared from the void beside her, and a series of figures emerged from the gate, none other than the people of the Wheel of Reincarnation Palace. There were hundreds of them, and more were still emerging from the gate.
"Take control of the Golden Jade Gate!" Jiao San shouted.
The Wheel of Reincarnation Palace's people charged towards Qi Lao and the others, each emitting a variety of lights.
Qi Lao's eyes widened in anger, but he could only fight back.
Fortunately, the number of Nine Heavens Observatory disciples stationed at the Golden Jade Gate was numerous, with over a thousand people, giving them a numerical advantage.
In an instant, the two groups clashed, emitting a deafening roar.
"Let's go!" Han Li pulled Lan Yan, who was still in a daze, and flew towards the distance.
"Hehe, thank you, Han Dao friend, I will surely repay you once this task is complete." Jiao San's laughter echoed in Han Li's mind.
Han Li ignored her, pulling Lan Yan as they flew towards the front, quickly disappearing from view. No one noticed them.
"Han Dao friend, did you know that the Wheel of Reincarnation Palace's people would appear?" Lan Yan asked.
"Han Dao friend, sometimes it's better not to ask questions. Knowing too much won't do you any good." Han Li replied coldly, his mind racing.
It seemed that Jiao San had been secretly following them, knowing that he wanted to rescue Jin Tong, and would definitely go to the inner observatory. She had used them to sneak into the inner observatory and seize control of the Golden Jade Gate. What a clever plan. It seemed that the mask she had given him had some hidden purpose.
"Let's take this opportunity to rescue Jin Tong quickly. I'm familiar with the inner observatory's layout, I can guide you." Lan Yan said, trying to change the subject.
"According to my information, Jin Tong is being held in the inner observatory's Ghost Valley. Here's the map." Han Li said, taking out the map jade and handing it to Lan Yan.
"Ghost Valley? I've heard that's where the Ghost Spirit Master, one of the four great saints, cultivates." Lan Yan's face turned pale.
"Ghost Spirit Master's territory?" Han Li's brow furrowed, but he quickly relaxed.
Since Jin Tong was captured by the Ghost Spirit Master, it made sense that he would be held in the Ghost Spirit Master's own territory.
"Ghost Spirit Master's cultivation has reached the middle stage of the Great Luo Realm, and his ghostly cultivation method is extremely unusual. In terms of strength, he's considered the strongest among the four great saints. Although the Wheel of Reincarnation Palace's attack has occurred, he might not be in the Ghost Valley at the moment, but we should still be prepared for the worst." Lan Yan glanced at Han Li, warning him.
"Don't worry, I'm not underestimating the Ghost Spirit Master." Han Li smiled lightly, and then waved his hand.
A black energy emerged from his hand, enveloping the two of them.
Their figures disappeared in an instant, transforming into a formless shadow that flew rapidly towards the front.
Han Li's black mask could not only be used on himself, but also on those around him, as long as they were not too far away.
Lan Yan looked around, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure and focused on guiding Han Li.
The inner observatory's buildings were fewer in number, and the natural scenery was more prominent. However, the heavenly energy here was much denser than the outer observatory.
Although the inner observatory had activated some restrictions, there were fewer than in the outer observatory. Perhaps the Nine Heavens Observatory people thought that the outer observatory's restrictions and the Golden Jade Gate's super array were already sufficient.
This made it easier for Han Li and Lan Yan to move quickly, and they flew rapidly towards the front. After a long time, the two arrived at a mountain valley, quietly descending onto the ground.
The land and rocks surrounding the valley were pitch black, and a thick layer of dark clouds hung above, slowly drifting through the air like water clouds. The dark color was so intense that it seemed to contain a powerful poison.
A chill wind blew out of the valley, emitting a sharp, ear-piercing whine that rose and fell, causing one's heart to tremble with fear. Moreover, a violent and brutal intent seemed to churn within the wind, making the place seem like a realm of ghosts and demons.
Han Li and Lan Yan were still far away, yet they could feel the intense, malevolent energy emanating from the valley, as if countless cold steel needles were piercing their bodies.
Fortunately, the two had deep cultivation, and they could withstand it.
"Is this the Ghost Valley?" Han Li asked, scanning the area with his eyes.
"Yes, I've never been here before, but I've heard about it. The atmosphere is indeed eerie and foreboding, and the map indicated this place. It can't be wrong." Lan Yan replied confidently.
Han Li nodded, closing his eyes to try and sense the presence of the Golden Child.
After a long time, he opened his eyes, his brow furrowed in concern.
"Can't sense anything?" Lan Yan asked.
Han Li slightly nodded, his face somewhat gloomy.
He had been unable to sense the Golden Child's presence in the Golden City, possibly due to the distance. Now, being close by, he still couldn't sense it, which was quite strange.
Was the Golden Child sealed within a barrier that could block his senses? Or was the information from the Wheel of Reincarnation incorrect?
The mountain valley before them was filled with an intense, ghostly energy, making even Han Li feel apprehensive. Moreover, there might be a powerful ghost spirit, a mid-stage Mahayana cultivator, inside.
"Master, let's not rush into the Ghost Valley. First, let's confirm if the Golden Child is inside. The information from the Wheel of Reincarnation might not be accurate." Qiuhun's voice echoed in Han Li's mind.
Han Li slowly nodded.
"Master, release me. I've been with the senior for a long time, and we have a connection." Xiao Bai suddenly said.
"Very well." Han Li waved his hand, summoning Xiao Bai out of the flower petal space.
Xiao Bai closed her eyes, a faint white light surrounding her body. A misty, crystal-like light appeared on her forehead.
"No, I can't sense the senior's presence either." Xiao Bai opened her eyes, shaking her head.
Han Li wasn't too surprised, as the Golden Child was a spirit beast he had cultivated himself. If he couldn't sense it, Xiao Bai naturally couldn't either.
"Master, what do we do now?" Xiao Bai asked anxiously.
"No need to worry, we may not be able to sense the Golden Child, but there's someone who can." Han Li smiled slightly, then formed a hand seal.
The restrictions on the flower petal space's upper floor dissipated, and a figure flew out, landing on the ground. It was Qu Ling.
Han Li's hand moved again, directly summoning Qu Ling out of the flower petal space.
"Brother Han, Qu Ling and you are traveling together, but I'm not a prisoner to be locked up and restricted." Qu Ling's face was quite unsightly, glancing around before speaking to Han Li in a low voice.
"Sorry, Qiuhun was a bit sensitive on the way. I apologize on her behalf." Han Li cupped his hands.
"Hmph! What is this place?" Qu Ling snorted, looking around before asking.
"We're within the Nine Yuan Sect's territory. Please don't randomly extend your divine sense to explore, lest you be discovered." Han Li said calmly.
"Oh, if I recall correctly, Brother Han is currently being pursued by the Nine Yuan Sect, right? You're quite bold to come here." Qu Ling's expression changed, looking at Han Li deeply.
"Some matters require me to come here." Han Li smiled faintly, not revealing the Wheel of Reincarnation's plan to attack the Nine Yuan Sect.
"Brother Han, you've released me, so there must be a reason, right?" Qu Ling's eyes sparkled as he asked.
"Indeed, I have a task that requires your assistance. According to the information I've obtained, a Golden Devouring Beast might be hiding in the mountain valley ahead. However, the valley's restrictions are too heavy, and we can't sense the beast's presence. As you are of the same kind, I'd like to ask you to sense whether the Golden Devouring Beast is inside the valley." Han Li said, not mentioning the Golden Child.
"Could it be that there's a Golden Devouring Beast here? Brother Han, you're not planning to capture it, are you?" Qu Ling's eyes lit up, followed by a hint of suspicion.
"This Golden Devouring Beast has a connection to me. It stole something from me, and I need to retrieve it." Han Li chuckled.
"Ah, I see. Sensing the Golden Devouring Beast's presence is not difficult." Qu Ling looked at Han Li for a moment, then smiled and agreed.
He closed his eyes, and a golden light flashed around his body. After a moment, he opened his eyes, a hint of joy in his gaze.
"It's true; there is a Golden Devouring Beast in the mountain valley ahead. However, it's not on the surface but rather underground." Qu Ling said.
“Really?” Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he asked.
“Hmph, I shouldn't say too much, but if we're looking for someone of the same kind, I, Qu Lin, have a certain level of confidence.” Qu Lin chuckled, a hint of pride in his voice.
What Qu Lin didn't know was that Han Li's question wasn't directed at him, but rather at the Weeping Soul within the Flower Branch Space.
“From Qu Lin's soul fluctuations, it seems he's not lying.” The Weeping Soul's voice echoed in Han Li's mind.
“That's great, let's go find old...that Gold Eater Immortal.” Xiao Bai exclaimed excitedly.
Han Li shot Xiao Bai a glance, and the latter's neck shrunk as he chuckled dryly.
“Qu Lin, could you please lead the way?” Han Li asked, turning to Qu Lin.
“This place is the Nine Yuan Observatory, and the mountain valley ahead looks treacherous. You want me to sense the Gold Eater Immortal's presence, but asking me to lead the way is a bit excessive, don't you think?” Qu Lin sneered, his voice laced with disdain.
“Han Li's request is indeed a bit forceful, but Qu Lin, if you have any conditions, feel free to state them.” Han Li replied calmly, a hint of a smile on his face.
“Qu Lin is currently at a critical juncture in his cultivation, and I need a large amount of yuan energy to aid me. I don't want much, but if Han Li can gift me five hundred million yuan stones or treasures of equivalent value, I'll take the risk to help you.” Qu Lin's eyes gleamed as he spoke.
“Five hundred million yuan stones? You might as well go rob someone!” Xiao Bai's anger flared up as he shouted.
“The price is set, whether you accept it or not is up to Han Li.” Qu Lin ignored Xiao Bai's outburst, his voice flat.
“Alright, I accept. But I'll only give it to you after we find the Gold Eater Immortal.” Han Li gazed deeply at Qu Lin before speaking.
“Straightforward, then it's settled.” Qu Lin laughed, seemingly pleased.
“Now that we've agreed, let's head into the valley. Xiao Bai, you and the Weeping Soul stay hidden in the Flower Branch Space, don't reveal yourselves. I'll go with Lan Dao and Qu Lin to search for the Gold Eater Immortal.” Han Li instructed.
Xiao Bai wanted to protest, but caught Han Li's gaze and swallowed his words, nodding instead.
Han Li waved his hand, and Xiao Bai was drawn into the Flower Branch Space. Then, Han Li activated the Black Mask, enveloping himself, Lan Yan, and Qu Lin in a dark aura as they flew towards the mountain valley.
As they entered the valley, a mournful cry echoed through the air, followed by a gust of dark wind that blew fiercely from within. The wind carried a potent mixture of killing intent and resentment.
Han Li's trio felt a surge of images in their minds, depicting a mountain of skulls and a sea of blood, with an endless tide of killing intent threatening to engulf their souls.
Han Li subtly activated his Cultivation Technique, instantly dispelling the killing intent.
Qu Lin seemed unaffected, his body glowing with a soft light as he effortlessly deflected the killing intent. Only Lan Yan's face turned pale, but she recovered quickly, her expression unreadable.
“Lan Dao seems to be struggling, Han Li, perhaps you should reconsider this plan.” Qu Lin glanced at Lan Yan before speaking.
“Lan Dao, if you can't withstand this place's killing intent, I'll have you enter the Flower Branch Space as well.” Han Li offered.
“No need, I can still hold on. I'm familiar with the Nine Yuan Observatory, and staying here will be useful to you.” Lan Yan's expression turned resolute as she shook her head.
“Alright, don't force yourself.” Han Li nodded.
Qu Lin observed this, his expression unreadable, before continuing on his way into the valley.
The valley floor was a barren expanse of black stone, devoid of any structures or vegetation due to the dark wind. Qu Lin halted suddenly, closing his eyes as if sensing something. After a moment, he opened his eyes and spoke.
“Should be around here somewhere.”
“I've heard that the Ghost Spirit Child built his palace underground. It seems this place has another hidden realm, but I wonder where the entrance is?” Lan Yan's eyes scanned the surroundings, her voice barely above a whisper.
Han Li listened, then activated the Nine Yin Magic Eyes, carefully observing the environment without expanding his divine sense to avoid detection.
He soon discovered something, his figure fluttering as he landed before a large black stone.
“Is this the entrance?” Lan Yan asked, her eyes fixed on the stone, but she didn't notice anything unusual.
Han Li smiled faintly, not responding. He reached out with one hand, and five streams of green light erupted from his fingers, coalescing into a massive green sword shadow that struck the black stone.
The black stone burst into radiant black light, forming a dark column that rose to meet the green sword shadow.
Han Li's eyes gleamed as he raised his other hand, striking the black column with a bolt of golden lightning.
The black column shattered, the black stone beneath it crumbling as the ground gave way, revealing a massive black hole.
A staircase descended into the depths of the earth, vanishing into the darkness.
“Hmph, Han Li, your methods are indeed impressive. No hidden passage or restriction can escape your notice.” Qu Lin chuckled, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he gazed into the black hole. "If it weren't for your confidence, I wouldn't have been able to find this place," Han Li said. "Qu Xuan, please continue to lead the way."
Qu Xuan didn't say anything more and led the two of them into the cave.
A dark, icy wind burst out from below, creating whirlpools of varying sizes that emitted a mournful wailing sound, stronger than the wind outside.
The three of them quickly increased their protective spiritual light to resist the biting wind.
On the walls of the cave, a layer of black ice condensed, emitting an intense, icy aura.
"This is Black Yin Ice, which only forms in places where the concentration of ghostly energy and underground yin energy is extremely high," Han Li immediately recognized. "It's an excellent material for crafting ghostly, yin-based artifacts, not only is it extremely hard, but it also has the effect of attacking the soul."
Lan Yan and Qu Xuan also quickly recognized the Black Yin Ice, and although there was a large amount of it, they didn't make a move to take it, as they were focused on their mission.
The cave was very deep, and after walking down the stairs for a full quarter of an hour, they finally reached the end of the stairs. The view opened up, and a 20-30 zhang square hall appeared before them.
The hall's ceiling was embedded with several fist-sized white stones that barely lit up the environment.
The floor and walls were made of dark blue bricks, with some intricate patterns carved into them, giving off a solemn atmosphere.
However, as they looked around, the hall was empty, except for a door at the far end, which led to a black passageway.
The howling wind suddenly weakened, but the icy, ghostly aura became even more intense.
Han Li and Qu Xuan could still withstand it, but Lan Yan's cultivation was the weakest, and despite using his spiritual energy to protect himself, he was still affected by the cold. His teeth chattered, and his blood vessels showed signs of freezing.
Han Li noticed Lan Yan's condition and furrowed his brow.
At that moment, a purple light flashed in his hand, and a purple orb appeared, surrounded by a dreamy aura.
"Give this to Lan Yan to wear, it can effectively resist the invasion of ghostly energy," a voice whispered in Han Li's mind.
Han Li smiled slightly and handed the purple orb to Lan Yan.
Lan Yan was taken aback, then quickly put on the orb, and a faint purple glow enveloped his body, weakening the intense, icy aura.
"Thank you," Lan Yan said, relieved.
Han Li waved his hand, and the three of them continued forward, soon passing through the hall and exiting through another door.
Ahead of them was a three-way fork, with three passageways leading in different directions, shrouded in darkness.
Han Li furrowed his brow, using his spiritual sense to probe the three passageways, but as soon as his spiritual sense left his body, a strange, icy aura invaded the air, attacking his soul.
"This place is truly sinister, don't release your spiritual sense," Han Li hastily retracted his spiritual sense and used his cultivation technique to refine the invading aura.
Lan Yan acknowledged, while Qu Xuan seemed to have already discovered this point and remained calm.
"Qu Xuan, it seems that this Ghost Spirit's lair is enormous, with many restrictions, we can only rely on you," Han Li said.
Qu Xuan nodded, closed his eyes, and a faint golden light appeared on his body. He soon opened his eyes and pointed to the left passageway.
"Let's go this way," he said.
Han Li nodded and continued to lead the way.
This passageway was also very long, and after walking for a quarter of an hour, they finally reached the end, entering a large stone chamber.
The chamber was empty, except for two passageways leading in different directions.
Han Li furrowed his brow, asking Qu Xuan to sense the location of the Golden Boy, and then followed him into one of the passageways.
The underground space was vast, with passageways leading in all directions, but fortunately, there were no ghostly creatures attacking them.
Under Qu Xuan's guidance, the three of them moved quickly, making good progress.
According to Han Li's estimate, they had traveled hundreds of miles, and according to Qu Xuan, they were close to the Golden Boy's location.
Han Li heard this but didn't show any signs of relaxation.
After all, their journey so far had been too smooth, and this Ghost Spirit's lair shouldn't be so easily breached.
Especially since the Ghost Spirit himself was not present, it shouldn't be this easy.
Han Li thought to himself, but his expression remained calm, and he only increased his vigilance, carefully sensing the surroundings.
Han Li and the other two were currently walking through a dimly lit corridor, with Qu Lin leading the way. The golden light on her forehead was flashing, and she was constantly sensing the location of the Jin Tong.
The corridor soon came to an end, and a massive stone chamber appeared before them. The chamber was enormous, with an area of several thousand meters, and it was not empty. A series of black stone pillars, each as thick as a dozen people could hug, stood upright on either side of the chamber.
The stone pillars were crystal clear, as if they had been cast from a type of crystal jade. They were engraved with strange patterns that resembled ghostly symbols, which seemed to be a type of array or text.
The stone pillars lined up on either side, leaving a narrow passageway of about ten meters in the middle that led to the depths of the chamber.
The lighting in the chamber was dim, and only a faint outline of a closed blue door could be seen in the distance.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise as he gazed at the scene before him. He did not dare to enter rashly and instead asked Luan Yan, "Luan Dao friend, do you know what this place is?"
"I don't know," Luan Yan replied with a shake of her head.
"Look at the patterns on the stone pillars, they seem to be the legendary You Ming text," Qu Lin said carefully as she examined the patterns.
"You Ming text?" Han Li's eyebrows furrowed.
"The so-called You Ming text is said to be the writing of the Nine You Ming Realm," Qu Lin explained. "I only saw it in an ancient book a long time ago."
"Nine You Ming Realm?" Han Li's eyes sparkled. "Does such a place really exist?"
"Yes, it's said to be the place where all things in the world undergo reincarnation," Qu Lin said. "However, very few people can go there, so it's gradually become a legend."
"Qu Dao friend, can you understand the You Ming text?" Han Li asked, his eyes narrowing.
Qu Lin shook her head, "I only know that such a text exists, but I don't understand it. However, these stone pillars seem to be seal pillars, and I'm afraid they might be sealing something inside. As long as we don't touch them, we should be fine."
Han Li nodded, thinking the same thing.
However, he couldn't determine if it was safe to proceed.
As he pondered, he closed his eyes and activated his Divine Devil's Eye, even venturing out with his divine sense to probe the stone pillars. However, he still couldn't sense anything.
"Qu Dao friend, are you certain that the Jin Tong is up ahead?" Han Li asked after a moment of contemplation.
Qu Lin nodded, "Not far now. But with the appearance of the You Ming text, I feel a sense of eeriness... I'm not sure if we should proceed, or if we should turn back."
Han Li thought for a moment before saying, "Since we've come this far, we can't turn back now. However, this place is unusual, so I'll take the lead, Qu Lin will follow behind me, and Luan Yan will bring up the rear."
Luan Yan nodded in agreement.
Han Li continued, "With me leading the way, we should be fine. Qu Lin, you're an expert in the Jin Tong, but I'm afraid that aside from your physical body, your cultivation and methods are no match for mine. If we encounter any trouble, I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it."
Qu Lin smiled and said, "With you leading the way, I feel much more at ease. Let's proceed, and we'll be careful."
Luan Yan smiled faintly and winked at Han Li, who smiled back and took the lead, entering the chamber.
Qu Lin followed closely behind, and Luan Yan brought up the rear.
Their footsteps echoed through the chamber, and they walked for a short distance without encountering any issues.
Han Li remained vigilant, his eyes scanning the surroundings.
As they reached the center of the chamber, a faint rustling sound came from the stone pillars on either side.
The sound was soft, but Han Li and the others were highly attuned, and they immediately sensed it.
"Be careful, something's happening!" Han Li shouted, his body glowing with golden light as he protected himself.
At that moment, the stone pillars began to glow with a faint black light, and dark shadows began to writhe and twist on their surfaces.
Han Li's eyes widened as he swiftly activated his movement technique, dashing forward.
Luan Yan quickly followed, but Qu Lin retreated, shooting back the way they came.
Han Li's eyes narrowed as he watched Qu Lin, his body glowing with golden light as if preparing to make a move.
However, the black shadows on the stone pillars suddenly flared up, and a barrage of black lights shot out, akin to a hail of arrows, covering Han Li and the others.
The black lights emitted a mournful howl, echoing through the chamber and causing the trio's souls to tremble.
Han Li couldn't worry about Qu Lin anymore and quickly activated his Soul Refining Technique to stabilize his soul. At the same time, golden lightning bolts began to flash on his body. With a single wave of his hand, the lightning bolts transformed into golden lightning whips, which shot out in all directions and collided with the black lights.
The power of the lightning within the Qingtong Bee Cloud Sword had advanced to the level of the Doutu Shenlei, greatly increasing its might. The golden lightning flashed, and the surrounding air seemed to be scorched by a faint, burning heat.
The black lights and golden lightning whips shattered into pieces upon collision.
Lan Yan waved his hand, releasing a dozen blue flying knives that danced around him, forming a intricate knife array that blocked the incoming black lights.
The knife array's power was considerable, and although it was shaken by the black lights, it managed to hold its ground.
Qu Lin's skin turned a pure gold color, and he didn't resist the black lights, allowing them to strike him. His body continued to shoot backward like lightning.
The black lights struck him, producing a series of loud "bangs," but they didn't cause much harm, only leaving behind shallow marks.
Qu Lin blinked and flew out of the black light's range, landing at the entrance of the stone room. His hands suddenly shone with golden light, and he swung them forward.
Two golden lights shot out from his palms, striking the stone room's wall with a loud "bang."
The wall's surface had two shallow protrusions, which were crushed by the golden lights.
The black lights emanating from the stone pillars suddenly brightened by over ten times, but they no longer targeted Han Li and Lan Yan. Instead, they changed direction and shot into the ground, merging with it.
A low "hum" sound filled the air.
In an instant, the ground's surface revealed a layer of dense black light, and a series of dark, ink-like characters emerged, swirling and intertwining to form a massive, blurry pattern. It seemed to be some sort of mysterious formation, emitting a chilling, bone-piercing cold.
Han Li felt his body tense, and he fell to the ground.
At the same time, the black formation on the ground released countless black threads, enveloping his body.
Han Li's limbs felt as if they were bound by invisible steel, and he couldn't move. His internal energy was also frozen.
Lan Yan was even more affected, falling to the ground before Han Li, unable to move or struggle.
"Qu Lin, what's the meaning of this?" Han Li asked in a deep voice.
Although he had never truly trusted Qu Lin, he hadn't expected him to be so familiar with this place, even understanding how to control the local restrictions. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been trapped so easily.
Earlier, Qu Lin had pretended to exchange a large quantity of Spiritual Stone for their help in finding the Golden Boy, which was clearly a ruse. Qu Lin had intentionally led them to this place.
"Many thanks, Han Daoist, for bringing me into the Jiuyuan Temple and leading me to the vicinity of the Golden Boy," Qu Lin said with a smug smile.
"Your goal is also to obtain the Golden Boy? Did you come here before?" Han Li asked.
"Now that things have come to this, why bother asking questions you already know the answer to?" Qu Lin's face revealed a cold, icy smile.
"The Golden Boy's devouring of my clone... Han Li's mind stirred.
Could it be that the Golden Boy that Jin Tong had devoured earlier was related to Qu Lin?
"Enough idle chatter. If we don't leave now, the Ghost Spirit Child will arrive soon. You two can stay here and wait," Qu Lin said, turning to leave.
Just then, a loud "boom" echoed, and the stone door at the back of the room burst open.
The darkness within the room condensed, and a massive black shadow shot out, enveloping Han Li and the others.
Han Li and Lan Yan were already trapped on the ground, and the black shadow's immense power made them unable to move at all. Lan Yan even fell to the ground.
"Damn it! You came so quickly!" Qu Lin's face revealed a furious expression, and his hands began to rub together.
A piercing, ear-piercing whine filled the air as countless sword-like crystal lights burst forth from Qu Lin's body. They condensed into a majestic golden sword shadow, which slashed toward the black shadow.
A "slash" sound echoed as the black shadow's fearsome aura was torn apart.
Qu Lin's face revealed a hint of joy, and he transformed into a golden light, flying toward the entrance.
"You! You betrayed the Jiuyuan Temple and escaped, and now you dare to return? You won't be leaving again!" a shrill voice echoed from the air.
A massive, house-sized black claw appeared before Qu Lin's golden light, grasping downward.
The claw's surface was covered in scales, and its five massive fingers were adorned with strange symbols and patterns, emitting an aura of immense power. The air seemed to be torn apart by the claw's passage.
A "crack" sound echoed as Qu Lin's golden light burst apart, and his body was torn into five or six pieces.
However, the pieces of his body flashed with golden light, transforming into six golden beetle-like creatures that continued to shoot forward, disappearing into the entrance.
The black shadow in the air condensed, taking the form of a young man in black robes with a gaunt face and cold, piercing eyes. He revealed a look of surprise.
"Ghost Spirit Child!" Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he whispered a single word.
As Guī Lín Zǐ watched Qū Lín escape, he only flashed a moment of interest, but ultimately didn't pursue him.
Compared to a Niè Jīn immortal, what attracted him more was Hàn Lì.
After all, from the various messages sent back earlier, it was almost certain that the Zhuàn Tiān Píng was on Hàn Lì's body.
At this moment, the most awkward one was Lán Yuàn.
As a disciple of the Jiǔ Yuán Guān, she was helping an outsider invade her own sect, and Hàn Lì was the only hope to save Lán Yuàn's life, so she had to help.
"Tsk, tsk, eating the inside and peeling the outside, you're more despicable than an outsider thief." Guī Lín Zǐ's gaze fell on Lán Yuàn, and he said with a sinister tone.
Lán Yuàn had no way to defend herself, and could only tightly bite her lower lip, not daring to speak.
At this point, she had no choice but to follow Hàn Lì's lead.
Facing a Dà Luó Zhōng Qī cultivator, Hàn Lì naturally didn't dare to be arrogant, and after a slight hesitation, he cupped his hands and said:
"Senior, I didn't come to your sect to cause trouble, I just want to retrieve my spiritual pet. Now that your sect is under attack, it's the perfect opportunity for you to take action and turn the tide. Why not let me go and catch the big fish that's threatening your sect? I passed by the Jīn Yù Guān on my way here, and there are many people from the Lún Huí Diàn there."
Guī Lín Zǐ heard this, but only gave him a cold glance, and didn't seem interested in responding. Instead, he seemed to be considering how to deal with the two intruders.
Hàn Lì naturally didn't think that a few words could dismiss Guī Lín Zǐ, so while speaking, his eyes shone with a purple light, and he scanned the surroundings, secretly accumulating his spiritual energy to find a way to escape.
After scanning the area, he saw that the stone room was dark and gloomy, with faint flames illuminating the walls, which were carved with strange and eerie symbols, resembling blood vessels.
Guī Lín Zǐ walked around the perimeter of the room, then suddenly raised his hands, pinched a spell, and began to chant. The sound of his voice echoed in the room, accompanied by a faint, eerie sound.
As his voice resonated, Hàn Lì's mind suddenly felt a sharp pain, and he became dazed.
The sound of water flowing and a thick, bloody aura filled the room.
"Shén Hún Fǎ Zé?" Hàn Lì's mind was shocked, and he felt something was off.
He quickly activated his Liàn Shén Shù, and a loud "crackling" sound erupted, as a golden electric light burst forth, enveloping his body. The black light that bound him began to dissolve.
However, Lán Yuàn's eyes turned empty and distant, her face twisted in pain.
Hàn Lì's brow furrowed, and he shouted at Lán Yuàn. A crystal light burst forth from his brow, striking Lán Yuàn's forehead, and several golden lightning snakes wrapped around her body, dispelling the black light.
"Ah..." she groaned, and collapsed to the ground, before suddenly waking up.
"Bié Xié Shén Léi... and Liàn Shén Shù, those Heavenly Court inspectors are blind? They actually let you cultivate Liàn Shén Shù to this extent. But it's good, today I've stumbled upon a rare opportunity." Guī Lín Zǐ didn't seem to be talking to Hàn Lì, but rather to himself, his eyes occasionally flashing with a sinister smile.
After speaking, he nodded to himself, as if making a decision.
Hàn Lì didn't know what Guī Lín Zǐ meant by "opportunity," but judging by his expression, it was clear that it was different from his own understanding. Such a fate, he didn't want.
Just then, he suddenly realized that Guī Lín Zǐ had stopped chanting, but the eerie sounds still lingered, growing louder and more intense.
The bloody aura in the room didn't dissipate, but instead grew thicker.
"Brother Hàn, we're done for... we've entered Guī Lín Zǐ's Wàn Líng Xiàn Jiàn, this time we're dead for sure." Lán Yuàn's face turned pale as she spoke.
"Wàn Líng Xiàn Jiàn... this place is filled with yīn energy, where's the spiritual energy? I think it's more like a Wàn Guǐ Jiàn." Hàn Lì's brow furrowed, and he thought to himself.
He glanced around, and saw that the black crystal pillars surrounding them had suddenly appeared with eerie, ghostly faces, stacked on top of each other, making his skin crawl.
Among them were human-like and yāo-like faces, all with eyes open wide, mouths agape, and twisted in anger.
The sound of their whispers was like a gentle breeze, but it was actually a cacophony of wailing voices, each one a snowflake, accumulating and growing, until it became an avalanche that would crush everything.
Hàn Lì's mind suddenly had an idea, and he felt a sense of unease.
These wailing voices, each one a snowflake, accumulating and growing, would eventually become a snowstorm that would crush everything. Even Liàn Shén Shù might not be able to withstand it.
"Immediately seal your hearing, and destroy these crystal pillars." he shouted, his brow furrowed.
Lán Yuàn didn't hesitate, and immediately followed his instructions. Just as she closed her ears with her spiritual energy, she discovered that the sound lingering around her ears didn't decrease in the slightest, but instead seemed to resonate directly within her heart lake, becoming even clearer.
Her heart skipped a beat, but she didn't have time to react, gripping a blue longsword in her hand as she charged forward and slashed at a black crystal pillar in front of her.
Ghost Spirit saw their actions and didn't show any signs of stopping them, simply observing with cold eyes.
Lan Yan's heart "thudded" as she released her sword's edge, transforming into hundreds of sharp blue sword lights that descended upon the black crystal pillar.
Without warning, a loud explosion sounded, and Lan Yan's sword lights fell upon the pillar, only to be swallowed by the black crystal's flashing light, as if they had been chopped into cotton.
Before Lan Yan could even react, a loud "rumble" echoed from a short distance away.
She quickly turned her head to see Han Li grasping a sword seal, directing dozens of flying swords wrapped in golden lightning as they transformed into thousands of golden sword lights, slashing down upon the black crystal pillars.
The golden lightning reflected off each other, creating a deafening roar that shook the surroundings, making it seem as if a heavenly tribulation had descended upon the area.
Ghost Spirit's face changed upon seeing this, clearly not expecting this sudden turn of events.
The next instant, a thunderous boom shook the air, making Lan Yan's ears ache.
The dark stone chamber was suddenly illuminated by a golden light, as if a golden sun had risen, and the golden lightning engulfed everything.
Unlike Lan Yan's sword lights, Han Li's seventy-two green bamboo swords passed through the black crystal pillars, causing them to shatter and explode.
However, instead of crystal shards flying out, the shattered pillars transformed into a ghostly mist that spread out, releasing a cacophony of wailing spirits.
Ghost Spirit's face changed, and Han Li's eyes revealed a hint of excitement.
He raised his hands, and his sword seal changed, as a "zizzling" sound erupted.
The ghostly mist was suddenly swept away by a wave of golden lightning, as if golden spiders were stretching out their legs, transforming into lightning spears that struck the ghostly mist, dispersing it.
The ghostly mist's wailing sounds were disrupted by the thunder.
"Is this a bit wasteful?" Han Li furrowed his brow, muttering to himself.
As soon as he spoke, a sudden change occurred.
The wall in front of them suddenly glowed with a bloody light, as a massive ghostly face emerged from the bloodstains, opening its mouth to devour the surroundings.
A massive blood-red vortex appeared, sucking in the golden lightning released by Han Li's green bamboo swords.
The green bamboo swords, infused with the power of thunder, should have been the bane of all ghostly creatures. However, in this situation, it seemed to have the opposite effect.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he hastily raised his hand to recall his swords.
But before he could, a blood-red tongue darted out of the ghostly mouth, wrapping around half of the green bamboo swords and pulling them into the blood-red vortex.
Han Li only managed to recall a small portion of the swords, merging them into a single entity that he grasped in his hand, while the rest flew into the blood-red vortex, beyond his control.
As the golden lightning disappeared, the ghostly creatures that emerged from the crystal pillars were no longer suppressed, and they surged forward as a ghostly tide, engulfing Han Li and Lan Yan.
Lan Yan quickly waved her hand, and a blue, spherical light screen expanded, transforming into a water-attribute spiritual domain that spanned a thousand feet.
The ghostly creatures that entered the domain were like fish in water, being battered by waves of blue, watery energy that blocked their advance.
However, as more and more ghostly creatures emerged from the black crystal pillars, the ghostly tide grew stronger, pressing in on Han Li and Lan Yan from all sides.
Finally, Lan Yan's domain was breached, and the ghostly creatures surged forward, engulfing them.
Just as all seemed lost, a faint golden light erupted, and Han Li's time domain suddenly expanded, encompassing the ghostly creatures.
Unlike in Lan Yan's domain, where the ghostly creatures could still advance through sheer numbers, in Han Li's domain, they were frozen in place, unable to move.
Lan Yan stood beside Han Li, gazing at the surrounding void that had become stagnant, and his heart was shocked to the core.
But Han Li's brow was furrowed, and he raised his hand to strike out with a sword.
A loud explosion echoed.
A golden lightning pillar erupted, blasting open a massive passageway several dozen feet in diameter directly through the imprisoned ghostly creatures.
Through the empty passageway, Han Li could see the massive ghostly face that had appeared on the wall.
Earlier, he hadn't gotten a clear look, but now he realized that this ghostly face was different.
Its facial features resembled those of the human race, but its mouth was open to an exaggerated degree, making the entire face seem scrunched up, and it looked somewhat like a demonic beast.
On top of its head, it wore a strange crown, with what seemed to be jade and pearls hanging from the front and back, resembling the imperial crown of a worldly dynasty, and it exuded a sense of solemn dignity.
Its blood-red mouth revealed two rows of sharp, white teeth, with two pairs of sharp canine teeth on top and bottom.
Between the canine teeth, a faint golden glow could be seen.
Han Li's heart was slightly surprised, and his gaze condensed as he realized that the golden glow was actually a small, golden sword, still radiating golden lightning, and it was his own Qing Zhu Bao Yun sword.
His thoughts stirred, and he took a step forward, his body flashing rapidly as he charged through the empty passageway towards the massive ghostly face.
"Hehe, I've been waiting for you." A voice that sent shivers down one's spine echoed from outside the formation.
The ghostly creature's two arms suddenly stretched out, and its hands quickly formed a seal, striking towards the formation.
In an instant, all the ghostly creatures that had been trapped by Han Li's spiritual domain began to move.
The ghostly creatures surrounding the passageway immediately surged towards the center, and Han Li found himself surrounded by a tide of ghosts.
"Get out of my way!" Han Li's voice boomed, and the long sword in his hand spun like a windmill, releasing a series of golden lightning bolts that struck the approaching ghostly creatures, but they were unable to block him.
Just as he was about to break through the ghostly tide, the ghostly creatures in front of him suddenly dispersed.
Han Li's heart cried out in alarm, but it was too late.
A scarlet tongue burst out from the scattered ghostly creatures, shooting towards him.
Han Li reacted quickly, and his body halted as he struck out with his sword, a golden lightning bolt condensing onto the tip of his sword and shooting towards the tongue.
However, the next instant, a shocking scene unfolded.
The scarlet tongue had a golden lightning pattern on its surface, and a massive lightning bolt erupted from it, colliding with Han Li's sword and shattering it, striking his body.
Han Li's body felt numb, and his spiritual energy's circulation was disrupted, and his charging body was forced to stop.
"What is this?" he wondered in shock.
The tongue had released his own Bi Xie Shen Lei, although its power was not as great as the original, it was still terrifying.
Before he could think it through, the scarlet tongue struck out again, this time without releasing lightning, and instead, it coiled around his body.
Han Li's foot tapped the ground, and he violently retreated, but he was immediately surrounded by a circle of ghostly creatures.
Although they were not powerful, their numbers were too great, and even with Han Li's golden lightning protection, he was still somewhat overwhelmed.
He hesitated for a moment, and then his palm swept downward, conjuring a silver light gate in front of him.
The ghostly creatures surrounding him paused, and then they charged towards the light gate like madmen, instantly filling it.
"The treasure of the Cave Heaven, you little scamp, you actually have such a treasure, haha... my little ghosts will go and occupy it first, and then I'll take it for myself." The ghostly creature's eyes widened in surprise.
However, before he could finish speaking, the ghostly creatures that had entered the light gate were like living people who had seen a ghost, and they frantically escaped from the gate.
The silver light gate was narrow, and it was difficult to enter or exit, and the ghostly creatures were stuck, unable to move, and their cries and wails echoed from within the gate.
But after a while, the cries and wails gradually subsided, and the ghostly creatures that had been stuck at the gate dispersed, forming a fan-shaped empty space outside the gate, and they stared at the gate with fear, unwilling to approach.
At this moment, a figure flashed out of the light gate, and a pale-faced girl in a green dress walked out.
"What is this?" the ghostly creature's brow furrowed in surprise.
"Hmph."
The girl let out a belch, and then she looked at Han Li with a somewhat embarrassed expression.
"Ti Hu, this guy cultivates the ghost path, but it's a bit strange, I was going to wait until I figured it out before calling you out, but now I don't have time to think about it." Han Li's face flashed with a smile.
"Leave it to me." Ti Hu smiled and said. As she finished speaking, her gaze swept towards the countless ghostly creatures in front of her, her icy stare scanning them as if taking stock of her provisions.
A loud roar erupted from her, and her body began to glow with a black aura. Her eyes turned a deep red, and her body rapidly expanded, transforming into a massive black ape over a hundred meters tall.
Its body was covered in dark, steel-like fur, and its head was adorned with sharp horns and teeth. A third eye glowed with a malevolent red light on its forehead, and three black bone spines protruded from its back, exuding a chilling aura.
As the ape's roar echoed through the air, the ghostly creatures trembled with fear, retreating in disarray.
"Crimson Beast, it's actually a Crimson Beast..." Ghost Spirit's expression changed, and he exclaimed in a mixture of shock and awe.
His voice was laced with urgency, and his eyes were wide with excitement, making it difficult to discern whether he was thrilled or terrified.
Lan Yan, who was watching from a distance, was shocked by the transformation, having only seen the Crimson Beast's human form before. The sight of its true form was both terrifying and awe-inspiring.
The Crimson Beast, now in its true form, didn't hesitate to attack. Its nose twitched, and a wave of crimson light shot out, dispersing the ghostly creatures and absorbing them into its belly.
The chamber was filled with the wails of the ghostly creatures, and the air was thick with the stench of death.
Ghost Spirit's eyes gleamed with a sinister light, and he smiled, his eyebrows arched upwards.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and he felt a sense of unease. He immediately sent a message to the Crimson Beast, "I feel like something's off, be careful."
Before the Crimson Beast could respond, Ghost Spirit vanished into a cloud of ghostly energy.
Han Li's senses went on high alert, and he felt a growing sense of unease.
The chamber began to shake violently, and a wave of crimson light burst forth from the ground, illuminating the surroundings.
Han Li looked around, only to find that the chamber had changed, and they were now in a different space.
The Crimson Beast let out a soft snort, and the ghostly creatures that had been its prey disappeared.
This new space was devoid of any landmarks, and the only feature was a blood-red haze that filled the air.
Lan Yan rushed to Han Li's side, her expression panicked. "According to legend, Ghost Spirit's sacred envoy is skilled in the art of spirit realm cultivation, having reached the realm of the gods. This place is likely his spirit realm space, known as the 'Ghost Lair'."
A voice boomed from the shadows, "You think you can just waltz in here and take what's mine? I'll take you down first!"
Han Li's eyes scanned the surroundings, but he couldn't find any sign of Ghost Spirit.
Just as he was about to warn Lan Yan, he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her towards him.
A blood-red vortex erupted from the ground where Lan Yan had been standing, and a horde of ghostly arms reached out, grasping for the air.
Han Li drew his sword, and a bolt of golden lightning shot out, striking the vortex and dispelling it.
As the vortex dissipated, a dark shadow loomed above them, and a massive figure stood towering over them.
The figure wore a black robe with dragon and phoenix embroidery, and its face was twisted into a grotesque grimace. It wore a crown with a curtain of pearls, and its eyes gleamed with an otherworldly energy.
Han Li realized that this was the same figure he had seen in the Heavenly Spirit Array.
The figure held a thick, black book in one hand and a crimson brush in the other, giving off an aura of a judge or an executioner.
Han Li saw that the figure's boots were adorned with a ring of symbols, which seemed to be part of a magical array.
"This guy is probably a Domain Spirit," Han Li thought to himself, his body already moving to avoid the figure's attack.
The Crimson Beast, despite its smaller size, showed no fear, its bone spines glowing with a fierce light as it charged towards the figure.
Han Li shouted a warning, but it was too late. The Crimson Beast's spines struck the figure's boots, triggering the magical array.
A wave of crimson light erupted, forming a barrier that pinned the Crimson Beast to the ground.
Han Li rushed to its aid, but the figure's head twisted in an unnatural angle, its mouth opening wide to reveal a blood-red tongue that shot towards him like a snake.
The air was filled with the stench of death, and Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he realized the gravity of the situation.
Han Li faced the incoming Judge's long tongue, and the time law within his body rotated, causing his body to flash rapidly, narrowly avoiding the attack.
In the brief moment, he noticed that the red lightning symbols on the Judge's tongue had disappeared.
"Roar..."
Just then, a loud bellowing sound came from the Wailing Soul's mouth, and its back arched violently, the sharp spikes on its back flashing with intense white light, constantly striking the descending blood-colored light wall, shattering it into fragments.
However, amidst the shattered blood-colored crystal light, a large amount of golden light suddenly appeared, followed by a loud thunderous sound.
"Boom boom boom"
Dozens of Qingtian Cloud Swords, wrapped in golden lightning, suddenly fell from the blood light, interconnected, forming a golden lightning condensed array, which descended and repressed the Wailing Soul, which had just escaped.
The golden lightning was like boiling water, overflowing and rolling on the Wailing Soul's back, shaking the heavens.
The divine lightning on the Qingtian Cloud Swords had a natural suppressing effect on yin-evil objects, and the Wailing Soul was no exception. After the golden lightning rolled over, the Wailing Soul's back was a mess of blood and flesh.
Han Li saw this scene and his eyes widened in anger. He clenched his fist and summoned his flying sword.
The Qingtian Cloud Swords trembled violently, struggling to fly back to Han Li's side, but they were unable to move due to the blood light surrounding them.
Just as the flying swords were about to be crushed by the Judge's giant foot, Han Li let out a loud roar, and his tongue pierced the air, shooting a blast of energy at the Qingtian Cloud Swords.
"Whoosh whoosh" A loud, piercing sound echoed through the air.
The dozens of Qingtian Cloud Swords, which had been controlled by the Judge, suddenly trembled and broke free from their control, flying back to Han Li.
Without the divine lightning's suppression, the Wailing Soul's back relaxed, and its body shrunk back into its human form, dodging the Judge's giant foot and returning to Han Li's side.
"This guy's ghostly arts are indeed different from others... His yin-evil aura seems to have cultivated a kind of returning-to-true-nature, centralizing energy... It's possible that he's turning from yin to yang, from evil to good... My suppressing ability is not as strong as before." The Wailing Soul panted heavily for a moment, not forgetting to report this to Han Li.
"Are you okay? I didn't let you out earlier because I was worried about this. It seems that this guy's ability to rank among the four great sacred envoys is not without reason." Han Li's brow furrowed in concern.
"This Judge is still not the main enemy, we've been fighting for half a day and still haven't met the real master. It's a bit embarrassing." The Wailing Soul shook its head, indicating that it was unharmed.
"Who says we haven't?" Han Li raised an eyebrow, countering.
The Wailing Soul looked at Han Li with a puzzled expression.
"Do you mean that the Judge is the real master?" Lan Yan asked, seeming to understand.
Before Han Li could respond, the Judge in the sky let out a loud roar, and its foot came crashing down again, accompanied by its long tongue, which drew a circular arc in the air, blocking their retreat.
"Lan Yan, block that long tongue for a moment." Han Li shouted.
Lan Yan nodded, and a blue, water-patterned bag appeared in his hand.
Han Li recognized it as the same bag that Lan Yan and his sister had obtained in the Years Tower.
Lan Yan lightly hummed, and the bag's water-patterned design began to glow intensely, emitting a sound like rushing water.
Suddenly, the bag's mouth opened, and eight blue water dragons, each dozens of feet long, burst out, charging towards the Judge's long tongue.
As they approached, a loud "boom boom boom" sound echoed through the air.
The water dragons' bodies glowed with lightning, and countless blue water lightning bolts shot out, constantly striking the Judge's long tongue, causing it to shudder and recoil.
Han Li saw this scene and his eyes flashed with understanding. He remembered that during the formation of the Five Elements Array, the five artifacts, including the white fire bead, the golden sword, and the blue bag, had all been recalled by the array.
After the array's collapse, the Firebird had taken back the white fire bead, and Lan Yan had apparently also retrieved the blue bag.
Compared to before, Lan Yan's cultivation had clearly increased, and his control over the artifact had become more refined.
Although he still couldn't unleash its full power, blocking the Judge's attack was sufficient.
The Judge's long tongue was battered by the water dragons' lightning, and it began to recoil, attempting to retreat back into the Judge's mouth.
Lan Yan wouldn't let up, holding the blue bag with one hand and raising the other.
The eight water dragons wrapped around the Judge's tongue, climbing up together, and charged towards the Judge.
On the other side, the Judge's giant foot was about to crush them, bearing down with a force that seemed to weigh a thousand jun. Han Li's mouth burst forth with a furious roar, his body's Heavenly Executioner's prison-sealing technique went into a frenzy, his true spirit's blood veins simultaneously activated, and his body suddenly expanded to a hundred feet, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed demonic form.
With a mighty stomp of his foot, his body didn't dodge or evade, instead charging towards the giant boot, his two massive ape-like arms wrapped in layers of white energy, striking towards the boot with a loud crash.
A deafening boom resounded!
A circle of violent energy burst forth from the sky, Han Li's body plummeting downwards, crashing into the ground.
Meanwhile, in the air, the giant boot that had stomped down was repelled by a single punch, sending the giant Judge's body stumbling backwards, toppling over.
At the same time, the eight water dragons controlled by Lan Yan simultaneously launched a fierce attack, their long tongues shooting towards the Judge's head.
"Zzt!"
A violent electric current crackled to life, the eight water dragons simultaneously exploding, sending the Judge's crown flying off.
Before the Judge could regain his footing, a layer of golden light enveloped him, transforming into a ball of starlight that rapidly expanded in all directions.
"Whoa!"
A mountain range descended from the sky, crashing down towards the Judge's head, a golden river flowing through it suddenly twisted and turned, like a golden belt, wrapping itself around his body in an instant.
The Judge, who had been so majestic and powerful just moments before, was now completely frozen in place, his body surrounded by a halo of golden light, his movements becoming sluggish.
"Get back, don't come any closer!" Han Li bellowed.
Lan Yan and Qi Hu heard his words and didn't hesitate, rapidly retreating backwards.
Han Li's body was surrounded by a halo of golden light, his hands forming a sword seal, and with a sudden movement, he unleashed a powerful strike.
Thirty-six bamboo swords shot out from his body, forming a phalanx-like formation, their sword tips pointing towards the sky, emitting a gentle hum, as if breathing.
As the swords reached their destinations, a strange spiritual energy fluctuation emanated from them, as if the surrounding air and the swords had become connected, forming a small, self-contained world.
As the sword array solidified, the air around it began to change, a thin layer of white mist rising, with occasional flashes of golden lightning, resembling a cloud of golden thunder.
"This is... the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array!" Lan Yan's eyes widened in shock.
Years ago, when she and her brother had mistakenly entered the Tower of the Years, she had seen the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array set up within the tower, although the one Han Li had set up was slightly different, the atmosphere it exuded was identical.
In fact, the sword array Han Li had set up seemed to possess an even more oppressive and majestic energy, making her feel a sense of suffocation, and she involuntarily retreated further away, feeling a bit more at ease.
At this moment, the Judge, who had been momentarily disrupted, finally regained his footing, his expression still wooden, but a hint of anger visible in his eyes.
His body glowed with a fierce red light, mingling with the golden light that bound him, and with a wave of his hand, the giant red pen he held began to move through the air.
However, due to the influence of the time law, his movements seemed slightly sluggish, and as the pen moved, ancient, crimson characters began to appear in the air, forming a mysterious, archaic text.
With each character's appearance, the air would shudder violently, as if thunder was booming, and the blood-red space around him would echo with a chilling, mournful cry.
It was as if the Judge's writing was summoning a storm, and the text was a harbinger of doom!
As the Judge continued to write, the text grew longer, and the pressure it exerted grew stronger, the cries of the ghosts and the thunderous booms becoming almost deafening, leaving Lan Yan's heart racing and her face pale.
Qi Hu, although not as affected, still felt a sense of unease, and she could sense a powerful, soul-shaking energy emanating from the text.
Just as the text was about to be completed, the sword array Han Li had set up began to change.
A loud, crackling sound filled the air!
The thirty-six bamboo swords surrounding Han Li began to shine with golden light, their surfaces erupting with electricity, transforming into thirty-six sturdy, golden lightning pillars that shot towards the sky.
A series of powerful, lightning-wreathed sword auras burst forth from the swords, filling the air with a deafening, thunderous roar, as if the very fabric of space was being torn apart.
The next moment, the air around the Judge began to distort, and the golden lightning pillars, accompanied by the powerful lightning, surged forth, layer upon layer, striking towards him with incredible force.
(To all my fellow cultivators, I'm afraid I can only post one chapter today, as I'm currently attending a meeting outside...)
As the sword energy and golden lightning swept in, the Evil Ghost Judge felt that the outside world was no longer isolated from his spiritual domain. Instead, he could only sense the intense and unmatched power of the lightning.
He could no longer continue writing in mid-air, and with a flick of his wrist, he drew a single stroke in the void, pointing downwards.
The blood-colored characters that had been suspended in mid-air suddenly came to life, falling towards the ground with a loud rumble. As they descended, their surface grew brighter and more intense, becoming heavier and heavier.
By the time they reached the sword array, each character had become as massive as a mountain, pressing down on the surrounding space and causing it to collapse. Black cracks appeared all around, and the sword energy that had been accumulating was released in a frenzy.
The golden lightning sword energy was countless in number, sweeping in wave after wave, and accumulating into a dense, golden net that ensnared all the blood-colored characters.
As the characters entered the sword net, they immediately began to boil and churn, releasing a loud hissing sound. The sword net's energy and the lightning worked together to erode the characters, causing them to release intense, white smoke and slowly disappear.
After a few breaths, the blood-colored characters finally collapsed, disappearing into nothingness. But just as they did, a massive hand descended from the sky, palm facing downwards.
In the center of the palm, a massive, blood-colored vortex appeared, with a single, golden character "敕" floating in the center. The hand's power was even more intense than the previous blood-colored chapter, and all the sword energy was drawn into the vortex, shattering into fragments.
The sword net was torn apart, and the sword energy scattered in all directions. Han Li, however, remained calm, his expression unchanged. He changed his sword technique and began to chant once more.
As his voice echoed out, the Heavenly Sword Array's sword energy surged forth, and thirty-six golden lightning columns shot up into the sky, gathering together to form a massive, golden cloud.
The cloud's interior flashed with lightning symbols, and a mysterious energy emanated from within, growing stronger by the second. The Evil Ghost Judge's expression finally changed, his face contorting in shock.
Before he could react, Han Li took a step forward, his footwork swift and decisive, and activated the sword array with all his might.
The golden cloud in the sky began to churn and twist, disrupting the surrounding space and causing a massive, heavenly energy to burst forth. The air was filled with the sound of thunder, and the sword energy was released in a frenzy.
The thirty-six bamboo swords trembled with energy, their golden lightning filaments flashing as they shot out into the air. The cloud's interior was filled with layer upon layer of golden energy, and within its depths, two massive, golden pillars appeared, forming a massive, golden gate.
The gate's pillars were adorned with golden lightning symbols, and the air was filled with the sound of thunder. The Evil Ghost Judge's face twisted in shock, and he let out a furious roar.
Han Li, however, remained calm, his hands moving in a slow, deliberate motion as he pushed open the gate. The golden gate creaked open, revealing a narrow slit.
A deafening sound echoed through the air, and a massive, golden lightning bolt shot out from the gate, pouring down towards the ground like a waterfall. The gate's interior was filled with a boundless, golden sea, and the air was filled with the sound of thunder.
The golden lightning symbols on the gate flashed, and the dense, golden energy was released, forming into a multitude of golden swords that shot out towards the Evil Ghost Judge. The sound of thunder and the clash of swords filled the air, and the space was filled with a massive, golden storm.
The Evil Ghost Judge's face contorted in shock, and he let out a furious roar. He opened his ancient, leather-bound book, and a massive, blood-colored light burst forth, releasing a multitude of ghostly spirits that shot out into the air.
The spirits were of all shapes and sizes, from small, childlike figures to massive, mountain-like forms. They were all twisted and distorted, their faces filled with malevolent energy. They shot out into the air, colliding with the golden swords in a frenzy of sound and energy.
The space was filled with the sound of thunder and the clash of swords, and the air was filled with the energy of the golden storm. In the high sky, the golden and crimson light intertwined, almost splitting the atmosphere into two layers, with neither side able to gain the upper hand. The battle had turned into a prolonged war of attrition.
Han Li stood still, gazing up at the sky, his hands tightly grasping the sword's hilt, not daring to relax for a moment.
This Heaven-Piercing Sword Array was extraordinary, and with his current cultivation, the power it unleashed was not to be underestimated. However, the Array's power would only grow stronger with time, so he believed that ultimately, he would emerge victorious.
"Boom, boom, boom"
The continuous explosions lasted for about a quarter of an hour, and the void trembled unceasingly. The golden sword rain in the sky showed no signs of weakening, and Ghost Spirit finally grew anxious.
His body emerged from the brow of the Evil Ghost Judge, his hands swiftly forming a seal, and his fingers pointing at the crimson brush.
Suddenly, a symbol on the brush's tip lit up, and the massive brush shrunk rapidly, transforming into a delicate flying sword amidst a burst of blood light.
"Whoosh"
The crimson flying sword shot out, leaving behind a trail of fragmented shadows, and flew straight towards Han Li.
Han Li was currently fully focused on controlling the sword array, and his brow furrowed as he saw the flying sword approaching.
"Ah, if only I could stall for a bit longer..." he sighed, his voice laced with regret.
Immediately, the golden circular moon behind him released a dazzling golden light, weaving a dense temporal law space around his body.
The crimson flying sword, upon entering the golden space, slowed down significantly.
The Evil Ghost Judge felt the golden light piercing his eyes, and he quickly raised his hand to suppress it.
A symbol on his palm glowed brightly, and the flying sword's speed surged once more, piercing through the golden light's center.
"Whoosh"
The crimson flying sword passed through the area where Han Li stood, but landed in empty space.
"Die!" a sudden explosion of anger echoed from above.
The Evil Ghost Judge looked up, and saw a tall figure standing before the giant heavenly gate, holding a long sword, and was about to make a downward slash. It was none other than Han Li.
Ghost Spirit's heart skipped a beat.
In the next instant, Han Li's sword had already descended, slashing downwards.
His hand grasped the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword, and with a swift motion, he swung it from behind his head, the sword's path illuminated by electricity, as it cut through the air, and the heavenly gate's inner lightning pool was drawn out, merging with the sword's body.
"Boom, boom, boom"
The thunderous roars shook the air, and the sword's blade, infused with the lightning, tore through the void, splitting the clouds, and simultaneously cutting through the sword rain and the dark souls below.
The blade landed on the Evil Ghost Judge's head with incredible force.
"No..."
A pitiful cry echoed, and the judge's crown was split in two, followed by his head, neck, and torso, all of which were torn apart by a golden fissure.
"Rip"
A sound like tearing fabric echoed, and the Evil Ghost Judge's body was torn asunder, releasing a massive amount of dark energy, which transformed into a black mist that spread in all directions.
Within the mist, countless green flames scattered, flying towards the four cardinal directions.
At the same time, the blood-red space surrounding them was severed, and the blood-red color receded, revealing the desolate ruins around them.
"Qihu..." Han Li shouted.
Qihu, attuned to his master's will, had already flown to the high sky, and with a flash of black light, transformed into a massive, ape-like creature, and began to absorb the black mist into its belly.
Meanwhile, Han Li, standing on the golden cloud, finally collapsed, and the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array disappeared.
The remaining evil spirits, now without control, fled in disarray, and were devoured by Qihu.
The remaining ones retreated back into the ancient, thick book.
As Han Li fell to the ground, Lan Yuan flew over, and landed beside him, concerned.
"Han friend, how are you?"
"No harm done," Han Li replied, taking out two pills and swallowing them.
He waved his hand, and the thirty-six Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords, used to set up the array, flew back to him.
After this battle, the swords' inner Heavenly Thunder had been almost completely released, and they could not be used again for the time being.
"The Ghost Spirit Envoy... he..." Lan Yuan's brow furrowed, asking.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he replied, "He's been defeated."
That kind of divine lightning's power is enough to annihilate anyone, there's no chance of survival. Han Li's face was solemn as he replied to Lan Yan's hesitant question.
As soon as he finished speaking, he struggled to get up, but as soon as he stood up, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, his legs went soft, and he fell back down.
Lan Yan saw this and hurried over to help him up, but was waved off by Han Li.
"I've consumed too much, I'll just take a moment to meditate, you don't need to worry." Han Li said slowly.
After finishing speaking, he sat back down, closed his eyes, and began to meditate.
Lan Yan saw that he was really fine, so she let out a sigh of relief and stood up, looking upwards towards the top of the underground space that had completely collapsed. A patch of sunlight shone down, illuminating her and making her squint.
The sunlight cast her shadow long and stretched out, reaching all the way to Han Li's side.
The battle between Ti Hu and the other party was also nearing its end. After absorbing the last bit of residual yin energy, she let out a satisfied burp and returned to her human form.
Seeing Han Li meditating, she didn't disturb him and instead walked over to examine the ancient tome.
Lan Yan saw this and was about to go over and talk to her.
But just as she took a step forward, her body suddenly froze, and her eyes flashed with a look of incredulity.
It turned out that her body had moved, but her shadow remained in place.
At that moment, a strange phenomenon occurred.
The shadow that remained in place suddenly lit up with a dark glow, and a figure emerged from it, holding a ghost-headed dagger and stabbing straight at Han Li's chest.
His face was thin and long, his eyes cold and sinister - it was none other than Gui Ling Zi.
This sudden turn of events was too shocking, and neither Lan Yan nor Ti Hu had time to react. Gui Ling Zi's ghost-headed dagger was already mere inches away from Han Li's chest.
But Han Li seemed completely unaware, continuing to meditate with his eyes closed.
The battle earlier had exhausted him greatly.
Gui Ling Zi's eyes were wide with excitement, and his pale face flushed with a hint of red as he seemed to be savoring the moment.
But just then, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze piercing and full of energy, and a cold smile spreading across his face.
"I knew you wouldn't give up, I've been waiting for you..."
He said with a mocking tone, his hand flashing out to grab Gui Ling Zi's neck.
"How... how is this possible?" Gui Ling Zi's ghost-headed dagger was pressed against Han Li's chest, but he couldn't push it in any further, and he muttered in disbelief.
"Earlier, I didn't have enough energy, I knew that one sword wouldn't be enough to kill you. I was thinking that if you had any sense, you'd run away, and I'd let you off. But it seems you couldn't resist taking advantage of my weakness. You're really asking for death."
Han Li sneered.
"This is the Jiuyuan Tower, you dare to kill me?" Gui Ling Zi exclaimed in shock and anger.
"I've come prepared, of course. Your cultivation is barely a tenth of what it used to be, killing you would be easy. But first, I need to search your soul."
Han Li smiled, his brow flashing with a light, and a crystal thread extended from his forehead, piercing into Gui Ling Zi's brow.
Han Li's mind stirred, and his soul-refining technique began to operate, attempting to break through Gui Ling Zi's mental seal.
"Ha ha, you think you can search my soul? You're dreaming. Since you've come uninvited, I'll give you a gift." Han Li's mind had just entered Gui Ling Zi's, but he was met with Gui Ling Zi's voice.
Han Li's heart sank, and he immediately withdrew his crystal thread, opening his eyes.
But in that instant, he saw a strange, purple-colored talisman emerge from Gui Ling Zi's brow, ignite, and transform into a purple symbol that struck his own brow.
A wave of intense pain, unlike anything he had ever experienced before, washed over him, threatening to split his skull open.
Even Han Li, who had endured countless agonies, found it difficult to bear. His hand relaxed, and he fell to the ground, clutching his head and rolling around in agony.
Gui Ling Zi took advantage of the opportunity to create some distance between them.
"What did you do?" Ti Hu asked, enraged.
"I told you, I gave him a gift. That's the Zhanshi Xian talisman I prepared for myself, to help me break through the bottleneck in the future. If I used it in the late stages of the Daluo Realm, it would be incredibly effective, surpassing countless alchemical pills and medicinal herbs. But using it on a mere Daluo Realm cultivator like him... Ha ha ha..."
Gui Ling Zi's face twisted with a sinister grin as he laughed maniacally. "Quickly, release him!" Ti Hu screamed, charging towards him.
However, Gui Lingzi dispersed into a cloud of ghostly mist, disappearing into thin air.
This time, his battle with Han Li had left him severely injured. Even if he could maintain his current realm and avoid falling, he would never be able to make further progress and reach the late stage of the Mahayana realm. It was a luxury he could no longer afford.
If not for this, he wouldn't have used the "Zhan Shi Xian Fu" (Slashing Corpse Heavenly Symbol) on Han Li.
"Ahhh..."
A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the air as Han Li suddenly sprang to his feet, his body as stiff as a spear. He stood motionless, his eyes fixed on some unknown point.
"Don't go near him, look at him..." Ti Hu cautioned, grabbing Lan Yan's arm.
Ti Hu gazed intently at Han Li, noticing that something was off about him.
His face, which was never particularly striking, now had two conflicting expressions. The left half of his face was twisted in a scowl, his eyes wide with fear, his nose scrunched up, and his mouth curled into a malevolent grin. The right half of his face, on the other hand, looked more normal, but his eyes were filled with a struggling expression.
"Master, what's wrong with you?" Ti Hu exclaimed.
Han Li slowly raised his head, seemingly responding to Ti Hu's words. The right half of his face twitched, as if trying to speak, but the left half refused to cooperate, instead contorting into a grotesque smile.
"This time, it's really bad..." Lan Yan muttered, her expression grim.
Han Li let out a pained roar, his body lurching forward as if trying to charge towards Ti Hu and Lan Yan.
Lan Yan's eyes flashed with fear as she stumbled backward, trying to create some distance between herself and Han Li.
However, Han Li's movements suddenly stopped, and he clutched his head in agony, collapsing to the ground and rolling around wildly.
"What kind of technique did he use? Master's soul is becoming unstable!" Ti Hu exclaimed, sensing the turmoil in Han Li's soul.
"It's the Zhan Shi Xian Fu," Lan Yan replied gravely.
"Zhan Shi Xian Fu... what's that?" Ti Hu asked urgently.
"The Zhan Shi Xian Fu is one of the most precious heavenly symbols in the True Immortal Realm, a rare technique that can aid a Mahayana realm cultivator in slaying their corpse," Lan Yan explained.
"Slashing the corpse? Isn't that a bottleneck that only appears at the peak of the three stages of the Mahayana realm?" Ti Hu asked, perplexed.
"You're right, which is why this is the problem. Han Li is currently only at the early stage of the Mahayana realm, far from reaching the middle stage, and yet he was forced to use the Zhan Shi Xian Fu..."
Ti Hu's face turned even more grim as she realized the severity of the situation.
She knew Han Li's condition better than Lan Yan did. After breaking through to the Mahayana realm, Han Li had made rapid progress in his cultivation, but he was still far from reaching the peak of the early stage. He was nowhere near ready to face the bottleneck of slashing the corpse.
Normally, a Mahayana realm cultivator would prepare extensively before attempting to slash the corpse, finding a secluded location to meditate and cultivate. Even then, there was no guarantee of success, and the risk of backlash was high.
The Zhan Shi Xian Fu was an extreme measure, forcing Han Li to prematurely split his soul and create a corpse. Given his current state, he was doomed to fail, and the consequences would be catastrophic.
"Is there any way to stop it?" Ti Hu asked, her eyes fixed on Han Li.
"Gui Lingzi activated the Zhan Shi Xian Fu, and it's already in motion. We can't stop it... all we can do is hope that Han Li can suppress the symbol's effects," Lan Yan replied, her voice laced with despair.
Just then, Han Li's body suddenly stopped rolling, and he sprang to his feet, disappearing in an instant and reappearing in front of Ti Hu.
Ti Hu was caught off guard, only managing to cross her arms in a defensive gesture. Han Li's fingers transformed into claws, and he swiped at her with a ferocious roar.
Ti Hu glimpsed Han Li's face through the gap between her arms, and her eyes widened in horror. His face had contorted into a grotesque, evil visage, with a twisted grin and a mouthful of transparent saliva.
"Hehe, you seem to be connected to him quite closely..." Han Li sneered.
In the next instant, Ti Hu felt a massive force assault her, her arms trembling as if they were about to shatter. Her body was flung backward, crashing into the ruins and leaving a deep gash in the ground.
She finally came to a stop when she collided with a massive stone wall, her hand instinctively covering her mouth as she spat out a mouthful of blood.
Han Li's face was twisted in a ferocious grin, and he laughed maniacally without stopping.
Lan Yan looked at him, her eyes widening in shock at the cruel expression on his face and the aura emanating from him, which was completely different from before. It was hard to believe that this was the same person.
Ti Huo shook off the blood from her palm, her eyes becoming increasingly complex.
Lan Yan turned to Ti Huo, opening her mouth to say something.
"Quickly move away!" Ti Huo suddenly shouted, her eyes flashing with warning.
Lan Yan's face changed, and she didn't even have time to think before her body flashed to the side, moving a hundred meters away.
The moment she moved, the spot where she had been standing erupted in a massive explosion, creating a deep pit.
"After losing his mind, his cultivation aura seems to have grown stronger," Ti Huo exclaimed.
"The Corpse Severing Seal has taken effect, and he's probably being influenced by the evil corpse's divine will. His original consciousness can no longer control his body, and if this continues, it won't be him severing the corpse, but the corpse severing his original consciousness and taking over his body," Lan Yan said, her voice trembling with fear.
Ti Huo's expression turned serious. "Regardless of whether it's his consciousness or the evil corpse, we need to make him lose his mind and restrict his movements for now."
"How do we do that?" Lan Yan asked hastily.
"Help me restrict his movements for a moment, and I'll think of a way," Ti Huo replied, her hands clenched in front of her.
Just as Lan Yan was about to ask another question, a loud rumbling sound came from the deep pit, and Han Li's figure shot out of it, folding in mid-air before charging towards them at high speed.
As he approached, a powerful gust of wind pressure hit them, like a massive wall pressing down on them.
Ti Huo's eyes were closed, and her hands were forming a seal in front of her, as if preparing for a secret technique.
Lan Yan gritted her teeth and took a step forward, a blue cloth bag appearing in her palm.
With a sound like a wave crashing, the cloth bag shone brightly, and ten blue water dragons burst out of it, breaking through the wind pressure and charging towards Han Li.
Han Li let out a loud roar, his fist smashing down and colliding with two of the water dragons, causing them to explode.
The remaining eight water dragons wrapped around him, their bodies crackling with electricity as they unleashed a barrage of water blasts.
Han Li, caught in the center of the lightning, let out a pained cry, his body shrinking before expanding again.
As he did so, a dark red aura burst out of his body, and he suddenly activated his blood vessels, creating a massive shockwave that pushed back the water blasts and lightning.
"Is it done?" Lan Yan shouted, her body trembling, her face covered in blood.
Ti Huo, however, remained silent, her eyes still closed.
Just as the eight water dragons were about to collapse, Lan Yan's expression turned resolute, and she spat out a drop of blood mixed with her essence, which landed on the blue cloth bag.
The bag shone brightly, and the eight water dragons, now revitalized, opened their mouths and spat out a blue crystal ball of lightning, which shot towards Han Li.
The eight balls of lightning exploded simultaneously, creating a massive lightning pillar that shot out of the ground.
The lightning pillar struck Han Li, but he didn't fall. Instead, he looked up, his eyes blood-red, and his mouth twisted into a cruel grin.
"Finished..." Lan Yan whispered, collapsing to the ground.
Han Li's eyes locked onto her, and he let out a loud roar, his body charging towards her.
But just as he was about to attack, his eyes flashed with a strange light, and his body suddenly stopped, flipping over and crashing to the ground.
In the next instant, a figure appeared, standing in front of Han Li, a palm pressed against his forehead.
"Ti Huo..." Lan Yan's voice was barely audible as she recognized the figure.
Ti Huo stood before Han Li, her palm pressing down on his forehead, creating a wave of dark red ripples that spread out like water.
Han Li, under the pressure of her palm, sat down, motionless.
Ti Huo's eyes were blood-red, and her eyes were filled with tears of blood. The cost of using this secret technique was evident.
Her other hand moved swiftly, forming a seal, and then she pointed to her own forehead.
Her skin split open, revealing a blood-red vertical pupil. As soon as the blood-red vertical pupils flashed, a burst of blood-colored crystal threads erupted, spreading like vines, and directly penetrated into Han Li's brow.
"Ah..."
At the moment the blood-colored crystal threads entered Han Li's brow, Ti Huo's mouth let out a mournful cry, and her eyes closed tightly.
In the next instant, Ti Huo's divine sense entered Han Li's sea of consciousness.
Upon seeing Han Li's sea of consciousness for the first time, Ti Huo discovered that it was an exceptionally vast and majestic realm.
However, this sea of consciousness was currently in a state of chaos, with violent storms raging everywhere, and countless dragon-like whirlwinds rampaging, causing the sky to be shrouded in dark clouds, with thunder rumbling incessantly.
"Boom!"
The sea of consciousness suddenly lit up, and a thick bolt of lightning descended from the sky, striking Ti Huo's divine sense.
Ti Huo hastily dodged, and rushed forward.
However, she had only flown out for a thousand feet when another violent whirlwind attacked her.
"Master, where are you?" Ti Huo called out anxiously.
If she didn't find Han Li's divine sense quickly, she, as an external invader, would be subjected to increasingly intense backlash from the sea of consciousness, and would be unable to stop Han Li when he awoke again.
Just then, Ti Huo suddenly raised her head, and saw a faint, flickering figure in the thunderclouds above.
With a surge of joy, she rushed upwards, dodging the lightning bolts, and entered the thunderclouds.
Upon reaching the top of the thunderclouds, Ti Huo found that there were no turbulent waves below, only flashes of lightning illuminating the surroundings.
Just then, a loud explosion boomed, and the thunderclouds lit up like daylight.
Ti Huo took advantage of the light to see a solitary figure in the distance, struggling to move towards a dense area of lightning.
That figure was none other than Han Li.
"Master..." Ti Huo called out, her voice echoing through the thunderous skies.
Han Li, who was stepping on the thunderclouds, his movements laborious as he headed towards the lightning-filled area, suddenly stiffened, and turned his head.
Ti Huo shuddered, and saw a face that was a mix of ferocity and solemnity.
Despite the conflicting emotions, when Han Li saw Ti Huo, his eyebrows rose in unison, and he asked, "How did you come here?"
Although he only had one mouth, two overlapping voices responded, one inquiring in surprise, and the other questioning in anger.
"This is bad, his divine sense has already begun to split!" Ti Huo exclaimed, realizing the gravity of the situation.
She was about to respond when the thunderclouds beneath her suddenly churned, and a bolt of lightning shot up, striking her.
Ti Huo dodged, and rushed towards Han Li.
A "zziila" sound echoed, as a massive lightning bolt pursued her.
Han Li saw this, and raised his right hand, dispersing the lightning with a wave.
"My divine sense has split, and the evil corpse is invading, my sea of consciousness is no longer under my control. You must quickly withdraw your divine sense, or you will be affected as well," Han Li said, his face contorting in effort.
"Hehe, you've come just in time, I'll show you how I'll devour him. You're quite good, once I occupy his sea of consciousness and physical body, you can continue to follow me," a voice said, followed by another voice.
"The Secret Art of Severing the Corpse has already taken effect, we only have one option, to temporarily seal your divine sense, and put you to sleep. Later, when we find a way, we'll awaken you," Ti Huo said, ignoring the evil corpse's words.
The evil corpse was still connected to Han Li's divine sense, and even with the Secret Art, it was impossible to deceive it. Ti Huo had no choice but to speak directly.
"Haha... this is your plan? It's exactly what I wanted," the evil corpse said. "It's useless, the evil thoughts will spread like wild grass, the longer it takes, the more severe the invasion of your main consciousness will be. Even if we both fall into a deep sleep, it won't make a difference. By the time we awaken again, my main consciousness will have already disappeared."
Ti Huo was taken aback, and fell into a dilemma.
"I've reached an agreement with him, to use lightning to separate our divine senses, and then we'll rely on our own abilities to see who can eliminate the other," Han Li said, a determined look on his face.
"This won't work, you're still far from the peak of the early stage of the Great Luo. Forcing the elimination of the corpse now will only end in failure..." Ti Huo said anxiously.
"This is the only option left, and this guy is getting impatient, wanting to come out immediately," Han Li said helplessly.
"Stop talking, if you interfere again, I'll kill you first," the evil corpse said, its voice venomous.
"Since this is your choice, Master, I won't say anything more. I'll continue to follow you, no matter what happens... even if you become the evil corpse's body," Ti Huo said, sighing.
"Since you're so cooperative, I'll give you a chance to see how I'll eliminate the main soul, and become your master... haha..." the evil corpse said, its voice dripping with confidence.
Ti Huo didn't say anything more, and simply stood aside, watching Han Li's divine sense walk towards the lightning-filled area.
Han Li walked into the Thunder and Lightning Region, and with a wave of his hand, the air seemed to vibrate with an otherworldly energy.
Below, the thunderclouds seemed to come alive, as if a multitude of white dragons were writhing and twisting, gathering from all directions.
In his mind, the sound of thunder boomed and echoed, and the dark, foreboding clouds below lit up with a brilliant, snowy light.
In the instant that the thunder dragons converged, a massive, snow-white lightning bolt shot up from the clouds, piercing Han Li's mind like a sword.
Han Li, standing at the center of the thunderstorm, was struck directly by the lightning bolt, and let out a blood-curdling scream that lasted for dozens of breaths.
Tears of the Soul, who had been watching from the sidelines, widened her eyes in shock, and gazed towards the spot where the lightning bolt had struck, but all she saw was a blinding light that made it impossible to see Han Li's soul.
After a long wait, the thunderstorm finally began to subside, and the brilliant light began to fade, gradually shrinking back into the clouds.
As the light dimmed, Tears of the Soul saw that two figures had appeared on the clouds, and to her amazement, they were both Han Li, as if he had split into two.
The Han Li on the left was twisted in a grotesque grimace, his arms raised in triumph, while the Han Li on the right had a much more tranquil expression, with only a faint furrow between his brows.
"How can it be that they're the same person, yet so different?" Tears of the Soul wondered, her heart racing with worry.
The aura of the evil corpse's soul was clearly much stronger than Han Li's original soul.
"Ha ha... finally, I've broken free! Finally, I've broken free! Ha ha, you have no idea how painful it is to be trapped in the depths of your mind, like a monstrous creature at the bottom of a well. Today, I'll make you taste the same pain, being suppressed in the depths of your own mind, unable to express your true self!" The evil corpse's soul glared at Han Li's soul with malevolent intent, its voice rising to a near-hysterical pitch.
As the evil corpse's soul let out a deafening roar, the calm of the mind-space was shattered once again.
On the left side of the mind-space, the dark clouds suddenly turned a deep, bloody red, as if a wave of blood had swept through them.
On the right side, the clouds grew even darker, with flashes of lightning illuminating the sky.
"You're no longer of any use to me," the evil corpse's soul sneered. "Just hand over this mind-space to me, and be done with it."
With a sudden movement, the evil corpse's soul reached out and grasped at Han Li's soul, its entire being surging forward like a tidal wave.
Han Li's soul, of course, would not go quietly into the night, and countered with a burst of lightning from the clouds behind him.
The two souls clashed, their auras locked in a fierce struggle, each side trying to overpower the other.
But in the end, it was Han Li's soul that began to falter, the evil corpse's soul proving to be the stronger of the two.
Just as the evil corpse's soul was about to deliver the final blow, Tears of the Soul intervened, striking the evil corpse's soul from behind.
But to her surprise, the evil corpse's soul merely turned its head, its eyes blazing with malevolent intent.
"Ah, I've been waiting for you," it said, its voice dripping with malice.
Tears of the Soul's eyes widened in shock, and she tried to retreat, but it was too late. The evil corpse's soul had already begun to absorb her own soul, drawing it into its own being.
In a flash of insight, Tears of the Soul realized that she had only made things worse, and that if the evil corpse's soul succeeded in absorbing her soul, Han Li would be doomed.
Just then, a brilliant light illuminated the mind-space, and a massive, sword-like aura shot out, striking the evil corpse's soul with incredible force.
The evil corpse's soul let out a startled cry, and retreated in disarray, releasing Han Li's soul from its grasp.
But Han Li's soul, still reeling from the previous attack, was unable to avoid the sword-like aura, and was struck with incredible force.
The evil corpse's soul, still absorbing Tears of the Soul's soul, let out a triumphant cry.
"Ha ha... you see, Tears of the Soul, you're just a foolish mortal, blinded by your loyalty to this useless trash. What future can you possibly have with him?"
But Tears of the Soul merely smiled, a strange, enigmatic smile.
"My master's wisdom is beyond your comprehension," she said, her voice dripping with confidence.
And with that, she reached out and struck the evil corpse's soul with a blast of dark energy, encasing it in a sphere of crimson light.
The evil corpse's soul let out a roar of rage, its face twisting with fury.
"You think a mere barrier can hold me? I'll break free in an instant, and make you suffer for eternity!"
But Tears of the Soul merely smiled again, her eyes glinting with amusement.
"You won't need an instant. Ten breaths will be enough."
And with that, Han Li's voice echoed through the mind-space, his words dripping with confidence. The evil corpse was temporarily sealed, and the control of the entire sea of consciousness returned to Han Li's divine soul. He sat down cross-legged and quickly calmed the anomalies in the sea of consciousness.
At the same time, in the underground space, Lan Yan was anxiously watching Han Li and Ti Hou.
Ti Hou's ears had two blood lines flowing through them, and Han Li's situation was even more dire, with dark blood flowing out of his seven orifices.
Just then, a faint cry suddenly came from Han Li's mouth, and his eyes suddenly opened.
Lan Yan saw his blood-red eyes and was shocked, exclaiming: "Han Daoist friend..."
Han Li ignored her call, flipped his palm, and a flash of crystal light appeared in his palm. A series of black crystal chains emerged, flying into his brow.
As he pressed his palm against his forehead, the black crystal chains flew out, entering his brow in a flash.
Han Li's eyes closed again, leaving Lan Yan confused.
At the same time, within his sea of consciousness, the wind and clouds suddenly changed, and the 36 black crystal chains transformed into crystal light chains that pierced the clouds, like black dragons, and rushed towards the evil corpse's divine soul, which was being sealed by Ti Hou.
"Isolation Lock Chain..." Seeing this, Ti Hou finally understood why Han Li had to separate from the evil corpse.
If the evil corpse's divine soul didn't separate, their divine souls would be intertwined, and Han Li wouldn't be able to contact Ti Hou separately, nor could he temporarily control his body to use the Isolation Lock Chain.
"A mere Isolation Lock Chain, thinking to seal me?" The evil corpse sneered.
However, its words were light, but its actions were fierce, and it transformed into a whirlwind that rushed towards Ti Hou.
Ti Hou, who was only a divine soul projection, was already struggling to hold on, and with this force, it was immediately dispersed, and the spherical light screen was also blown open.
"Seal it!" Han Li's voice boomed.
The 36 Isolation Lock Chains, which were already rushing towards the evil corpse, suddenly shone with golden light, and golden symbols appeared on the surface of the chains, radiating dazzling light.
"This is... Refining Divine Technique!" The evil corpse's eyes widened in shock.
It raised its hands, and a lightning barrier appeared in front of it.
However, the Isolation Lock Chains pierced through the barrier like it was nothing, entering the evil corpse's body, and then exiting, sealing the surrounding area.
"No, no..." The evil corpse's divine soul roared in anger, but it was too late.
It felt its power being sealed, and its voice gradually weakened.
Han Li's divine soul was exhausted, and he sat down, saying: "I had already fused the Isolation Lock Chain with the Refining Divine Technique, originally planning to use it as a secret technique against others. I didn't expect to use it on myself first."
...
In the underground space, Ti Hou sat pale-faced beside Han Li, meditating.
Lan Yan was like an ant on a hot pot, walking back and forth beside them.
"Ti Hou Daoist friend, it's been almost half an hour, why hasn't Han Daoist friend woken up?" She looked up at the sky, worried.
"Master's divine soul was severely injured, and it won't recover that quickly." Ti Hou opened his eyes, expressionless.
"This is a problem, the battle with the Ghost Spirit Saint earlier was quite intense, and this place must have been noticed. Even if the sect is currently in chaos, a high-ranking cultivator will soon arrive here. We can't stay here any longer." Lan Yan's face was filled with worry.
Ti Hou was about to speak when he heard a faint sound, and he quickly turned to see Han Li exhaling a long breath, his eyes fluttering open.
His eyes had lost their blood-red color, but seemed even deeper than before.
"Master..." Ti Hou quickly stood up, asking.
Han Li didn't respond immediately, only shaking his head.
"Han Daoist friend, congratulations on surviving this calamity, you will surely have good fortune in the future." Lan Yan also approached, speaking.
Han Li only nodded, expressionless.
"Master, how is it? Did you seal the evil corpse?" Ti Hou asked through divine sense.
"I temporarily sealed it, but this is only a temporary measure. I need to quickly increase my cultivation, open more divine orifices, or else I won't be able to succeed in slaying the corpse." Han Li shook his head, smiling wryly.
He didn't say everything, but the evil corpse had already separated its divine soul, and the longer it stayed in his sea of consciousness, the stronger it would become, making it even harder to slay the corpse.
"Although it's a temporary measure, we've at least gained some time." Ti Hou sighed in relief.
"Let's deal with the current situation first." Han Li took out a medicinal pill and swallowed it, not meditating or resting, but instead standing up and saying.
"Master, your aura..." Ti Hu cried out, looking Han Li up and down before transmitting her voice once more.
"I've also noticed, my aura is quite unstable. The Zhan Shi Xian Symbol isn't just used to split apart evil corpse spirits, but it also promotes my cultivation to a certain extent. However, my current state is quite strange... apart from the 460 immortal apertures I originally opened, there are now 380 apertures in a half-open, half-closed state." Han Li sighed and replied.
His current situation was unclear, but he vaguely felt it was the power of the Zhan Shi Xian Symbol that forcibly opened his immortal apertures to 840.
Because 840 immortal apertures was the threshold to enter the mid-Daluo stage, it was also the foundation for separating evil corpses. However, his current state was as if one leg had crossed the threshold, while the other leg was still firmly stuck outside, making his situation quite awkward.
"However, Master, your cultivation seems to have increased significantly compared to before." Ti Hu said.
Lan Yan was still feeling anxious, but upon seeing Han Li wake up and hearing his words, her heart unexpectedly calmed down.
"Master, what do we do next? That Qu Lin seems to be searching for the Golden Child as well. Should we chase after him, or..." Ti Hu hesitated before asking.
Han Li's mind was also filled with indecision, his expression sank into thought.
"Master, I feel the aura of the old master. Let me out quickly." Just then, Xiao Bai's voice echoed in Han Li's mind.
Han Li's face lit up with joy, and he raised his hand, releasing Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai transformed into a large, several-zhang-tall Pi Xiu and appeared, immediately using its nose to sniff the air.
"This way." It flew off, its four legs flailing as it rushed towards the depths of the collapsed underground space.
Han Li brought Ti Hu and Lan Yan along, hastily following after Xiao Bai.
The stone door was already half-destroyed, and it was unclear whether it was damaged during the intense battle earlier.
Xiao Bai's body flashed, and it flew through the half-destroyed stone door.
Han Li and the others followed closely behind.
Behind the stone door was another passageway, but it wasn't very long. The group quickly reached the end.
At the end of the passageway was another tightly closed stone door.
The stone door emitted a dark, metallic luster, giving off an impression of being unbreakable. The stone door also had a layer of dense, black light on top, with countless, worm-like symbols writhing within, forming a complex spell array.
Xiao Bai opened its mouth and shot out a beam of white light, which struck the stone door. The symbols on the door frantically rolled about, but the stone door only shook violently, its black spell array severely disrupted.
The stone door released a circle of black light, but it firmly resisted the white light's impact.
Xiao Bai's brow furrowed, and it was about to attack again.
Han Li had already caught up from behind and, without hesitation, flicked his fingers.
Seven or eight golden sword energies shot out, each flashing with golden lightning arcs, and exploded with a shocking display of thunderous might, striking the stone door.
A series of deafening booms echoed, and the stone door's spell array was easily torn apart.
The stone door behind was also blasted open, transforming into a pile of rubble.
Han Li's eyes lit up with joy upon seeing this.
His 300-plus immortal apertures, which were half-open and half-closed, had increased his absorption of heaven and earth's origin energy. The might of the Qing Yun Bee Cloud Sword had also greatly increased, and it could be said that his misfortune had turned into good fortune.
"Let's go." Han Li called out to the others, continuing forward.
The space ahead of them suddenly opened up, and another dark, cyan-colored stone room appeared.
This stone room was smaller than the previous underground space, but it was filled with various objects and wasn't empty.
In the center of the stone room was a large, nine-palace-shaped spell array, with a black jade crystal coffin placed in the center. It was unclear what it was used for.
The stone room's surroundings had seven or eight smaller rooms, each with a unique layout, giving off the appearance of a cave dwelling.
"Could this be the lair of the Gui Lingzi?" Han Li's eyes swept the area, his mind filled with speculation.
However, Ti Hu didn't pay attention to anything else, her eyes fixed on the black crystal coffin within the spell array, a strange, faint glow appearing in her eyes.
"The old master's aura is coming from here." Xiao Bai flew to the front of a room, its paw pushing open the door.
The stone door was easily pushed open, and there were no restrictions on it.
Han Li and Lan Yan hastily flew over, landing in front of the room.
The room's interior was quite spacious, with a large, crystal cage placed in the center. The cage was a dazzling white, clearly made from a special type of precious jade.
The cage had spiritual lines engraved on it, and several symbols were attached to it, clearly used to restrain something. The cage's corner had a large hole, the edges were uneven, as if it had been bitten open by teeth.
"This..." Xiao Bai saw the scene in front of him and was momentarily stunned.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he crouched down beside the broken cage, rubbing his fingers on the broken edge.
"There's no mistake, the residual aura on the broken edge is indeed Jin Tong's... It seems she was previously imprisoned here. But from the looks of it, Jin Tong should have bitten through the cage and escaped. And the bite marks are quite new, it should be a recent event." Han Li placed his finger on his brow, sensing the aura, and frowned.
"Since Jin Tong has already escaped, we can't track her..." Lan Yan said with some concern.
"We can't sense Jin Tong, but we can track that Qi Lin." Han Li said slowly.
"That's right, Qi Lin just left, there should be some residual aura left behind, let's go chase after him." Xiao Bai's face lit up with excitement, and he turned to fly back the way they came.
"Wait a minute, this seems to be Gui Lingzi's lair, since we're here, we can't just leave empty-handed." Han Li stretched out his hand to grab Xiao Bai, looking around at the other rooms in the stone chamber, and smiled.
"As expected, Master is clever, Gui Lingzi dared to capture our leader, we'll just destroy his lair." Xiao Bai heard this and laughed maniacally.
Before he finished speaking, he flew to a nearby room and kicked the door open with a loud crash.
The stone door of this room had a restriction, but it wasn't very strong, apparently Gui Lingzi hadn't expected anyone to dare to come to his lair to cause trouble. The door was kicked open by Xiao Bai.
Lan Yan also flew to a room, shooting out a blue light that crashed into the door.
Han Li flashed to another room, flicking his fingers.
A golden sword aura shot out, breaking the door.
This room was quite large, about 20-30 zhang in size, with wooden shelves placed inside, holding various mineral materials.
"Jin Yinwen stone, Huaxue crystal, Guang Ling jade..." Han Li's gaze swept over the shelves, and his eyes lit up.
These materials were of extremely high quality, even surpassing his own collection, and the quantity was also very considerable. For him, who was currently worried about how to obtain a large batch of xian yuan stones, this was a timely windfall.
Han Li waved his hands, and two streams of blue light shot out, wrapping around the materials, along with the shelves, and storing them in the Huaji space.
The situation was urgent, so he quickly gathered the materials, and after a few breaths, he had finished collecting everything in the room. Then he turned to another room, waving his hand to blast open the door.
This room had a golden dan furnace, about the size of a person, in an octagonal shape. Although the furnace wasn't being used, it still emitted a shocking aura.
The room only had the dan furnace, nothing else. It seemed to be a dan-making room.
Gui Lingzi had just tried to kill him, so Han Li naturally wouldn't be polite to him. Moreover, this dan furnace looked quite extraordinary, and selling it would be worth a lot of xian yuan stones.
Han Li waved his hand again, shooting out a blue light that wrapped around the dan furnace, storing it in the Huaji space. Then he came to the third room.
This room was quite small, with only a stone table, covered by a black light screen.
On the table were a dozen or so fist-sized black crystal balls, each containing jumping black flames. Even through the light screen, one could feel the shocking aura of the black flames.
"Xuan Yin Shen Lei! There are over a dozen of them!" A voice came from behind Han Li, and it was Lan Yan, who had walked over with a look of surprise.
"Xuan Yin Shen Lei?" Han Li glanced at Lan Yan.
"Xuan Yin Shen Lei is a unique yin thunder technique created by Gui Lingzi, its power is enormous, enough to threaten even a Da Luo initial stage cultivator. Fortunately, Gui Lingzi didn't bring these thunderbolts with him, or we would have been in real danger." Lan Yan's face was filled with a lingering fear.
Han Li's eyes lit up when he heard this, and then he flicked his fingers. A golden lightning bolt struck the black light screen on the stone table, easily shattering it.
However, at this moment, the dozen or so black crystal balls suddenly burst out with dazzling black light, and the black flames inside the balls also showed a tendency to explode.
Han Li's face changed, and he was about to cast a spell to suppress them.
Just then, a black light flew out from behind, spreading out to cover the dozen or so black crystal balls.
A power of the law fluctuated within the black light, and the black flames inside the balls immediately stabilized.
"These thunderbolts haven't been fully refined, Master's Dantian Shen Lei is the nemesis of all yin attributes, it's easy to stimulate these thunderbolts to explode." Ti Huan had walked over, saying.
"Since that's the case, these Xuan Yin Shen Lei will be left to you to take care of." Han Li said calmly.
Ti Huan heard this and her body trembled, then a look of excitement appeared on her face: "Thank you, Master."
After saying this, she quickly formed a hand seal, and the black light wrapped around the Xuan Yin Shen Lei flew back to her.
Ti Huan muttered to herself, her hands moving rapidly as she formed a seal.
The dozen or so black crystal balls gained an additional layer of black light, as if they had been coated with a layer of thick lacquer, and the black flames inside the balls finally stabilized, flying into her sleeve.
Xiao Bai had also flown over, and had transformed into human form, his face filled with a smile.
The other rooms in the stone chamber had their doors broken, and it was clear that everything inside had been plundered.
"How was your harvest?" Han Li looked at Xiao Bai and Lan Yan.
"Fully loaded and returning, I didn't expect the Ghost Spirit's lair to have so many treasures!" Xiao Bai exclaimed, waving his fist excitedly.
Lan Yan's eyes also flashed with excitement, but quickly suppressed it, taking out a storage artifact and handing it to Han Li with both hands, saying softly, "Han Daoist, this is what I gathered from three rooms."
"Take one-tenth of it, consider it your reward." Han Li didn't take the storage artifact, saying calmly.
"Thank you, Han Daoist." Lan Yan heard this and her eyes flashed with excitement.
The items inside the storage artifact were priceless, even one-tenth of it would be a huge fortune for her, and for her past self, it was something she couldn't even dare to think about.
"As for you, Xiao Bai..." Han Li looked at Xiao Bai.
"Master, these things were found by me, you can't take them!" Xiao Bai covered his wrist with the storage bracelet.
"I know, but I need Sanyuan stones recently, take half of them, and leave the other half for me." Han Li smiled wryly and said.
Xiao Bai cheered and took out another storage artifact, starting to rearrange the items inside.
"Master, I have something to ask for your help." Qiuhun suddenly spoke up.
"What is it?" Han Li asked.
"Master, please follow me." Qiuhun said, turning to the black crystal coffin in the center of the stone room's formation.
Han Li only remembered the crystal coffin now, and walked over.
Just now, he was too busy searching for Jintong and the treasures in the rooms, and had momentarily forgotten about this.
He looked inside the coffin, and his expression changed slightly.
Inside the crystal coffin lay a white skeleton, covered in dark talismans, looking very sinister, especially the two black holes in the skeleton's eye sockets, which flashed with two points of crimson flames, emitting a circle of blood light.
The entire skeleton emitted a extremely evil aura, as if it was the embodiment of all evil in the world.
Han Li's suppressed evil corpse stirred, as if it was being summoned, and he quickly looked away, only to return to normal.
"This skeleton is so sinister, do you recognize it?" Han Li asked after calming down.
"If I'm not mistaken, this skeleton should be the Wicked Skeleton, collected from countless people in the world who have committed evil deeds, and using their bodies and souls to cultivate with secret techniques, it would be of great help in beheading evil corpses." Qiuhun said excitedly.
"There's actually something like this." Han Li's eyebrows rose.
"Master, this thing is very useful to us, with this Wicked Skeleton, it would be much easier for us to behead evil corpses. However, this crystal coffin is fixed in place, and to take it out without harming the Wicked Skeleton, we need to break the formation around it. This formation is very powerful, and requires your help, Master." Qiuhun said.
"No problem, you just cast your spell to take the skeleton, and I'll help you break the formation." Han Li said after hearing this.
"Then I'll trouble you, Master, with the power of the Heavenly Thunder, it shouldn't be difficult to break the formation." Qiuhun said, then immediately began casting her spell.
A surge of dark energy erupted from her body, merging with the formation on the ground.
The formation's patterns were stimulated, and a bright light appeared, rapidly spinning and humming.
Eight black chains emerged from the ground, connecting to the crystal coffin, locking it in place, each chain emitting a terrifying cold aura.
Qiuhun spat out a white light, which split into eight, merging with the eight black chains.
The eight black chains immediately turned half black and half white, and the cold aura emitted by them greatly decreased.
Furthermore, a layer of separation appeared between the crystal coffin and the eight chains, isolating them.
"Master, now is the time, cut the chains!" Qiuhun shouted.
Han Li, hearing this, expressionless, snapped his fingers, and eight golden lights shot out from his hand, precisely the eight Qingtong Wuyun swords, striking the eight chains.
The eight chains shattered, and the black crystal coffin burst out with a dazzling black light, flying out from the ground.
Qiuhun's eyes lit up with joy, and she reached out with an empty hand, a giant black palm appearing, grasping the black crystal coffin.
At the same time, she waved her other hand, and a dark red three-legged cauldron appeared, which was the Yanluo Cauldron Han Li had given her earlier.
A dark red light shot out from the Yanluo Cauldron, enveloping the black crystal coffin, and in a flash, the coffin disappeared, taken into the Yanluo Cauldron's space.
"Thank you, Master, for your help." Qiuhun's face relaxed, then bowed to Han Li.
"It was nothing, and this thing is also useful to me, no need to thank me." Han Li said calmly.
At this moment, Xiao Bai and Lan Yan also flew over, handing two storage artifacts to Han Li. Han Li took over the storage devices, and upon examining them, a hint of joy appeared on his face.
The two storage devices contained many treasures, mostly spiritual herbs and materials from demon beasts, and the quantity was substantial. However, Han Li's most desired item, the Celestial Yuan Stone, was not among them.
This was to be expected, as the Celestial Yuan Stone was a lightweight item that would likely be carried on one's person. The items stored in the devices were probably those that were not frequently used but took up a lot of space.
Ghost Spirit's true treasures were likely stored in the devices.
However, Han Li was not too concerned, as the items he had obtained could be sold for seven or eight million Celestial Yuan Stones.
"We've wasted enough time, let's go, and pursue Qu Lin," Han Li said, turning around and heading back the way they came.
The group quickly followed, and soon they returned to the previously collapsed stone chamber.
The passageway back was blocked by the collapsed giant stones, but the group easily removed the stones and continued their pursuit. They soon arrived at a fork in the road.
Han Li immediately activated his Nine Yin Demon Eyes, examining the spiritual energy traces in the area. His brow suddenly furrowed.
The spiritual energy traces were scarce, and they were all from when he, Lan Yuan, and Qu Lin had passed through the area earlier. However, there was no sign of Qu Lin's energy traces from when he had turned back. It was as if he had used some method to conceal his tracks, and his technique was incredibly skillful.
Moreover, Qu Lin had previously lured them into the trap, and even the usually perceptive Qi Hou had not detected his malicious intentions. This showed that Qu Lin's hiding techniques were extremely deep.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he activated his Nine Yin Demon Eyes to their fullest extent, determined to see whether Qu Lin's concealment techniques were superior or his own eyes were more powerful.
A faint, purple-black glow flashed in his eyes, forming two whirlpools that gazed forward.
After a moment, Han Li's face lit up with joy, as his Nine Yin Demon Eyes had finally detected a faint, golden glow emanating from the passageway.
The golden glow was fragmented and extremely faint, and if not for his Nine Yin Demon Eyes being nearly perfected, he would not have been able to detect it.
"Master, can you find Qu Lin's trail?" Qi Hou asked.
"Not yet, follow me," Han Li replied, leading the group along the golden glow's trail.
As they proceeded, they found themselves in a vast network of underground tunnels, resembling a spider's web, with passageways stretching out in all directions.
The group had been walking for half a day, and they still had not reached the end of the tunnels. The air was no longer cold, and they had clearly left the Ghost Valley's range behind.
Along the way, they encountered some restrictions and obstacles, but they were not particularly formidable, and many had been broken, not hindering Han Li's group.
"Lan Yuan, do you know why these underground tunnels are so extensive? Is there a special purpose to them?" Han Li asked Lan Yuan.
"I was not of high rank in the Nine Yuan Sect, and I only visited this place a few times. I don't know the secrets of the sect," Lan Yuan replied with a bitter smile.
Han Li nodded, not pressing the issue, and continued forward.
As they flew through the tunnels, the passageway ahead suddenly lit up with a multitude of golden glows, intertwined and chaotic.
The golden glows contained fluctuations of the golden laws, and a majestic, mountain-like aura emanated from them.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and he stopped in his tracks.
"Have we finally reached the end?" Qi Hou and the others asked, halting behind him.
"I'm not sure, but since there's a change ahead, we can't be careless. You all should stay hidden in the Flower Branch Space, prepared for any unexpected events. I'll use magic to project the outside situation into the Flower Branch Space, so you can rest assured," Han Li said, his expression serious, as he opened the entrance to the Flower Branch Space.
Qi Hou and Lan Yuan entered the space, followed by Xiao Bai, who was somewhat reluctant but eventually complied after glancing at Han Li.
With the three of them hidden, Han Li activated his black mask, concealing his presence, and proceeded forward, soon arriving at the end of the tunnel.
There, he found a wall of gold, crafted from a golden mineral, and the golden glows emanated from it.
As he drew closer, he could feel the intense golden laws emanating from the wall.
"This is the Heavenly Gold Rock!" Han Li exclaimed.
The Heavenly Gold Rock was a material imbued with the golden laws, although it was not as valuable as the Heavenly Gold Drill, it was still extremely precious. He had not expected to find such a large quantity of it here, and if he were to sell it, it would be worth a considerable amount.
He chuckled to himself, realizing that he had been too focused on accumulating wealth lately, and that he should not be so greedy.
Han Li composed himself, and his gaze fell upon a small, fist-sized hole in the corner of the golden wall.
The hole seemed to have been torn open, and it led to a narrow, winding tunnel. The air emanating from the tunnel was faintly lit, suggesting that there was another world beyond the wall.
However, the wall was enchanted, and when Han Li's spiritual sense approached, it was repelled by an invisible force, preventing him from exploring the situation within.
Han Li pondered for a moment, then lightly touched the wall's opening with two fingers, and placed them on his brow. His eyes immediately lit up.
The remaining aura at the opening was familiar, it belonged to Jintong.
Jintong had indeed escaped to this place after fleeing from the Ghost Valley, but Han Li didn't know what she was doing here.
Of course, the aura of Qushan was also present in the cave, and it seemed that he had also pursued her here.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and he muttered to himself, transforming into a dark shadow as he flew into the cave. He moved swiftly, like a snake, and soon reached the other side of the wall.
On the other side of the wall was a grand hall, shaped like a square, with a width of several hundred feet. The entire hall was made of golden-colored Heavenly Absolute Rock, including the floor, and the air was filled with a strong, golden aura.
Although the hall was empty, the fact that it was entirely made of Heavenly Absolute Rock gave it an exceptionally grand and majestic atmosphere.
"An entire palace made of Heavenly Absolute Rock, what a grand gesture," Han Li couldn't help but exclaim.
"Brother Han, I remember something," Lan Cang's voice echoed in Han Li's mind. "In the Nine Origins Observations, there is a legendary sacred hall called the Nine Origins Palace, which is said to be the foundation of the Nine Origins Sect. It's rumored that the Nine Origins Ancestor created it using a massive piece of golden law material. This might be it."
"Nine Origins Palace! What is it used for?" Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he asked.
"I'm not sure, but I know it's a sacred place of the Nine Origins Sect, possibly a place for closed-door cultivation. The golden law aura here is extremely strong, and many people in the Nine Origins Sect cultivate golden law. Be careful, Brother Han, if you take action here," Lan Cang's voice echoed again.
Han Li nodded slowly, activating his Nine Yin Magic Eye to continue searching for Qushan's spiritual energy trail.
The golden law aura in this place was too dense, interfering with Han Li's senses, but he managed to find Qushan's trail by amplifying his Nine Yin Magic Eye's power. He followed the trail to the deepest part of the hall.
There was a side door, which Han Li opened, revealing a garden. The garden's floor was also made of Heavenly Absolute Rock, but the flowerbeds were filled with various colored spiritual soil, and the plants growing in them were all golden law spiritual plants.
Han Li ignored the plants and continued to follow the spiritual energy trail. The Nine Origins Observations' area was quite large, but the visibility was limited, and it was difficult to extend his divine sense too far.
He passed through two gardens and four or five palaces, but still hadn't found any signs of Jintong or Qushan.
Han Li's brow furrowed, this place wasn't safe, and he didn't know where Jintong and Qushan had gone. Continuing to wander around could lead to danger.
As he walked through another palace, Han Li's eyes suddenly lit up, and he flew forward quickly.
Because he sensed two intense auras clashing, accompanied by a loud rumbling sound, indicating that someone was fighting.
The two auras belonged to Jintong and Qushan.
Han Li flew over a corridor, and the scenery in front of him suddenly opened up. A massive square, about 40-50 acres in size, appeared before him.
The square was surrounded by massive golden pillars, with array patterns and seals engraved on them, resembling a formation. However, it wasn't activated.
In the air above the square, two giant, golden beetles were rapidly entwining and fighting each other, forming two golden illusions that danced and spun around each other.
Golden light flew out of the battle circle, striking the ground and producing a muffled thunderous sound.
The square's floor was also made of Heavenly Absolute Rock, but Jintong and Qushan's attacks were so powerful that the ground was still being torn apart, and several of the golden pillars were broken.
Jintong and Qushan were fighting fiercely, their golden light and aura bursting out like two giant mouths, devouring each other.
It had been many years since Han Li last saw Jintong, and her Devouring Gold Insect form had become even more majestic and terrifying. Her aura had reached the early stages of the Grand Luo Realm, nearing its peak.
However, Qushan's aura was even more massive, having reached the peak of the early Grand Luo Realm, and was only a step away from advancing to the middle stage of the Grand Luo Realm. He was suppressing Jintong.
"Haha! If I devour you, I'll be able to reach the middle stage of the Grand Luo Realm, and even break through to the late stage! Become a part of my body, you and I were originally one!" Qushan laughed loudly.
"No way!" Jintong gritted her teeth, struggling to hold on.
Qushan sneered, and his golden light surged again, forming a 20-30-acre golden spiritual domain that covered nearly half of the square.
A series of giant golden swords and knives appeared within the domain, forming a world of swords and knives.
Jintong was trapped within the domain, surrounded by a cage of golden swords and knives that seemed to be made of solid gold.
The swords and knives struck Jintong's body, producing a shower of golden sparks.
But Jintong's Devouring Gold Insect body was extremely resilient, and she was only left with white scars, without taking any damage. However, her movements were momentarily halted, and she was trapped within the cage of swords and knives.
Jintong's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and her body began to glow with golden light, forming a golden spiritual domain.
Innumerable golden beetle illusions appeared within the domain, similar to Jintong's, but with larger mouths and sharper teeth. They immediately attacked the golden swords and knives, biting and devouring them.
The golden beetle illusions were especially dense around Jintong, and they bit and devoured the swords and knives with reckless abandon. In the midst of the crisp sounds of "crack" and "crack", the sword cage surrounding Jin Tong rapidly disintegrated, and in the blink of an eye, nearly half of it was consumed, and it seemed as though he would soon break free.
But at this moment, a flash of golden light appeared above Jin Tong's head, and Qu Lin's figure suddenly materialized, his two front claws swooping down from the air.
The golden swords within Qu Lin's spiritual domain instantly converged, gathering at a single point before condensing into two massive golden swords, each over a hundred feet in length.
The giant swords presented three faces, resembling a triangular shape, emitting a killing aura that seemed to be able to absorb all life force and extinguish everything.
"Slash!"
Qu Lin softly spoke a single word, and the two triangular giant swords shot out, slicing towards Jin Tong.
Jin Tong's eyes flashed with a hint of fear, and a sharp cry escaped his lips.
The golden insect shadows surrounding him flew up, pouncing towards the two golden giant swords, but they were all annihilated by the terrifying sword energy emanating from the three-edged swords, resembling moths being incinerated by flames.
The two golden giant swords appeared blurry, suddenly materializing above Jin Tong's head, three feet away, and crossed, slicing downwards.
Jin Tong's eyes flashed with a resolute color, and his body's golden light flickered, as if he was about to unleash a divine technique.
But at this moment, a golden light wave rapidly expanded, enveloping Jin Tong and Qu Lin, revealing another golden spiritual domain, filled with a powerful time law force.
The two triangular giant swords were enveloped by the time spiritual domain, and their descent speed immediately slowed by more than tenfold.
Then, a rumbling sound echoed from the nearby void, and a small mountain-like golden hand materialized, its surface flashing with countless golden talismans, grasping the two triangular giant swords.
"What?!" Qu Lin's face changed, and his hands formed a seal.
But his movements were also slowed by tenfold, and he couldn't keep up.
The golden hand's five fingers clenched with incredible force, unleashing an immense spiritual pressure that exploded above Qu Lin and Jin Tong.
A loud "bang" resounded!
The two triangular giant swords were crushed, shattering into pieces.
Then, Jin Tong's head was surrounded by a void, and Han Li's figure emerged.
"Uncle!" Jin Tong exclaimed, his eyes filled with joy upon seeing Han Li.
"It's you! How could you possibly escape from Gui Lingzi's hands?" Qu Lin's face revealed an expression of disbelief upon seeing Han Li.
"Hmph!" Han Li's anger flared up upon hearing Qu Lin mention Gui Lingzi, and his figure vanished from the spot.
Qu Lin's face changed, and he cast a hateful glance at Jin Tong, his massive body rapidly shrinking, transforming into a golden phantom that flew towards the distance, escaping.
Jin Tong and Han Li seemed to be allies.
With Jin Tong already being a formidable opponent, adding Han Li to the mix made Qu Lin realize he was no match for them.
However, Qu Lin didn't fly far before Han Li's figure reappeared, blocking his path, arriving before him by an unknown margin.
Qu Lin's face revealed a look of shock, and he let out a furious roar, his two front claws transforming into two golden streaks, slashing towards Han Li.
Han Li's face turned cold, and his figure vanished once more, reappearing beside Qu Lin, his right fist surrounded by golden lightning, striking Qu Lin's waist.
A loud "bang" resounded, and Qu Lin's entire body was sent flying.
At this moment, Qu Lin's two front claws were still in the midst of their slashing motion, but they had only moved less than half a foot, and their speed was comparable to a slow-moving cow.
Han Li had activated his Reverse True Wheel technique.
In his leisure time, he had been continuously refining this technique, although it was still incomplete, it allowed him to accelerate by 20-30 times, and when combined with the time spiritual domain, he could surpass any enemy in speed.
Qu Lin was sent flying, and a deep fist mark appeared on his waist, but his golden armor remained intact.
"Indeed, it's quite hard!" Han Li muttered, his figure vanishing once more, reappearing beside Qu Lin, and striking again.
Another loud "bang" resounded, and Qu Lin was sent flying once more.
Han Li created over a hundred residual shadows, swirling around Qu Lin like a whirlwind, as countless golden fist silhouettes emitted a thunderous roar, tearing through the air, and heavily striking Qu Lin's body.
One punch, another punch, and another!
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Qu Lin's body was tossed about in mid-air, his mouth bleeding, and his heart filled with an extreme sense of fear.
Although his body was incredibly resilient, it had its limits, and Han Li's fists were incredibly powerful, and if he continued to endure the blows, his body would soon be unable to withstand it.
“Ah……”
Qu Lian suddenly let out a sharp, ear-piercing screech, and dense, golden light dots appeared on its back.
A series of "popping" sounds echoed, and the golden light dots flashed and transformed into countless sharp, golden quills, making Qu Lian resemble a porcupine, rendering Han Li unable to attack.
All of Han Li's illusory projections vanished, leaving only one person, who made a swift grab with his hand.
A flash of golden light appeared on his palm, and nine Qing Zhu Bee Cloud swords shot out, merging into one in mid-air, transforming into a hundred-zhang-long golden giant sword, carrying a massive golden lightning bolt that heavily chopped down on Qu Lian's back.
A deafening "Boom" resounded, and a blinding flash of golden light erupted, accompanied by a series of thunderous explosions!
Qu Lian was sent flying, its golden quills shattering, and it flew towards the rear like a meteor, spewing forth blood from its mouth, its spiritual domain collapsing.
Although the golden quills shattered, Qu Lian's body had blocked the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud sword's chopping force, appearing unharmed on the surface. However, the divine thunder within the sword was not to be underestimated.
A Da Luo realm Jīn Xiān's physical body, comparable to a top-tier artifact, was nearly indestructible, but once its physical body was pierced, it lost its most prized protection.
The divine thunder's power surged into Qu Lian's body, causing chaos and turmoil within.
Qu Lian's internal injuries, previously hidden, were now triggered by the divine thunder's power, causing its spiritual energy to go haywire, and its spiritual domain to collapse.
A sense of despair arose in Qu Lian's heart, but it quickly rallied, trying to calm its internal turmoil and prepare for another counterattack.
However, just as Qu Lian was about to make its move, a golden light sphere descended from the sky, its speed too fast for Qu Lian to avoid, and it was enveloped.
Qu Lian's body was trapped within the golden light, unable to move.
Almost instantly, two long, crystalline lights shot out from within the sphere, striking Qu Lian's body.
Qu Lian's body was incredibly fragile before the crystalline lights, and it was easily sliced into three segments, golden blood splattering everywhere.
The golden light sphere began to churn and boil, as countless golden insects swarmed within, revealing that they were the manifestation of the Jīn Chóng!
Moreover, all the Jīn Chóng were physical entities, not divine manifestations!
As for Jīn Tóng, he had vanished without a trace.
Han Li witnessed this scene, and his heart stirred, a hint of thoughtfulness flickering in his eyes.
The Jīn Chóng swarmed around Qu Lian's three segments, frantically devouring them.
Qu Lian's three segments rapidly shrank, but suddenly, a flash of golden light appeared, and they exploded, disintegrating into countless Jīn Chóng, which flew in all directions.
Han Li saw this and raised his hands, the golden light within his spiritual domain swirling around his body, forming a massive golden vortex.
Han Li's spiritual domain was incredibly powerful, and the Time Law, one of the three supreme laws, surpassed all others, causing Qu Lian's Jīn Chóng to be swept into the vortex, unable to escape.
Jīn Tóng's Jīn Chóng, however, remained unaffected, continuing to fly towards Qu Lian's Jīn Chóng, biting and devouring them.
Qu Lian's Jīn Chóng, unable to flee, turned to face Jīn Tóng's Jīn Chóng, and the two groups clashed again.
The two waves of Jīn Chóng resembled two golden floods, crashing into each other, intertwining and biting, emitting a piercing, ear-piercing screech.
Han Li watched this scene, feeling an inexplicable emotion, as if he had returned to the past, when he first obtained the Jīn Chóng and discovered their mutual devouring and advancement.
Qu Lian was initially injured by Han Li, then ambushed by Jīn Tóng, suffering further injuries. Although Qu Lian's strength surpassed Jīn Tóng's, it was now at a disadvantage.
However, Qu Lian's cultivation was higher than Jīn Tóng's, and although Jīn Tóng had the upper hand, it couldn't completely defeat Qu Lian.
Han Li's thoughts were interrupted by reality, and he sighed, his hands forming a seal, his spiritual domain's golden light surging, and the Time Law's power rippling.
Qu Lian's Jīn Chóng suddenly slowed down by tenfold.
"Thanks, Uncle!" Jīn Tóng's buzzing voice came from within the swarm, and then he immediately surged forward.
With Han Li's assistance, Jīn Tóng gained a crushing advantage, and Qu Lian's Jīn Chóng rapidly dwindled, on the verge of being completely devoured.
Qu Lian's Jīn Chóng emitted a high-pitched squeal, gathering towards a single location, as if attempting to merge into one entity.
"As you said, you were originally one, and will eventually return to that state. Why struggle?" Han Li murmured to himself, waving his sleeve.
A dozen thick, golden lightning bolts shot out from his hand, striking the gathering Jīn Chóng.
A deafening thunderclap resounded, and a golden lightning bolt exploded, dispersing the Jīn Chóng.
This brief delay allowed Jīn Tóng's Jīn Chóng to surge forward, immediately overwhelming Qu Lian's Jīn Chóng. Here is the translated text:
A moment later, the swarm of Gold Devouring Insects quieted down and gathered towards a certain location.
A flash of golden light appeared, and a slender, golden-haired girl emerged, revealing herself to be Jintong.
At this moment, she was much taller and more beautiful than before, with a more exquisite and elegant appearance. However, her expression was still cold and distant, making it difficult for others to approach her.
Jintong appeared, but did not speak. Instead, she immediately sat down in a cross-legged position, and a golden light burst forth from her body. Her skin was covered in a dense array of golden light points, numbering over 600.
Han Li saw this scene and knew that Jintong had swallowed the Qu Lian, greatly increasing her strength. She needed to cultivate and refine her energy, so he waved his hands.
A series of green flags shot out, landing around the two of them, and a multi-layered green light curtain unfolded.
Jintong's golden light churned and flowed like a tide, and the golden light points on her body increased rapidly, one by one, until they reached over 700. Her aura continued to rise.
Han Li saw this scene and was secretly delighted.
At this moment, they were in a precarious situation, and if Jintong's strength could be increased, it would be beneficial for them.
He also didn't idle around, taking out a medicinal pill and swallowing it, silently cultivating and refining his energy.
Time passed slowly, and Jintong's opened meridians increased, quickly reaching over 800. Han Li saw this and was surprised, wondering if Qu Lian's energy was so rich that it could allow Jintong to break through to the middle stage of the Daluo Realm.
Jintong's meridians flashed, reaching 839, and the churning golden light slowly calmed down, finally being absorbed into her body.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, as he felt that Jintong still had a lot of unused energy inside her. However, his eyebrows soon relaxed.
Breaking through to the middle stage of the Daluo Realm wasn't just a matter of opening meridians, but also required cutting off the evil corpse. Jintong clearly still had the ability to do so, so she chose to stop.
Jintong calmed her breath and stood up.
"Jintong, seeing that you're safe, I can finally relax." Han Li also dispelled the surrounding restrictions, looking Jintong up and down, and said.
"Uncle, it's been a long time! How did you end up here?" Jintong's beautiful eyes sparkled as she asked.
"Of course, I came to rescue you. Not just me, but also Xiaobai." Han Li said calmly, waving his hand.
A white light flashed, and Xiaobai's figure appeared, having transformed into a Pixiu shape.
"Boss, you almost got me killed!" Xiaobai appeared, immediately pouncing on Jintong, tears streaming down her face.
"Stop!" Jintong stretched out her long leg, blocking Xiaobai's head, to prevent her from getting too close.
"Uncle, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to cause trouble for you when I got caught by the Jiuyuan Sect." Jintong looked at Xiaobai and Han Li, her beautiful eyes flashing with a hint of emotion, and said quietly.
"We're companions, and we've been through so much together. There's no need to say any more." Han Li waved his hand, saying.
"You're right, I was being overly cautious." Jintong smiled slightly, and her beauty was like a blooming flower.
Han Li saw this scene, and his eyes lit up, secretly praising Jintong's current beauty. Among the female cultivators he knew, almost none could compare to her, and she even had a hint of rivalry with Ziling.
"Boss, you're really okay!" Xiaobai finally calmed down, rubbing her head against Jintong, and muttering.
"Jintong, according to my information, you were previously captured by the Jiuyuan Sect and imprisoned in the Ghost Valley. How did you end up here?" Han Li asked.
"Hmph! Ghost Spirit Child imprisoned me in the Feiyu Cage, planning to give me to the Heavenly Court at the Bodhi Banquet. But a few days ago, he suddenly left, and I took advantage of the opportunity to break out of the cage, escaping. However, I'm not familiar with this place, and I accidentally stumbled upon it." Jintong said, her voice filled with anger.
"I see. Although we're temporarily safe, it won't be easy to leave the Jiuyuan Sect undetected." Han Li nodded slowly, saying.
...
The Jiuyuan Palace was the core area of the Jiuyuan Sect, and the ancestral hall, which was the most important part of the sect, was located in the middle of the palace.
However, at this moment, this area was being fiercely attacked by the Wheel of Rebirth Temple.
The spatial restrictions around the Jiuyuan Palace had been lifted, and a golden light curtain enveloped the entire area. The outer perimeter was guarded by thousands of Jiuyuan Sect core elders and disciples.
It seemed that this was the main target of the Wheel of Rebirth Temple's attack, as a large number of cultivators, several times the number of Jiuyuan Sect elders and disciples, had gathered here, all wearing various masks, and fiercely attacking the Jiuyuan Palace.
At first, the Jiuyuan Palace's guardians, the elders and disciples, relied on the light curtain to engage in a fierce battle with the Wheel of Rebirth Temple's cultivators.
However, they were soon heavily injured and killed, and were forced to retreat behind the light curtain, desperately resisting while waiting for reinforcements from other parts of the sect.
But the Wheel of Rebirth Temple had clearly planned this attack for a long time, and had already made preparations to deal with the Jiuyuan Sect's cultivators. Before attacking the Jiuyuan Palace, they had already restrained a large number of Jiuyuan Sect cultivators in other areas, and had set up ambushes along the paths that the reinforcements would take.
It could be said that the Jiuyuan Palace was currently isolated and without support, and had temporarily become a desperate situation.
Time was of the essence, and it was crucial to break through this defensive barrier. The outcome of this battle would be decided in this one move.
Suddenly, a loud shout echoed from the sky.
As the sound fell, the sky shook, and the figure of Tian Xing Zun, the Heavenly Star Sovereign, appeared out of thin air. His face, normally lazy and carefree, was now stern and serious.
In his hand, he grasped a silver spear adorned with hundreds of crimson crystals, pointing it at the sky. The crystals glowed brightly, illuminating the clouds.
The clouds immediately began to churn and boil, turning a deep crimson color.
The sound of thunder rumbled in the distance, like the approaching storm of summer rain. The clouds shook violently, and massive fireballs, each the size of a millstone, fell from the sky, piercing the clouds like meteors, and crashing into the golden barrier, creating a shower of sparks and flames.
However, the golden barrier, though shaken, continued to ripple and undulate, absorbing the impact of the fireballs, and remained unbroken.
"You shameless traitor!" a senior elder of the Jiu Yuan Sect shouted.
The other elders and disciples were also filled with righteous indignation, gazing up at Tian Xing Zun with anger in their eyes.
Tian Xing Zun, however, ignored them, and with a wave of his spear, launched another attack at the barrier.
...
In contrast to the chaos outside, the interior of the Jiu Yuan Palace was eerily calm, with only the occasional tremor of the buildings and the sound of explosions in the distance.
At this moment, in a beautifully landscaped garden within the palace, a silver symbol array appeared on the ground, emitting a brilliant light. Five figures emerged from the array, including three individuals wearing black masks from the Wheel of Rebirth Temple.
One of the masked figures, a tall and imposing man with a monkey mask, spoke up, "Haha, it seems that the heart of the Jiu Yuan Palace is indeed the most tranquil place."
A woman with a dragon mask added, "We must be cautious and avoid confrontation. We don't know who might be lurking in the shadows."
The woman glanced at her companion, who was wearing a rabbit mask. He was a slender figure with disheveled hair, and his face was obscured by the mask. He seemed to be muttering to himself.
Wu Yang turned to the person behind him and said, "We can't rely on spiritual sensing here, so we'll have to rely on you to guide us, Lu."
The person, Lu Chuan Feng, who had previously killed the Phoenix Heaven Envoy, replied, "I've only been to the Jiu Yuan Palace a few times, so I can only provide a rough direction. We'll have to rely on our companion to find the exact location."
A gentle voice spoke up from beside Lu Chuan Feng, "Don't worry, as long as the object appears within my range, I can find its exact location."
The woman with the dragon mask raised an eyebrow, looking at the speaker, who was wearing a black dress and a black veil that covered her face. Only her neck was visible, and it was as white as jade.
The woman's identity was unknown, but Wu Yang remembered seeing her in the strange space where they had met the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth Temple.
Wu Yang said, "Let's move quickly, we can't afford to waste any more time."
Lu Chuan Feng nodded, and led the group forward, with the others following closely behind.
After they left, a strange glow appeared from behind a cluster of spirit flowers, and two figures emerged from the shadows.
One of them was a tall and slender young man with long black hair, a white lock of hair falling across his forehead. He was none other than the Master of the Bai Zao Mountain, Huo Yuan.
The other person was a beautiful woman wearing a red dress, her skin as white as porcelain, and her eyes sparkling with a hint of mischief. She was none other than Chi Meng. “Those remnants of the Wheel of Rebirth really want to do something? Have they gone crazy, actually planning to attack the Nine Yuan Observatory?” Chi Meng cautiously looked around in the direction that Jiao San and the others had left, saying.
“If the Nine Yuan Observatory was really so vulnerable, how could it have been suppressing us, the Hundred Creations Mountain, for so many years? Their purpose for coming here is probably the same as ours.” Huo Yuan sneered.
“Also for that thing?” Chi Meng's expression changed, and she asked in surprise.
“They dare to take such a great risk to come here, and I think there's no other reason besides that thing. What a clever move, openly repairing the road while secretly crossing the river.” Huo Yuan nodded slightly, and pondered.
“Huo Mountain Master, that thing was said to be crafted by the Hundred Creations Mountain, don't you really know what its purpose is?” Chi Meng hesitated for a moment, but still couldn't help asking.
“That thing was crafted by the previous generation's Mountain Master of the Hundred Creations Mountain, and it's said that it was personally commissioned by the Nine Yuan Observatory's Old Ancestor, who rarely shows his face, at a great cost. However, the thing that was crafted after tens of thousands of years, was just a dead object similar to a container, and its true purpose couldn't be known.” Huo Yuan sighed.
“Being able to make that Old Ancestor personally take action, and have the previous generation's Mountain Master personally craft it, shows that this thing is truly extraordinary. But since it's a dead object that was crafted tens of thousands of years ago... why did you, Huo Mountain Master, suddenly suggest to the Heavenly Court that it should be investigated?” Chi Meng asked, becoming even more perplexed.
The reason for this transmission ceremony being so complicated, and even having a competition for the command token, was to have a reason to stay in the Nine Yuan Observatory for a while, and try to investigate something.
“At the time when the previous generation's Mountain Master was crafting this thing, he had doubts and wanted to understand its true purpose, but unfortunately, he not only didn't get an answer, but also triggered his heart demon...” Huo Yuan said, suddenly stopping, and a hint of resentment flashed in his eyes, before he continued.
The previous generation's Mountain Master of the Hundred Creations Mountain was his master, and he had been affected by the heart demon, failing in his last attempt to sever his mortal ties, and the Hundred Creations Mountain would have had a Dao Ancestor by now, and its position in the Immortal Realm would be vastly different.
“Back then, the Mountain Master said that the Nine Yuan Observatory has great ambitions for this thing, and I must keep an eye on it, and if the Nine Yuan Observatory further refines this thing, making it a immortal artifact, I must find a way to investigate it clearly.” Huo Yuan paused, and continued.
“Further refinement? What does that mean?” Chi Meng asked, not understanding.
“That thing's refinement in the Hundred Creations Mountain only completed half of it, and it's just a container filled with endless possibilities. The Nine Yuan Observatory has been secretly refining it, and based on calculations, it should have been completed a few days ago.” Huo Yuan said.
“Does that mean the Nine Yuan Observatory has been refining this thing for tens of thousands of years?” Chi Meng asked, shocked.
“When this thing was about to be completed, it actually triggered some heavenly phenomena, although it was quickly covered up by the Nine Yuan Observatory, but the Heavenly Court has also sensed it, so when I brought up this matter, I immediately got a response. Originally, it should have been Feng Tian Xian Shi and I investigating this matter together, but it was disrupted by the Wheel of Rebirth. However, this water has been stirred up, and it's not entirely a bad thing.” Huo Yuan continued.
“Huo Mountain Master, shouldn't we catch up to them?” Chi Meng asked, nodding, and looking in the direction that Jiao San and the others had left.
“Not yet. Although we can't use spiritual sense to investigate here, that black-clothed woman with the bamboo hat, has a very strange aura fluctuation, and if we get too close, we might be discovered.” Huo Yuan shook his head.
After waiting for a dozen breaths, Huo Yuan finally spoke, saying "Let's go", and led Chi Meng to chase after them.
...
In another part of the Nine Yuan Palace, in a garden, a fake mountain made of piled-up rocks suddenly made a muffled sound.
A rock was lifted, along with the earth, and several figures jumped out from underground, landing behind the fake mountain.
The person in the lead was a tall, ordinary-looking man, with a pair of eyes that seemed like deep, dark wells, and it was none other than Han Li.
Beside him were a white-clothed youth, and two women, Xiao Bai, Lan Yan, and Jin Tong.
Qi Hu had returned to the Huaxi space to rest, as she had suffered a great loss of energy due to the evil corpse.
“Ah, where is this place? The aura around us... why does it feel like we're still within the Nine Yuan Palace?” Xiao Bai wrinkled her nose, sniffing, and said with a worried expression.
“The underground tunnels were destroyed, and we can't return by the original route, so we can only come up and look for a way out. Lan Daoist, do you know how to leave from here?” Han Li asked.
“Nine Yuan Palace is a key location of the Nine Yuan Observatory, and I don't have the qualifications to enter, so I'm not familiar with the situation here, just like you.” Lan Yan sighed.
At this point, she was in a precarious situation, and according to the sect's laws, she should be punished severely.
Han Li heard this, and his brow furrowed, as he looked around, trying to find a direction to leave.
“Why are you all making such sour faces? With me, a Daoist fairy, here, are you worried about finding a way out?” Jin Tong suddenly spoke up, with a confident expression.
...
"Jin Tong, do you know the way out?" Han Li asked, raising an eyebrow.
"That's right... I was once brought here by those people when I was imprisoned in the Ghost Valley, and I even met a gray-robed old man," Jin Tong said confidently.
"What gray-robed old man?" Han Li asked, slightly puzzled.
"I don't know, but in the Jiuyuan Temple, his seniority seems to be very high, and the Ghost Spirit Child has to bow and show respect when he sees him. However, the old man is not bad, and he is kind and gentle. He even instructed the Ghost Spirit Child to treat me well. But then, the old man suddenly closed up and didn't care about anything, and I never saw him again," Jin Tong said, seeming to have a good impression of the old man.
"Do you really know the way?" Han Li asked, half-believing and half-doubting.
"Hey, big brother, you don't believe me, who can you believe?" Jin Tong said with a pout, his face reddening.
Just then, Xiao Bai spoke up, "Boss, do you really know the way? Last time, I followed you, and you got us lost, and we were blocked by the Ghost Spirit Child. We couldn't escape. And before that, you led me..."
"What did you say?" Jin Tong's face turned red with anger, and he slapped Xiao Bai on the head, asking fiercely.
"Ah, nothing, nothing, I'll just listen to you, big brother..." Xiao Bai rubbed his head, speaking hastily.
"Since Blue Daoist doesn't know the way, let's follow Jin Tong. We'll move stealthily and avoid fighting with the Jiuyuan Temple disciples. Our priority is to escape quickly," Han Li said after a moment of thought.
"Don't worry, just follow me, and we'll definitely be fine," Jin Tong said with a smile, full of confidence.
After saying that, she looked around and raised her hand, pointing in a direction, "Come on, let's go this way!"
Han Li and the others followed Jin Tong, going around a fake mountain on the right and entering a dense forest.
Inside the Jiuyuan Temple, the buildings were not too many, and there were no grand high-rises, but the layout of the pavilions and corridors was very orderly, with connecting corridors and gardens in between.
Han Li and the others passed through three gardens, and along the way, they didn't encounter a single Jiuyuan Temple disciple.
When they exited the third garden, they saw a lake in front of them, with a vast expanse of water and a thick layer of mist.
Across the lake, although they couldn't see, they could hear the distant sounds of explosions and screams, and it seemed that a fierce battle was taking place.
Han Li looked up at the sky and saw a layer of golden light covering the clouds, shaking slightly with each explosion.
"What's wrong, Han Daoist?" Lan Yan asked, her expression tense.
"Did big brother take the wrong way?" Xiao Bai asked hastily.
"Want to die, is that it?" Jin Tong slapped Xiao Bai on the head, and he quickly lowered his head.
"The way is correct, the lake shore opposite can hear the sounds of battle, which means that the other side is the area where the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Jiuyuan Temple are fighting. We should be far from the center of the Jiuyuan Temple, so our direction is at least correct," Han Li said calmly.
"See, I told you I wouldn't get it wrong," Jin Tong said with a smile, looking pleased.
"But, master, what if the Wheel of Reincarnation is attacking too fiercely, and they've already reached the core area of the Jiuyuan Temple? We might be heading straight into the heart of the battle," Xiao Bai said suddenly.
"You're itching for a fight, and today you're arguing with me again," Jin Tong scowled, glaring at Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai quickly apologized and rubbed his head.
"It's not possible, the Wheel of Reincarnation may have prepared well, but they can't attack so quickly. Moreover, the Jiuyuan Temple's defensive barrier hasn't been broken, and the area of battle shouldn't be the core position," Han Li said, shaking his head.
"Daoist Han is right, and the Jiuyuan Temple is the most important place in our temple. If it's really been breached, the commotion wouldn't be so small," Lan Yan said, nodding in agreement.
"Let's go, after we cross the lake, we'll find a place without fighting disciples and try to leave the temple's barrier. We can then use the Thunder Array to escape quickly," Han Li said.
The group then flew across the lake, their bodies glowing with a faint light as they moved swiftly and stealthily, almost touching the water's surface.
The lake's mist was so thick that it was like a high-grade Spirit Gathering Array, and the water droplets on its surface were actually tiny liquid pearls formed by the condensation of spiritual energy.
As Han Li and the others flew across the lake, they didn't need to use their powers to absorb the spiritual energy, and they could feel the gentle caress of the mist on their skin, like a warm bath.
Han Li's fatigue from the previous battles was even alleviated by the lake's mist, and he felt refreshed and rejuvenated. Just as he was relaxing in the comfortable feeling, a familiar voice suddenly came from the fog in front of him:
"What are you people?"
As soon as the voice fell, a green figure suddenly flashed by in the fog in front of him.
Immediately, the fog in the surrounding void suddenly condensed, and a series of "cracking" sounds came out, and the entire lake was instantly covered with a layer of white frost, directly freezing into a thick layer of ice.
"Miao Fa Xian Zun..." Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he said with a hint of helplessness.
In front of him, the frozen fog retreated to the sides, revealing a woman in a green dress, her face absolutely beautiful and flawless, but her chest was not particularly prominent, which was a bit of a pity.
Lan Yan's face turned pale as she saw the woman, and she quickly lowered her head, her expression becoming fearful and guilty.
Miao Fa Xian Zun's gaze swept over Han Li and the others, and her expression became more and more shocked.
"Han Li, you're really bold, daring to take my Jiu Yuan Guan disciple, trespassing into the Jiu Yuan Palace, and even releasing the Shi Jin Xian?" Miao Fa Xian Zun saw Lan Yan, and her gaze flickered slightly as she scolded Han Li.
Lan Yan's eyes flashed, and she was also a bit helpless, Miao Fa Xian Zun had actually mistaken her for being taken by Han Li.
"This Shi Jin Xian is my spirit pet, and today I borrowed the opportunity to come here and take back what belongs to me. Since my goal has been achieved, I don't want to stay in your Jiu Yuan Guan anymore. Miao Fa, you might as well make it convenient for us to leave, and you can also go deal with those guys from the Lun Hui Temple, it seems they're about to break through the seal." Han Li smiled and said.
Miao Fa Xian Zun heard this, and her expression became slightly serious as she glanced at the seal in the sky, which was shaking more and more frequently.
In the next instant, she suddenly attacked, striking out with her palm towards Han Li.
The void was filled with a chill, and Han Li's eyes flashed as he saw six familiar crystal lights appear around him, and something seemed to be covering him from above.
He activated the time law within his body, and his sleeves swept out, pulling Jin Tong and Lan Yan back as they retreated a hundred meters in an instant.
Just as they had retreated, a massive six-sided snowflake ice crystal covered the area where they had been standing, and six blue crystal lights flashed out from it, forming a familiar white crystal wall.
The six crystal lights had formed a six-sided crystal wall, but because Han Li had reacted in time, they fell in an empty space.
"Too fast..."
Miao Fa Xian Zun's expression changed, and she only now noticed that Han Li's aura was far beyond what it had been before.
"Same trick, I'm not going to fall for it again. Since we both have things to attend to, let's part ways for now." Han Li didn't want to fight her, and as soon as he finished speaking, he used the time law to its limit, and his figure blurred as he disappeared from the spot.
However, just like the first time he met Miao Fa Xian Zun, she had already used a circle of towering ice crystal walls to seal off the surrounding area.
So Han Li had only just flown out a hundred meters before he encountered an ice wall.
"Leave it to me..."
Jin Tong shouted, and he flew out first, bathing in golden light as if he had been drenched in a liquid, and directly collided with the ice wall.
A loud explosion shook the entire ice crystal wall, and a series of cracks spread out from the center, causing the wall to collapse.
Han Li and the others flew out from the ice crystal powder, heading in another direction.
"Don't think you can escape!" Miao Fa Xian Zun shouted, pursuing them.
Her feet floated on a massive six-sided snowflake ice crystal, which rapidly moved through the void, its speed extremely fast as it chased after Han Li.
Han Li had already opened up his time domain, controlling it within a range of ten meters around them, just enough to envelop them, and with the time law's power, he guaranteed their rapid movement.
"Why do we have to escape? Why don't we just kill her?" Jin Tong asked in confusion.
"A mid-stage Da Luo realm cultivator is not someone you can kill easily. If we get caught up in a fight, it will only cause more trouble." Han Li said.
"What do we do now? Being chased by her isn't a solution either." Jin Tong furrowed his brow, asking.
"First, let's shake her off, and then we'll think of something else. Prepare yourselves." Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he said.
Jin Tong and Xiao Bai nodded in unison, while Lan Yan looked puzzled, her eyes flashing with a hint of confusion.
In the next instant, a series of silver electric columns suddenly appeared around them, and a silver light array was formed, which flashed violently, and Han Li's figure disappeared from the spot.
In the void, a figure flashed by, and Miao Fa Xian Zun hastily pursued, but Han Li and the others had already disappeared, leaving only a faint scent of burnt air.
Her expression changed slightly, and a hint of darkness flashed in her eyes. She flashed forward, chasing after them.
More than a hundred miles away, in a dense forest, a octagonal pavilion suddenly lit up with electricity, and a silver lightning array appeared, dropping four figures from the sky. It was Han Li and his companions.
The four of them quickly stabilized their bodies and landed on the edge of the pavilion.
After steadying themselves, Han Li immediately observed their surroundings, seeing that the forest was dense and only a quiet path led to this place. There was no sign of anyone else.
"Jin Tong, can you see where we are?" Han Li asked.
"How can I know? I was just brought here by someone, I didn't tour the entire place. Now, who knows where we were teleported to?" Jin Tong puffed out his cheeks, somewhat annoyed.
"Maybe we've already been teleported out of the Nine Yuan Palace," Xiao Bai said, his imagination running wild.
Xiao Bai, are you daydreaming again? Look at the sky above," Jin Tong said, slapping Xiao Bai on the head and pointing upwards.
Xiao Bai looked up, and in the sky above the forest, he saw that the golden barrier still covered the area, indicating that they were still within the Nine Yuan Palace's boundaries.
"The Nine Yuan Palace's barrier is extraordinary, almost isolating this area from the rest of the world. My lightning array technique can't penetrate the barrier, and even the teleportation distance is greatly reduced," Han Li said, deep in thought.
"See, you should have listened to me earlier and taken care of her. Now, we're in this mess," Jin Tong said, spreading his hands in frustration.
"The Nine Yuan Palace's ancestral hall is within the palace, and from the information we received earlier, it's possible that Chun Jun is stationed there. If we make a commotion here, it will attract his attention, and that would be disastrous," Han Li said, his brow furrowed.
"This...," Jin Tong said, his enthusiasm deflating.
"Enough, let's not argue about this now. We need to find a new direction and continue to think of a way to escape. If the chaos in the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall is quelled, it will be even more difficult for us to escape," Han Li said, sighing.
"Brother Han's words are reasonable, let's hurry and find a way out," Lan Yan said, adding her voice to the conversation.
This time, she had committed a grave offense, and she could no longer stay in the Nine Yuan Palace. She could only escape with Lan Yuanzi and try to find a remote lower realm to hide in.
"But we don't know the way now, where can we find a road?" Jin Tong asked, scratching his head.
"No problem, earlier, I controlled the lightning array to teleport us to the west. We just need to head east again, and we'll be able to return to the place we were before. Then, we can find a way out," Han Li said.
"Master's plans are always thorough," Xiao Bai said, sincerely admiring Han Li.
"I think these days, your flattery skills have become more refined," Jin Tong said, a strange expression on his face.
"Ha ha, it's all thanks to Master's guidance," Xiao Bai said, smiling wryly.
The group continued to make their way through the forest, heading east.
After about half a stick of incense, Han Li suddenly frowned and raised his fist, signaling for Jin Tong and the others to stop.
He then listened carefully, his ears perked up, and after a moment, he turned to the others and said, "There's a battle going on in the distance, and it sounds like a large number of people are involved. It's probably the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall's people being discovered and surrounded. We can't go that way, we need to take a detour."
"Strange, I didn't hear anything," Jin Tong said, puzzled.
Lan Yan and Xiao Bai also said they hadn't heard anything.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he thought for a moment before understanding the reason. It was because of the strange changes in his body after the encounter with the evil corpse.
"Let's avoid that place and head southeast," Han Li said.
Lan Yan nodded first, and Jin Tong and Xiao Bai followed suit.
However, as they turned to head southeast, several figures suddenly appeared in the distance, chasing after each other. The pursuers were wearing the uniform of the Nine Yuan Palace's core elders and disciples, while the ones being chased were from the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall.
Han Li and the others held their breath and carefully observed the scene.
They saw that the two people in the lead, wearing black masks with a serpent and a monkey emblem, were emitting a familiar aura. It was actually Jiao San and Wu Yang.
Behind them, a man with a rabbit mask and a woman with a black hat and a veil were also fleeing. Although they were only visible for a moment, Han Li felt a sense of familiarity. The person at the back of the group, surprisingly, didn't hide their true self at all, and instead, revealed their true face with a warm smile, occasionally attacking the pursuing soldiers behind them, playing a role of delaying the enemy.
It was none other than the Palace Master of the Great Jin Yuan Immortal Domain, Lu Chuanfeng.
"They've already invaded the Jiyuan Palace..." Lanyan's expression was complex, and her heart was shocked.
Han Li and the others crossed paths with them, but it was just a brief encounter, and soon they disappeared from their line of sight. The only sound that remained was the intermittent thunderous noise coming from the front.
"It seems that the chaos in the Jiyuan Palace won't end anytime soon, but for us, it's a good piece of news. Let's go." Han Li called out, preparing to lead the group to continue on their journey.
At this moment, a strange fluctuation suddenly appeared in the void ahead, and a mixed aura was transmitted over, carried by the strong wind.
Han Li sensed the aura and immediately froze in place.
As the aura reached him, the image of the woman wearing a veil and a fighting hat reappeared in his mind.
Han Li's brow furrowed tightly as he tried to recall the woman's image, and his heart began to beat faster.
"Is it her? Is it really her?"
He suddenly turned around, looking in the direction the group had flown away, and his mind was filled with questions.
"Brother Han, time is of the essence, what's wrong with you?" Lanyan asked, seeing Han Li's unusual expression.
Jintong was also shocked, as she rarely saw such a complex expression on Han Li's face, filled with excitement, doubt, and nostalgia.
"Master..." Xiao Bai also called out.
"I have something to confirm, and I don't plan on leaving immediately." Han Li's face turned serious, and he said.
"Brother Han, why is that?" Lanyan asked, surprised.
"It's a personal matter, and I won't explain it to you. If you don't want to stay, then we'll part ways here." Han Li said directly.
"Brother Han has helped me and my brother greatly, and I wanted to repay him, but now I'm just a burden to him. I won't continue to hinder Brother Han's progress." Lanyan said, after a moment of thought.
"Blue Yuanzi's soul is basically unharmed, and later, you can ask Tiexiong in the Huazhidian for instructions." Han Li said, and with a wave of his hand, a silver light gate appeared in front of Lanyan.
Lanyan bowed to Han Li and walked into the light gate.
"Master, why did we suddenly stop?" Jintong asked, as the silver light gate closed.
"In the group that just passed by, I sensed a familiar aura... Although it's very different from the past, it still triggered the deepest mark in my mind. Even if it's not her, it must be related to her." Han Li said, after a moment of contemplation.
"Her? What kind of person is she, that you're willing to take such a risk?" Xiao Bai asked, unable to help herself.
"She's the person closest to me." Han Li's eyes revealed a hint of a smile.
Jintong's eyes widened in shock, and her mind was filled with surprise. If the previous expression was rare, then the look in Han Li's eyes now was something she had never seen before.
"Since she's so important to you, then we'll follow her and take a look." Jintong said, her eyes flashing with determination.
As they spoke, two figures suddenly flew by above, their attention focused on chasing after the group. Han Li's heart tightened, and he carefully looked in their direction.
It was none other than the Mountain Master of the Bai Zao Mountain, Huo Yuan, and the other was Chi Meng.
However, their attention was focused on chasing after the group, and they didn't notice Han Li and the others hiding in the forest below.
"How did they get here?" Xiao Bai asked, after they flew away.
"It seems they followed the group, but they're not helping the Jiyuan Palace. They must have some secret motives." Han Li said.
As soon as he finished speaking, Han Li's heart moved, and he waved his hand, reopening the silver light gate.
Lanyan walked out of the gate, her expression still a bit uneasy.
"Is everything settled?" Han Li asked.
"Tiexiong has been informed, thank you, Brother Han." Lanyan bowed again.
"That's good. You can continue on your original path, and you should be able to reach the edge of the Jiyuan Palace." Han Li said.
Lanyan handed Han Li a jade slip, saying:
"This is a map of the Jiyuan Palace's area, but it's not very detailed. I hope it can be of some help to you when you leave the palace."
"Thank you. Lanyan, then we'll part ways here. May we meet again on our journey." Han Li said sincerely, as he accepted the jade slip.
……
After Lanyan left, Han Li didn't immediately close the silver light gate.
He looked at Jintong and Xiaobai, saying: "Since we're not in a hurry to leave, you two should first return to the Huazhi Cave Heaven. I'll act alone, it's more convenient that way."
Regarding Han Li's orders, Xiaobai and Jintong naturally didn't have any objections, and walked towards the light gate one after the other.
As soon as Xiaobai stepped into the light gate, he suddenly heard a loud explosion behind him, and the silver light gate closed immediately without waiting for Jintong to enter.
"What's going on?"
He quickly used his divine sense to ask Han Li, but there was no response after a while.
At the same time, the space within a hundred miles of the Linjian Pavilion was sealed off by ice, transforming into a world of ice and snow.
Han Li and Jintong stood shoulder to shoulder on the pavilion's rooftop, looking down to see the ground covered in a thick layer of ice, with ice spikes piercing the sky.
"Hmph! This guy is like a sticky plaster, can't get rid of him..." Jintong couldn't help but complain.
"Trouble can't be avoided, looks like we can't avoid a battle." Han Li sighed, looking towards the dense forest, where the ancient trees had all frozen into ice crystals, crumbling into powder.
A wide path had formed among the crumbling trees, and a woman in a green dress sat on a crystal throne shaped like a lotus flower, rushing towards them with a speed like lightning.
This woman's skin was as white as jade, her figure slender and elegant, and she was none other than the Miao Fa Xianzun who had been pursuing them.
"Thief, I've sealed off the surroundings with my spiritual domain, this time you can't escape!" Miao Fa Xianzun flew to a hundred meters away, hovering in mid-air, and shouted.
"Your sect is currently being invaded by the Wheel of Reincarnation, why not let me go and find the big fish that snuck in?" Han Li's brow furrowed, asking.
"You can rest assured, you Wheel of Reincarnation remnants who dare to invade our Jiuyuan Tower, not one of you will escape. I'll take you down first, and then I'll know what you're planning." Miao Fa Xianzun said coldly.
"Old woman, your tone is quite big, but you're not considering your own weight, daring to make such a big claim, and even saying you'll take me down, are you worthy?" Jintong's words were sharp, and he immediately scolded her.
Upon hearing this, Miao Fa Xianzun's eyebrows rose, and the killing intent in her eyes grew stronger.
"Ah, you're getting angry, but you're even uglier than before, I don't know who gave you the courage to come out and make a fool of yourself. Let my uncle teach you a lesson, and make you recognize your own worth." Jintong saw this and sneered.
"Laughable, two early-stage Mahayana realm juniors dare to be so boastful, do you know the gap between the early and middle stages?" Miao Fa Xianzun sneered.
"Heh heh, uncle, looks like she doesn't know the outcome of Guilingzi?" Jintong whispered, transmitting his voice to Han Li.
"I don't know, that's for the best, we don't have much time, we need to find a way to take her down quickly." Han Li replied.
As soon as he finished speaking, Han Li snapped his fingers, and a golden light screen expanded, covering the surrounding area within a hundred miles, slowing down the flow of time in the virtual space.
The next instant, he took a step forward, and a loud explosion sounded, causing the pavilion to collapse instantly.
Han Li's figure flashed in the smoke, and then disappeared, leaving behind only a whirlwind.
Miao Fa Xianzun's eyes flashed, and without even making a seal, the crystal throne beneath her burst into light, shooting out hundreds of lotus petal crystals, flying towards all directions.
Han Li's figure had just appeared behind her, when the lotus petal crystals faced him, their light bursting forth, releasing a wave of extreme cold, freezing the surrounding space.
Han Li had detected something was off, but his body was a step too slow.
His calf was frozen into an ice pillar, and the frozen pillar was surprisingly heavy, causing Han Li to be dragged down towards the ice spike.
Han Li punched downwards, striking the ground.
A powerful fist force exploded, shattering the ice spikes on the ground, and his body borrowed the recoil to fly upwards, returning to mid-air.
Immediately after, a silver flame flashed on his calf, covering it with a layer of silver fire, quickly dissolving the ice pillar.
But at this moment, a huge six-sided snowflake crystal suddenly enveloped him from above, its blue light flashing, refracting six blue lights, forming six white crystal walls, surrounding him.
Han Li looked at the familiar crystal walls, and couldn't help but sigh, earlier he had said he wouldn't fall for the same trick again, but now he was trapped once more.
At this time, the crystal walls above him burst into a cold light, reflecting his shadow.
Looking at the six people in the reflection, each with different expressions, Han Li didn't rush to act, instead, he twisted his wrist, and a Qingtong Fengyun sword appeared in his palm.
The reflection in the crystal walls didn't move, nor did it reflect the Qingtong Fengyun sword. Han Li saw this situation and felt a slight sense of relief in his heart. It seemed that the Mirror of Illusions could only replicate his own reflection, and would not copy his magical artifacts.
As he thought about this, he pinched his fingers together in a sword seal, and his long sword flashed with golden light. The sword's body burst forth with golden electricity, transforming into a golden dragon that coiled around his body and shot upwards into the air.
The six reflections around him also moved in response to his actions, but they were all empty-handed, throwing punches at Han Li instead of wielding swords.
Han Li's body transformed in an instant, turning into a three-headed, six-armed demonic form. He used his fists and claws to resist the attacks of the six reflections.
Just as the reflections were about to attack again, a loud explosion sounded from above, and the golden dragon broke through the snowflake ice crystal.
The snowflake ice crystal shattered under the force of the impact, and two of the six ice spires broke off and flew outwards. The six silver mirrors also disappeared, and Han Li's figure reappeared.
Miao Fa Xian Zun was shocked by this scene. The last time she had used this technique to trap Han Li, he had been unable to resist, but this time he had broken free in an instant.
However, there was no fear in her eyes. She stood up from the lotus throne, took a step forward, and appeared in the void. The ice crystal throne rotated and descended to the ground.
With a flick of her wrist, a blue longsword appeared in her hand, its body glowing with blue spiritual energy. It was clearly a high-grade magical artifact.
"There's also that other person, don't hide anymore, come out together," Miao Fa Xian Zun said, her eyes scanning the area in front of her.
But there was no response.
"Jin Tong is naturally timid, Miao Fa, don't scare her," Han Li said with a smile.
Miao Fa's eyes twitched at his words. Jin Tong was known for her bravery, and it was ridiculous to call her timid.
"It doesn't matter, if she doesn't want to come out, then I'll invite her out," Miao Fa Xian Zun said coldly.
As she spoke, her longsword trembled and flew out of her hand, soaring into the air.
She quickly pinched her fingers together in a seal, and a cold mist erupted from the sky, covering the area in a thick layer of fog.
Han Li was enveloped by the mist, and his hand felt a chill as a layer of frost formed on his sword.
He looked up to see a blue glow flashing in the distance, and a figure descended from the sky.
In an instant, countless blue sword lights appeared, transforming into a blue sword rain that poured down from the sky, heading straight for Han Li.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he activated his time manipulation powers. A golden light burst forth, and a round moon appeared in the sky, emitting countless golden rays of light that seemed to solidify the air itself.
However, the blue sword rain continued to fall, unaffected by the time manipulation powers.
Han Li's eyes flashed with a purple glow, and he realized that the sword rain was being protected by a layer of frost that was immune to his powers.
In an instant, the sword rain fell upon him, and Han Li could only grit his teeth and swing his sword upwards to meet the attack.
A loud crash sounded, and the sword rain continued to fall, pressing down on the golden light bridge that Han Li had created.
Finally, the golden light bridge shattered, and the sword rain continued to fall, covering the entire area in a thick layer of blue ice crystals.
But when Miao Fa looked around, she couldn't find Han Li's figure anywhere.
Just as she was about to search for him, a sudden change occurred...
Miaofa Xianzun's body suddenly shook, and a mouthful of blood sprayed out. She stumbled and fell towards the lotus throne below.
The blue sword rain in the sky suddenly stopped, and all the mist dissipated.
Miaofa Xianzun had not yet stood up when a silver flame suddenly erupted from the lotus throne, forming a giant fire lotus that tried to engulf her.
Luckily, she reacted quickly and dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding the silver fire lotus.
The silver fire lotus failed to hit her and transformed into a silver flame bird, which pounced towards her.
Miaofa Xianzun quickly raised her hand to summon her blue sword, but instead of just the sword, a young girl, Jintong, fell from the sky, holding the sword tightly in her hand.
"How is this possible?" Miaofa Xianzun exclaimed in shock.
Just then, Han Li appeared behind her, his shadowy figure floating into view, and stabbed her chest with his sword.
"Zzzt!"
A burst of electricity crackled, and countless lightning crystals erupted from Miaofa Xianzun's wounds, causing her to let out a blood-curdling scream as her face turned pale.
"You thought Jintong was hiding underground, so you let your guard down, but she was actually hiding in the sky," Han Li said slowly.
"She can't...can't control my Xuanfeng Sword," Miaofa Xianzun spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Who wants to control your broken sword, anyway?" Jintong retorted, tossing the sword at Miaofa Xianzun's feet.
The sword landed with a clang, and Miaofa Xianzun's face changed color as she gazed at it in dismay.
The sword's blade was now chipped, and it was clear that someone had bitten off a piece of it.
"Ugh, that's so cold!" Jintong rubbed her hands, which were frozen from holding the sword.
"I underestimated you this time, but next time, I'll make you pay back a hundredfold," Miaofa Xianzun snarled, her face twisted in anger.
Jintong glared at her, about to curse, when Miaofa Xianzun's body suddenly froze, encasing Han Li and his sword in ice.
A blinding blue light erupted from the ice, and a massive explosion shook the air, sending blue crystals flying everywhere.
After a while, the crystals finally settled, and the surrounding area was transformed into a snowy landscape.
Han Li and Jintong reappeared, scanning their surroundings, but Miaofa Xianzun was nowhere to be seen, and the lotus throne and Xuanfeng Sword had vanished.
"She got away," Jintong said, annoyed.
"It's okay, we didn't plan to fight her to the death. You played a big role in forcing her to retreat," Han Li said with a smile, instinctively reaching out to ruffle Jintong's hair.
But he quickly withdrew his hand, remembering that Jintong was no longer the little girl she used to be.
Jintong saw his awkward expression and smiled.
"Let's go back to the flower cave and rest. I need to catch up with Jiao San and the others," Han Li said.
"They've probably already gone far, thanks to Miaofa Xianzun's delay," Jintong said.
"They were chasing after them, leaving a trail of clues. I'll follow their tracks to find them," Han Li said, his eyes narrowing.
After a short rest, Han Li sent Jintong back to the flower cave and set off alone, following the trail of clues left behind by Jiao San and the others.
Han Li used his black mask's stealth ability to follow the trail, which led him to a large temple.
The sound of intense battle echoed from within, and Han Li's face changed as he hid behind a nearby boulder, gazing at the temple entrance.
He activated his Nine Yang Magic Eye, and a purple-black glow appeared in his eyes as he observed the temple entrance. On the top of the two stone pillars, two transparent figures were attached, one was red and the other was black, which were Chi Meng and Huo Yuan.
The two were intently gazing into the hall, unaware of Han Li's arrival.
It was also because Han Li's black mask had an excellent concealment effect, that the two didn't notice.
Han Li glanced at the two and then ignored them, his body silently entering the ground, slowly moving towards the main entrance of the hall, and soon arrived at the front of the hall.
From this angle, he could see the situation inside the hall.
The hall was filled with flying artifacts, bursting spiritual light, and chaotic energy.
There were ten figures in the hall, five from the Wheel of Rebirth Hall: Tu Shou, Wu Yang, Lu Chuan Feng, Jiao San, and the black-robed woman.
The other five were from the Jiuyuan Palace: Chun Jun, Yang Jun, and Lei Jun, who had previously met Han Li.
Chun Jun was fighting against Tu Shou in mid-air.
Yang Jun and Lei Jun were sitting in a large formation, surrounded by a golden altar, and several golden statues stood around it.
These golden statues were wearing armor and holding giant swords, and they seemed to be alive, working in tandem with the surrounding formation to release a rainbow of golden light.
These golden lights seemed ordinary, but they contained extremely powerful golden attribute laws, and were evenly matched against Wu Yang, Lu Chuan Feng, Jiao San, and the black-robed woman.
At the top of the golden altar, a dazzling golden cloud floated, and it seemed to contain a treasure, but the cloud was too dazzling to see clearly.
The golden cloud seemed to be alive, and it was emitting a powerful spiritual energy, occasionally releasing a golden light that contained a sharp golden law, which could easily cut through the surrounding void.
Moreover, the golden cloud flashed several times, and its color suddenly changed to yellow, and the law energy it emitted changed to a thick and heavy earth law, causing the surrounding void to tremble.
The next moment, the cloud changed to green, and it released a dense wood law energy, filling the void in the hall with a vibrant vitality.
The cloud continued to change, turning red, blue, and other colors, and then repeated the cycle.
The five people from the Wheel of Rebirth Hall were staring at the cloud, launching various attacks while charging towards the altar from all sides.
The three people from the Jiuyuan Palace were struggling to resist, blocking the Wheel of Rebirth Hall's people from approaching.
The battle had reached a climax, and it was unclear what kind of powerful restriction was in place in the hall to withstand the aftermath of the battle.
"What treasure is inside the cloud, that it contains the power of five laws?" Han Li looked at the cloud in surprise.
The higher the grade of the artifact, the more it emphasized the purity of the law.
The energy emitted by the cloud was extremely powerful, surpassing all the artifacts Han Li possessed, even the Years of God Lamp, and it contained five laws.
He thought for a moment, and then cast a spell to project the scene into the flower branch space, letting Jin Tong, Ti Hun, and others see it, and asked.
"Jin Tong, Ti Hun, Xiao Bai, have you seen such a treasure?"
Jin Tong and Ti Hun were also shocked, and they shook their heads.
Xiao Bai had a hesitant expression.
"Xiao Bai, do you know something?" Han Li asked, noticing Xiao Bai's expression.
"I inherited my father's bloodline power, and also inherited some of his memories, in those memories, I saw the White Emperor and my father trying to refine an artifact, that artifact also contained different laws, but unfortunately, they failed. However, my father's memories didn't have a detailed description of the artifact." Xiao Bai said.
Han Li listened to this, and nodded slowly. He looked at the cloud for a few more moments, and then turned his gaze to the battle in the hall, focusing on the black-robed woman and Tu Shou.
The black-robed woman's cultivation had reached the early stage of the Mahayana, and her body was surrounded by a dark red aura, which was divided into six layers, like a rainbow.
She was wielding an ancient dark red mirror artifact, and fighting against four or five golden statues.
The dark red mirror was unknown, but its power was shocking, and it constantly released dark red crystal lights.
The golden statues' attacks were like ice and snow meeting fire, and they immediately dispersed and disappeared, and the statues were at a disadvantage, constantly retreating.
"The law of reincarnation!" Han Li looked at the dark red aura surrounding the black-robed woman, and his eyes flashed.
However, the law of reincarnation emitted by the black-robed woman was different from Jiao San's.
Jiao San's law of reincarnation was extremely fierce, with a strong and hard feeling, but the black-robed woman's law of reincarnation was more unpredictable.
Wu Yang, Lu Chuan Feng, and Jiao San were also using their divine abilities, fighting against the golden statues, and they were all at an advantage.
But the golden formation around the altar was extremely powerful, and it was connected to the Jiuyuan Palace, constantly supplying a stream of golden attribute laws, and Yang Jun and Lei Jun's control over the golden statues was extremely skilled, so the black-robed woman and others were unable to defeat the statues.
Inside the grand hall, both sides clashed and fought, the sound of the battle was astonishing, but if one were to compare the intensity of the fight, it would be the confrontation between the Rabbit Head Mask and the Pure Jun True Person that was the most intense.
The Pure Jun True Person's face was solemn, his body surrounded by a golden aura, his every movement creating countless sword shadows that flew out, his sharp and unmatched sword energy filled the entire grand hall.
The Rabbit Head Mask, on the other hand, was surrounded by a heavy black aura, creating various illusions that transformed and changed like a kaleidoscope, and at the same time, they flew towards the Pure Jun True Person, who was surrounded by sharp sword energy that cut through the illusions, only to have them disappear instantly.
Han Li's eyes sparkled as he watched this scene, he had seen this before in the Taishou Immortal's Manor.
"Shi Kongmo, you've actually joined the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall and are now an enemy of the Nine Yuan Sect, could it be that you want to trigger another war between the Nine Yuan Sect and the Devil Realm?" the Pure Jun True Person roared.
"Enemy? I'm looking for my wife and son, you're not bad, but compared to me, you're still far inferior, hurry up and get out of the way," the Rabbit Head Mask laughed loudly, his hands waving wildly.
The heavy black aura surrounding him suddenly intensified, forming a ten-meter radius spiritual domain that pressed down on the Pure Jun True Person.
The Pure Jun True Person's face revealed a look of surprise, and then he saw the spiritual domain flying towards him, his hands rapidly forming a seal, the sword shadows around him also intensifying, forming a golden spiritual domain, but only seven or eight meters in size.
The countless golden sword shadows in the golden spiritual domain flashed and collided with the spiritual domain.
A thunderous explosion shook the air, and the nearby space was shattered.
"Indeed, it's this old guy..." Han Li thought to himself.
Back then, the Jiao San took Shi Kongmo away, and who knows what they used to persuade him, but he was brought here.
"But, why did their spiritual domains only open up such a small range?" Han Li wondered.
The Rabbit Head Mask laughed loudly, his hands waving wildly, and the spiritual domain inside him suddenly appeared, with over a dozen substantial black claws floating inside, grasping towards the Pure Jun True Person, the claws wrapped in dark energy.
The Pure Jun True Person's face changed, and he rapidly formed a seal.
The golden sword shadows in his spiritual domain flew out, cutting towards the black claws, but the black claws were like illusions, passing through the golden sword shadows and flying towards the Pure Jun True Person, who was scratched and stumbled backward.
"Ah, so weak, it's really disappointing!" Shi Kongmo said, shaking his head.
" Sect Master!" Yang Junzi, Lei Jun True Person, saw this scene and his face changed, his hands slowing down.
"Jiao San!" Wu Yang's eyes lit up, his hands rapidly forming a seal, and he shouted loudly.
His body glowed with golden light, and a golden circular wheel appeared behind him, spinning rapidly, it was the True Word Wheel, which had already taken shape.
Wu Yang's body also floated a golden spiritual domain, with countless circular wheel shadows flashing.
Jiao San seemed to understand Wu Yang's intention, and her hands rapidly formed a seal, her body surging with layers of dark red light, instantly forming a dark red spiritual domain.
The two spiritual domains merged, and immediately lit up, vibrating like a resonance.
Jiao San's face was solemn, her hands rapidly forming a seal.
A loud explosion shook the air, and a dark red circular wheel, the size of a house, appeared from the spiritual domain, with six black holes, spinning rapidly, emitting a vast and terrifying aura.
Wu Yang flew over to Jiao San's side, his hands forming a seal.
The True Word Wheel behind him flew out, merging with the dark red circular wheel.
The dark red circular wheel suddenly grew larger, with golden talismanic patterns appearing on its surface, emitting a thread of time law, which resonated with the wheel of reincarnation law on the dark red circular wheel.
Outside the grand hall, Han Li saw this scene, and apart from feeling surprised, he also felt a subtle sense of loss.
Only his time law could previously resonate with Jiao San's wheel of reincarnation law, but now Wu Yang could also do it.
However, Han Li quickly threw away this thought, Wu Yang cultivated the True Word Wheel Scripture, and it was only natural that he could resonate with Jiao San's wheel of reincarnation law.
But the resonance of their laws was not very harmonious, and seemed to be not as smooth as when he and Jiao San worked together.
"Go!" Jiao San pushed her hand forward.
The dark red circular wheel rolled out, with a momentum that could move mountains, striking the golden altar.
A series of loud explosions shook the air, and the golden men in front were struck by the dark red circular wheel, immediately shattering like dry wood, unable to withstand the dark red circular wheel at all.
This series of events seemed complex, but in reality, it was all over in an instant.
Yang Junzi and Lei Jun True Person saw this scene, their faces changed, and they silently blamed themselves for being distracted, and their hands rapidly formed seals. Actually, Yang Junzi and Lei Junzhen had already reached the late stage of the Daluo realm, and it was originally not possible for them to become distracted. However, Shi Kongmo's cultivation was based on heart magic, which could subtly influence people's minds.
Jiao San, Wu Yang, and the others knew about Shi Kongmo's divine ability and had already prepared defensive treasures on their bodies. Yang Junzi and Lei Junzhen were unaware of this and had no defenses, which was why they were affected and became distracted at the critical moment, giving Jiao San and Wu Yang an opportunity.
As the two of them cast their spells, the golden array around the altar suddenly lit up, and countless golden runes shot out from the ground, merging into the array.
The golden man inside the array suddenly had golden patterns appear on his body, and his body expanded significantly. The sword in his hand shone with golden light, and he swung it downwards.
A massive sword light and saber glow shot out, weaving together into a golden net that radiated a brilliant golden light, blocking the dark red circle.
A thunderous sound echoed through the air!
The dark red circle, like a falling star, crashed into the golden net, and the two colors of light clashed, creating a whirlwind of white, misty air. At the same time, a dark light flashed, and a spatial rift appeared, shooting out in all directions.
The sound of "hiss" filled the entire hall.
The dark red circle's light flickered, and it continued to rotate, like a giant grindstone.
The golden net shook violently, emitting a crisp sound like shattering porcelain, and it began to break apart.
Yang Junzi and Lei Junzhen hastily cast their spells, but despite having the advantage of terrain, they were no match for Jiao San and Wu Yang's synchronized spellcasting.
The dark red circle paused for a moment before continuing to roll forward, easily crushing the golden man and rushing towards the altar like a bolt of lightning.
Yang Junzi and Lei Junzhen tried to block it, but it was too late. However, their expressions did not show any panic.
A dark red shadow flashed by, and the giant circle reached the altar, striking it with tremendous force.
But at that moment, the air around the altar began to fluctuate, and a dark light emerged from the void, condensing into a ball-shaped black light shield that enveloped the altar.
The dark red circle struck the black light shield, emitting a loud "clang"!
The black light shield rippled, and the area that was hit slightly indented.
However, the dark red circle's attack had no further effect, and it remained motionless despite its continued rotation and impact.
"You, Wheel of Reincarnation, launched a massive assault on our Nine Yuan Sect's strongholds, drawing attention away, while secretly sending a master to infiltrate the Nine Yuan Palace. What a clever move! But you didn't expect the Xuan Yuan Dark Light Shield, did you? This restriction was set up by my ancestor, the Xuan Yuan Daozu. You think you can break through with just a few people? It's simply absurd!" Chun Junzhen retreated into the air, took out a blood-red pill, and swallowed it, healing his wounds instantly. He sneered, "You..."
Lei Junzhen smiled, and Yang Junzi's face also showed a smile. They raised their hands, about to do something.
Just then, a figure appeared in front of Lei Junzhen, and it was Lu Chuanfeng.
Without seeing him move, countless blue lights burst out from his body, each emitting an icy aura, like raindrops shooting towards Lei Junzhen.
A chill filled the air, making everyone's teeth chatter.
On the other side, Yang Junzi's figure flashed, and Wu Yang appeared, swinging his hands.
A golden palm shadow appeared above Yang Junzi's head, striking down like a tidal wave.
In the air, Shi Kongmo was also using his full strength to activate his spiritual domain, forcing Chun Junzhen to retreat repeatedly.
Just then, Jiao San's figure flashed, and he appeared near the altar, taking out an object and throwing it.
"That is..." Han Li's eyes widened.
Jiao San had thrown out the black iron plate he had obtained from the Suiyue Xianfu.
"Xuan Yuan Black Command! How did you get this?" Chun Junzhen's face turned pale, and his smile disappeared.
He moved to fly downwards, but it was too late.
"Haha, Cow Nose, you think you can switch opponents? Come, let's fight another three hundred rounds!" Shi Kongmo laughed, pointing his finger.
Chun Junzhen's figure flashed, and countless ghostly claws appeared, grabbing at him.
Chun Junzhen had to stop and cast a spell to defend himself.
Lu Chuanfeng and Wu Yang also went all out, entangling Lei Junzhen and Yang Junzi.
At this moment, Jiao San spat out a mouthful of blood essence, which transformed into a blood light that merged into the black iron plate. He then quickly formed a hand seal.
The iron plate ignited with a black flame, and it was drawn out by Jiao San's hand seal, transforming into a black fire sword that struck the Xuan Tian Dark Light Shield.
The shield, which had seemed impenetrable, suddenly became fragile, and a long, narrow opening appeared.
Jiao San's figure flashed, and he flew into the opening, his hand grasping at the void.
The altar's top flashed, and a dark red hand appeared, grasping the cloud that had transformed into a fire-red color.
Chun Junzhen and the others let out a furious roar, but they were powerless to stop it.
But just as they were about to succeed, a sudden change occurred!
Just as this was happening, a sudden turn of events occurred!
The fire-red cloud cluster that had been grabbed by the dark red hand suddenly expanded, increasing in size by more than ten times in an instant, and shooting out rays of fire-red light that directly pushed open the dark red hand, making it unable to grasp the cloud cluster.
Jiao San's face changed slightly as he opened his mouth to spit out a mouthful of air.
A ball of dark red light shot out from his mouth, containing dozens of threads of the cycle of reincarnation, which merged into the dark red hand.
The dark red hand immediately swelled up, its surface flashing with numerous circular symbols, and the light surrounding it grew several times brighter.
A deep and immeasurable spiritual pressure burst forth from the dark red hand, rampaging uncontrollably throughout the great hall, causing the space around the altar to violently shake like the surface of water.
The hand's five fingers clenched, and the dark red light flashed wildly, immediately pressing down on the red cloud cluster once again.
However, just as Jiao San was about to smile, the suppressed dark red cloud cluster suddenly flashed rapidly, releasing green, blue, yellow, and gold lights.
The five colors of light intertwined, their law energies fusing and resonating.
With a loud "Boom!", a massive roar erupted from the cloud cluster, and the five colors of light burst forth, increasing in size by dozens of times, transforming into a miniature five-colored sun that filled the entire Xuan Tian Dark Light Shield space, and seemed to be rotating and cutting like a windmill.
Each of the five colors of light was like a razor-sharp blade, leaving behind cracks in the void wherever they passed.
With a "Rip!" sound, the seemingly invincible dark red hand was easily torn apart like paper.
"Not good! Nine True, quickly retreat!" Wu Yang, who was outside the light shield, cried out in alarm as he saw the scene unfold.
Jiao San's expression also changed greatly, and his body rapidly retreated backwards, simultaneously waving his hand to produce a small black flag that transformed into a layer of dark misty light in front of him.
His other hand flipped over, producing a silver-colored jade ruler, from which a silver-colored flame erupted.
The two of them merged into a ball-shaped light shield that protected his body.
Jiao San had just finished doing this when the razor-sharp five-colored lights shot towards him, tearing into the two layers of light shields around him.
With a sound like tearing silk, the two layers of light shields only lasted for a single breath before shattering completely.
However, Jiao San had already escaped from the Xuan Tian Dark Light Shield's opening.
But just as Jiao San was about to catch his breath, the five-colored lights shot out from inside the shield, striking the Xuan Tian Dark Light Shield.
The Xuan Tian Dark Light Shield seemed to be easily destroyed from the inside, with countless cracks appearing on its surface before it exploded with a loud "Boom!" sound.
The five-colored lights continued to burst forth, but possibly due to the exhaustion of energy from breaking the Xuan Tian Dark Light Shield, the originally sharp lights had become layered five-colored light waves, which rolled out like a tidal wave, flooding the entire great hall.
Shi Kongmo, Chun Jun True Person, Wu Yang, and the others were swept away by the five-colored light waves, like being hit by countless meteorites, and were all knocked flying without any resistance, crashing into the walls of the great hall.
Jiao San, who was the closest, received the greatest impact, and his entire body was knocked into the wall, spitting out blood wildly.
Only the black-clothed woman, who was standing farther away from the altar, was affected less, although she was also knocked flying, she managed to stabilize her body.
However, the black-clothed woman's hat was blown off, revealing half of her face.
Outside the great hall, Han Li saw this and was shocked, his eyes wide with surprise as he stared at the black-clothed woman.
The dense five-colored light waves did not last for long, and soon dissipated, restoring calm to the great hall.
The entire altar had already been completely destroyed, leaving behind only a pile of rubble, and the five-colored cloud cluster on top of the altar had also disappeared.
Only the sound of "Ding!" was heard, as a small ball of five-colored light fell to the ground near the entrance of the great hall.
Inside the light was a small, fist-sized five-colored bottle, with a narrow neck and a round body, and some leaf-like patterns on its surface, giving off a mysterious aura.
"This...!" Han Li's body shook again, his face filled with an expression of disbelief.
The five-colored bottle, except for its color, was identical to his own Palm Heaven Bottle.
"Could this be another imitation?" Han Li quickly calmed down, his mind racing with thoughts.
After all, Ma Liang had also possessed an imitation Palm Heaven Bottle, and it was not surprising that the Nine True Sect could create another one.
However, looking at the five-colored bottle's aura, it was far beyond Ma Liang's imitation Palm Heaven Bottle, and was almost on par with the real thing.
The black-clothed woman, who had been knocked flying to the entrance of the great hall, saw this and was overjoyed, rushing towards the small bottle like a bolt of lightning.
At the same time, she swept her sleeve, and a dark red light shot out, curling towards the five-colored bottle, about to grab it.
But just as she was about to succeed, a purple electric light and a red flame shot out from outside the hall, almost simultaneously striking the black-clothed woman's dark red light.
The black-clothed woman did not expect this, and her dark red light was easily torn apart.
The electric light and flame were followed by two figures, one purple and one red, who were none other than Huo Yuan and Chi Meng. Huò Yuān pinched his fingers together and the purple lightning bolt split into two, transforming into two purple lightning serpents. The two serpents were several meters long and as thick as a person's leg, with dazzling purple electric arcs dancing across their bodies. They emitted a "hiss" sound, as if they were living creatures, and their aura was truly astonishing.
One of the serpents suddenly coiled and struck at the black-clothed woman.
The other serpent, however, struck at the red flame, wrapping itself around it in an instant and constricting it tightly.
At the same time, the serpent opened its mouth and spat out a purple lightning bolt that shot towards the five-colored small bottle on the ground.
"Foolish!" Chi Mèng's face turned red with anger, and she spat out a mouthful of words.
A red flame burst forth from her mouth, instantly growing larger and forming a red net that enveloped the purple serpent.
The purple serpent's lightning bolt was also trapped within the red net, and the two energies clashed fiercely, producing a loud, crackling sound. The purple lightning bolt dissipated and disappeared.
At the same time, Chi Mèng raised her hand and waved it.
A red light shot out, spinning rapidly before transforming into a red fire shield. The shield was adorned with nine red fire dragons, and it was the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield. It descended towards Huò Yuān, covering him.
Huò Yuān's face sank, and he slapped his forehead. A complex purple lightning pattern appeared on his forehead, flashing with intense purple lightning.
The purple light flashed, and two purple lightning orbs shot out from the pattern, growing rapidly to the size of wheels. They collided with each other, producing a deafening thunderclap.
A massive, tens of meters wide, purple lightning cloud suddenly appeared in the air, with countless purple lightning bolts flashing wildly within it. The thunderclap and the sound of rushing wind intertwined, creating a terrifying spectacle, as if the God of Thunder had descended.
The purple lightning cloud's radiance flashed, and it struck the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield that was hovering in mid-air.
The lightning and flames clashed fiercely, producing a deafening roar.
This purple lightning cloud seemed ordinary, but it actually contained unfathomable power. It was able to hold the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield in mid-air.
Although the two were traveling together, they were now fighting over the treasure. The black-clothed woman dodged the purple serpent's attack with a flick of her body and pressed her hand down, summoning the dark red ancient mirror once again.
A dark red crystal light shot out from the mirror, striking the purple serpent's head.
With a loud "crack," the purple serpent's head shattered, and its body exploded.
The black-clothed woman's eyes flashed beneath her black veil, and she took advantage of the distraction to make a move. Her body was surrounded by a wave of black light, and she suddenly disappeared without a sound, moving swiftly towards the five-colored small bottle on the ground.
"Don't think you can deceive us with your stealth!" Chi Mèng suddenly turned her head, her hands weaving a spell.
Two of the fire dragons on the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield opened their mouths, spewing out two dragon-shaped flames that shot towards the black-clothed woman. The air around her was incinerated, leaving nothing but a void.
Huò Yuān also raised his hand, pointing at the black-clothed woman's location. Tens of purple lightning flames shot down, striking the spot where she was.
The terrifying lightning laws emanating from the purple flames seemed to be able to tear the heavens apart.
The black-clothed woman's eyes narrowed, and she accelerated towards the five-colored small bottle on the ground.
At the same time, she spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which transformed into a blood-red light that merged with the dark red ancient mirror.
The mirror instantly grew larger, and circular patterns began to spin rapidly on its surface.
A dark red crystal light, ten times brighter than before, shot out from the mirror, enveloping the two dragon-shaped flames and the tens of purple lightning flames.
The crystal light pulsed with a mesmerizing, maze-like pattern, and the dragon-shaped flames and purple lightning flames were momentarily frozen in place before beginning to dissipate.
Perhaps the dragon-shaped flames and purple lightning flames contained too much power, as they dissipated very slowly.
The black-clothed woman's body also froze momentarily, but she took a deep breath and continued to charge forward like a bolt of lightning.
Chi Mèng's face changed, and she shouted angrily, her hands weaving a spell.
The Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield broke free from the purple lightning cloud's restraint, transforming into a red light that shot towards the black-clothed woman.
The nine fire dragons on the shield detached themselves and flew towards the black-clothed woman, spewing out red flames that struck the dark red crystal light.
The temperature in the grand hall surged, as if they had been transported to a sea of molten lava.
Huò Yuān also stopped fighting Chi Mèng and let out a low growl, his hands weaving a spell.
The purple lightning cloud churned and boiled, shooting down towards the ground. The thunderclap was deafening, and hundreds of thick lightning flames rained down, striking the dark red crystal light.
The crystal light pulsed wildly before shattering, transforming into countless sparks that scattered everywhere.
At the same time, the dark red ancient mirror also shattered, splitting into two halves with a loud "crack."
As the ancient mirror shattered, the black-clad woman's face turned red, and she spat out a small mouthful of blood. Her complexion suddenly turned deathly pale, as if the destruction of her life-bound artifact had caused her physical body to suffer.
However, she didn't even glance at the shattered mirror. Instead, she swiftly extended her right hand.
A dark red glow shot out from her palm, and she grasped the five-colored small bottle, holding it tightly in her hand.
Chi Meng and Huo Yuan witnessed this scene, and both of them burst into anger. Their bodies surged with energy, and they simultaneously snapped their fingers.
The nine fire dragons and over a hundred bolts of lightning flashed brightly, their speed increasing exponentially as they descended, encircling the black-clad woman from all sides. A massive pressure descended upon her, and she fell to the ground with a thud, her body "plop" landing on the floor. However, her right hand still clutched the five-colored small bottle tightly.
The three of them had clashed in a complex manner, but in reality, it was all over in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, the pure and refined Pure Jun True Person, Shi Kongmo, Wu Yang, and others, who had been knocked into the walls of the great hall, finally regained their breath and looked towards the five-colored small bottle.
Seeing the black-clad woman in a desperate situation, Wu Yang and Jiao San's faces changed dramatically.
The two of them disregarded their own injuries and transformed into two flashes of light, dashing towards the entrance. They seemed determined to rescue the black-clad woman at all costs.
Unfortunately, they were too far away, and it was already too late.
The black-clad woman's bamboo hat had been blown away, and her face veil had disappeared, revealing a stunning, lively, and beautiful young girl's face.
She struggled to lift her head, gazing towards the terrifying attacks that were flying towards her from all sides. A hint of despair appeared on her face.
But just as she was about to be overwhelmed, the air around her began to fluctuate, and a figure suddenly appeared – it was Han Li.
He swept his sleeve, and a golden glow shot out from his sleeve, flashing towards the black-clad woman's head.
With a "whoosh" sound, the golden glow expanded, transforming into a dense, thick, and solid golden cloud. The golden cloud was filled with countless symbols that danced and emitted a series of melodious, chanting sounds, enveloping Han Li and the black-clad woman within.
"This is...?" Wu Yang saw the golden cloud, and his face changed. He paused momentarily in his flight.
Pure Jun True Person's expression also changed upon witnessing this scene.
The fire dragons and lightning bolts descended like rain, engulfing the golden cloud.
A deafening roar erupted, filled with the sounds of thunder, flames, and dragon roars.
The flames rolled and the lightning flashed, and the air within a radius of several dozen feet shattered, creating a multitude of spatial rifts that crisscrossed and cut through the air. The spiritual energy of the heavens and earth surged violently, as if it was about to collapse.
The entire great hall shook violently, and the ground and surrounding walls glowed with a golden light, as if they were about to collapse under the intense pressure.
After a while, the turbulent flames and lightning finally subsided, and the shattered air quickly mended itself, revealing the scene within.
The golden cloud seemed to have been shaved off by a layer, but it still stood firm, its surface radiating dazzling golden light, without any signs of damage.
Chi Meng and Huo Yuan witnessed this scene, and their faces revealed their incredulity.
Their previous attack had seemed ordinary, but in reality, it was already their full strength. Yet, they hadn't been able to break through the thin layer of golden cloud.
Just then, two sharp, piercing sounds echoed through the air, and two beams of golden light shot out, slashing towards Chi Meng and Huo Yuan.
The two of them changed their expressions, hastily retreating to avoid the golden light's slash.
The golden light didn't pursue them, instead, it immediately retreated, disappearing into Wu Yang's sleeve.
Wu Yang's body moved, landing near the golden cloud.
A series of swift, swooshing sounds followed, as Jiao San, Lu Chuanfeng, and even Shi Kongmo flew towards the golden cloud, gathering around it and protecting it.
The golden cloud fluctuated, and with a "whoosh" sound, it expanded, revealing Han Li and the black-clad woman within.
Han Li waved his hand, retracting the golden cloud, and ignored the others, gazing intently at the black-clad woman.
"Wan'er..." He had always maintained his calm demeanor, but now it had completely disappeared from his face. He had become infatuated, his lips moving slightly as he whispered her name.
This face, which had haunted his dreams for so long, had finally reappeared before him. It seemed that not a single day had passed since their first meeting.
Only, there was a hint of celestial energy, and her beauty was even more enchanting, more heartbreaking.
Han Li's mind was now empty, devoid of any thoughts of cultivation, realms, techniques, or incantations. His eyes only saw the delicate, weak girl before him, and he yearned to hold her in his arms, to protect her. But he feared that if he touched her, she would vanish, leaving him with nothing but a dream.
A previously unknown emotion flooded Han Li's heart, and his mental state reached a new level.
A faint sound echoed, and a certain bottleneck shattered, allowing Han Li's mental state to reach a new realm. Ruxue? You're referring to me? Thank you, sir, for rescuing me, but my name is Rushuang, not Ruxue. The black-clad woman raised an eyebrow and stood up, her expression cold and detached.
As she spoke, she took out a red pill and swallowed it, and a warm glow flashed on her face, restoring some of her vitality.
Rushuang... Han Li's body shook, and his expression returned to normal, but he stood there in a daze.
Han fellow, thank you for saving Rushuang, but how did you end up here? Jiao San asked, his eyes flashing with surprise.
Han Li glanced at Jiao San, but didn't respond, his gaze turning back to the black-clad girl.
The black-clad girl scrunched up her nose and dodged behind Wu Yang, avoiding Han Li's gaze.
Han Li's heart ached, and his eyes turned cold as he looked at Wu Yang, his fists clenched involuntarily.
He and Wan'er had been married for many years, and their hearts were connected, so he couldn't be mistaken. This black-clad girl was definitely his wife, Nangong Wan'er.
Although there were many doubts about this, such as why Nangong Wan'er was here, and how she had become a member of the Wheel of Reincarnation, and how her cultivation had reached the Great Luo Realm, Han Li trusted his instincts.
We're not here to chat, now that we have the item, let's retreat immediately! Wu Yang noticed Han Li's gaze and frowned, then immediately said.
But before he finished speaking, a loud, muffled sound echoed through the hall, and the main gate slammed shut, trapping everyone inside.
The expressions of the people in the hall changed.
Chi Meng, who was closest to the gate, immediately raised her hand and cast a spell.
A sword-shaped flame shot out, carrying the power of the fire law, and struck the gate.
A loud explosion shook the hall, and the flame burst into a red mushroom cloud, which quickly dissipated.
The gate was unscathed, without a single mark.
Chi Meng's face fell.
The gate has been sealed by the ancestor's personal spell, and it will take some time to activate it. But we've made it just in time. A cold laugh echoed from the side, and Chun Jun walked over, his face expressionless, his eyes scanning the crowd.
Yang Junzi and Lei Junzi stood behind him, each holding a golden token, and they were activating the spell.
The tokens emitted a golden glow, which spread outwards, enveloping the entire hall.
A low hum filled the air, and a layer of golden light, like crystal, covered the hall.
Han Li had regained his composure, and his face changed as he looked around.
He had sensed that the hall was surrounded by an invisible force, which had affected the operation of the law.
Wu Yang and the others had been fighting on a small scale, and their cultivation was not commensurate with their Great Luo Realm status. They had only been able to expand their spiritual domain a few dozen feet, probably due to this reason.
Now, the golden light had strengthened this invisible force, making it even harder for them to escape.
Wu Yang and the others looked worried, except for Shi Kongmo, who seemed calm and collected, examining the golden light with interest.
Chun Jun looked at the Wheel of Reincarnation group, his gaze lingering on Han Li for a moment before moving on to Lu Chuanfeng.
Lu Chuanfeng, what benefits did the Wheel of Reincarnation offer you, that you would betray the Heavenly Court and kill the Phoenix Heaven Envoy? Chun Jun's eyes flashed with confusion, and he asked in a deep voice.
I apologize, but I'm not in league with them. I'm actually a member of the Wheel of Reincarnation. Lu Chuanfeng smiled slightly and said.
I didn't expect... The Wheel of Reincarnation's reach is longer than I thought. Since you're a mole, you won't be leaving this place alive today! Chun Jun's expression changed, and he said coldly.
Please, Chun Jun, you're welcome to take my life whenever you want. Lu Chuanfeng laughed and said.
Chun Jun snorted and ignored him, turning his gaze to Chi Meng and Huo Yuan.
Chi Meng, Huo Yuan, you two sneaked into my Nine Yuan Observatory, stealing our treasures. What's the meaning of this? Are you also in league with the Wheel of Reincarnation? Chun Jun's voice was cold and detached.
Please, don't misunderstand, Chun Jun. The Wheel of Reincarnation is evil, and I and Huo Yuan would never collaborate with them. We intervened because we saw the treasure bottle was about to fall into the Wheel of Reincarnation's hands. We didn't mean to steal your observatory's treasures. Chi Meng's eyes sparkled, and she smiled slightly.
"Not bad, I and my friend Chi Meng saw the people from the Wheel of Reincarnation entering the depths of the Nine Yuan Observatory, and out of consideration for the relationship between our two factions, we were worried that they might do something unfavorable to the Nine Yuan Observatory, so we followed them all the way here." Hao Yuan said with a serious expression.
Pure Jun True Person snorted coldly and didn't believe a word of what the two said, but didn't press them further.
Chi Meng and Hao Yuan both had extremely deep backgrounds, and Chi Meng, as a prominent figure in the Heavenly Court, had a powerful backer in the form of the Red Fusion Dao Ancestor, who was known for his short temper. Even if Chi Meng had done something, Pure Jun True Person wouldn't dare to do anything to her, at most just scolding her a few times.
As for Hao Yuan, he was the current master of the Hundred Forge Mountain, and the Hundred Forge Mountain's influence extended to all the major immortal domains in the True Immortal Realm. Although there was no Dao Ancestor backing him, his relationship with the Heavenly Court was extremely close. Over the years, any force that dared to take action against the Hundred Forge Mountain had ended in disaster, and many people considered the Hundred Forge Mountain to be the Heavenly Court's vassal.
The current situation of the Nine Yuan Observatory was delicate, and Pure Jun True Person, as the main person in charge, naturally didn't want to provoke a conflict between the Nine Yuan Observatory and the Hundred Forge Mountain. Moreover, if they were to pressure the two too much, it would be bad if they were to join forces with the Wheel of Reincarnation.
"Alright, since you two are not related to the Wheel of Reincarnation, please step aside and wait for a moment. After we deal with these thieves from the Wheel of Reincarnation, we'll let you leave." Pure Jun True Person said.
Chi Meng and Hao Yuan heard this and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, nodding and floating to the side of the great hall.
Although they both had powerful backgrounds, they were currently within the Nine Yuan Observatory, and their powers were limited. If Pure Jun True Person were to take action against them, they could only surrender.
"Hao Yuan, is that five-colored small bottle the one that was crafted by the previous master of the Hundred Forge Mountain, the Hundred Refine Immortal?" Chi Meng asked in a low voice.
The two stood shoulder to shoulder, their expressions no longer hostile.
"The small bottle indeed has the aura of the Hundred Forge Mountain's refining technique, it should be the one crafted by the Hundred Refine Immortal. However, back then, the Hundred Refine Immortal only crafted the embryo, and it seems that the Nine Yuan Observatory has performed a second refinement, and it's already greatly different from its original appearance, almost unrecognizable." Hao Yuan replied in a low voice.
"This treasure indeed looks extraordinary... In your opinion, Hao Yuan, what does the Nine Yuan Observatory plan to do with this treasure?" Chi Meng asked again.
"Who knows what kind of trick Pure Jun is playing, only by taking this treasure and researching it can we understand what the Nine Yuan Observatory is really up to." Hao Yuan said after a moment of thought.
Chi Meng heard this and turned to look at the people from the Wheel of Reincarnation, her beautiful eyes flashing with thoughts.
Han Li saw Pure Jun True Person easily brush off Chi Meng and Hao Yuan, and secretly thought him to be formidable.
He immediately furrowed his brow, thinking of a plan.
At this moment, if he were to use the Palm of Heaven Bottle to travel through time and space, he would definitely be able to escape, but Nangong Wanyu had completely forgotten about him, and seemed to have a hostile attitude towards him. It was unlikely that she would be willing to leave with him.
With Wu Yang, Jiao San, and others present, it was clear that they wouldn't allow him to forcibly take Nangong Wanyu away.
Han Li's mind was racing with thoughts, and his brow suddenly twitched as he looked at Wu Yang.
Wu Yang's face was cold and stern, but his lips were moving imperceptibly.
And beside him, Jiao San, Lu Chuanfeng, and others were also moving their ears, seemingly discussing something in secret.
Shi Kongmo also looked at them, his eyes focused, clearly participating in the conversation.
Han Li saw this and felt a pang of annoyance.
He was, after all, a member of the Wheel of Reincarnation, and Jiao San, Wu Yang, and others were discussing something without including him, making it clear that they didn't consider him one of their own.
Although he couldn't do anything about it, he couldn't help but feel that since he had joined the organization, he had been manipulated by an invisible hand, making him feel like he couldn't completely cut ties with them.
Especially when he saw Nangong Wanyu appear in front of him, this feeling grew stronger.
It seemed that after this matter was resolved, he would have to investigate thoroughly.
He wasn't someone who liked being controlled, and his own destiny had to be in his own hands.
Pure Jun True Person saw Chi Meng and Hao Yuan retreat to the side, and snorted coldly in his heart, his expression unchanged as he turned to look at Wu Yang and the others.
Just as he was about to say something, the people from the Wheel of Reincarnation suddenly erupted into action.
Shi Kongmo and Lu Chuanfeng transformed into a black and blue light, flying towards the three people.
Shi Kongmo pinched his fingers, and a series of black sword shadows flew out from his fingertips, slashing towards Pure Jun True Person and the others.
Each sword shadow had a black magic eye on it, flashing with black light, looking extremely sinister.
The sword shadows flew out, but not a single sword cry was heard, as if the black swords were not physical.
Lu Chuanfeng spat out a blue light, his hands moving in a wheel-like motion.
A series of five-colored talismans flew out from his hands, striking the blue light in front of him.
The blue light suddenly exploded, transforming into countless thin blue ice needles.
"Go!" Lu Chuanfeng pinched his fingers, shouting loudly.
The blue ice needles shot out like a strong bow, filling the air with a piercing whistling sound, striking Pure Jun True Person and the others with a terrifying force. "Hmph, a desperate struggle!"
Chun Jun Zhenren saw the two's fierce attack, but he didn't flinch, instead, he sneered and rubbed his hands together, and two golden lights flew out from his hands, hitting the walls on either side of the grand hall.
Yang Junzi and Lei Jun Zhenren also quickly activated their tokens, and golden lights shot out from them, merging with the golden lights on the walls.
The layer of golden light inside the grand hall suddenly fluctuated violently, and golden lights shot out from within, instantly blocking the three people and rolling towards Shi Kongmo and Lu Chuanfeng like a wave.
Lu Chuanfeng's ice needles hit the golden lights, but they disappeared without a trace, like a mud cow entering the sea.
Shi Kongmo's black sword shadows had form but no substance, and they broke through several layers of golden light, but they also quickly dimmed.
"Ah, what a powerful Spirit Devouring Seal, it can actually devour the law of the Heart Demon Sword!" Shi Kongmo exclaimed, his face filled with surprise.
At the same time, he changed his hand seals.
The black sword shadows also changed, transforming into thin black threads that pierced through the layers of golden light, continuing to shoot towards Chun Jun Zhenren.
Perhaps due to their smaller size, the black threads pierced through the golden light, although they still dimmed, but at a slower rate, and soon approached Chun Jun Zhenren and the others.
Chun Jun Zhenren and the others quickly retreated, activating the golden lights around them to counterattack.
Lu Chuanfeng waved his hands, and blue lights flashed around him, emitting a cold aura.
"Ka" "Ka" sounds echoed, as large blue ice crystals the size of houses shot out from his hands, emitting a piercing shriek, and crashed into the approaching golden lights.
The golden lights seemed to be slower when devouring the spiritual energy within physical objects, and were immediately pierced by the blue ice crystals, becoming riddled with holes, and unable to approach Shi Kongmo and Lu Chuanfeng.
Jiao San, Wu Yang, and the black-clothed girl turned around and rushed towards a wall of the grand hall at the same time Shi Kongmo and Lu Chuanfeng made their move.
"Brother Han, I have a way to break through this place, please lend me a hand!" Jiao San's voice echoed in Han Li's ear.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and he followed Jiao San and the others, landing in front of the wall of the grand hall.
From afar, Yang Junzi saw this scene, and his face changed, as he pointed at the wall where Han Li and the others were, and activated his seal.
The golden light on the wall suddenly brightened, and a hissing sound accompanied it, as numerous golden lights shot out from within, merging into giant golden tentacles that rolled towards the group.
"We'll block these tentacles and give Jiao San time!" Wu Yang shouted, taking the lead, and a golden greatsword appeared in his hand.
The sword had a pattern of mountains and rivers on one side, and the stars and constellations on the other, and it emitted a brilliant golden light, as if it was extraordinary.
Wu Yang swung his sword, and a hundred-meter-long sword energy shot out, slicing through the tentacles.
The tentacles were flexible and agile, and they quickly wrapped around the sword energy, devouring the spiritual energy within.
The sword energy quickly shrunk, and its light dimmed, and it was eventually absorbed into the golden tentacles.
"Be careful, these tentacles can devour spiritual energy and law!" Wu Yang warned, as he swung his sword again, slicing through more tentacles.
The black-clothed girl and Wu Yang attacked at the same time, and she took out two snake-shaped long knives.
She swung her knives, and curved, dark red lights shot out, slicing through the tentacles, and severing seven or eight of them.
But the golden tentacles were relentless, and they quickly devoured the dark red lights, which contained the law of reincarnation.
Han Li saw this scene, and his hands shook.
His arms glowed with starlight, and his fingers expanded, as he activated his Xuan Qi.
Han Li's arms swelled, and his fingers lengthened, as he shot out a series of white energy blades, slicing through the remaining tentacles.
The tentacles were easily sliced through, and they were swept away, as if they had no resistance.
Han Li saw this and his heart was filled with joy.
The white air blades were formed by his powerful wind fingers, which did not contain any spiritual energy, making it difficult for the golden tentacles to defend against.
The other three people saw this and their faces showed surprise.
Jiao San quickly withdrew her gaze, and with a flick of her hand, a purple circular bead shot out from her sleeve.
The surface of the bead emitted a purple glow, and with a loud whooshing sound, it rapidly expanded, transforming into a grinding disc-sized object that struck the wall.
With a loud "plop" sound, the purple bead burst open, turning into a purple, glue-like substance that stuck to the wall, not falling off, and covering an area of several feet.
Jiao San's face turned solemn, and with a swift motion, she began to seal the purple liquid with a series of hand seals, causing it to squirm and emit purple light.
The golden light on the wall immediately disappeared, being absorbed by the purple liquid, which had a similar effect to the golden tentacles.
Han Li saw this and his heart stirred.
It was clear that this purple liquid also had the ability to absorb spiritual energy.
The purple liquid absorbed the spiritual energy on the wall, rapidly expanding and spreading in all directions, but the center of the wall remained exposed.
This exposed section of the wall no longer showed any signs of spiritual energy, and the originally golden wall had turned a pale purple, with several cracks appearing.
"This is the Poison Ancestor's Absorbing Yuan Poison Bead!" Pure Jun True Person exclaimed in shock from a distance.
"Haha, do you think we entered the Nine Yuan Palace without any preparations?" Lu Chuanfeng laughed loudly.
Yang Junzi and Lei Jun True Person's faces turned solemn, and they exchanged a glance before Yang Junzi's figure flashed towards Jiao San and the others.
"Don't move!" Lu Chuanfeng shouted, his body radiating a brilliant blue light, and with a swift motion, he swung his hands to the left and right.
A loud, muffled sound echoed, and a thick, massive blue ice wall suddenly appeared, dividing the hall into two sections.
The people from the Wheel of Rebirth Hall were on one side of the ice wall, while Pure Jun True Person, Yang Junzi, and Lei Jun True Person, as well as Chi Meng and Huo Yuan, were on the other side.
Lu Chuanfeng's face turned pale, and he seemed to have exhausted a large amount of his yuan energy.
Yang Junzi's momentum was unstoppable, and he crashed into the blue ice wall with a loud "boom" sound.
The blue ice wall didn't budge, and Yang Junzi's attack left no mark on it.
Pure Jun True Person and Lei Jun True Person quickly reacted, using their hand seals to activate the golden light within the hall, which enveloped the blue ice wall and began to absorb its spiritual energy.
However, the blue ice wall was not ordinary, and although its surface blue light began to dissipate, it did so slowly.
The ice wall contained a dense, unparalleled power of ice, making it impossible to penetrate, and the three people from the Nine Yuan Palace were trapped on the other side.
Shi Kongmo and Lu Chuanfeng didn't linger, turning to fly towards Jiao San and the others.
Jiao San continued to manipulate the purple liquid, and with a swift motion, she summoned a golden nail-shaped artifact that appeared in front of her.
The golden nail emitted a brilliant light, rapidly expanding to several feet in length and thickness.
"Go!" Jiao San shouted, and the golden nail shot out, striking the empty space within the purple liquid.
A soft "plop" sound echoed, and the nail sank into the wall, stopping halfway.
The palace was built with the same heavenly gold rock as the Nine Yuan Palace, making it impossible for the purple liquid to penetrate deeper than the surface.
Just then, Wu Yang's figure appeared behind the golden nail, and with a loud shout, he punched the nail's base.
Lu Chuanfeng flew over to replace Wu Yang, defending against the golden tentacles.
A loud explosion echoed, and the golden nail's light flashed wildly, sinking another half-foot into the wall, but still failing to penetrate it.
"How is this possible?" Wu Yang's eyes widened in shock.
"Move!" a voice shouted, and a powerful force sent Wu Yang flying.
Han Li's figure appeared behind the golden nail, his body radiating a brilliant starlight, and with a low growl, he unleashed a massive force that shook the surrounding air.
Chi Meng and Huo Yuan watched from a distance, their faces filled with surprise.
"This is... Han Li!" Chi Meng exclaimed, her expression changing.
Huo Yuan, however, remained calm, having seen this before.
Han Li ignored the others, his eyes fixed on the golden nail, and with a low growl, he concentrated his starlight onto his right hand, striking the nail with a powerful fist.
A brilliant starlight flashed, and Han Li's fist heavily struck the golden nail's base. A loud boom echoed through the air!
The golden nail suddenly sank into the wall, piercing through it with a loud crash.
Han Li let out a loud shout, his other hand swiftly striking the tail of the golden nail.
A loud boom echoed through the air!
The golden nail was sent flying out of the wall, creating a large hole that was several people high.
However, Han Li was also sent flying back by the recoil force, stumbling backward several steps before regaining his footing.
...
At this moment, in a room deep within the Jiuyuan Palace.
The room was not large, and the interior was very simple, with only a few bamboo chairs and a bench, giving off a rustic feel, as if it was a bedroom.
A figure flashed into existence in the room.
The old man in gray robes was thin and frail, with a gaunt face and a slight hunchback, giving off the impression of a simple, elderly man.
The only unusual thing about him was his bright, piercing eyes, which seemed to gleam like an eagle's.
"Hmm, to think that he could break through the wall of the Mingjun Hall," the old man said, his eyebrows twitching with surprise.
"It's almost dark, and the commotion is getting out of hand..." He looked up at the sky, his voice calm and detached.
As soon as he finished speaking, the old man's figure flickered and disappeared into thin air.
...
Inside the grand hall.
"Quickly, let's go!"
Jiao San's eyes widened as he saw the wall being broken through, and he instantly transformed into a dark red light, shooting out of the hall, leaving behind the purple liquid on the wall.
Wu Yang, Lu Chuanfeng, and Shi Kongmo didn't dare to linger, and they quickly followed after him.
The black-clothed girl was standing a distance away from the hole, and she was about to follow Wu Yang and the others when she was suddenly surrounded by a flash of crystal chains, which were the divine chains of the mind.
Han Li stood a short distance away, his hands forming a seal as a crystal light appeared on his forehead, and the divine chains shot out from it.
"What are you doing?" the black-clothed girl shouted in anger.
Jiao San and the others saw this and their expressions changed, their bodies glowing with various colors as they tried to stop, but they were unable to do so.
"Wan'er, I'm sorry, I didn't know what happened to you, but I couldn't let you leave with these people!" Han Li said apologetically, before forming another seal.
Several divine chains shot out, entering the black-clothed girl's mind and forming a mental cage that trapped her spirit.
The black-clothed girl's eyes immediately became dull, and she stopped struggling.
Han Li saw this and was about to pull the black-clothed girl into the flower branch space.
But at this moment, a brilliant crystal light burst forth from the black-clothed girl's body, forming a surging wave of light that rapidly expanded in all directions.
The divine chains that had bound the black-clothed girl were instantly broken, and the mental cage in her mind was shattered.
Han Li's face changed as he saw this, and before he could react, the surging wave of light engulfed him.
A massive force overwhelmed him, and he was sent flying backward, his body like a leaf in the wind, as he spat out blood.
The black-clothed girl regained her freedom, and her expression returned to normal.
The crystal light on her body flashed and disappeared.
"Ru Xue, are you okay?" Jiao San and Wu Yang asked in concern, flying to her side.
But both of them couldn't help but look at her with surprise, as if they were astonished by what had just happened.
"I'm fine," the black-clothed girl said, shaking her head.
"Good, let's go!" Wu Yang said, pulling the black-clothed girl as they flew out of the hall.
Jiao San glanced at Han Li, who had been sent flying, and hesitated for a moment.
But he looked around at the golden tendrils that were flying towards them, and he quickly followed after Wu Yang and the others.
The Pure and True Immortal and the others were frantic, but they were blocked by the blue ice wall and couldn't stop them.
"You think you can just take something from the Jiuyuan Palace and leave?" a voice said, its tone slightly aged, but carrying an unspoken air of authority that echoed through the hall.
As the voice fell, a golden light appeared in the hall, expanding and filling the entire space, trapping everyone inside.
Jiao San, Wu Yang, Shi Kongmo, and even the Pure and True Immortal were all frozen in place, unable to move at all, like flies in amber.
Han Li was also trapped, his heart filled with shock.
He had been injured by the crystal light, but it wasn't too severe, and he quickly tried to use his time laws and physical strength to struggle free.
But the next moment, he felt a massive, unyielding force emanating from the golden light, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move at all.
The others were the same, with only Shi Kongmo's black light flickering weakly, but even he couldn't move, his face showing a rare look of seriousness.
Just as Han Li and the others were being suppressed, a ripple appeared in the golden light, and a gray-robed old man suddenly materialized out of thin air.
"Old Ancestor!" The three Pure Yang True Persons' faces lit up with joy.
Han Li and the others were shocked to hear this, and their hearts were filled with awe.
The person who could be called "Old Ancestor" by the Pure Yang True Person was none other than the legendary Nine Yang Daozu of the entire Nine Yang Palace.
The gray-robed old man ignored the Pure Yang True Person and looked at the black-clothed girl, his hand raised in a casual gesture.
The black-clothed girl's storage ring flashed with light, and the five-colored vial flew out, heading towards the gray-robed old man.
However, just as the vial was halfway there, the air above suddenly split open, and a large, dark red hand shot out, grabbing the vial.
The gray-robed old man's expression remained unchanged, and he waved his sleeve.
The golden light in the hall fluctuated, and a golden hand appeared out of thin air, grabbing towards the dark red hand.
The dark red hand moved, forming a hand seal, and six mysterious incantations appeared in the air, blocking the golden hand for a moment.
"Ah, this is..." The gray-robed old man looked at the incantations, his eyes narrowing.
The dark red hand flashed back, grabbing the black-clothed girl, Jiao San, Wu Yang, Lu Chuanfeng, and Shi Kongmo, and pulling them towards its palm.
The palm of the dark red hand created a whirlpool, sucking the five people in.
The dark red hand then shot out again, heading towards Han Li in the distance.
The gray-robed old man's face finally flashed with anger, and he raised his hand, pulling the air towards him.
A deep, ancient, and mysterious golden iron whip appeared in mid-air, flashing with a whip-like motion, striking the dark red hand.
A loud, muffled sound echoed through the hall.
The dark red hand was struck, shattering into a cloud of dark red light that dispersed into the air.
A faint hum came from the depths of the void, sounding like a mixture of pain and anger.
The dark red light suddenly contracted, disappearing into the void without a trace.
The exchange had been as swift as lightning, and even the Pure Yang True Person's high cultivation couldn't keep up.
As soon as they reacted, everything was already over.
The gray-robed old man's face was slightly solemn as he looked towards the void where the dark red hand had appeared, remaining silent and not pursuing.
After a moment, he retracted his gaze, waving his hand.
The golden light in the hall fluctuated once more, and the blue ice wall shattered.
The golden light flashed, and the Pure Yang True Person, Chi Meng, and the others regained their freedom, except for Han Li, who remained motionless.
"We pay our respects to the Old Ancestor!" The three Pure Yang True Persons bowed, their hands clasped together.
Chi Meng and Huo Yuan, who had been haughty and arrogant earlier, were now filled with trepidation and hastily bowed.
"Pure Yang, I entrusted the Nine Yang Palace to you, and it's been managed into this state?" The gray-robed old man said calmly, his voice not loud but filled with authority and coldness.
"Disciple is guilty! The Wheel of Reincarnation Palace invaded, and disciple failed to detect it early. Please, Old Ancestor, punish us!" Pure Yang True Person's body trembled as he knelt down, his voice shaking.
Yang Zhenzi and Lei Zhenzi also looked frightened and apologized.
"Enough, there are outsiders present, so let's not discuss this now. You three, withdraw and clear out the Wheel of Reincarnation Palace's people from the palace." The gray-robed old man glanced at Chi Meng and Huo Yuan, his voice light but with a hint of displeasure.
"Yes!" The three Pure Yang True Persons nodded, flying out of the hall.
"Chi Meng, Huo Yuan, my Nine Yang Palace's actions were improper, and we were invaded by the Wheel of Reincarnation Palace. You two must have laughed at us." The gray-robed old man turned to Chi Meng and Huo Yuan, a hint of a smile on his face.
"Senior, you're being too polite. The Wheel of Reincarnation Palace is a great enemy that even the entire Heavenly Court must be cautious of. Except for the Middle Earth Immortal Domain, no other immortal domain can withstand them. They launched a surprise attack, and Pure Yang Dao Friend managed to command the Nine Yang Palace's disciples to resist to this extent, which is already remarkable." Chi Meng forced a smile, choosing his words carefully.
Huo Yuan stood beside him, not daring to speak.
"Ah, is that so? In that case, he's not only innocent but also has merit." The gray-robed old man laughed loudly, his voice echoing through the hall like thunder.
The laughter grew louder, shaking the air, and Chi Meng and Huo Yuan's ears were filled with the sound of thunder. Their bodies trembled, and their minds were shaken.
Their faces changed, and their bodies were surrounded by a red glow and purple light as they hastily protected themselves with all their might. However, there was no effect, and their souls' tremors grew even more intense, like a flame in the midst of a fierce wind, on the verge of being extinguished at any moment.
Han Li's body and soul were also violently trembling, but he was unable to use his spiritual energy to protect himself, and his pain was unbearable.
Fortunately, his physical body was incredibly resilient, and his soul was extremely powerful, so he was not in danger of falling just yet.
Just then, a red glow burst forth from Chi Meng's body, instantly enveloping her and Huo Yuan's body.
Chi Meng and Huo Yuan's faces immediately lost their look of pain, and they gasped for breath, their eyes filled with a mixture of shock and fear.
"Nine Yuan Daoist, please calm down," a red-robed old woman's voice rang out, her figure emerging from the red glow.
This old woman had a head of vibrant red hair, which was not inferior to Chi Meng's, but her face was covered in wrinkles, and she held a crane-headed staff in her hand, exuding an aura of weakness. However, her expression was sharp and fierce.
Upon seeing the red-haired old woman, the gray-robed old man's eyes flickered, and the laughter echoing in the hall gradually subsided.
Han Li let out a sigh of relief, but his mind was still on high alert, and he stared at the red-haired old woman in shock.
"Could it be that this old woman is another Daoist ancestor? She seems to have some resemblance to Chi Meng, could she be Chi Rong Daoist?" Han Li's thoughts were racing.
"Chi Rong, you've let your granddaughter trespass on my territory, coveting the treasures of the Nine Yuan Pavilion. Who is behind this?" the gray-robed old man asked coldly.
"It's indeed Chi Rong Daoist..." Han Li's eyes widened as he listened to the old man's words.
"Nine Yuan Daoist, this is all a misunderstanding. Little Meng'er was sent by the Heavenly Court to capture the Jin Xian, and Han Li, we accidentally stumbled upon this place. As for the bottle, it was just a childish curiosity. Nine Yuan Daoist, you wouldn't be so petty as to hold a grudge against a junior, would you?" the red-haired old woman said with a gentle smile.
"A simple curiosity? You think the Nine Yuan Pavilion is a place where anyone can come and go as they please?" the gray-robed old man's expression did not change, his voice still cold.
"This is indeed Little Meng'er's fault. How do you plan to deal with this, Nine Yuan Daoist?" the red-haired old woman asked, her brow furrowed.
The gray-robed old man did not respond, his eyes scanning Chi Meng and Huo Yuan.
Two golden lights shot out from his eyes, striking Chi Meng and Huo Yuan with incredible speed.
"Stop!" the red-haired old woman shouted, her staff striking out and hitting the golden light aimed at Chi Meng.
A faint sound echoed, and the golden light pierced through the staff, but its intensity was greatly reduced. It still flashed into Chi Meng's forehead, and she let out a pained cry.
The other golden light struck Huo Yuan's forehead, and he was unable to react in time.
His body trembled, and his entire body was enveloped in a brilliant golden light. The next moment, his head exploded, and his headless corpse fell to the ground.
The red-haired old woman waved her hand, and a red crystal light enveloped Chi Meng's body, reducing her cries of pain.
"You!" the red-haired old woman's face turned pale, and she glared at the gray-robed old man, her eyes flashing with a venomous light.
"I'll spare your granddaughter this time, but if she dares to cause trouble in the Nine Yuan Pavilion again, she won't be so lucky. Farewell!" the gray-robed old man sneered, and with a wave of his sleeve, a golden light enveloped Chi Meng and Huo Yuan's corpse.
In an instant, they disappeared, as if they had been transported away.
Han Li, who had witnessed the entire scene, was shocked and amazed.
This gray-robed old man seemed gentle, but his actions were ruthless. He didn't even give face to Chi Rong Daoist, and his treatment of Chi Meng was harsh.
Han Li's thoughts were racing, thinking of how to escape, but he was unable to move.
At this moment, the Nine Yuan Pavilion's old master walked towards him, his hands behind his back, and his eyes fixed on Han Li.
Han Li met his gaze, and suddenly felt like he was staring into two deep, bottomless wells, with a moonlit glow that seemed to be reflected within, but without any ripples.
The old man didn't speak, but instead walked around Han Li, as if carefully examining him.
Han Li felt a chill run down his spine, as if the old man's gaze could see through all his secrets.
Fortunately, the old man soon looked away, and with a wave of his hand, a dense golden light enveloped the entire hall, forming a golden barrier that trapped Han Li.
Han Li's eyes widened in shock, and he realized that he had never seen a spiritual domain like this before, one that could exert such immense pressure on him.
The surrounding scenery was no longer visible, and the entire space had transformed into a massive golden sphere, with a golden light that seemed to be poured into it, completely sealing off the area.
Han Li soon discovered that his connection to the outside world had been severed, and even his connection to Jin Tong and Qi Hun, as well as the Qing Zhu Sword, had been cut off by this spiritual domain.
As for the unreliable bottle spirit, he was even more impossible to contact, and Han Li's hope of relying on him to escape through the small bottle was now lost.
Han Li's thoughts were a jumble of shock and fear, and he wondered how he would be able to escape this place.
Han Li's eyes widened as he saw the old man's sudden movement. Before he could even finish speaking, the old man had already reached out and grabbed at his chest.
A golden thread appeared out of thin air, wrapping around Han Li's chest and pulling out the small, emerald-green bottle that he had been keeping hidden. The bottle was then pulled into the old man's hand.
Han Li's body trembled, and his mind was shaken to its core.
Besides himself, no one knew what the bottle meant to him.
From his first encounter with the Seven Mysteries Gate, to his subsequent adventures across the Three Realms, his journey as a cultivator had been marked by the bottle's presence. It could be said that without the bottle, there would be no Han Li today. Even back then, he might not have been able to escape the clutches of the infamous Mo Daifu.
But now, facing the old man, Han Li felt like a child standing before a mountain, unable to even muster the slightest resistance.
Although he had cultivated both body and spirit, and had grasped the Time Laws, allowing him to hold his own against opponents a small realm above him, he was no match for the old man, who was a full major realm above him. The old man was a Dao Ancestor, a top-tier expert in the True Immortal Realm, and even the powerful figures in the Heavenly Court would have to show him deference.
All Han Li could do was stare at the old man, and the small bottle in his hand.
The old man's face was as calm as a still pond, his hand grasping the small bottle as he gently stroked the leaf patterns on its surface. It was as if he had been reunited with a long-lost treasured item, and was reluctant to let it go.
After a moment, the old man's expression changed, but only for an instant before returning to normal.
Han Li noticed the subtle change in the old man's expression, and his heart stirred with a faint sense of unease. He wondered if the old man was communicating with the bottle spirit within the bottle.
After another moment, the old man sighed and looked at Han Li once more.
With a mere flick of his wrist, the old man dispelled the restrictive bindings that had been holding Han Li in place.
Han Li felt a surge of relief, but he dared not move, instead watching the old man with a mixture of fear and trepidation.
But then, the old man did something that left Han Li stunned.
He raised his hand, and with a gentle toss, returned the small bottle to Han Li.
Han Li was taken aback, and his instincts kicked in as he caught the bottle. He looked at the old man with a mixture of confusion and suspicion.
"This bottle will only become more troublesome in the future," the old man said, his voice calm and measured. "Perhaps losing it in the past was not a misfortune, and gaining it back today is not a blessing. We of the Nine Yuan Observatory cannot accept this treasure, so if you wish to keep it, then keep it..."
Han Li's face contorted in confusion, but he did not hesitate, instead carefully putting the bottle back around his neck and hiding it beneath his robes.
Han Li was left feeling bewildered, his mind reeling with questions. But he knew better than to ask, and instead said, "From your words, I take it that you do not intend to kill me?"
"Today, you may leave the Nine Yuan Observatory unharmed, and for a time, you will not be pursued by our cultivators. However, you are still a remnant of the Wheel of Reincarnation, and a name on the Heavenly Court's list of those to be executed. If you set foot in the Golden Source Realm again, you will be walking into a death trap," the old man said, his eyes glinting with a hint of warning.
Han Li knew that he should not press the issue, but he couldn't help asking, "May I ask, why are you showing me mercy?"
The old man's expression turned wistful, and he said, "Some things are destined by the workings of fate, and even the passage of time cannot change them. Since the Heavenly Dao has brought you before me, it is only fitting that I repay the debt of gratitude that I owe you, and settle this matter once and for all."
Han Li's confusion deepened, and he asked, "You mean to say that you owe me a debt of gratitude?"
As far as Han Li knew, he had no prior connection with the old man, and their realms were as different as heaven and earth. How could he possibly have done something to earn the old man's gratitude?
"You are not yet at a level where you can understand the workings of fate," the old man said, his voice tinged with a hint of sadness. "Suffice it to say that I have repaid the debt, and the connection between us has been severed."
Han Li's mind was reeling, but he asked, "You mean to say that in a past life, someone did something to earn your gratitude, and now that person's soul has reincarnated into me?"
The old man's expression turned strange, and he seemed taken aback by Han Li's question.
"Release the Devouring Gold Immortal," he said, his voice abrupt. "I have something to say to her."
Han Li was taken aback by the sudden change in topic, but he hesitated for only a moment before complying with the old man's request.
After all, the old man had promised not to harm him, and it was unlikely that he would harm the Devouring Gold Immortal either. Han Li decided to play along and see what the old man had in mind. A golden light burst forth, and a slender, golden-haired girl suddenly appeared beside Han Li.
"Uncle, what's going on up ahead... Ah, old man, how did you...?" she exclaimed, her eyes flashing with surprise.
"It's been a while, and you've grown so much," the old man said with a smile, seemingly also surprised.
"Uncle, this is the old man I was telling you about, the one who's been kind to me," Jintong said, looking at Han Li with a smile.
"Jintong, don't be rude, he's the elder of the Ninth Heaven Sect," Han Li hastily reminded him, fearing that Jintong's words might stir up trouble.
"Jintong, I think we have a good affinity, and I'm willing to break the rules to take you in as a disciple, a closed-door disciple, are you willing to stay at the Ninth Heaven Sect?" the old man said, seemingly unconcerned.
Han Li's expression changed once again as he listened to the old man's words, and he realized what the old man's intention was.
Just as he was about to warn Jintong, he heard her say nonchalantly:
"No! I've just escaped from that broken place, Ghost Valley, and I don't plan on staying in this broken place again."
"This time it's different, it's not being a prisoner, but being my closed-door disciple, with a generation and rank equal to Chunjun, what do you think?" the old man asked again, his expression unchanged.
Han Li's eyes widened as he listened to the old man's words, and he looked at Jintong with a hesitant gaze.
"I still won't stay, although I think you're all right, and we get along well, but I already have a master, and I don't plan on following anyone else," Jintong said without hesitation.
"Very well, I won't force you. This golden pellet is a gift, a token of my appreciation," the old man said, taking out a golden pellet the size of a dragon's eye and tossing it to Jintong.
"Thank you, you're a good person, I won't be polite," Jintong said with a smile, accepting the pellet.
Han Li felt a sense of speechlessness as he listened to Jintong's words, wondering who else in the True Immortal Realm would dare to speak to the elder of the Ninth Heaven Sect in such a manner. If the master of the Hundred Refinement Mountain knew, he would probably be furious.
"Alright, you can leave now," the old man said with a smile, glancing at Han Li before waving his hand.
A metal disk flew out and landed on the ground, emitting a dazzling silver light.
As the light faded, a spatial ripple spread out, and a silver light gate appeared above the disk.
Beyond the gate lay a vast, blue sea.
"Let's go," Han Li said, beckoning Jintong to follow him as he walked towards the gate.
As they reached the entrance, Han Li felt a sudden jolt, and his mind flashed back to a distant memory. He turned back to ask:
"Senior, may I ask, what is your name?"
"My name? It's been a long time since anyone has called me that... My name is Li Yuanjiu," the old man replied after a moment of hesitation.
Han Li felt as though he had been struck by lightning, and his body froze in place.
But before he could react, the old man waved his sleeve, and a whirlwind swept Han Li and Jintong into the gate.
As they emerged on the other side, Han Li heard the old man's warning:
"Leave quickly, and don't set foot in the Ninth Heaven Sect's territory again. Take care of yourself."
The silver light gate closed behind them, and Han Li found himself standing on the blue sea.
"Uncle, what now? Where do we go?" Jintong asked, looking around.
But Han Li didn't respond, still in a daze. Jintong turned to him, concerned, and saw that Han Li was still in a state of shock.
In reality, Han Li's mind was filled with the name "Li Yuanjiu".
He remembered that, when he had accidentally entered the body of an old Daoist named Lingyunzi, he had met a disciple named Li Yuanjiu. Han Li had even transmitted the "Brahma True Demon Technique" and the "Supporting Heaven Demon Technique" to him.
Han Li wondered if Li Yuanjiu's mention of "karmic debt" was related to this. But then he thought it unlikely, as Li Yuanjiu's cultivation level at the time wouldn't have allowed him to discover the soul transfer.
Just then, Han Li recalled that Li Yuanjiu had mentioned two words: "wheel of reincarnation".
Regarding the Cycle of Rebirth, since it can be mentioned alongside Time and Space as the three supreme laws, it is the most fundamental and mysterious rule of this realm.
It can be said that the three thousand great paths and the myriad things in the world are all interdependent with these three supreme laws, having a complex relationship.
Rebirth has always been a mysterious and obscure matter, involving the concept of reincarnation and the transmigration of souls.
However, cultivators who pursue the Great Path of Longevity naturally hope to escape the cycle of rebirth, while ordinary people who have not achieved true immortality will inevitably fall into the cycle of rebirth after death.
As for what happens after entering the cycle of rebirth, it seems that no one can truly explain it.
Han Li speculated that perhaps it was because he had left behind his divine soul energy or something else when he planted the two techniques in Li Yuanji's Sea of Knowledge, and now Li Yuanji had discovered it and mistakenly believed that he was the reincarnation of Lingyunzi.
Li Yuanji, who was now a respected Dao Ancestor, was revered by even the Heavenly Court, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia for his former mentor, which was why he had brought up this matter.
Han Li's narrow escape from death today could be said to be a result of fate.
"Hey, uncle, what's wrong with you? Where are we going next?" Jin Tong tugged on Han Li's arm, shaking him out of his reverie.
Han Li came back to his senses, looked around, and saw only the endless ocean.
He then took out the jade slip that Lan Yuan had given him, which recorded the map of the Jiuyuan Temple, and examined it carefully.
"It seems that we are no longer in the territory of the Jiuyuan Temple. To be safe, let's leave the Dajin Yuan Xian Domain as soon as possible." Han Li said after a moment.
He then chose a direction and led Jin Tong away at a rapid pace.
...
Time passed, and several months had gone by.
In a strange, grayish space, a beautiful woman in a blue long dress was floating in mid-air, following a dark red river that flowed upwards towards its source.
This woman was none other than Jiaosan, who had escaped from the chaos at the Jiuyuan Temple.
This was her first time entering this strange space with her physical body, and she was constantly being suppressed by the strange heavenly laws, only daring to use her full strength to operate the Cycle of Rebirth.
As she flew over the dark red river, she saw five other rivers flowing alongside it, each with its own unique color and scenery, and she didn't dare to look at them too closely.
After flying for hundreds of miles, Jiaosan finally saw the crystal stone arch bridge that stood at the source of the six rivers.
Unlike the last time she had transmitted her divine soul into this place, the black-clad woman was no longer on the riverbank below the bridge, only the Wheel of Rebirth's master, who was sitting on the bridge, still wearing his large hat and thick cloak.
Today, he was still in the same posture as before, hunched over, holding the bamboo fishing rod with white speckles, and a dark red crystal thread hanging from the rod, swaying gently in the water.
"Greetings, master."
Jiaosan landed on the bridge, bowed, and greeted the master.
"You've made it here with your physical body, and you're still calm and composed. Your cultivation and state of mind must have improved again. However, there's a faint dark mark between your eyebrows, indicating that you've been injured. Why didn't you wait until your injuries healed before coming?" The master asked without turning around.
"I've only suffered a minor injury, and it's already healed," Jiaosan replied.
"A small leak can sink a great ship. Don't underestimate the Jiuyuan Temple's methods. That faint injury is not as simple as it seems," the master said, still not turning around.
As soon as he finished speaking, he lifted his fishing rod, and the dark red crystal thread shot out, making a soft "popping" sound.
On the end of the thread was a dark red crystal fish, which shot out of the water and flew towards Jiaosan's forehead.
Jiaosan's body swayed slightly, as if she was about to dodge, but she quickly regained her balance and allowed the crystal fish to fly into her forehead, disappearing into her skin.
A red glow erupted from her forehead, and a layer of red light spread out, illuminating her face.
Jiaosan's face turned bright red, and the red crystal thread could be seen moving under her skin, glowing with a soft light. After a dozen breaths, the red glow gradually dissipated, and the strange aura on her face finally disappeared.
"Thank you, Lord," Jiao San immediately bowed down, her face filled with joy.
At the same time, the dark, dull mark between her eyebrows had completely disappeared, and all the injuries on her body had been wiped clean. Moreover, the ten or so spiritual apertures on her body had all been fully connected in just a short dozen breaths.
"How did it go?" The Lord of the Reincarnation Hall finally asked.
"We got it," Jiao San replied concisely.
She knew that the Lord only cared about this one thing, and wouldn't bother with the details of their losses.
As soon as she finished speaking, Jiao San's wrist turned, and a colorful light burst forth from her palm. The small, five-colored bottle appeared, emitting a strong spiritual energy wave.
The Lord of the Reincarnation Hall sensed the energy wave coming from behind him, and turned his wrist to put away his fishing rod. He stood up, and to Jiao San's surprise, he appeared to be quite tall and majestic, despite his previously hunched posture. However, when he turned around, his wide, conical hat still covered his face, making it impossible to see his features.
With a casual wave of his hand, the five-colored bottle flew out of Jiao San's hand and into his.
Jiao San stood solemnly to the side, waiting for the Lord's instructions.
"Ha ha..." The Lord examined the bottle for a moment before bursting into laughter.
"Lord, why are you laughing?" Jiao San asked, puzzled.
"You were tricked by Li Yuanji," the Lord said, chuckling. "The thing you brought back is just a fake."
Jiao San's expression turned ugly as she took the bottle back. "Lord, I...I apologize..."
The Lord waved his hand, and Jiao San fell to her knees. "This isn't your fault. I didn't tell you what you were looking for beforehand. This five-colored bottle is a high-quality imitation of the Heavenly Vessel Bottle, made with the finest materials and craftsmanship. It's comparable to a second-grade immortal artifact. You were deceived, and it's understandable."
Jiao San didn't get up, still bowing. "Please give us another chance, Lord. I'll bring back the real thing this time."
The Lord shook his head. "The commotion you caused this time is too great. Not only will the Jiu Yuan Palace be thoroughly investigated, but the entire Jin Yuan Immortal Domain will be cleared out. Moreover, Li Yuanji personally appeared, and you managed to return almost unscathed. This represents his attitude towards us, and we can't ignore it."
Jiao San's eyes widened in surprise. "Lord, you're saying that we were able to escape because Li Yuanji intentionally let us go? Why would he do that, given the relationship between the Jiu Yuan Palace and the Heavenly Court?"
The Lord thought for a moment before responding. "I can think of two reasons. One is that he wants us to know that the Jiu Yuan Palace doesn't want to clash with us. The other is that he wants to prove his innocence through this opportunity."
Jiao San's eyes lit up with understanding. "The Heavenly Court sent the Feng Tian Immortal Envoy to investigate the Jiu Yuan Palace, and we killed him. The thing they created was stolen from us, and now the Heavenly Court won't suspect them."
The Lord smiled. "Li Yuanji is very good at hiding his tracks. The Heavenly Vessel Bottle was a treasured artifact that many top powers coveted, but it was lost and never found. Now, they've created a fake five-colored bottle, and it seems reasonable. However, the Heavenly Court won't be easily fooled."
Jiao San hesitated before asking, "Lord, what did the Jiu Yuan Palace create that made the Heavenly Court so cautious?"
The Lord just smiled and shook his head, saying nothing.
Jiao San didn't press the issue, remaining silent.
After a while, the Lord spoke up. "From now on, don't reveal any information about what we obtained. Stop all activities in the Jin Yuan Immortal Domain, and create a bigger commotion in the neighboring domains."
Jiao San's eyes flashed with a hint of confusion.
The Lord continued, "As long as we don't spread any news about what we obtained, the Heavenly Court can only make wild guesses. The more they suspect, the greater the rift between them and the Jiu Yuan Palace will grow."
Jiao San's expression changed, and she responded, "I understand, Lord."
The Lord nodded. "Remember, a seed of suspicion will take root and grow, becoming a good thing for us. We don't have much time left, and there are other things we need to do."
The Lord gazed out at the distant river, his eyes lost in thought.
The Chu Yu Xian Domain and the Jin Yuan Xian Domain were adjacent to each other, and were a small domain that was half the size of the Bei Han Xian Domain. However, due to its unique location, it was under the influence of the great Jin Yuan Xian Domain, and thus appeared to be prosperous and thriving.
However, the size of the domain determined the abundance of its resources, and even with close trade and exchange with other domains, the domain was unable to nurture large or medium-sized cultivation sects. Among them, the strongest was the Chu Yu Xian Palace.
As for the mountain, it was referring to the largest cultivation power in the Chu Yu Xian Domain, Ti Hu Shan.
Speaking of Ti Hu Shan, it was a rather interesting sect, its power was slightly stronger than that of the Zhu Long Dao in its heyday. Except for the old ancestors and the current master of the mountain, who were all Tai Yi realm cultivators, the rest were all Jin Xian cultivators.
This sect did not excel in cultivation techniques or alchemy, but was passionate about brewing various heavenly wines.
Their brewed heavenly wine was mostly beneficial for nourishing the spirit and body, and a small portion of special wine was also effective in helping cultivators deal with the five declines of heaven and man. As a result, it was highly sought after by many cultivators in the heavenly realm.
However, if that was the case, this wine would only have been able to attract the attention of cultivators below the Tai Yi realm. In reality, many Tai Yi and even Da Luo realm cultivators were also very fond of Ti Hu Shan's heavenly wine.
The reason was that Ti Hu Shan had taken the brewing of heavenly wine to an extreme.
The sect's location was also very distinctive, with the main peak being called Yu Hu Peak, which resembled a jade bottle. According to legend, there was a wine cellar beneath the peak, storing various types of heavenly wine brewed over the generations.
This wine cellar was a natural underground cave, and once it was opened, it was set as a forbidden area by the sect. Except for the master and the ancestors, as well as a few core elders, no one else was allowed to enter.
However, in the depths of the wine cellar, a hidden chamber had been opened up, with multiple layers of formations laid out to conceal all the unusual auras within.
At this moment, in a hidden chamber within the wine cellar, a young man sat cross-legged on a stone bed, his face covered with a black mask, his hands forming a seal, and his mouth murmuring incantations.
However, what he was murmuring was not a cultivation technique or incantation, but rather words of doubt and complaint.
After a moment, he seemed to be rather disappointed, and finally let out a long sigh, dispelled the seal, and removed the mask from his face, revealing a rather ordinary face, which was none other than Han Li.
At this time, a small white figure that had been waiting by the side hurriedly walked forward and asked:
"Master, how is it? Have you made contact?"
"No, I don't know what's going on with Jiao San, I've tried contacting her multiple times over the past few months, but I haven't received any response." Han Li shook his head and said.
"Could it be that she didn't escape, and was caught by the Jiuyuan Observatory?" The small white figure scratched its head and asked.
Han Li simply shook his head and didn't speak, as he had personally seen Jiao San and the others escape, and Li Yuan had not been able to catch them.
And he had tried to contact Jiao San in order to gather information about Nan Gong Wan, but for some reason, Jiao San had not responded.
"By the way, where did Jin Tong go?" Han Li scanned the surroundings, his brow furrowed in concern, and asked.
"Old big brother is bored, and probably went to steal wine again. Speaking of which, the wine here is really tempting." The small white figure looked around, and its mouth began to water.
Han Li heard this and couldn't help but rub his temples, feeling both a headache and a sense of helplessness.
Ti Hu Shan didn't have any other skills, but its brewing techniques were far superior to those of Hu Yan Dao. They used various heavenly vegetables and spirit fruits to brew over a hundred different types of heavenly wine, and even created a special wine called "Wu Mei Niang" specifically for female cultivators.
This "Wu Mei Niang" did not have the same intense wine aroma as other heavenly wines, but its clear color and sweet taste made it popular among female cultivators.
Jin Tong had discovered this wine after arriving at Ti Hu Shan, and had fallen in love with it after trying it.
As the two were speaking, a figure with a faintly floating aura walked in from outside, carrying a large black ceramic jar that was emitting a unique fragrance that combined the scent of wine and fruit.
"Uncle, I'm back..." Jin Tong's face was slightly flushed, and she sat down beside Han Li, hugging the wine jar.
"Didn't I tell you not to steal wine again?" Han Li's face turned stern, and he scolded.
"This wine is mine, I didn't steal it! Look, it's got my name on it..." Jin Tong argued, holding up the wine jar.
Han Li saw the two clumsy characters written on the jar, and his expression turned even more stern. "This is not a joke? If we're seen by the people of Ti Hu Shan, our tracks will be exposed." Han Li's face turned stern, and he scolded.
Being scolded by Han Li, Jin Tong suddenly shivered, and the wine's effects on her body immediately dissipated.
"Even if we're exposed, it's not like we can stay here forever, it's so boring." She pouted, and her anger was also evident.
Han Li saw this and couldn't help but relax his expression, sighing, "I know you don't want to stay here, but you saw it earlier, the people of Lun Hui Dian caused a commotion in the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain, and the surrounding small Xian Domains were all in an uproar. We just arrived at the Chu Yu Xian Domain, and the Tian Ting's monitoring Xian messenger followed us. If we don't hide here and wait for the storm to pass, once we go out, we'll be surrounded, and it'll be hard to escape."
"Hmph, if you want me to wait patiently, then don't stop me from drinking." Jin Tong coldly snorted, and said with a hint of anger.
Han Li saw this and sighed, just about to speak when his expression suddenly changed.
The next moment, a white light pillar burst through the top of the cave, directly penetrating the roof.
"Rumble rumble"
The entire Jade Hu peak shook violently, and a massive crater several thousand feet in diameter appeared on the eastern side of the mountain. The white light pillar that had burst through the roof filled the crater.
The white light pillar was surrounded by five figures floating in mid-air. The person in the center had purple skin, a solemn expression, and two thick eyebrows that flew into his temples, inspiring awe in those who saw him. He was quite tall, wearing a half-body golden scale armor, and looked like a ancient war god, with a majestic aura.
As for his aura, it was even more unfathomable, and he was clearly a late-stage Da Luo realm cultivator.
On his left and right stood a man and a woman, the man looked like he was in his eighties, with a face full of wrinkles, but his eyes shone with a golden light. The woman was younger, but her features were not outstanding, and her serious expression made her look even more unlikable.
These two wore the attire of Tian Ting's monitoring Xian messengers, standing beside the scale-armored man, and their expressions were somewhat constrained, revealing the man's immense prestige.
Behind the three, stood a thin, red-nosed old man, and a middle-aged man in golden robes, their auras were far inferior to the three.
The thin old man had a flustered expression, and his eyes would occasionally glance at the crater below the light pillar, filled with a pained expression. The middle-aged man in golden robes looked around, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
They were the old ancestor of Ti Hu Shan, and the palace master of the Chu Yu Xian Palace, who should have been in control of their own territory, but in front of these three, they didn't dare to make a move.
Behind them, hundreds of feet away, stood thousands of people, mostly local cultivators from the Chu Yu Xian Domain, and Ti Hu Shan's elder disciples.
Above them, ten Tian Ting cultivators wearing the attire of monitoring Xian messengers stood in the air, each holding a spell seal, and collectively controlling a silver mirror in the center.
The mirror emitted a dazzling white light, piercing through the Jade Hu peak.
"Yue Qing, according to my subordinate's view, the ones hiding in Ti Hu Shan are probably just a few insignificant rodents, not someone like Lu Chuan Feng or Tian Xing Zun. You don't need to personally come." The female monitoring Xian messenger said, looking at the scale-armored man.
The scale-armored man's eyes narrowed, and a flash of killing intent appeared, "Lu Chuan Feng has hidden so deeply, this time killing Feng Tian Xian messenger, causing our Tian Ting to lose face, and forcing me to come out of seclusion to take over the Da Jin Yuan Xian Palace. Whoever is hiding here, as long as they're remnants of the Lun Hui Dian, they will be thoroughly eradicated."
This Yue Qing, the scale-armored man, was originally a high-ranking official of Tian Ting, with immense power and authority. This time, the Da Jin Yuan Xian Domain's incident had gotten out of hand, and he was dispatched by Tian Ting to take control of the Da Jin Yuan Xian Palace.
Of course, the reason for dispatching him was not only to quickly quell the nearby Xian Domains' uprisings but also to secretly monitor and restrain the Jiu Yuan Guan.
As they spoke, the silver mirror in the air suddenly displayed a circular symbol, and the light pillar began to slowly retract, pulling back into the mirror.
Soon, three figures were pulled out of the ground, bound by the white light.
In the light, Han Li didn't wear his mask, as he had Jin Tong and Xiao Bai by his side, and his identity couldn't be hidden.
When the Tian Ting cultivators saw Han Li's face, they were first shocked, and then overjoyed.
"Is that really Han Li?"
The other monitoring Xian messenger's face lit up with a smile, and the wrinkles on his forehead smoothed out.
"Po Feng, Wu Hui, is this really Han Li?" Yue Qing asked, his eyebrows raised.
"Yes, it's him. Previously, Chi Meng sent back messages, emphasizing the need to deploy heavy troops to surround and capture him, and it was precisely this person." The female monitoring Xian messenger, Po Feng, hastily replied.
It seems that my intuition was correct, this place is indeed worth my personal visit. Yu Qing looked Han Li up and down, his gaze sweeping over Jin Tong and Xiao Bai, and he felt an increasing sense of excitement.
Others may be able to see through Jin Tong's identity, but they cannot recognize Xiao Bai's true form. However, Yu Qing quickly discovered the anomaly.
Perhaps, Xiao Bai is the big fish in his eyes.
The silver circular mirror released a white radiance, containing a powerful spatial law that suppressed Han Li and the others. They felt an overwhelming pressure, as if a mountain was crushing them, and they were unable to move.
"That person's cultivation realm is far beyond my expectations, we cannot match him. I will think of a way to break the seal, Jin Tong, you take Xiao Bai and escape separately. That Da Luo later-stage cultivator will definitely chase me, if you have the opportunity to escape, return to the Barbarian Realm and wait for me at the Eight Desolations Mountain." Han Li swept his gaze around, transmitting his voice to Jin Tong and Xiao Bai.
"Uncle, I want to stay with you, we can't defeat these people." Jin Tong quickly replied.
"Big brother, I also want to go with you." Xiao Bai also exclaimed.
"When White Ze previously agreed to let you follow me, one of the conditions was that I had to guarantee your safety. If you were to get into trouble, wouldn't I be breaking my promise to him?" Han Li's tone became heavier, transmitting his voice.
"But..."
Xiao Bai wanted to speak, but Han Li continued, "You don't have to worry, as long as you escape, I will definitely find a way to escape."
As soon as he finished speaking, Han Li closed his eyes, and the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Technique" began to operate silently within him.
However, just as his body was about to stir up a wave of spiritual energy, Yu Qing, the newly appointed Palace Master of the Golden Source Heavenly Palace, sneered and said:
"Haha, you're really not seeing the coffin without shedding tears."
The next instant, the silver circular mirror's light flickered, and a loud "rumble" of thunder sounded.
The ring-shaped symbol on the mirror's surface suddenly changed, and a lightning symbol appeared, followed by several thick, purple lightning bolts that shot out from the mirror, striking Han Li and the others.
"Crackle"
The purple lightning bolts surrounded Han Li and the others, filling the entire area with countless tiny electrical sparks. Han Li and the others were unable to avoid it.
At this moment, Jin Tong suddenly flew up, his arms waving, and two thin, crystal-like wings appeared behind him, shining with a transparent light. The wings were formed by his own law, and they hovered above the three of them.
Most of the lightning bolts were blocked by the wings, causing a dazzling display of golden-purple light. The remaining lightning bolts that passed through were no longer a threat.
No one noticed that Han Li's figure had disappeared in an instant.
By the time Yu Qing discovered it, Han Li had already appeared below the silver circular mirror, holding a green bamboo sword, Qingyun, surrounded by golden lightning. He struck the mirror's surface with a powerful blow.
However, almost simultaneously, the silver mirror's surface changed again, releasing a blue radiance that contained a powerful water attribute law.
Han Li's sword struck the mirror's surface, but it was like hitting a vast ocean. Although it created a massive wave, it was eventually dispersed by the residual ripples.
However, Han Li's sword had been imbued with his full strength, causing the mirror's surface to shudder violently. The mirror's interior was also affected, with a powerful shockwave that struck the surrounding ten Heavenly Palace guards.
The guards were mostly at the Taiyi initial stage, with stable cultivation foundations. However, they were still shaken by the impact, stumbling and struggling to maintain their balance.
But with the mirror's assistance, they were able to withstand Han Li's attack.
Just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, a burst of golden lightning exploded from Han Li's sword, releasing a series of powerful golden lightning balls that struck the silver circular mirror.
Thick, golden lightning bolts shot out from the mirror, transforming into lightning whips that swept across the area.
The ten Heavenly Palace guards were unable to dodge, and they were struck by the lightning, crying out in pain as they fell to the ground.
The silver circular mirror, no longer being controlled, shook violently, its light extinguished, and it fell to the ground.
Han Li didn't even bother to catch the mirror, shouting in his mind: "Now, let's go!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he shot upwards, heading towards the highest point in the sky. Jin Tong and Xiao Bai followed, flying in a different direction.
However, just as they were about to escape, a figure appeared in the sky, raising a foot to stomp down on the ground.
"Where are you going?" Yu Qing's voice thundered, his foot already stomping down on the void.
A deafening explosion shook the heavens, and the void trembled violently. Han Li felt a powerful pressure descending from the sky, forcing him to plummet downwards and crash back onto the surface of the Jade Vase Peak.
The entire peak shook violently, as if it had been struck by an earthquake. The local cultivators and disciples of the Ti Hu Mountain, who were gathered around the peak, were affected by the aftershocks and fell from the sky like dumplings.
The elderly ancestor of the Ti Hu Mountain, who was quite perceptive, had already retreated a thousand feet away with the palace master of the Chu Yu Xian Palace. Although he was able to maintain his balance, he was clearly pained by the sight of the smoke and dust rising from the Jade Vase Peak.
The grand hall at the summit of the Jade Vase Peak had been completely destroyed. Han Li stood amidst the ruins, looking up to see that the Golden Boy and the White Child had been intercepted by the two Celestial Enforcers. Not a single one of them had managed to escape.
Just then, Yue Qing's figure descended from the sky and landed not far from Han Li.
Without employing any divine abilities, Yue Qing's physical body alone was enough to cause the entire Jade Vase Peak to tremble violently.
This scene made Han Li's heart tighten.
"Your Profound Body is quite impressive," Yue Qing said, his eyes scanning Han Li from head to toe.
"Thank you, seniors," Han Li replied humbly.
"But I wonder if it can withstand a test?" Yue Qing sneered, stomping his foot once more.
The entire Jade Vase Peak shook violently, and a layer of yellow dust erupted, spreading outwards and enveloping half of the Ti Hu Mountain.
Han Li, who was within the affected area, felt as if the surrounding space was being covered by a dense, earth-attribute law. The dust that had fallen on him became incredibly heavy, causing his feet to sink into the ground.
"Ah, the Celestial Enforcers are fighting, and we're caught in the crossfire... Never mind, let's leave!"
The elderly ancestor of the Ti Hu Mountain sighed, knowing that their ancestral foundation was doomed. He led his disciples and elders in retreating from the sect, followed by the cultivators of the Chu Yu Xian Palace.
In an instant, the only ones left in the Ti Hu Mountain were Han Li and the cultivators of the Jin Yuan Xian Palace.
However, the ten Celestial Enforcers had already retreated to a distance of a thousand miles, no longer participating in the battle. They had handed the battlefield over to Yue Qing and the two Celestial Enforcers.
Han Li's gaze shifted slightly, glancing at the other side of the battlefield. He saw that the Golden Boy was fighting against an old man named Wu Hui, exchanging blows in a fierce battle. The outcome was still uncertain, while the White Child was struggling against a woman.
Han Li's current cultivation had improved significantly, but it was mainly due to the power of his bloodline. He lacked experience in actual combat, and his strength was only at six-tenths of its potential.
"You're worrying about others in the midst of battle?" A mocking voice sounded.
Han Li knew he was in trouble. A golden glow erupted from his body, forming a time domain that enveloped the entire Jade Vase Peak.
However, before his time domain could take effect, a figure appeared behind him, its hand pressing down on his shoulder.
Han Li felt as if a mountain was crushing him, his bones cracking like exploding beans. He gritted his teeth, his body sinking into the ground.
At the same time, the ground beneath him lit up with a yellow glow, and a powerful suction force emerged, pulling him downwards.
Han Li's heart tightened, and he let out a loud shout. His body's Tian Xia Town Prison technique activated, and his acupoints lit up with starlight. He burst out of the ground, his arms shaking with power.
The yellow glow enveloping the ground shattered, and Han Li's figure emerged, his sword flashing as he struck back at Yue Qing.
Yue Qing sneered, his fingers dancing in the air as he conjured a yellow energy that clashed with Han Li's sword.
The energy ripped through Han Li's sword, and Yue Qing's palm flashed with a blue light, summoning a massive sword with golden runes etched onto its surface.
The sword was enormous, with a presence that felt like a mountain range. Yue Qing swung it in a wide arc, and the sword sliced through the air, heading straight for Han Li.
As the sword descended, the surrounding space was filled with an intense, suffocating pressure that seemed to crush Han Li in place.
Han Li's body felt heavy, as if he was being pressed down by a mountain. He couldn't dodge, only able to endure the attack.
He switched to a two-handed grip on his sword, holding it horizontally above his head. His body began to glow with a golden light as his Tian Xia Town Prison technique and his True Spirit Bloodline activated.
Just as he was about to transform into a three-headed, six-armed demon, the massive sword came crashing down, its power like a mountain range.
A sharp, piercing sound echoed through the air!
A yellow sword light burst forth from the giant sword, transforming into two sword auras that shot upwards and downwards.
In the high sky, a deafening boom resounded, and the clouds were split in two by the ascending sword aura, surging outwards in all directions, leaving a gaping chasm in the middle that seemed to have cleaved the entire sky in two.
At the same time, the other sword aura pierced downwards, splitting the entire Jade Vase Peak in two, leaving a deep, bottomless chasm in its wake.
Han Li's figure landed at the bottom of the chasm, tumbling into the underground wine cellar.
The countless years' worth of immortal wine stored within the Ti Hu Mountain were shattered, releasing a rich, intoxicating aroma that wafted up from the depths of the earth, making the entire Jade Vase Peak resemble a shattered wine bottle.
Han Li lay amidst the broken wine jars, his body soaked in wine, his arms splayed out on the ground.
He struggled to sit up, feeling a sense of despair in his heart. With his current strength, he was no match for Yue Qing's power, and even if he wanted to escape, it was likely a futile effort.
He had just tried to contact the Bottle Spirit through his divine sense, but as before, he received no response.
Just then, a powerful, oppressive feeling emanated from the high sky, as a yellow glow enveloped the entire heavens.
Han Li, still in the depths of the chasm, looked up to see a massive yellow cloud vortex swirling above, with flashes of lightning illuminating its center and the sound of muffled thunder rumbling through the air.
Next, he waved his hand, and thirty-six green bamboo swords flew out, encircling him.
A thunderclap boomed from the high sky, as if the entire heavens had been shattered.
The yellow cloud vortex above suddenly split open, and a massive yellow light pillar burst forth, striking down towards Han Li.
Han Li gritted his teeth, his hands forming a sword seal, as the thirty-six green bamboo swords surrounding him emitted a loud "clang" sound, forming a protective barrier around him.
"Condense!"
As he spoke, the green bamboo swords shone brightly, releasing countless golden threads that coalesced into a massive golden dragon, charging upwards towards the high sky.
Han Li was enveloped by the golden dragon's body, surrounded by sword light and sword aura, as he collided with the yellow light pillar.
A series of deafening booms echoed through the air, as the yellow light pillar was dispersed by the golden dragon's impact, its light fading away.
Han Li's figure also rose upwards, bursting out of the chasm and back into the high sky.
He looked up to see Yue Qing standing on the clouds, his giant sword at the ready, gazing down at him with an expressionless face.
On the other side, Jintong had transformed into a giant golden beetle, but was trapped by Wu Nai's silver threads, unable to escape.
Meanwhile, Xiaobai, seemingly having adapted to his bloodline's power, was fighting with renewed ferocity, devouring the wind blades sent by Pofeng's immortal soldier and spitting them back out.
They seemed to be safe for the moment, but Han Li's situation was the most dire.
Yue Qing was a late-stage Da Luo cultivator, a being who had transcended the bounds of mortality, and with Han Li's current strength, he was no match for him.
Han Li's eyes hesitated for a moment, and he let out a silent sigh. Even if he could summon the Bottle Spirit to travel through time and space, he couldn't just abandon Jintong and Xiaobai.
Since escape was impossible, and evasion was futile, he had no choice but to fight to the death.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he snapped his fingers, unleashing a torrent of temporal energy from his body.
The surrounding void responded, and the shattered Jade Vase Peak suddenly transformed, as a lush, verdant mountain range materialized, with a winding river flowing through its center.
Yue Qing stood on the clouds, gazing at the scene before him, a hint of surprise flickering across his face.
"You've cultivated for a relatively short period, yet you've reached the early stages of Da Luo, and your spiritual domain has already attained a heavenly aura?" Yue Qing's brow furrowed, his voice tinged with curiosity.
It was no wonder he was surprised, as cultivating and refining one's spiritual domain were both time-consuming and laborious processes, and it was rare for someone to achieve such a feat, especially someone as young as Han Li.
Just then, a bright, silvery light emerged from the clouds behind Yue Qing, coalescing into a shining, crystalline orb that floated in mid-air.
The silver light emanating from the orb enveloped Yue Qing's entire body, and the air around him seemed to freeze, as if time itself had been halted.
Yue Qing's face turned pale, and he felt a sense of suffocation, as if the very air around him had ceased to flow. Han Li's thoughts seemed to slow down as he realized his mistake. He quickly guarded his spiritual sense and secretly activated his cultivation technique, causing a yellowish-brown light to appear on his chest. His body's scales shone brightly, emitting a strong aura that clashed with the surrounding silver light.
Although he couldn't break free immediately, his thoughts were no longer hindered. Seizing the opportunity, Han Li formed a hand seal and tapped his foot, creating a massive sword energy that lifted him into the air. He faced off against Yue Qing from a distance.
As he hovered in mid-air, Han Li changed his hand seal again, causing a loud, resonant sound to echo through the air. The thirty-six bamboo swords surrounding him dispersed, forming a battle array around his body.
A burst of electrical energy erupted, and the swords pointed towards the sky, unleashing thirty-six massive golden lightning bolts that shot up towards the heavens. The lightning bolts merged with the cloud sea beneath Han Li, causing it to boil and churn like a cauldron.
The cloud sea's turmoil was accompanied by flashes of lightning, as if a dragon was stirring within. The air around Han Li transformed, with clouds gathering and swirling towards him, forming a massive golden lightning cloud that rivalled Yue Qing's yellow cloud.
Within the golden lightning cloud, two massive golden pillars emerged, surrounded by a half-hidden golden gate. Han Li stood outside the gate, bathed in golden lightning, his hands still holding the sword seal.
"Open!"
With a loud roar, Han Li's hands suddenly merged, and the golden gate behind him trembled, opening a small gap. A vast, boundless golden lightning sea was revealed, with golden light surging and fluctuating like waves.
Unlike the previous time, when the heavenly gate opened and a torrent of lightning poured out, this time only small, fist-sized golden lightning orbs emerged from the sea. They floated towards Han Li, entering his palms and disappearing.
As more lightning orbs entered his palms, Han Li's aura began to surge, and his brow furrowed in pain. Yue Qing, however, looked puzzled, recognizing Han Li's sword array but unsure of its true nature.
Suddenly, Yue Qing's eyes flashed with a strange sensation, and he let out a loud roar. His body's scales shimmered, and golden inscriptions appeared, charging towards the surrounding silver light and forcing it back.
Yue Qing then grasped his sword hilt, his movements slow due to the time law's influence. He took a step forward, assuming a bow-like stance as he faced Han Li.
The massive broadsword was dragged alongside him, its surface inscriptions glowing as seven mountain peak patterns emerged, surrounded by clouds and mist.
As Yue Qing's aura stabilized, the yellow cloud around him began to shrink, condensing into a massive, earthy-yellow cloud peak behind him. The atmosphere was tense, with both sides poised for a decisive blow.
Han Li's eyes flashed with golden light, his gaze cold and detached. Finally, he turned his clasped hands, and the suppressed golden lightning in his palms burst forth, forming a golden lightning sword that extended from his hands.
"Slash!"
Han Li's voice echoed through the air as he swung his arms, unleashing a powerful slash that tore through the void, striking towards Yue Qing.
Yue Qing responded by raising his massive sword, its surface inscriptions glowing as it challenged Han Li's attack. The air was filled with the sound of crashing mountains as the two attacks collided.
A series of massive, illusory mountain peaks materialized, each one shattering as it clashed with Han Li's golden lightning sword. The fifth peak was cleaved in two, while the sixth peak was only partially split. The seventh peak, however, successfully halted the golden lightning sword, causing it to shatter and dissipate.
The outcome of the battle hung in the balance, with both sides waiting for the next move.
Outside the Heaven's Gate, Han Li let out a miserable cry, his entire body flying backward and heavily colliding with the Heaven's Gate before crashing down.
His hands, which were grasping the sword, had already lost all their flesh and blood, transforming into a pair of white, bony claws that looked extremely terrifying.
On the other side, Yue Qing's arms sank, and he withdrew the massive sword.
The seven mountain symbols on the sword's body had five of them become blurry and unclear, leaving only two intact.
"With the Heaven-Piercing Sword Array in your hands, you're able to unleash such power, I must say I'm impressed," Yue Qing's eyebrows furrowed, his gaze on Han Li no longer held the previous scorn, but instead, a hint of admiration.
"This sword array is the pinnacle of the world, and I've only unleashed a fraction of its power. If I had unleashed more, you wouldn't be standing there, speaking such words of praise," Han Li spat out a mouthful of blood, struggling to stand up.
White smoke emerged from his bony hands, and his flesh began to regenerate.
Yue Qing heard this and didn't immediately attack, instead, he looked at Han Li with a strange expression, seemingly surprised that Han Li would say such a thing.
"It's not that I'm boasting, but if you had been controlled for a bit longer, allowing me to gather more power, that previous strike would have been unstoppable," Han Li swung his hand, putting away the exhausted Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword, saying it in a seemingly casual tone.
The golden thunderclouds and the majestic golden Heaven's Gate in the sky dissipated along with it.
"Ha ha, I was just praising you, but you're boasting instead. That previous sword strike should have been your trump card, yet you still refuse to surrender. What are you waiting for?" Yue Qing sneered, saying.
Han Li looked at his restored hands, a smile appearing on his face, "That's not necessarily true, I still have one more sword. I wonder if you dare to receive it?"
Yue Qing heard this and furrowed his eyebrows, about to speak, but his expression suddenly changed, his gaze shifting to the surroundings.
Han Li's spiritual domain still hadn't dissipated, and the silver moon remained suspended above him, the time law fluctuations in the surrounding void still clear.
"I didn't expect your half-baked Heaven Person realm spiritual domain to have such troublesome power. However, this slight increase in power is nothing to me. Even if my cultivation were to regress by a hundred million years, you would still not be my match," Yue Qing's gaze condensed, his voice cold.
"Ultimately, you've discovered it, I had hoped to delay for a bit longer, but it seems that's not possible," Han Li sighed, saying.
"Enough, no more idle chatter. If you don't surrender, I'll no longer hold back, and your life will be forfeit," Yue Qing had indeed not intended to kill Han Li earlier, but rather, he wanted to capture him alive.
"I'd like to see you receive one more sword strike before I surrender," Han Li's mouth curled into a smile, saying.
As he spoke, the ruined Jade Vase Peak below suddenly lit up with a golden glow, thirty-six golden lightning columns shot up, and a new thundercloud formed, the majestic Heaven's Gate reappearing.
Yue Qing saw this and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.
Han Li had left behind thirty-six Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords in the ruins of Jade Vase Peak when he was first struck down by Yue Qing, and he had set up a second Heaven-Piercing Sword Array using another thirty-six flying swords.
He had originally planned to activate the second sword array immediately after the first one's power was exhausted, catching Yue Qing off guard and heavily injuring him. However, Yue Qing's power was too great, and his powerful counterattack had caused Han Li to miss the opportunity.
Just now, after his hands had recovered, Han Li had secretly activated the second sword array.
Han Li stood outside the golden Heaven's Gate, his hands clasped together, raised above his head.
The Heaven's Gate behind him let out a thunderous roar, slowly opening inward, and the golden thunder sea above began to release golden lightning balls that flew towards Han Li's palms.
Seeing Han Li reuse his old trick, Yue Qing's face darkened, a hint of anger flashing in his eyes.
Although he had spoken lightly earlier, Yue Qing was indeed concerned about Han Li's Heaven-Piercing Sword Array. After all, judging from the previous sword strike, if Han Li's body could withstand it, and he was allowed to continue absorbing the lightning power from the thunder sea, he would indeed be able to threaten Yue Qing.
Now, he wouldn't give Han Li that chance.
"You refuse to accept my offer, so you'll have to accept the punishment."
Yue Qing snorted, his hands gripping the massive sword, his feet stepping on the void, his body suddenly shooting out, charging towards Han Li.
Han Li's eyes flashed, his mind moving.
The void responded with a series of "隆隆" sounds, as golden fireballs descended from the nine heavens, like a meteor shower, pouring down on Yue Qing.
A loud crash echoed.
Yue Qing swung his sword, splitting a fireball in two, but immediately, a third and fourth fireball descended.
The fireballs' power was limited, almost unable to withstand Yue Qing's single sword strike, but their numbers were vast, each carrying the Years God Lamp's fierce flames and the Time Severing Fire's time law fluctuations.
After cutting down dozens of fireballs, Yue Qing suddenly found his sword speed slowing down, as if he was once again bound by the True Speech Treasure Wheel. He didn't know that the sparks from the shattered Flowing Flame had fallen onto his body, imbuing him with the power of the Time Law, which had accumulated to a certain extent, causing his movements to slow down.
Han Li's hands were already radiating dazzling golden light, and his eyes were surrounded by electric threads. His entire body was covered in sparks of electricity.
But he knew that this power was still far from enough.
Han Li's thoughts stirred, and the Golden Heavenly Gate behind him opened another fraction, releasing a surge of golden lightning from within. The golden lightning balls flew out, condensing into his palm.
"Ah..."
He let out a pained cry, and his eyelids and ears began to crack open, revealing a network of bloody cracks. Golden electric light could be seen emanating from within.
Gold Boy and Xiao Bai turned to look at him, shocked.
"Uncle, you can't keep going on like this, your body can't take it..." Gold Boy shouted.
Xiao Bai didn't have time to say anything before being suppressed by Po Feng again.
Wu Hui, who had been suppressed by Gold Boy, let out a laugh and attacked Gold Boy again.
"Not enough, I need more..." Han Li gritted his teeth, his mind roaring with madness.
A thousand feet away, Yue Qing's speed had slowed, but he was still closing in on Han Li. He noticed that Han Li's body was already accumulating a massive amount of lightning power.
"Enough, boy, it's time to stop." Yue Qing suddenly stopped his advance, his voice booming with a killing intent.
As he spoke, he raised his hand, and a massive grey mountain peak appeared in the air, blocking the falling Flowing Flame.
At the same time, his sword flashed, and a wave of yellow energy shot out, creating a ripple effect that distorted the air.
The sword's energy was so powerful that it created a visible distortion in the air, causing the space around Han Li to ripple and distort.
Han Li's accumulated lightning power was still not enough, and he could only smile wryly and prepare to change his stance.
Just as he was about to do so, a golden talisman shot out from the distance, colliding with Yue Qing's sword energy and causing a massive explosion.
A blast of golden light erupted, releasing a powerful and savage energy that shattered Yue Qing's sword energy and pushed him back.
The shockwave from the explosion destroyed the surrounding landscape, including the Jade Vase Peak, leaving behind a desolate wasteland.
"You're indeed a true spirit of the Barbarian Realm!" Yue Qing exclaimed, his eyes fixed on Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai didn't respond, but his heart was filled with disappointment.
The golden talisman that White Ze had given him, which contained 30% of his power, had failed to harm Yue Qing.
On the other hand, Po Feng was shocked by the explosion and realized that if the talisman had been used on her, she would have been killed instantly.
Han Li, who had been caught off guard by the explosion, stumbled backward, his face and arms covered in cracks. Golden electricity could be seen flowing through his body.
However, his hands remained in their original position, still holding the Heavenly Sword Array.
His eyes were blurry, and his mind was in a state of confusion.
"You can't hold on, can you? Release me, and I'll help you kill him. Hehe..." a sinister voice whispered in his mind.
Han Li knew it was the Evil Corpse speaking, but he didn't respond.
His body was numb, and the golden lightning from the Heavenly Gate was spreading throughout his body, threatening to explode at any moment.
Yue Qing noticed Han Li's state and sneered, deciding to wait for him to self-destruct rather than attacking him directly.
Han Li's body was on the verge of collapse, and his lightning power was on the brink of exploding. If he continued, his body would be torn apart by the golden lightning.
Yue Qing seemed to be waiting for Han Li to explode, his eyes fixed on him with a cold smile.
“Haha, don’t struggle anymore, it’s better to let me go and try my luck, at least... your two little followers will have a chance to survive.” The evil corpse persuaded again.
Han Li’s mind was wavering, hesitant and indecisive, but time was running out.
As he looked at his body, which was already at its limit, he gritted his teeth and made a bold move, and the thought of releasing the seal on the evil corpse’s body made the chains that bound him “clang” and break open.
“Haha, this is more like it...” The evil corpse laughed wildly.
But his laughter was cut short, as Han Li had not completely released his seal, but only removed half of the chains.
“Borrowing power doesn’t mean you have to use it all.” Han Li sneered.
“You...” The evil corpse suddenly became enraged.
As half of the chains were removed, Han Li’s body, which was on the verge of collapse, suddenly regained control, and a surge of energy burst forth from his body.
He turned his hands, and the lightning gold light in his hands recondensed, emitting a terrifying aura.
Yue Qing saw this sudden turn of events and was shocked, unable to understand how Han Li had done it, and could only quickly pinch a spell to retract his spiritual domain back into his body, and a thick, boundless aura erupted from his body.
He raised his giant sword, and with one hand, he drew a spell on the sword, infusing it with a dense, earth-attribute law energy, and the seven mountain symbols reappeared on the sword.
Yue Qing let out a loud shout, and with a swift motion, he swung his sword at Han Li.
In the void, a massive sword light split the sky, and seven majestic mountain peaks appeared, each with a giant symbol etched into it, surrounded by a yellow cloud, exuding a powerful, suppressing aura.
But just as Yue Qing was about to strike, Han Li’s hands suddenly changed, and he grasped a bow instead of a sword, and a golden bow made of lightning appeared in his hands, with a golden arrow nocked and ready to fire.
A loud, piercing sound echoed through the air.
In an instant, the golden arrow pierced the first mountain peak.
Then, the second, third... the golden arrow seemed to pass through the mountains as if they were nothing, and it came to Yue Qing’s front.
Yue Qing, as a late-stage Da Luo cultivator, was caught off guard, but his reaction was swift.
He raised his giant sword to block the arrow, and then dodged to the side, avoiding the vital spot.
“Boom, boom, boom...”
The arrow’s momentum was too great, and as it pierced the sword, the sound of the mountain peaks exploding echoed through the air, and the sound of the arrow piercing Yue Qing’s left chest was drowned out.
Yue Qing was blown back thousands of feet, and his body crashed into the ground like a meteorite.
The ground shook, and a massive crater was formed, with Yue Qing’s body at the center.
Han Li’s situation was not much better, his body was charred, his seven orifices were bleeding, and his eyes had turned a darker shade of black, and he stumbled and fell from the sky.
The thirty-six bamboo swords flew towards him, using their last bit of energy to catch him and bring him to the ground.
Wu Nai and Po Feng saw this and their faces changed, clearly not expecting Yue Qing, a late-stage Da Luo cultivator, to be defeated by Han Li, who was two realms lower.
Their morale was severely dampened.
Jin Tong and Xiao Bai saw this and quickly took advantage of the situation, pushing Wu Nai and Po Feng back, and rushed towards Han Li.
The two of them did not continue to fight, and instead, they immediately chased after Yue Qing.
“Uncle...” Jin Tong helped Han Li up, and said with a furrowed brow.
Han Li was weak, and his spiritual sea was turbulent, but he managed to take out a pill and tried to swallow it, but it was too difficult.
Xiao Bai saw this and quickly took the pill from Han Li and fed it to him.
“Let’s go, quickly, let’s leave this place.” Han Li said, after swallowing the pill.
Jin Tong did not say anything, and immediately put Han Li on his shoulder, and was about to leave.
“Where are you going?” A voice filled with anger echoed from the distance.
Han Li looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a tall figure slowly flying towards him.
The figure was holding a giant sword, and the sword had a fist-sized hole in it, and it looked like it had lost its spiritual energy.
The figure’s body was covered in scales, and its chest was exposed, with a massive spiral wound, and golden blood was flowing from it, and the surrounding area was charred and blackened.
“Late-stage Da Luo cultivators are indeed formidable.” Han Li said, looking at Yue Qing, who was approaching them.
“Puny early-stage Da Luo cultivator, you are the first and only one to heavily injure me, I will not let you go until I have crushed you to dust.” Yue Qing said, his teeth clenched in anger.
Jin Tong saw this and his face turned serious, and he put Han Li down, and stood in front of him and Xiao Bai.
“Big brother...” Xiao Bai said, looking at Jin Tong’s back.
“Are late-stage Da Luo cultivators really that powerful?” Just as they were about to leave, a cold and detached voice suddenly echoed through the air, as if it came from the heavens and reverberated throughout the entire Ti Hu Mountain.
"Who is it?" Yue Qing stopped in her tracks, looking up at the sky with a hint of caution.
The next instant, the clear blue sky suddenly darkened, as if night had fallen in an instant.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he looked up, and he saw a gigantic figure descending from the depths of the sky. The figure grew smaller and smaller, until it finally transformed into a tall, burly man clad in a cloak.
His face was angular, with a thick grey beard and sunken eyes that seemed to hold a deep sense of weariness. But despite his rugged appearance, he was none other than Yue Mian, one of the Eight True Spirit Kings.
"Uncle Yue, why have you come?" Xiao Bai exclaimed in surprise.
Jin Tong, on the other hand, looked at Yue Mian with a mixture of awe and reverence.
"Hmph, if I hadn't come, you would have been killed by Han Li here," Yue Mian said with a hint of displeasure, glancing at Han Li.
Jin Tong's expression changed, and he looked at Yue Mian with a hint of anger.
"It's not Han Li's fault, Uncle Yue," Xiao Bai quickly explained. "I was the one who insisted on coming."
"This can be discussed later," Yue Mian said with a wave of his hand, turning to face Yue Qing and the others.
"I didn't expect to see you again, Yue Mian," Yue Qing said, her eyes filled with surprise. "It seems that this young man's identity is indeed extraordinary..."
Yue Mian's response was brief and to the point. "Leave now, before I take action."
Yue Qing, who was already heavily injured, knew better than to provoke a True Spirit King. She left behind a parting remark, "Don't forget the lessons of the past, Yue Mian," before flying away with Wu and Jin.
"Thank you, Uncle Yue," Han Li said, bowing his head in gratitude.
Yue Mian nodded, his expression softening. "Rest for a while longer. With me here, no one will dare to disturb you."
Han Li nodded, sitting back down to meditate. He had suffered greatly in the previous battle, and the seal on his body had been partially broken. He knew that he had to be careful, as the time for him to make his move was drawing near.
"I arrived early to escort you, but I didn't expect to sense that you had used the golden talisman given to you by Bai Ze," Yue Mian said, looking at Xiao Bai. "I had to hurry to catch up with you."
"Uncle Yue, you were worried that I wouldn't return on time, weren't you?" Xiao Bai asked.
Yue Mian didn't respond, but his expression spoke volumes.
"Don't worry, Uncle Yue. This time, I've seen the difference between my cultivation and others. I'll return and focus on my training, and I won't come out again until I've fully inherited my father's power," Xiao Bai said, his eyes shining with determination.
Yue Mian nodded, a hint of a smile on his face. "You've made some progress, indeed."
Jin Tong, who had been watching from the side, couldn't help but smile as well.
After about an hour, Han Li finally finished his meditation and opened his eyes.
Yue Mian bid him farewell, preparing to leave with Xiao Bai.
"Uncle Yue, wait," Han Li said suddenly.
"What is it?" Yue Mian asked, turning to face him.
"Since you're returning to Ba Huang Mountain, may I ask if I can come with you?" Han Li asked, bowing his head.
Yue Mian's expression changed, and he looked at Han Li with surprise. "You want to go to Ba Huang Mountain as well?"
Han Li nodded. "Yes, if it's not too much trouble."
Yue Mian's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. "Very well. Let's go."
With a wave of his hand, a burst of blue wind erupted, and Han Li's body was lifted off the ground. He felt a strange sensation, as if he was being pulled through space and time.
Before he could react, he found himself sitting on the back of a gigantic blue bird. The bird's body was enormous, blocking out the sky and casting a shadow over the land.
Han Li's eyes widened as he looked around, taking in the breathtaking sight.
Yue Mian had transformed into his true form, the majestic You Tian Kun Peng.
Compared to the bird, Han Li felt like a tiny, insignificant speck.
Xiao Bai sat beside him, his face filled with a mix of shock, excitement, and awe.
"I... I never knew that Uncle Yue was so powerful," Xiao Bai stammered.
Han Li couldn't help but feel a sense of reverence as he looked at Yue Mian. He had never seen anything like this before.
The blue bird spread its wings, and Han Li felt a rush of wind as they took to the skies.
Yue Mian transformed into a massive blue bird, spreading its wings to carry Han Li, Jin Tong, and Xiao Bai high into the air. In the blink of an eye, they pierced through the layers of cloud, but didn't stop, continuing to ascend.
The surrounding space's spiritual energy rapidly thinned, and the sky gradually became clearer.
"Hold on," Yue Mian's voice came, as two claws extended.
Innumerable blue talismans shot out, transforming into streams of blue energy that surrounded them.
The blue bird's speed increased a hundredfold, and everything around them became a blur.
Han Li's body shook, almost being flung out, and he hastily activated his cultivation technique to stick to the blue bird.
The surroundings rapidly changed, and after a moment, the blue bird seemed to break through a boundary, entering a unique space.
The surroundings were a deep blue, pure and clean, without a single cloud or speck of dust, yet exuding an ancient, desolate atmosphere.
However, there was no spiritual energy in this place, nor any other energy, only endless emptiness.
Han Li gazed upon this scene, feeling a sense of wonder.
He had never flown so high before, and he realized that this was the sight that awaited him after piercing through the clouds.
"What is this place...I've never been here before," Jin Tong muttered, looking around.
"This is the Qing Ming Domain," Xiao Bai's voice suddenly came from beside him.
"Qing Ming Domain?" Han Li was taken aback.
"I saw it in my father's memories," Xiao Bai continued. "In the high skies of the True Immortal Realm, there are three major regions. This is the Qing Ming Domain, the closest to the ground. Beyond the Qing Ming Domain lies the Tian Feng Domain, and beyond that is the Tian Wai Domain, also known as the Tian Wai Virtual Void."
"Qing Ming Domain, Tian Feng Domain, Tian Wai Domain..." Han Li murmured.
"These three regions are extremely high and filled with danger," Xiao Bai said. "For example, the Qing Ming Domain lacks even a hint of spiritual energy, and staying here for too long will harm a cultivator's body. Ordinary cultivators rarely come here, so there's little record of it in the classics."
Han Li nodded, understanding.
Actually, with his cultivation, coming to the Qing Ming Domain wasn't difficult, but he had been busy cultivating and evading the Heavenly Court's pursuit, so he hadn't had the chance to explore the outer space.
Jin Tong's brow furrowed, seemingly uncomfortable with the environment.
"Jin Tong, are you okay?" Han Li asked.
"I'm fine," Jin Tong replied. "As a Xiong Jin Xian, I devour all things to live, and this place lacks even a hint of spiritual energy, making me feel uneasy."
"Then you should rest in the Flower Petal Space," Han Li said.
Seeing Jin Tong nod, Han Li waved his hand and pulled him into the Flower Petal Space.
The blue bird continued to fly towards the high skies, its speed unchanged.
The Qing Ming Domain was enormous, and even with the blue bird's speed, it took a small half-hour to reach the end.
Ahead, the void began to shake, and a gray-black storm erupted, with wave after wave of wind sweeping past, emitting a deafening howl.
"Could this be the Tian Feng Domain?" Han Li's eyes narrowed, murmuring.
"Most likely," Xiao Bai said. "The Tian Feng Domain is filled with the Nine Heavens' Gale, extremely dangerous, but compared to the Tian Wai Virtual Void, it's nothing."
He hadn't finished speaking when the blue bird charged into the Nine Heavens' Gale without hesitation.
The surrounding gray-black storm surged, emitting a deafening roar, and even Han Li felt his ears ache, as if they were being pierced. He hastily activated his time law to protect his eardrums.
Xiao Bai's body also radiated a layer of white light, shielding himself.
The gray-black storm raged, and the blue bird flew steadily, its speed unchanged, as it pierced through the Nine Heavens' Gale.
Han Li initially felt some concern, but seeing the blue bird's stability, he relaxed, observing the surroundings.
These gray-black storms were unlike any wind he had seen before, filled with boundless power, as if they could tear apart anything.
Within the gray-black storms, he occasionally saw fine black lines, which would tear through the void, creating fissures.
However, those black lines were easily repelled by the blue bird's body.
Xiao Bai's eyes suddenly lit up, and he raised his hand.
A white light shot out from his body, and a white cloth bag appeared, which was the life-bound artifact his father had given him.
The bag expanded tenfold, its opening radiating a white glow, emitting a massive suction force. Within a thousand-mile radius, the nine-heavenly wind gale flew in like a whale sucking in water, instantly entering the white cloth bag.
Those fine black lines also followed the surrounding nine-heavenly wind gale, entering the white cloth bag.
The white cloth bag absorbed the nine-heavenly wind gale, but did not stop, continuing to fly towards other places, as if it was a devouring beast, leaving nothing but empty space in its wake.
"What do you want to do with these nine-heavenly wind gales?" Han Li asked.
"I'm not looking for ordinary nine-heavenly wind gales, but those fine black lines, which are the Black Clay Wind, a product of the nine-heavenly wind gale's power condensed over millions of years. I remembered a secret technique from my father's memories, which can be used to refine a Wind-Breaking Pearl using those Black Clay Winds. Its power is immense, even a Da Luo cultivator cannot withstand it. It's rare to come to this Tian Feng domain, so I'm taking this opportunity to collect some and try refining it." Xiao Bai smiled and said, then used his fingers to control the white cloth bag, continuously collecting the Black Clay Winds.
Han Li nodded slightly, his eyes fixed on the white cloth bag, a strange glint in his eyes.
When Xiao Bai first took out the white cloth bag, Han Li had subconsciously released a strand of his divine sense to investigate, but it was instantly swallowed by the white cloth bag and extinguished.
This bag was unassuming, but it seemed to contain some extraordinary power. This was just the result of Xiao Bai's casual control, and Han Li wondered what kind of power it would unleash if truly activated.
As the blue giant bird flapped its wings and flew swiftly, it soon reached the end of the Tian Feng domain.
It stretched out its claws and grasped the air, creating a massive spatial rift. The giant bird flew into it, and Han Li's vision blurred.
When his vision cleared, he found himself in a black space filled with countless meteorites of varying sizes. Some were as small as houses, while others were enormous, their edges invisible to the naked eye. They were all moving in irregular patterns, colliding with each other and producing deafening crashes.
Some of the meteorites emitted dull, five-colored lights, while others shone with various colors, illuminating the black space.
A blue ice crystal storm suddenly swept in from the distance, stretching 100,000 miles, like a gigantic blue dragon. It emitted a terrifying cold aura.
The smaller meteorites were instantly frozen and shattered by the storm, which then swept them away. The larger meteorites were also covered in a thick layer of blue ice.
As the blue storm passed, a massive purple cloud appeared, enveloping the space. The cloud flashed with purple lightning, shattering the frozen meteorites.
The cloud dissipated, and a massive black whirlpool suddenly appeared in the void, spinning rapidly.
Everything near the whirlpool was drawn in, consumed by its power.
However, the whirlpool vanished as quickly as it appeared, leaving no trace.
"Outer Void!" Han Li exclaimed, standing up.
This black space gave him a sense of boundless infinity. His Nine Yin Demon Eyes could see through everything, but here, they couldn't see very far. His divine sense was also limited, unable to spread as easily as it did on the ground.
Han Li could vaguely sense that there was a power in this space that was billions of times stronger than the rotation of the sun and moon, slowly operating.
"The Outer Void is fraught with danger, but it also contains infinite treasures. With your cultivation, you've barely qualified to come here. You can come here to train and gain experience, which will greatly benefit your cultivation." The blue giant bird spoke, continuing to fly forward.
This time, it didn't fly upwards, but instead flew forward.
"Indeed, there are many treasures here." Xiao Bai's body flashed with white light as he transformed into a Qilin shape, his nose twitching excitedly.
He took out the white cloth bag again, opened his mouth, and spat out a ball of white light, which entered the bag.
The white cloth bag expanded, becoming hundreds of miles in size. Its surface became semi-transparent, forming a web-like net.
The bag emitted a devouring energy, drawing in nearby meteorites, which shattered and revealed colorful, precious minerals.
In a short time, the bag had stored hundreds of valuable materials.
Han Li watched in awe, his curiosity about the white cloth bag growing.
"Friend Han, your cultivation has reached a high level, but you don't know much about the Dao Ancestors. Their abilities far surpass your imagination. If we fly below, we might be detected by other Dao Ancestors, so it's safer to come to this Outer Void." The blue giant bird said.
"I understand." Han Li nodded, his eyes flashing with insight.
The blue giant bird flew forward, its wings beating rapidly. The surroundings blurred, and everything seemed to be retreating.
The giant bird flew straight ahead, its body undulating with cyan ripples.
These ripples seemed ordinary, but they contained immense power. The meteorites, regardless of size, would instantly evaporate upon contact with the giant bird, unable to slow it down.
The ice storms, lightning clouds, and black holes were all effortlessly dispelled, leaving no trace.
Han Li was shocked by the blue giant bird's divine abilities once again.
He had seen the abilities of Da Luo cultivators before, but this experience was different. The giant bird's power was like a chasm, a vast gap between their cultivation levels.
Han Li exhaled a breath of air, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate in silence.
The void outside was extremely dangerous, but the heavenly and earthly energies here were extremely dense, making it suitable for cultivation.
Meanwhile, Xiao Bai continued to manipulate the white cloth bag, enthusiastically collecting nearby mineral materials.
The giant bird carried Han Li and Xiao Bai forward, and in the blink of an eye, more than half an hour had passed.
At this moment, the sky in front of them darkened, as if night had suddenly fallen.
Han Li, who was cultivating, sensed something and opened his eyes, looking forward with a raised eyebrow.
The sudden darkness in front of them was not due to the void outside having day and night changes, but because a massive black cloud had suddenly appeared, rolling in like a tide.
The black cloud churned and rolled, with various shadows flickering inside, giving off an eerie feeling.
"What is this?" Xiao Bai also noticed the anomaly in front of them, stopped collecting mineral materials, and looked forward with a shocked expression.
"This is the Tianmo Cloud, a condensed entity of the Tianmo from outside the realm, it has a shape but no substance, and cannot be destroyed, making it the greatest danger in the void space, you two be careful, especially you, Han Xiao," the giant bird's voice came from above.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat, but before he could say anything, the giant bird had already charged into the black cloud.
He felt a chill, as if he had been submerged in cold water, and the surroundings were pitch black, with the giant bird and Xiao Bai beside him barely visible.
Han Li didn't have time to think, and quickly activated the Time Law to protect himself.
At this moment, an invisible wave of energy surged out from the darkness, enveloping him.
Before Han Li could react, the surroundings changed, and he found himself in a gray, misty space, with the giant bird and Xiao Bai disappearing.
"Mind Demon Space?" Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he muttered to himself, "My Lian Shen technique has already been activated, and my mind is filled with a cool, clear sensation."
Suddenly, a black shadow flashed in front of him, and a black-clothed girl stumbled forward, her hair disheveled, and her eyes wide with fear.
It was Nangong Wan.
" Husband, save me! I've recovered my memories, and the people from the Wheel of Reincarnation are chasing me, they want to capture me and take me to the Heavenly Court, save me!" Nangong Wan's voice was shrill, and her face was pale, making Han Li's heart ache.
"There's no one chasing you," Han Li said calmly, looking at Nangong Wan.
"Husband, I'm so scared!" Nangong Wan's eyes welled up with tears, and she stumbled forward, about to throw herself into Han Li's arms.
Han Li's eyes flashed with a hint of strange energy.
Just as Nangong Wan was about to throw herself into his arms, Han Li's eyes flashed with a cold light, and he raised his hand.
A thick, golden lightning bolt shot out from his hand, piercing Nangong Wan's chest, creating a bloody hole.
"Husband, you...!" Nangong Wan's voice was filled with shock and pain, as she stumbled backward, her eyes fixed on Han Li.
"It's indeed a very realistic illusion, but unfortunately, it's no use against me," Han Li's face was calm, and his fingers suddenly spread apart.
The golden lightning bolt split into five, and shot out in all directions, tearing Nangong Wan's body into several pieces.
Nangong Wan let out a blood-curdling scream, and her body dissipated into a cloud of black smoke.
The gray space around them also disappeared, and Han Li found himself back on the giant bird's back.
He let out a sigh of relief, but his eyebrows furrowed again.
He had killed the mind demon, but the evil corpse inside him was stirring, and a strong desire to kill and slaughter was rising up.
Han Li quickly activated his divine sense and the Da Wu Xing Huan Shi Jue, trying to suppress the evil thoughts in his heart.
"The Tianmo can actually affect the evil corpse, I see why Yue Men told me to be careful," Han Li thought to himself.
Before he could suppress the evil thoughts, another invisible wave of energy appeared, and Han Li's surroundings changed again.
He found himself in a purple space, with a slender figure in purple standing in front of him, her back to him.
Although he couldn't see her face, Han Li recognized her as Zi Ling.
His eyebrows furrowed, and he charged forward, his hand raised.
A thick, golden lightning bolt shot out from his palm, striking down towards Zi Ling.
But Zi Ling's body flashed, and she disappeared from her original position, reappearing dozens of feet away, avoiding Han Li's attack.
"Brother Han, why do you want to kill me?" Zi Ling turned around, her face filled with shock and anger, questioning Han Li.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he waved his hands repeatedly.
A series of golden lightning bolts shot out, and in an instant, they condensed into a massive, golden lightning net, covering an area of dozens of miles.
The golden lightning net flashed with lightning, and descended towards Zi Ling, creating a series of residual images, its speed so fast that even a Da Luo realm cultivator might not be able to react in time. Zi Ling's body flashed again, and she seemed to teleport away from the golden lightning net's range.
However, Zi Ling was unable to completely dodge Han Li's attack this time. Her right arm was grazed by the lightning net, and her right hand's clothes exploded, revealing a bloody wound.
"It seems you really want to kill me," Zi Ling said, her eyes filled with tears. "I've spent so many years cultivating, all for the sake of ascending to the Heavenly Realm, and to be with you, to cultivate the Great Dao together. But instead, I've been met with emptiness, and now the person I love is trying to kill me!"
Han Li knew that the person in front of him was a Heavenly Demon's illusion, but hearing these words still stirred up ripples in his heart. However, he did not let his emotions affect his judgment, and the golden light around him grew stronger.
The True Word Treasure Wheel appeared behind him, and countless golden waves emerged, instantly covering Zi Ling's body.
Zi Ling's body stiffened.
Han Li's five fingers clenched, and the golden lightning net suddenly shrunk, enveloping Zi Ling and forming a golden lightning ball.
With a loud "boom," the golden lightning ball exploded, and Zi Ling disappeared without a trace.
The purple space disappeared, and Han Li returned to the back of the giant green bird.
His face was pale, and his eyes had a hint of bloodiness. The evil intent in his heart grew stronger.
But before Han Li could catch his breath, another wave of Heavenly Demon energy arrived.
This wave was much stronger than the previous two.
Han Li's vision blurred, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw a world filled with golden light.
This world was filled with a strong, metallic law of familiarity, and Han Li could not sense any falseness.
A giant, golden figure stood before him, and it was none other than the Nine Yuan Dao Zu, Li Yuanji. He emitted a powerful, crushing aura that made Han Li's bones creak, and he could barely move.
"Han Li, you sneaked into the Nine Yuan Observatory's forbidden area, injured the Ghost Spirit Son, and helped the people of the Reincarnation Hall steal the precious treasure," Li Yuanji said, his face cold and stern. "I was going to spare you because of our past connection, but the majority of the Nine Yuan Observatory's people opposed it, so you will still die here."
Li Yuanji's face turned even colder, and he made a grasping motion with his hand.
The nearby golden light flashed wildly, and a thousand-meter-long golden divine sword appeared, slashing towards Han Li.
The golden divine sword left a massive spatial rift in the golden space.
Han Li's pupils constricted, and he used the "Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique" and the "Refine Spirit Technique" to their fullest extent. The golden light around him suddenly brightened.
With a loud "boom," Han Li broke free from the pressure binding him.
Han Li's face did not change, and he ignored the golden divine sword's sharpness. He punched out with all his might.
A massive explosion shook the golden divine sword, and it rebounded, then exploded into a thousand pieces, scattering golden fragments everywhere.
Han Li's fist was also severely injured, with his skin torn open and his bones exposed. Blood gushed out, but he did not care.
Li Yuanji's eyes widened, and he smiled coldly. He waved his hand, and a brilliant golden light appeared.
Han Li's head was surrounded by a burst of golden light, and a series of golden sword silhouettes appeared, densely packed and seemingly endless.
The swords shot down towards Han Li like a storm, forming a "sword rain" that seemed to want to pierce him like a beehive.
The nearby space was filled with the intense, metallic law of familiarity, and it seemed to be on the verge of collapse.
Han Li, however, did not care about the situation around him. He shot forward like a bolt of lightning, charging towards Li Yuanji, and was pierced by the swords.
But he still managed to reach Li Yuanji.
Li Yuanji's face was cold and stern, and he slapped Han Li with his hand.
The entire golden space seemed to compress, pressing down on Han Li.
But just as Li Yuanji was about to deliver the final blow, a brilliant golden light erupted from Han Li's body, and a massive temporal law of familiarity enveloped the golden space, freezing everything in time.
Han Li's speed increased by tens of times, and he turned into a golden arrow that pierced Li Yuanji's body.
Li Yuanji's body exploded, and the golden space around him disappeared.
Han Li's vision blurred, and he found himself back on the giant green bird.
His injuries had disappeared, but his eyes had turned half-white and half-red, and his body was shaking uncontrollably.
"Not good..." Han Li struggled to suppress the evil intent in his heart, but it was no use. The killing intent grew stronger.
But just as he was about to lose control, he saw that the giant green bird had flown out of the Heavenly Demon cloud's range.
Without the influence of the Heavenly Demon cloud's energy, Han Li's evil intent stopped growing, and he could barely control it.
He let out a sigh of relief, and a hint of joy appeared in his eyes.
Luckily, the giant green bird had flown out in time. If they had stayed inside, he would have been completely consumed by the evil intent.
The small white creature beside him, who had been trembling with fear, slowly opened its eyes, and its face relaxed slightly.
"How are you?" the giant blue bird asked.
"I'm fine, but that demonic cloud was terrifying. The illusions created by the demons were getting stronger and stronger, and I almost couldn't withstand them. Luckily, you flew out in time, or I would have been completely engulfed. The consequences would have been unthinkable." Xiao Bai said with a lingering sense of fear.
"That's to be expected. Otherwise, why would the demonic cloud be known as the most feared existence in the outer void? This cloud is actually small, if we had encountered a larger one, I wouldn't have been able to fly out quickly." the giant blue bird said.
"I didn't think the outer void was so dangerous... I think it's better to be cautious and move slowly from now on, even if it's slower. At least it's safer! By the way, Master, how are you?" Xiao Bai asked, turning to look at Han Li.
Han Li was sitting cross-legged, his brow furrowed, and his eyes closed. A faint aura of malevolent energy surrounded his body.
As if he had heard Xiao Bai's question, Han Li opened his eyes, and a flash of blood-red light flickered in his pupils.
"Your eyes... have you been controlled by the demons? Get out of my master's body, you demon!" Xiao Bai exclaimed, jumping up and shouting.
"I'm fine, I wasn't controlled, just influenced a bit." Han Li said calmly.
Xiao Bai looked at Han Li with a mixture of surprise and concern.
"Good kid, I thought you wouldn't be able to resist the demon's influence, but you managed to hold on. However, it seems that the evil thoughts in your body have surged out of control, and you can't suppress them." the giant blue bird said with a faint smile.
"Senior, you're right, I didn't expect you to see through everything." Han Li said with a wry smile.
The evil thoughts in his body had not increased, but they had not decreased either. Moreover, these evil thoughts were different from before, and no matter how hard he tried to use the time law or the Yuancheng chain, he couldn't suppress them.
"The three corpses of humanity are tied to the fundamental spirit and will, and are incredibly mysterious. I don't know what method or opportunity you used to forcibly summon the evil corpse, but your cultivation is not yet sufficient. Although you've managed to suppress it, the influence of the demonic cloud has made it difficult to control. You should find a way to get rid of it as soon as possible, or it will eventually take over your body." the giant blue bird said calmly.
Han Li's face was expressionless as he listened to the giant blue bird's words.
Yue Meng had said similar things before, and Han Li had considered them, but he didn't know how to get rid of the evil corpse. On the one hand, his cultivation was not yet sufficient, and on the other hand, he had no experience with getting rid of corpses.
The giant blue bird didn't say anything else and continued on their journey.
After flying for half a day, the giant blue bird suddenly descended, and they passed through the Tianfeng domain and the Qingming domain, arriving near the ground.
The ground below was a lush mountain range, and they had already entered the Barbarian Domain.
After flying for a while, a majestic mountain peak appeared in front of them, which was the Eight Wastes Mountain.
Han Li was secretly shocked by Yue Meng's speed, as he had taken decades to fly from the Eight Wastes Mountain to the Great Jin Yuan Xian Domain, while Yue Meng had returned in less than a day.
He suddenly had an idea and flew down from the giant blue bird's back, standing in mid-air, and said to Yue Meng:
"Senior Yue, thank you for bringing me back to the Barbarian Domain. However, my identity is special, and I'm afraid that if I go to the Eight Wastes Mountain, I will attract unwanted attention. I'll just stay here."
Yue Meng had stopped flying and restored his human form, his body surrounded by a dazzling blue glow.
He looked at Han Li and said calmly:
"Do as you please."
Just then, a voice suddenly rang out, and a white figure appeared, which was Bai Ze, who said with a smile:
"Ha ha, Han Li, you've come to the Eight Wastes Mountain, but you're not going to enter? That would be impolite to the various tribes of the Barbarian Domain."
Han Li quickly bowed and said:
"Senior Bai Ze."
Xiao Bai also bowed.
"Ha ha, Han Li, you're indeed extraordinary, stirring up trouble at the Nine Yuan Observatory and making Li Yuan lose face. That's great, just great!" Bai Ze laughed.
"That's not true, Master and I worked together to kill our way out of the Nine Yuan Observatory, and two of the four saintly envoys were beaten and fled." Xiao Bai said proudly.
"That was all due to the Wheel of Rebirth, and I just happened to be there. I didn't do anything." Han Li said modestly.
"Getting involved in the Nine Yuan Observatory's turmoil and escaping unscathed is no easy feat. As for you, Han Li, you've made rapid progress, reaching the early stage of the Mahayana period, and you're not far from the middle stage. Even if you and I were in our youth, we wouldn't have achieved this speed." Bai Ze said with a smile.
"Senior, you're flattering me." Han Li said calmly.
Bai Ze shook his head and smiled, then turned to Xiao Bai and said:
"Xiao Bai is my friend, and I should protect him. However, he's strong enough to take care of himself. I should thank you for bringing him back to the Barbarian Domain safely."
Han Li smiled and said:
"I didn't do anything, it was all thanks to Senior Yue Meng. As for bringing Xiao Bai back safely, it was all due to his own strength and my luck."
Bai Ze chuckled and said:
"Let's not talk about gratitude. Since you've come to the Eight Wastes Mountain, why don't you come in and rest for a while?" Han Li bowed his head in gratitude. "Thank you, Senior White Ze, for your kind invitation. However, I'm afraid I'm not feeling well at the moment, and I'd like to find a place to cultivate immediately. Please excuse me."
White Ze looked Han Li up and down, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes before he spoke. "Since you have something to attend to, I won't keep you here. Thirty million li to the east, there's a mountain range called the Cuiyun Mountains. The spiritual energy there is rich and there are no barbarian tribes occupying it. You can go there to cultivate in seclusion."
"Thank you, Senior White Ze, for your guidance." Han Li's face lit up with joy as he bowed in gratitude.
"Master, I'll go with you!" Xiao Bai exclaimed, her face urgent as she looked at White Ze. "Since the Cuiyun Mountains are close by, I can go there to cultivate too, right?"
"No, you must stay here and continue your cultivation as planned," White Ze replied, his face stern.
"Okay," Xiao Bai said, this time not arguing further.
"Seniors, Xiao Bai, I'll take my leave now." Han Li bowed to the three of them and transformed into a golden rainbow, flying off towards the east.
White Ze and the others watched Han Li disappear into the distance before descending back down to the Ba Huang Mountains.
Han Li flew east for a while before arriving at the Cuiyun Mountains. The mountains and rocks here were all a deep green color, looking quite unusual. The spiritual energy was indeed rich and dense, just as White Ze had said, and it was calm and peaceful, unlike other places where the energy was turbulent. This was indeed an ideal place for Han Li to cultivate in seclusion.
After calming his mind, Han Li found a suitable location and opened up a cave, setting up a restriction array around it. He then summoned the Spatial Door and stepped through it, entering the Flower Branch Space.
Tieying and Jintong were already waiting for him at the entrance. When they saw Han Li, they rushed over to greet him.
"Tieying, you know about the situation with the Tianmo Clouds. Now, I need your help to try and suppress the evil thoughts. See if you can assist me in any way," Han Li said, sitting down cross-legged and closing his eyes.
Tieying nodded, placing her hand on Han Li's head. A dark red glow erupted from her body, covering Han Li's head and forming a layer of light.
Han Li let out a muffled groan, and his body began to glow with a faint, flickering light. A dark, swirling energy emerged from his body, swirling around him like a living thing.
As soon as this energy touched the dark red glow surrounding Han Li, it let out a hissing sound and dissipated. However, the energy emerging from Han Li's body only grew stronger, as if it was increasing in power.
Jintong's eyes were wide with concern as she watched Han Li, but she didn't say anything, instead choosing to stand guard silently, her eyes fixed on Han Li.
However, after three days and three nights, the dark energy surrounding Han Li showed no signs of weakening. Jintong's face was etched with worry as she glanced back and forth between Han Li and Tieying, her eyes welling up with tears.
"Master, you can't have anything happen to you!" she whispered to herself.
"Stop, Tieying," Han Li suddenly said, opening his eyes.
"Master, the evil thoughts in your body seem different from before," Tieying said, withdrawing her hand.
"You've noticed it too," Han Li said with a wry smile, not explaining further. He raised his hand, stopping Jintong from speaking up.
The evil thoughts were still present, and it seemed that they couldn't be eliminated. The only solution was to break through to the middle stage of the Daluo Realm as quickly as possible. But how could he do that?
He didn't have a master to guide him, and the last time he had spoken to the Old Ancestor, he hadn't mentioned anything about breaking through. It seemed that he would have to rely on himself to figure it out.
Han Li pondered for a moment before putting his thoughts aside. He turned to Tieying and Jintong and said, "I'm going to open up the Time Difference Space and cultivate in seclusion. I need to break through to the middle stage of the Daluo Realm as quickly as possible. You two don't need to worry about me; just focus on your own cultivation. If you can increase your strength, you'll be able to help me even more in the future."
With that, he opened up his spiritual domain, covering the surrounding area. He then activated the Time Difference Space, causing the flow of time to speed up by a factor of ten thousand.
Tieying and Jintong were still worried about Han Li's situation, but they hesitated for a moment before sitting down to cultivate on either side of him.
Han Li had not immediately begun his cultivation, instead, he first placed the precious materials he had obtained from the Ghost Spirit Ancestor's cave on sale in the Cycle Hall.
At this moment, he didn't have many Spirit Stones on him, so he needed to stock up on some reserves.
Fortunately, he had obtained these materials from the Ghost Spirit Ancestor's cave, so he didn't have to worry about Spirit Stone expenses for the time being.
After completing these trivial matters, Han Li closed his eyes and began to cultivate, using the "Great Five Elements Fantastical World Technique" to impact the remaining Heavenly Apertures.
Just as Han Li started to impact the Heavenly Apertures, he suddenly felt a movement in his heart and opened his eyes.
The impact on the Heavenly Apertures was unusually smooth, with no obstruction whatsoever, and the feeling was completely different from when he had previously opened the Heavenly Apertures.
At this rate, it wouldn't take him many years to open a Heavenly Aperture, and in this time-space, it was almost negligible.
"Could it be that the remaining Heavenly Apertures are already half-open, half-closed due to my activation of the Evil Corpse?" Han Li wondered, his eyes widening in surprise.
However, he quickly put aside these thoughts and focused on impacting the Heavenly Apertures.
In the blink of an eye, ten years had passed, and Han Li's shoulder suddenly flashed with golden light as a Heavenly Aperture was opened.
He felt a surge of joy, but his brow furrowed in the next instant.
As the Heavenly Aperture was opened, his strength increased, and the Evil Corpse's power within him also increased.
The isolating seal on the Evil Corpse seemed to be loosened, and the killing aura surrounding him grew stronger.
"Hehe, don't struggle anymore, the stronger you become, the stronger I'll become. One day, I'll break free from this seal, and your body will be mine!" The Evil Corpse's sinister laughter echoed in Han Li's mind.
Han Li ignored the Evil Corpse's taunts, and after a moment of contemplation, he closed his eyes again and continued to impact the Heavenly Apertures.
Time passed, and 30,000 years flew by.
Han Li's body was surrounded by golden light, with numerous golden light points densely packed, reaching a total of 839.
His aura had also increased by almost a fold, and he was no longer inferior to the likes of the Miao Fa Immortal and the Ghost Spirit Ancestor.
However, the evil aura surrounding him had also grown more intense, and his brow was enveloped in a dark, eerie aura, with a strange symbol forming.
The symbol looked like a ferocious, evil face, with black light flashing on its surface, as if it was about to burst out of Han Li's forehead.
Han Li's golden light flashed and dissipated, and he opened his eyes.
His eyes now flashed with blood-red light, occupying almost half of his pupils, and his dark red eyes seemed to radiate a hint of madness. However, his normal eyes remained calm and serene, looking extremely contradictory.
Han Li gazed at the golden light points on his body, a hint of joy flashing on his face.
This time, opening the Heavenly Apertures had been unexpectedly smooth, and in just over 30,000 years, he had opened all the remaining Heavenly Apertures, leaving only the last one untouched.
He still wasn't prepared to kill the Evil Corpse.
However, he couldn't delay any longer, as the Evil Corpse's power was growing stronger, and its maniacal laughter echoed in his mind constantly.
If not for his strong soul and unwavering determination, he would have long since been unable to endure.
The nearby Golden Boy and Wailing Spirit, who had been cultivating, stopped and looked at Han Li as he opened his eyes.
The 30,000-year-long seclusion was not long for the two of them, and they had always been concerned about Han Li's safety, so their cultivation had been somewhat divided.
"Uncle, are you okay? These years, as your Heavenly Apertures increased, it seems..." The Golden Boy looked at Han Li's half-red pupils and the intense killing aura surrounding him, his voice filled with concern.
"I can still hold on, don't worry." Han Li replied.
"Master, you've already opened the remaining Heavenly Apertures, so isn't it time to start killing the Evil Corpse?" The Wailing Spirit asked, looking at the golden light points on Han Li's body.
"It's almost time, but I still need some preparation beforehand." Han Li said, his eyes narrowing in thought.
The Wailing Spirit and the Golden Boy exchanged a glance, not daring to interrupt.
Han Li remained silent for a moment, then sealed his spiritual domain and looked at the Golden Boy and the Wailing Spirit.
"Golden Boy, Wailing Spirit, I need to start preparing for killing the Evil Corpse. You two, stay outside and guard me."
The Golden Boy and the Wailing Spirit nodded, and as they flew out, Han Li closed his eyes again, his expression serene.
After a moment, he put on the black mask from the Cycle Hall and opened the trading interface.
He pointed his finger, and a bounty task appeared, with a request for a method to kill the Evil Corpse, or any insights into the process.
This was a task he had posted during his seclusion, offering a high reward of Spirit Stones, precious materials, and various divine pills, as well as the "Five Thunder Heavenly Law True Scripture". Han Li had promised extremely valuable rewards, but so far, no one had come forward.
Seeing this, he sighed and wasn't surprised.
Cutting off the Corpse was the key to advancing to the Mahayana Realm, and in the past, cultivators had advanced to the Golden Immortal, Taiyi, and even Mahayana Realms, all of which had precedents. As long as there were precedents, methods could be found to assist.
But Cutting off the Corpse was different, as it involved one's own obsessions, which were intangible and elusive. Furthermore, Mahayana Realm cultivators were extremely rare, making it extremely difficult to develop a method or effective experience.
However, the True Immortal Realm had existed for countless years, and the various major sects had explored and developed methods, which were known as "Corpse Cutting Techniques."
These Corpse Cutting Techniques were extremely valuable and were the true core of a sect, so it was only natural that no one would exchange them.
Han Li had posted this task, but it was just a long shot, and now it seemed that finding a method to cut off the Corpse in the Wheel of Reincarnation Hall was unrealistic.
At this point, he could only think of one method.
Han Li flipped his hand and took out the Heavenly Vessel.
He had no choice but to use the Time Law silk again, trying to shuttle back to the past and see if he could ask the Miro Old Ancestor for guidance.
Han Li activated the Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique, urged the Heavenly Vessel, and called out to the Vessel Spirit.
However, no matter how he called out, the Vessel Spirit didn't respond.
"What's going on?" Han Li's brow furrowed.
The last time at the Nine Origins Observatory, the Vessel Spirit had lost contact with him, and now, after so long, there was still no response.
He was unwilling to give up and continued to call out to the Vessel Spirit, but there was no response.
Han Li's heart sank, and without the Vessel Spirit's help, it was impossible to accurately shuttle back to the True Words Sect.
If he didn't have the Corpse Cutting Technique to assist him, he could only rely on his own strength to forcibly cut off the Corpse, which would greatly reduce the chances of success.
At this moment, a white light flew in from the entrance of the Flower Branch Space, and it was a Sound Transmission Token.
Han Li was taken aback, and with a swift motion, he grasped the token and crushed it.
The Sound Transmission Token turned into a white light sphere, and the sound of the Spirit's voice came from within: "Master, someone named Liu Le'er has come to visit, saying that she is your old acquaintance. Do you know this person?"
"Le'er... let her in." Han Li's brow moved, and he immediately shouted.
"Yes." The Spirit responded, and the white light dispersed.
Han Li stood up, calmed his thoughts, and flew out of the Flower Branch Space, arriving at the outer courtyard of the cave.
In the courtyard, apart from the Golden Boy and the Spirit, there was a blue-clad girl, Liu Le'er.
Liu Le'er's aura was surging, and her cultivation had improved significantly since their last meeting, approaching the middle stage of the Mahayana Realm.
"Le'er, you've finally come to see your brother. I'm glad to see you're safe and sound!" Liu Le'er saw Han Li's current appearance and was slightly taken aback, then flew over to him.
Han Li hadn't even opened his mouth to speak when he felt a gentle body fling itself into his arms.
The next moment, he felt two fiery gazes looking at him, and he couldn't help but touch his nose.
The Golden Boy and the Spirit exchanged a glance, then quietly left the courtyard, leaving the space to Han Li and Liu Le'er.
"Le'er, how did you come here?" Han Li gently rubbed Liu Le'er's head and asked.
"I happened to be cultivating in the Eight Wastes Mountain, and the White Marsh King told me you were here, so I came immediately." Liu Le'er smiled.
Han Li's heart warmed, and the evil thoughts in his mind seemed to dissipate.
"Brother, you've come to the Eight Wastes, so don't leave again. The resources here are abundant, and there's no one from the Heavenly Court who will harm you." Liu Le'er looked at Han Li with hope in her eyes.
"Alright, Le'er, I appreciate your kindness, but I have many things to attend to outside. This time, I won't be staying long in the Eight Wastes and will leave soon." Han Li said.
"Okay... I know you're a great person, Brother, and I won't keep you. But you must come back to the Eight Wastes often." Liu Le'er's expression turned melancholic, but she quickly recovered and smiled.
"Alright, if I have the chance, I'll come to the Eight Wastes often." Han Li said.
He was happy to see Liu Le'er, and after asking about her recent situation, he learned that she and other elites from the Eight Wastes had gathered at the Eight Wastes Mountain, cultivating in a mysterious space set up by the White Marsh King and the Yue Mian.
"Brother, what's wrong with your eyes? And why is there such a strong evil aura around you?" Liu Le'er looked at Han Li with concern.
"I'm currently trying to cut off the Corpse, attempting to advance to the Mahayana Realm's middle stage, but I've encountered some problems and been affected by some evil thoughts. Don't worry, once I've thoroughly cut off the Corpse, I'll be fine." Han Li downplayed the situation, not wanting Liu Le'er to worry about him.
"Cutting off the Corpse? Your cultivation has improved rapidly, but I heard the White Marsh King say that rapid cultivation progress can lead to insufficient understanding of each realm's cultivation, which can be detrimental to future cultivation. Especially after advancing to the Mahayana Realm, one must carefully comprehend each realm's cultivation to smoothly cut off the Corpse and advance." Liu Le'er said.
"That's true." Han Li nodded in agreement.
"I remember that you've always cultivated alone, without a sect's transmission. Do you have a suitable 'Corpse Cutting Technique' to assist you in cutting off the Corpse?" Liu Le'er asked hesitantly.
Han Li shook his head and said, "I've been searching for a suitable Corpse Severing Technique for years, but I still haven't found one."
Liu Le'er's face turned pale with anxiety and she said, "That's not possible, without a Corpse Severing Technique, the chances of success are extremely low."
Han Li smiled and said, "Even if the chances are low, I must try my best, otherwise I'll lose even that sliver of possibility."
Liu Le'er glanced around and quickly handed Han Li a jade slip, saying, "I've almost reached the peak of the Great Luo Initial Stage, and Liu Qing, the tribe's elder, has given me a Corpse Severing Technique. I'll let you take a look, maybe it's suitable for you."
Han Li subconsciously grasped the jade slip tightly, but immediately released it and handed it back to Liu Le'er, saying, "Le'er, a Corpse Severing Technique is extremely valuable, how can you casually give it to someone else? If the Tian Huo tribe finds out you've leaked this technique, who knows what punishment you'll face. You should take the jade slip back."
Liu Le'er smiled and said, "Brother, you're not an outsider! This technique doesn't have any restrictive seals, as long as we don't say anything, the Tian Huo tribe won't know. Even if they do find out, I have the true spirit bloodline of the nine-tailed fox, I'm the hope of the Tian Huo tribe's rise to power, they won't do anything to me."
Han Li hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright, I won't be polite then."
He grasped the jade slip tightly, and a glimmer of excitement flashed in his eyes.
Liu Le'er said, "Brother, I won't be leaving the Eight Desolations Mountain for long, this time it's because I have the White Emperor's special permission to come here. I'll be heading back soon, you must come visit me when you come to the Barbarian Wilderness."
Han Li silently nodded.
Liu Le'er looked at Han Li again, then her figure flashed and she turned into a grey-white light, shooting off into the distance and disappearing into the horizon.
Han Li watched Liu Le'er leave, then began to examine the contents of the jade slip.
The jade slip began with five large characters: "Split Body Corpse Severing Technique!"
Han Li's heart moved as he read this, and he had some guesses about the contents that followed. However, he didn't get distracted and continued to read.
The contents of the jade slip weren't many, and Han Li quickly finished reading, his face filled with a faint excitement.
This Split Body Corpse Severing Technique was extremely mysterious, and in general, it was about first refining a split body connected to one's heart and soul, then using a secret technique to transfer the evil corpse from one's body to the split body, and finally severing it.
The reason why the three corpses were difficult to sever was because they were connected to one's body and soul, inseparable.
The essence of this Split Body Corpse Severing Technique lay in transferring the three corpses from one's body and sealing them in the split body, thus greatly weakening the connection between the three corpses and one's body, making it much easier to sever them.
However, to use this Corpse Severing Technique, two major requirements had to be met.
Firstly, one's spiritual power had to be strong enough, otherwise they wouldn't be able to withstand the burden of transferring the evil corpse.
Secondly, the split body had to be extremely compatible with one's own body, and the longer the split body was refined, the higher the chances of success.
Han Li withdrew his divine sense from the jade slip, a faint smile on his lips.
This Split Body Corpse Severing Technique was extremely suitable for him, his spiritual power was far beyond that of others of the same stage due to his cultivation of the Spiritual Cultivation Technique, and he definitely met the requirements to use this technique. Moreover, he had a split body that had been refined for many years, the earthy avatar he had created in the Black Wind Sea Domain.
It had been so many years since he had forgotten about that earthy avatar, and now it could be used again.
With the evil thoughts constantly eroding his spiritual power, time was of the essence, and Han Li didn't delay, immediately calling over Jin Tong and Ti Hun, then dismantling the array devices around the cave, preparing to set off towards the North Cold Immortal Domain.
However, just as he was about to leave, he changed his mind and flew towards the Eight Desolations Mountain instead.
Not long after, Han Li stopped his flying technique a thousand miles away from the Eight Desolations Mountain and bowed respectfully.
"Ha ha, Han Xiao, are you leaving now?" A white shadow flashed in front of Han Li, and Bai Ze's figure appeared, smiling as he spoke.
Han Li bowed again and said, "Yes, I have an urgent matter to attend to, thank you, Bai Ze, for your care. I've come to bid farewell."
Bai Ze looked at Han Li and said, "It's nothing, don't mention it. You're going to take action now, you must hurry, the evil thoughts are affecting your spiritual power."
Han Li said, "Bai Ze, you're wise, it's indeed so. However, the road ahead is uncertain, and I'm not confident of success. If I fail, please take care of Xiao Bai and the Tian Huo tribe's Liu Le'er."
Bai Ze nodded and said, "Of course, I'll take care of them. Where are you planning to go?"
Han Li wondered what Bai Ze meant by this, but Bai Ze smiled and said, "Don't misunderstand, I'm not trying to pry into your business. If you're going somewhere not too far, I can have Yue Meng send you there with his 'Tour Heaven Divine Technique'."
Han Li realized his mistake and bowed, saying, "I apologize for the misunderstanding, I'm actually planning to go to the North Cold Immortal Domain."
Bai Ze's eyebrows moved, and he turned to the empty space beside him, saying, "Yue Meng, can your 'Tour Heaven Divine Technique' send Han Xiao to the North Cold Immortal Domain?" Chapter:
"It's just a short distance, of course I can." The air rippled and Yue Mian's figure appeared.
"Then I'll have to trouble you to take action once, Han Xiao is currently being pursued by the Heavenly Court, it's very inconvenient for him to travel." Bai Ze said.
"Thank you, Bai Ze and Yue Mian." Han Li was grateful for their assistance, although he didn't know what "You Tian Shentong" meant.
"Enough with the thanks, I'm sick of it. Han Xiao, get ready." Yue Mian's eyes flashed with impatience as he waved his sleeve.
A ball of green light shot out from his sleeve, rapidly growing ten times larger and transforming into a half-transparent green giant bird. It flew towards Han Li, swallowing him whole in an instant.
The giant bird's wings spread wide, tearing through space with a loud "whoosh" as it disappeared into the void.
The series of changes happened in the blink of an eye, Han Li was unable to react in time.
When he came to, he found himself inside the giant bird's body, surrounded by a chaotic flow of energy. The bird's body was covered in complex spirit patterns, forming a cloud-like design. The edges of its body were adorned with green symbols that seemed to flow like water, surrounding the bird as it flew rapidly.
The surrounding void was torn apart by the bird's body, unable to block its progress.
Han Li was trapped inside the bird's stomach, unable to move due to the immense power surrounding him.
He didn't try to escape, instead curiously looking around. The giant bird's speed was incredible, far surpassing his own.
After around ten hours, the giant bird's wings shook, and it burst out of the void, tearing through the air and appearing above a dense forest.
With a soft "boom", the giant bird shattered, dispersing into countless green lights.
Han Li's restraints were released, and he stood firm in mid-air, his body glowing with golden light.
He expanded his divine sense, surveying his surroundings, and soon a look of joy appeared on his face. He transformed into a golden light and flew towards the distance.
A moment later, Han Li stopped near a city situated on a hill.
The city was not large, with the words "Ming Qiu City" written in golden characters on the gate.
Although Han Li had never been here before, he had heard of it on his way to Zu Long Dao from the Black Wind Sea. It was a city on the barren wasteland continent.
"Amazing, he really brought me here in one go. This divine ability is truly extraordinary." Han Li muttered to himself, filled with reverence for the Dao Ancestor's divine ability.
The distance between the Eight Desolate Mountains and the North Cold Immortal Domain was unknown, but if he had to travel alone, it would take him at least a hundred years. Yue Mian's wave of his hand had brought him here in just one day.
Han Li collected his thoughts, bowed in the direction of the Eight Desolate Mountains, and then turned to fly towards the Black Wind Sea.
...
In the North Cold Immortal Domain, the Black Wind Sea.
A vast expanse of blue sea stretched out, with a gentle breeze blowing across the waves.
In the distance, one could see streams of light flying through the air, as cultivators in colorful robes flew towards a lush island in the center of the sea.
The island was not large, but it was surrounded by a series of array formations, forming a chain of seven islands.
From afar, one could see a massive human statue standing on the island, its hands open wide as if embracing the heavens.
At this moment, the morning sun had just risen, and the island's central square was filled with tens of thousands of islanders, who had just finished a prayer ceremony and were slowly dispersing.
As the sound of rushing wind echoed through the air, many people looked up, but most didn't pay attention, seeming to be accustomed to such scenes.
Among them was an old man with white hair, dark skin, and sleeves rolled up high. He was holding a small, dark-skinned child with a proud expression.
"Little Tiger, look! Thanks to our ancestral deity's blessings, the surrounding islands have all submitted to our Wu Meng Island. Their tribe leaders come to pay homage every year on this day. We're quite impressive, aren't we?" The old man chuckled.
The child looked up at him with a curious expression, and the old man smiled, his eyes filled with satisfaction.
Grandfather, every year at this time, you always lecture me, my ears are about to grow calluses. Tigerzi heard this, but was somewhat annoyed and complained.
"Hehe, you little brat is impatient, do you know, back then..."
"I know, I know, back then, our Wumeng Island was almost destroyed by external enemies, and in a critical moment, thanks to the timely manifestation of our ancestral god, who personally took action to destroy the enemy..." Without waiting for the old man to repeat the story for the 98th time, Tigerzi quickly interrupted him, shaking his head and saying.
"It's good that you know, but unfortunately, it's been many years since we've seen our ancestral god manifest again..." The old man sighed and said.
"Grandfather, look, look..." Seeing his grandfather's sorrowful expression, the little grandson was about to comfort him, but suddenly shouted.
Immediately, the crowd also erupted into a commotion, almost everyone stopped in their tracks and looked towards the massive ancestral god statue in the center of the island.
The old man heard the noise and quickly turned his head to look, and saw that the giant statue, bathed in the morning light, was now radiating a dazzling blue glow, looking like a giant blue gemstone.
Layer upon layer of dense water-attribute law fluctuations emanated from it, transforming into a blue glow that spread throughout the island, making everyone feel extremely comfortable.
"It's... it's our ancestral god..."
"Our ancestral god has manifested..."
"Our ancestral god is protecting us!"
The square immediately erupted into chaos, with everyone kneeling and praying.
At this time, on the statue, a figure suddenly appeared, floating in mid-air, and flew away towards the outside, quickly disappearing from everyone's view.
This caused all the Wumeng Island residents to panic, standing up from the ground and shouting in surprise.
At this time, the remaining island leaders, who had just arrived from outside, crossed paths with the figure, and were left suspended in mid-air, looking at each other in confusion.
When they saw a man in a blue robe, slightly plump and refined, flying through the air, they finally relaxed and rushed to greet him.
"Luofeng, the leader of the Luofeng clan, was that our ancestral god who just left the island?" A man in a gray robe asked.
The refined man was indeed Luofeng, the leader of the Wumeng Island clan, and his expression was also somewhat serious, but he only nodded and looked in the direction of the ancestral god's departure, without speaking.
"What's going on? Is it another external enemy attack?" A woman in a purple robe asked anxiously.
"Everyone, please go to the meeting hall and wait, I'll come and meet with you after I've settled the clan." Luofeng stabilized his mind and said.
In fact, he also didn't know why the ancestral god, who had been in seclusion for so long, had suddenly left the island.
The dozens of island leaders from outside didn't dare ask any more questions, and flew down to the island.
Luofeng hesitated for a moment before flying back to the square.
"Clan leader..."
"Clan leader, our ancestral god..."
The crowd saw him and quickly surrounded him, asking questions.
"You don't need to be alarmed, our ancestral god has manifested due to the will of heaven and earth. You've been fortunate enough to see him, and you should be grateful and pray for his protection." Luofeng scanned the crowd and said slowly.
The Wumeng Island residents heard this and were overjoyed, praying again.
"Ancestral god, why did you suddenly leave..."
Luofeng saw this and sighed inwardly, turning to head towards the meeting hall.
Inside were the leaders of the surrounding islands, who were not as easily deceived as the island residents.
...
A thousand miles away from the island, a blue figure flew across the sea, landing on a small black island, about a hundred meters in diameter. The figure was tall and had an ordinary appearance, almost identical to Han Li, but it was actually his Earthly Soul Avatar.
On the island, a man in a blue robe and a girl in a yellow dress were standing with their backs to him.
"You've finally returned..." The Earthly Soul Avatar said.
The man turned around, smiling, but before he could speak, the girl interrupted him.
"Uncle, is this the Earthly Soul Avatar you were talking about? It really looks just like you, equally unremarkable and unattractive..."
The girl walked up to the avatar, circling around him, examining him from head to toe.
The man and the girl were Han Li and Jintong.
"It's almost at the level of a late-stage Golden Immortal, better than I expected." Han Li finally spoke.
The girl looked at him with a mischievous grin, "I think it's pretty good, but it's not as handsome as you, uncle."
Han Li smiled wryly, "It's not about being handsome, it's about being powerful." "After losing contact with you, there was no time crystal to accelerate the condensation of heavy water, but there was also no need to supply heavy water to you. With the constant support of the power of faith, the speed of cultivation was not too slow. Now, I can already condense three layers of heavy water," said the Earth Spirit's incarnation.
Han Li was silent for a moment, then turned his wrist, and a whistling sound erupted from behind him.
A half-person-high black hollow treasure wheel appeared, with water dao patterns condensed on its surface, emitting auras of water laws.
"Now, this heavy water true wheel is no longer useful to me, and its law properties are compatible with yours, so I'll leave it to you," said Han Li, waving his hand, and the black treasure wheel shrank to the size of a palm, flying towards the Earth Spirit's incarnation.
The latter received it with a nod, and as they were originally one, there was no need for thanks.
"Luofeng is quite capable, and has managed Umo Island well over the years. You might not think much of it, but it's worth taking a look," said the Earth Spirit's incarnation, its expression calm.
Han Li hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright."
The three of them then flew back towards Umo Island.
As they approached the island, Han Li didn't follow the Earth Spirit's incarnation onto the island, but instead bid farewell to Jintong, letting her return to the Huazhi Cave Heaven, while he himself used the Wanyue Kongji technique to conceal his aura, sneaking onto the island.
When they arrived at the island's central square, they found that the islanders were still gathered, praying.
The Earth Spirit's incarnation had to fly back to the statue, revealing its divine presence once again, to reassure the faithful that their ancestral god had not abandoned them, and they gradually dispersed.
At that moment, in the Council Chamber, Luofeng sat in the main seat, holding a teacup, sipping slowly, with a calm and gentle demeanor. The tribal leaders on either side of him were still discussing the recent departure of the ancestral god.
"Luofeng, in previous years, when we came to pay our respects, the ancestral god would never appear. What happened this time, and why did the god leave the island?" a tribal leader asked cautiously.
In fact, not only Umo Island, but also the ancestral gods of other islands, rarely left their own domains, as they could receive the power of faith from their followers at any time, and were in their own unique realm.
Moreover, the current sea region was almost entirely under Umo Island's control, with few conflicts, and no need for the ancestral god to intervene personally.
So, the sudden departure of the ancestral god was a cause for concern and speculation.
"Everyone, please calm down, the ancestral god has returned to the island after a brief inspection," Luofeng said, putting down his teacup, and waving his hand.
Just then, he had received a transmission from the Earth Spirit's incarnation, and his heart was at ease.
The others heard his words, still harboring doubts, but soon felt a powerful energy enveloping the entire Council Chamber, and they finally believed.
The Council Chamber quickly returned to its usual harmonious and relaxed atmosphere.
After the meeting, the tribal leaders also paid their respects to the ancestral god's statue, and then returned to their respective islands.
Luofeng hurried to the island's forbidden area, the "Ancestral God's Temple."
The Ancestral God's Temple was built in the center of the island, below the massive ancestral god statue, where the Earth Spirit's incarnation usually meditated.
When Luofeng arrived at the temple, the doors were already open, and he announced his presence before entering.
As soon as he entered, he saw the Earth Spirit's incarnation sitting cross-legged on a meditation cushion, eyes closed.
"Pay your respects to the ancestral god," Luofeng said, bowing.
"How was the council meeting?" the Earth Spirit's incarnation asked, slowly opening its eyes.
"They're still trying to probe and gather information, except for the few islands that surrendered to us early on," Luofeng replied.
"It's nothing, with your current True Immortal realm cultivation, you can deter them," the Earth Spirit's incarnation said.
"Umo Island's prosperity is all thanks to the ancestral god's protection, and I will always remember this," Luofeng said, bowing.
Just then, a voice suddenly came from Luofeng's side, and Han Li's figure appeared out of thin air.
Luofeng was startled, and quickly turned to look, and when he saw Han Li's appearance, his expression changed again, and he said, "Is it... is it Lord Liu?"
Han Li was slightly taken aback, and then remembered that he had used the alias "Liu Shi" before, and said, "Yes."
"Welcome, Lord Liu..." Luofeng said, bowing again.
"No need for formalities, I have come to ask for your help," Han Li said, waving his sleeve, and a surge of energy lifted Luofeng up.
The Earth Spirit's incarnation and Luofeng were both slightly surprised.
"Please speak, Lord Liu, and we will do our best to assist you," Luofeng said.
"I want to close up in the Black Wind Sea for a while, and I need your help to find a secluded island with no human habitation," Han Li said.
You have it, Wu Shuang Island... the Black Reef waters have an island called 'Wu Shuang' that is surrounded by dense reefs, with towering waves and a barren landscape devoid of vegetation and life. As a result, the surrounding area is uninhabited for thousands of miles. Luo Feng pondered for a moment before speaking.
"I need your help to build a formation on Wu Shuang Island," Han Li said directly.
"At your command," Luo Feng replied, clasping his hands.
Han Li nodded and took out a detailed diagram and a black storage ring, handing them over. "The formation's diagram is here, and the materials needed are also included. You must complete it within seven days."
"I'll get right on it," Luo Feng said, receiving the items and glancing at the diagram before his expression changed.
"Not so fast, I also have some cultivation techniques and spiritual herbs for Wu Meng Island. You can take them too," Han Li said, tossing over a white storage ring.
"Thank you, Lord Liu..." Luo Feng caught the ring and bowed without even looking at it.
After Luo Feng left, Han Li's gaze fell on the Earthly Spirit's incarnation. The latter seemed to sense something and looked up, meeting Han Li's eyes.
Han Li gazed at the incarnation, which looked almost identical to himself, and felt a pang of nostalgia.
This incarnation was created by Han Li's own divine soul and the Birth Soul Flower, and had developed some independent consciousness. After being separated from Han Li for so long, its cultivation had grown, and its consciousness had become more complete.
In a sense, the incarnation was both Han Li and not Han Li.
If Han Li had fallen in the mortal realm, as long as the incarnation existed, Han Li wouldn't be considered truly dead.
Because Han Li could reclaim absolute control over the incarnation at any time through their divine soul connection, he didn't need to worry about the incarnation rebelling.
Of course, this was a last resort, and if the incarnation lost its sense of self, it wouldn't be able to guard Wu Meng Island like it did now.
"I have a request," Han Li said after a moment.
"You and I are one, what need is there to speak of requests? Just say what's on your mind," the Earthly Spirit's incarnation replied, its expression unchanged.
Han Li hesitated, then lightly touched his face.
As a blue glow passed over him, the seal on his face was lifted, revealing his true appearance.
A dark mist swirled at his brow, with a strange symbol at its center. His eyes flashed with bloody light, and his pupils seemed to emanate a strong, murderous aura.
The Earthly Spirit's incarnation stared at the symbol, shocked, and felt like it was gazing at a ferocious, evil face that seemed to be about to break free from Han Li's flesh.
"What is this...?"
The Earthly Spirit's incarnation was separated from Han Li's divine soul, and despite their connection, it had no idea what it was looking at.
Then, it frowned, shocked, and asked, "Your cultivation realm?"
Han Li's true cultivation realm was now fully revealed, and the Earthly Spirit's incarnation was astonished.
"I'm currently stuck at the peak of the Great Luo Initial Stage, being harassed by the evil corpse, and facing the Corpse Severing tribulation," Han Li said, his voice laced with a bitter smile.
"Great Luo, a Great Luo cultivator..." Even the Earthly Spirit's incarnation found it hard to believe.
Normally, those who walked the Earthly Spirit path, with the support of their followers' faith, would have an easier time cultivating. As long as they had enough followers, their cultivation speed would be faster.
In recent times, due to the unique environment of the Black Wind Sea, and Han Li's foundation, Wu Meng Island's power and followers had grown rapidly.
Thanks to this, the Earthly Spirit's incarnation's cultivation speed was not slow, but compared to Han Li, it was almost insignificant.
"So, you're saying I can help you with the Corpse Severing?" the Earthly Spirit's incarnation asked, its expression thoughtful.
"Yes, that's right. The difficulty of Corpse Severing lies in how to contend with the corpse's soul and sever it from the body. The three corpses are the root of one's attachments, and their power grows with the cultivator's growth. It's extremely difficult to sever them with one's own divine soul. I obtained a secret technique that can transfer the evil corpse into your body, greatly increasing the chances of success," Han Li explained.
"What's the risk?" the Earthly Spirit's incarnation asked directly.
"The Corpse Severing process is already a risk, and if we're not careful, my original divine soul might be consumed by the evil corpse, changing my nature. Even if we succeed, there's a high chance that the evil corpse will occupy your Earthly Spirit body," Han Li said. Here is the translation of the chapter:
"Is that so, then it's only me who will serve as the vessel for this ritual?" Di Qi's avatar furrowed its brow and asked.
"That's correct," Han Li nodded and replied.
"If it were you, would you agree to it?" Di Qi's avatar showed a hint of a strange expression and asked.
"Actually, it's not entirely without benefits for you. The U-Meng Island's sea area has so many islanders who believe in you, I think the main reason you haven't been able to break through to the Tai Yi realm is that the power of their faith is limited, and it's not enough to help you break through the boundary, right?" Han Li asked.
"That's correct," Di Qi's avatar replied after a moment of silence, nodding its head.
"I have a way to help you break free from the constraints of your Earthly Immortal body, and from then on, you won't need to rely on the power of faith," Han Li said.
"Back then, who was it that forged this body of mine, I think no one is clearer about it than you. And the connection between this Earthly Immortal body and U-Meng Island, I think no one is clearer about it than you, so how can you say that it's possible to sever it?" Di Qi's avatar shook its head, clearly not believing Han Li's words.
"This I naturally understand, after so many years of cultivation, the connection between your Earthly Immortal body and U-Meng Island will only become tighter. However, you don't know that the energy carried by the evil corpse is incredibly powerful, once it enters your body, it will definitely modify your Earthly Immortal body to better suit you, and using the power of the evil corpse to sever the connection to the power of faith is not a difficult task," Han Li said.
Di Qi's avatar heard this and fell into deep thought, and after a long while, it asked, "Is this really possible?"
"Even if I don't dare to say it's 90% certain, there's still a 70-80% chance," Han Li nodded.
"If the connection to the power of faith is severed, what will happen to the islanders of U-Meng Island?" Di Qi's avatar asked.
"Not to mention that Luo Feng is now a True Immortal-level cultivator, if you're willing to protect them, staying here for a hundred years, with the immortal plants and magical tools I'll leave for them, it will be enough to make them not fear any power in the Black Wind Sea. Moreover, severing the connection to the ancestral god's path might not be a bad thing for them," Han Li said.
Di Qi's avatar heard this and nodded its head after a long while, seeming to accept Han Li's words.
"This matter is simple to say, but in reality, it's not easy. First, your current body may not be able to withstand the enormous energy brought by the evil corpse, and second, if your soul is not protected, it will definitely be devoured by the evil corpse and become its prey," Han Li continued.
"You should already have a plan to deal with this, right?" Di Qi's avatar asked.
"That's correct, the large array that Luo Feng built earlier is for tempering your Earthly Immortal body. As for your soul, before I perform the ritual, I will seal it away with a secret method, and at that time, you will fall into a deep sleep, and the evil corpse won't be able to detect your existence, so it naturally won't attack you," Han Li said.
"Fall into a deep sleep..." Di Qi's avatar hesitated.
"Don't worry, before that, I will seal your physical body on Tian Shuang Island, and the evil corpse will only be able to break free after it has modified and controlled your Earthly Immortal body. At that time, I will have already stabilized my cultivation at the mid-stage of the Da Luo realm, and capturing it will be a simple matter. Afterwards, I will only need to use a secret method to extract it again and re-seal it," Han Li said with a smile.
"So, there's one more key point, which is that you must stabilize your cultivation at the mid-stage of the Da Luo realm before the evil corpse breaks free from your control?" Di Qi's avatar frowned.
"Compared to the risks before, this is not a problem for me," Han Li said confidently.
"It's settled then," Di Qi's avatar said after thinking for a moment.
Han Li heard this and relaxed his expression, and in his heart, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
It was not easy to convince oneself, after all, to be able to fully cooperate with oneself, one could only achieve the best effect of the Corpse Severing Technique.
...
Time passed, and it was already seven days later.
In the Black Wind Sea, a region of water with a black glow, there were patches of black coral reefs, some of which were completely hidden beneath the surface, while others protruded above the water.
In other areas of the sea, the waves were calm, but here, the water churned and foamed, creating massive waves that reached hundreds of feet high.
In the center of this black coral reef, there was a strange, grayish-white island.
The island's surface near the sea was covered in black coral, while the higher areas were grayish-white, as if a layer of frost had been added.
At this moment, three or four figures flew overhead, descending onto the island.
One of them was a blue-robed man, and another was a blue-clothed man, who looked very similar, but were actually Han Li and his Di Qi avatar.
The other two were Luo Feng and Jin Tong.
The group arrived at the center of the island, where they found that the original island peak had been completely flattened, and a spacious area had been created, with a blue, six-sided altar built in the center, several dozen feet high.
Liu Daren, the ritual altar was built according to your requirements, and the remaining spiritual materials are all here.
As he spoke, Luo Feng handed over a black storage ring.
Han Li had already inspected the altar when he flew over, and it was built very neatly, without any problems. He waved his hand at Luo Feng and said, "You can keep it."
"Thank you, Liu Daren." Luo Feng was overjoyed and quickly bowed to thank him.
"I've already taught you the method of operating the formation, and I'll let Jintong guard the formation for you, so you can cultivate in peace. However, the time I can give you is limited, only 49 days." Han Li said.
"If this formation is as powerful as you say, 49 days is enough." The Di Qi incarnation said.
Luo Feng stood to the side, watching the two speak, and a hint of doubt flashed in his eyes.
Han Li saw it but didn't say anything, and instead flew down to the altar.
He walked around the altar, turned his wrist, and took out a series of round stones imbued with the dense water attribute law, and embedded them into the formation's grooves.
"Alright, you can enter the formation now." After finishing, he returned to the ground and said.
The Di Qi incarnation nodded, and then jumped up, landing in the center of the altar, and sat down in a cross-legged position.
Not long after, a chanting sound arose, and the entire altar shook violently, with a series of pillars of light shooting up into the sky, stirring up the clouds, and forming a massive whirlpool.
The surrounding sea area was filled with turbulent clouds, and a surge of water attribute spiritual energy gathered from all directions, pouring into the whirlpool, and then falling onto the altar.
The Di Qi incarnation bathed in it, and his body suddenly shone with a blue light, turning into a transparent crystal-like state, absorbing the spiritual energy.
"You stay here and guard the formation for 49 days." Han Li patted Jintong's shoulder and said.
"Got it, Uncle." Jintong nodded, her mind elsewhere.
Han Li knew that aside from eating those heavenly materials and treasures, it was unrealistic to expect her to focus on one thing.
Fortunately, this place was remote and far from the Heavenly Court's influence, and it was relatively safe. If someone wanted to cause trouble, as long as Jintong released a hint of her aura, it would be enough to make them retreat.
"Luo Feng, you come with me to Wumeng Island." Han Li looked at Luo Feng and said.
The latter nodded, and followed Han Li as they flew away.
"I know you're puzzled about what you just saw, right?" Han Li said, hovering in mid-air, waiting for Luo Feng to catch up.
Luo Feng didn't know how to respond, so he just nodded.
"Actually, I didn't plan to keep it a secret, but... " Han Li then told Luo Feng about the Di Qi incarnation's situation, but naturally left out the part about beheading the corpse.
The two of them slowly flew back to Wumeng Island, Luo Feng initially looking terrified, but after hearing that Han Li had already made arrangements, his expression gradually returned to normal.
"Liu Daren, our Wumeng Island has been able to survive until now, and thrive, thanks to your support and protection. You didn't have to tell me, but since you've arranged everything so meticulously, I won't have any other thoughts, and will follow your arrangements." Luo Feng bowed deeply and said.
"Very good." Han Li nodded in satisfaction.
In the following days, Han Li stayed on Wumeng Island, secretly directing Luo Feng to arrange the aftermath.
A island that was originally sustained by faith and bloodline couldn't be easily changed.
So, Han Li started from the basics, selecting a group of talented children from the island, and gathering them in the ancestral temple, teaching them the fundamental methods of cultivation.
As long as the seeds of change were sown, and Luo Feng guided and supported them, Wumeng Island would gradually evolve into a place similar to a sect, and it was only a matter of time.
49 days later, Han Li left Wumeng Island and returned to Tiansheng Island.
As soon as he arrived on the island, Jintong immediately came to greet him.
"Uncle, you're finally back! Your incarnation left seclusion four days ago, and has been sitting in silence, like a mute, not saying a word, I was worried you'd turn into a stone." She complained.
"Has there been any commotion here?" Han Li asked.
"There was, on the second day after you left, and then several more groups came, all sneaking around, not daring to get too close. I followed your instructions and chased them away." Jintong replied.
"How did you chase them away?" Han Li asked, slightly suspicious.
"I told them that the Wumeng Island ancestral god was in seclusion here, and that outsiders weren't allowed to approach." Jintong avoided Han Li's eyes and said.
"You didn't fight anyone?" Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.
"I didn't... I hit one of them, he was a bit too bold, and came back to snoop around. I gave him a good smack, and he didn't come back up for half a day." Jintong smiled sheepishly and said.
"You didn't hurt anyone seriously?" Han Li asked.
"No, no... I didn't use much force. But after that, no one came back." Jintong quickly shook her head and said. Han Li nodded and didn't say anything else, jumping onto the altar in the center of the island.
The various water-attribute xian yuan stones embedded around the altar had all turned grayish-white, and the xian ling energy they contained had naturally gathered into the body of the Di Qi transformed.
At this moment, the Di Qi transformed body was sitting cross-legged on the ground, its entire body still maintaining a crystalline blue color, with its internal organs and viscera all intact. One could see the xian ling energy transformed from the threads of faith flowing within it, but it still couldn't give off the vibrant aura of a living being.
Within the head of the transformed body, a water-blue virtual light silhouette could be seen, looking like a cultivator's yuan ying, but it was far less vivid and clear than a yuan ying, appearing more like a wisp of smoke.
"The divine soul has converged, the body is refined, and it has reached the expected state," Han Li said with a nod.
At this moment, the virtual light silhouette suddenly dispersed, spreading out like smoke, covering the entire body.
The transparent sensation on its body disappeared, and its shape returned to normal.
"I've prepared everything, what's next?" the Di Qi transformed body asked, its eyes suddenly opening.
Han Li smiled slightly, not saying anything, and simply waved his hand. A silver light portal suddenly appeared beside him.
The next moment, a girl in a black dress walked out of the portal, and it was Ti Hun.
After a long time of recuperation, her injuries had fully recovered, and her cultivation had returned to its peak.
"This is Ti Hun, next, she will use her divine soul secret technique to seal your divine soul and soul essence, you may need to sleep for a while," Han Li said.
The Di Qi transformed body looked at Ti Hun from head to toe, opening its mouth, but not speaking, only nodding.
Then, it closed its eyes, waiting for Ti Hun to cast her spell.
Han Li saw this and nodded to Ti Hun.
Ti Hun walked forward, arriving beside the Di Qi transformed body.
She raised her hand, pointing at the Di Qi transformed body's brow with her middle and index fingers, and a dark red light appeared on her fingertips, radiating wave-like ripples.
A powerful divine soul fluctuation spread out from it.
Han Li watched for a moment, then turned and walked down from the altar.
He rotated his wrist, and a light flashed in his palm, and several array flags and array disks appeared, which he placed in the various rock crevices on the island.
About two hours later, Han Li had walked around the entire island, placing the over 1,800 array flags and array disks he had prepared in advance.
When he returned to the altar, Ti Hun had already finished, and the Di Qi transformed body had returned to its original crystalline blue color, but the smoke-like virtual light silhouette in its head had disappeared.
Han Li released his divine sense, carefully examining the Di Qi transformed body, and his eyebrows slightly rose in surprise.
"With my divine sense and the connection between my divine soul and the transformed body, I shouldn't be able to sense its divine soul, could it be that you've extracted it from its body?" Han Li asked in doubt.
"Master, didn't you say that the divine soul of the ancestors can't be separated from the body of the earth xian for a long time? How could I do that?" Ti Hun smiled and said.
"It seems that your soul-sealing technique is truly powerful, and even I couldn't see through it," Han Li praised.
Ti Hun heard this and covered her mouth with a smile, pointing at the Di Qi transformed body's palm.
A light flashed on its palm, and a blurry human silhouette the size of a dragon's eye appeared, disappearing again after a flash.
"In this way, even if the evil corpse occupies the earth xian's body, it won't be able to sense the transformed body's divine soul," Han Li said.
He then turned his wrist, and a qing bamboo sword appeared in his palm, starting to draw a symbol array on the ground.
This symbol array was extremely complex, far surpassing any Han Li had seen before, with three layers of array patterns.
The innermost layer was a yin-yang fish-like pattern, the middle layer was a circle of returning symbols, and the outermost layer was a circle of ring-shaped symbols.
Each layer of symbols was filled with countless thumb-sized symbol characters.
After finishing the symbol array, Han Li took out over a dozen xian yuan stones and seven or eight treasures containing different ling energy auras, placing them on each array eye and array axle.
By the time everything was set up, the sun had already set on the distant sea, dyeing the entire ocean orange.
"Alright... Jin Tong has gone to play in the stormy sea, go call her back, and have her guard the southern end of the island with you, while I set up the array," Han Li said to Ti Hun, putting away the qing bamboo sword.
Ti Hun nodded, turned, and was about to leave.
"After the altar array is activated, you'll open the island's boundary, and no matter what happens on the altar, you must not intervene, only guard the island's boundary, not allowing anyone to enter or exit, remember?" Han Li's face turned serious, reminding her.
"Remembered," Ti Hun nodded and said.
She then jumped into the air, disappearing into the sky above the island under Han Li's watchful eyes.
Han Li slowly withdrew his gaze and waved his hand, moving the Earth Immortal's body to the center of the Yin-Yang Fish Diagram, slightly off from the correct position.
He himself sat opposite the Earth Immortal's body, on the Yang Fish Diagram side, also slightly off from the correct position.
After sitting down, he began to calm his mind and regulate his breathing, making his entire body seem as if he had cast the "Myriad Apertures Empty Silence" technique, with all his aura sinking into stillness, almost indistinguishable from the Earth Immortal's body.
A moment later, the Golden Boy and the Wailing Spirit returned, each going to the north and south ends of the island to stand guard.
Han Li then focused his gaze, his hands forming a seal, and his mouth began to recite incantations.
Immediately, the outermost ring of symbols on the altar lit up with a golden glow, as if the sound of Buddhist chanting was resonating from within, spreading out in all directions and forming a half-spherical, solid light barrier that protected the entire altar.
On the surface of the light barrier, Buddhist scriptures appeared, flashing with brilliant golden light.
Next, the middle layer of curved symbols also lit up, and the seven or eight treasures placed on top of them shone brightly, rising into the air as pillars of light that pierced the heavens. Depending on their attributes, some were wrapped in raging flames, some condensed into icy cold air, and some were entwined with dense lightning, "crackling" with purple electricity.
"Whoosh, whoosh..."
As the sound of breaking air echoed, the pillars of light shot out chains of virtual light that were either icy, fiery, or electrified, piercing into the Earth Immortal's body at the major acupoints such as the Zhongzhong, Baihui, and Dantian.
These places were crucial points for the Evil Corpse to transform the Earth Immortal's body, and Han Li had to control them to prevent any accidents.
After the second layer of the formation, like a target, had pinned the Earth Immortal's body full of chains, the central Yin-Yang Fish Diagram finally lit up with a thin, black-and-white light.
Unlike the previous two layers, the third layer's symbol array only emitted a thin, faint glow.
Han Li gazed out at the altar and soon saw that the entire island was illuminated by pillars of light that condensed into a golden, glittering tower that suppressed the entire Tian Shuang Island.
Seeing that the Golden Boy and the Wailing Spirit had activated the "Treasured Tower Suppressing Demon Formation", Han Li took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and sank his divine sense into his spiritual sea.
His spiritual sea was now half-filled with dark clouds and half with a bloody, turbulent sea.
Ever since he had released half of the Evil Corpse's seal, its power had grown extremely fast, and although Han Li had suppressed it multiple times, the effects were not ideal.
Generally speaking, after an Evil Corpse had formed, it had to be eliminated as soon as possible. Han Li's approach, however, was to keep it within his body, which was a major taboo.
Now, not only was the Evil Corpse growing at an alarming rate, but its invasion of Han Li's spiritual sea was also extremely severe, almost to the point of rivaling Han Li's own strength.
If he delayed any further, he feared that the Evil Corpse would break free from the seal's restraint and come to trouble him.
Han Li's divine sense strode forward in his spiritual sea, with waves crashing behind him, dark clouds swirling above, and a powerful aura charging towards the blood-red half of the sea.
The Evil Corpse, still bound by the seal, stood with its hands hanging down, but suddenly looked up at Han Li with a strange expression, grinning and saying:
"Hehe, you've finally come... I've been waiting for so long."
"Is that so? You seem to have been waiting for me all along," Han Li replied with a smile.
"You know that you can't keep me trapped forever, so it's just a matter of time before you release me," the Evil Corpse said, its voice laced with a hint of mockery.
"Not bad, you're right. Since you've already separated from me, even if I keep you trapped, I won't be able to stop you from growing stronger and counterattacking me. So, I've come to eliminate you today," Han Li declared.
"We'll see about that," the Evil Corpse retorted, its expression unyielding. "As it stands, you're not guaranteed to win."
"Indeed, you now have the capital to contend with me, but in the end, this body will be riddled with wounds, and neither of us will benefit," Han Li said, nodding.
"I was originally just a thread of your evil thoughts, but even if I seize this damaged body, it's still a gain for me. As for you, you're already at a disadvantage, so it's better for you to worry about this," the Evil Corpse said, its voice devoid of concern.
"You're quite perceptive, but what if I fail? I'll destroy this body, even if it means annihilating my own soul," Han Li countered.
The Evil Corpse's expression finally froze, but it soon laughed and said:
"I don't believe you'll go that far. You created me, and I'm a part of you. Even if you're controlled by me, it's still better than you being destroyed. Besides, you're not ruthless enough, and I'll do better than you!"
"You're wrong about me, despite being born from my evil thoughts. If you don't believe me, we can try it out," Han Li said, his hand behind his back, the other hand extended in a gesture of invitation.
The Evil Corpse fell silent, its expression revealing a glimmer of fear.
Although it had spoken boldly, it knew that Han Li was capable of doing something as drastic as destroying his own body.
"Since you've realized your mistake, why don't we discuss a way to benefit both of us?" Han Li suggested, taking a step forward, a smile on his face. "What method?" the Corpse asked.
"I have already prepared a body with a high rank of transformation for you. As long as you are willing to enter it calmly, after refining it, you can regain a new life," Han Li said, walking around the Corpse.
"Haha... such deceitful words, even a three-year-old child wouldn't believe them. My Dao is in conflict with yours, how can you give me freedom? Wouldn't that be a poison that would harm countless generations?" The Corpse laughed loudly.
"For now, I only want to cut you down. As for the future, we'll talk about it later. I've already said the method, whether you believe it or not is up to you." Han Li walked back to his original position and stopped, speaking.
"You really didn't deceive me?" The Corpse asked, hesitating.
"Deceived you or not, you'll know for yourself." Han Li smiled and said.
After speaking, he released some of the restrictions, allowing the Corpse to sense the presence of the Earth Immortal's body.
"The aura is actually compatible with mine, it seems you really did prepare it. Since that's the case, I can trust you this time." The Corpse examined it and unexpectedly agreed.
"Good." Han Li laughed loudly, and his mind moved.
"Qinglanglang..."
Accompanied by the sound of chains shaking, the remaining Isolation Restriction Chains that were inserted into the Corpse's body suddenly flashed with a dark light, and then retreated, transforming into a black mist that dispersed.
The Corpse slowly stood up, stretching its muscles, and its entire body was like a burst of beans, constantly making strange noises.
"Hehe, your good intentions have really moved me, but unfortunately, even a good body is not as good as my original flesh and blood. Since we have to part ways, why don't you leave instead?" The Corpse tilted its head, looking at Han Li with a slanted gaze, laughing sinisterly.
"Alas, good intentions are met with ingratitude. I already knew you would be like this. Since we can't come to an agreement, we'll have to use force." Han Li sighed and said.
After speaking, he twisted his wrist, and his palm suddenly flashed with golden lightning, directly condensing a sword that looked exactly like the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword.
"As long as you can defeat me, I'll willingly let you cut me down. What's the harm in that?" The Corpse smiled.
As it spoke, a sword appeared in its palm, also looking exactly like the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword, but with dark red blood-colored lightning wrapped around it.
Han Li's pupils constricted, and he took the initiative to charge forward, his sword sweeping towards the Corpse.
The Corpse didn't fall behind, its sword flashing upwards, not blocking Han Li's attack, but instead stabbing directly towards him.
"Boom"
Accompanied by a loud thunderclap, the Corpse's sword flashed with blood light, and a thick, blood-colored lightning bolt suddenly shot out, extending hundreds of times its original length, like a blood spear stabbing towards Han Li.
Han Li was in mid-air, his previous sword strike having been a feint, and he used the momentum to leap over the Corpse's head.
He saw the Corpse's sword stir, and its blade suddenly shot out golden lightning, like a lightning vortex that surrounded the Corpse.
The Corpse saw the situation was unfavorable and wanted to move, but its feet were suddenly surrounded by symbol lights, and lightning chains extended from the symbol sea, combining with the lightning above to form a golden cage that trapped the Corpse.
Han Li leaped down to the side, his face full of mockery as he looked at the Corpse.
"When did you set up this lightning array?" The Corpse asked, its face dark and suppressed.
"Naturally, it was while we were talking. Otherwise, do you think I would waste so many words on you?" Han Li retorted.
The Corpse remained silent for a long time, then suddenly laughed loudly: "This is the real you, this is the real me, hahaha..."
Han Li saw the Corpse's crazed expression and furrowed his brow, feeling a sense of unease.
At that moment, as the Corpse's laughter spread, the entire symbol sea space began to shake violently, and the half-bloody space seemed to be boiling.
The symbol sea's water churned violently, and large blood-colored bubbles emerged from the surface, with misty vapor rising into the air, merging with the blood clouds.
The Corpse's feet were surrounded by a blood-colored wave that rose up, engulfing it and the entire lightning cage, and when the wave subsided, the Corpse had already escaped.
Han Li saw this and his eyes narrowed, his hands immediately forming a seal.
"Boom"
Accompanied by a thunderous roar, the symbol sea space behind Han Li was filled with golden lightning, weaving together to form a dense net that pierced down from the sky, and the sea's surface was whipped up by strong winds and massive waves.
The entire Spiritual Sea space suddenly erupted into a cacophony of thunder and lightning, instantly filling the air with an intense and violent energy.
The Corpse and Han Li locked eyes, neither of them speaking a word, but instead charging at each other with a fierce battle cry.
As they clashed, the divided Spiritual Sea space descended into chaos, with both sides surging forward in a frenzy of energy.
A deafening crash shook the air!
Han Li and the Corpse exchanged blows, their movements straightforward and unadorned, yet filled with a deep-seated power.
As they collided, the two halves of the Spiritual Sea merged into one, their energies intertwining in a spectacular display.
Above, the blood clouds churned and boiled, lightning flashing through the air as the two forces clashed in a frenzy of energy.
Han Li felt his divine soul shudder, as if it was being torn apart, and he could only focus on frantically activating his cultivation technique, pouring all his spiritual energy into the battle.
"Don't you understand yet? The Spiritual Sea is already mine to command, and the more you rage, the stronger I become. Ha ha, let your anger burn brighter still!" the Corpse sneered, his voice dripping with contempt.
With a sudden burst of energy, the Corpse launched a powerful attack, his palms striking out with a force that shook the air.
The pressure from the half of the Spiritual Sea space bore down on Han Li, pushing him back despite his best efforts to resist.
As the Corpse's blood-red Spiritual Sea surged forward, it began to occupy the dominant position, its power growing with each passing moment.
Han Li's eyes widened in alarm as he realized the Corpse was slowly taking control of the Spiritual Sea space, threatening to supplant him as the true master.
If he lost, his divine soul would be cast out, forced to flee the Spiritual Sea like a stray dog.
Worse still, he would be completely absorbed and assimilated into the Corpse's being.
"Ha ha, you've lost... I'll take your place, and your name will echo throughout the entire Immortal Realm!" the Corpse cackled, his eyes gleaming with triumph.
Just as the Corpse was about to deliver the final blow, Han Li suddenly laughed coldly, his voice dripping with malice.
"You're celebrating too early, it's not a good habit."
In the next instant, a massive yin-yang fish diagram appeared beneath Han Li and the Corpse, its surface gleaming like a mirror as it supported the two combatants.
The Corpse's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the diagram, his face pale with fear.
"Impossible... how did you...?"
The yin-yang fish diagram suddenly burst into a brilliant display of black and white light, its energy swirling in a maddening dance.
"Cut!"
Han Li's eyes snapped shut, his voice booming out as he unleashed a devastating blow.
The Spiritual Sea space shuddered, its energy surging forward in a massive wave that crashed down on the Corpse.
As the two forces clashed, the divided Spiritual Sea space finally reunited, its energies merging into a single, unified whole.
At the same time, on the altar of the Heavenly Frost Island, Han Li's body, its seven apertures bleeding profusely, suddenly opened its eyes.
A dark, swirling energy burst forth from his eyes, only to be enveloped by a powerful, crystalline energy that wrapped around it like a shroud.
The dark energy seemed to resist, turning back to attack Han Li's brow, but was suddenly absorbed by the sun-fish's eye, its energy dissipating into the void.
The Corpse's body, now freed from its prison, let out a deafening roar as it struggled to regain control.
Its eyes blazed with fury, its face twisted in a snarl as it sat up, its hands grasping at its head in a futile attempt to regain mastery.
The air was filled with the sound of chanting, the Corpse's rage growing with each passing moment as it realized it was trapped in this new body, unable to control its actions.
Han Li, still seated across from the Corpse, his face smeared with blood, his body battered and bruised, yet his eyes shone with a fierce determination.
His eight hundred and forty spiritual apertures had been fully opened, his cultivation reaching the mid-stage of the Great Luo Realm.
However, the Corpse's departure had taken a significant portion of his spiritual energy, leaving him weakened and in need of time to recover.
"Don't say I didn't warn you, this body will take some time to master, so be patient."
Han Li's voice was calm, his eyes closing once more as he began to meditate.
The Corpse's face twisted in rage as it realized Han Li's plan, its eyes fixed on the chains that bound it to the body.
It knew it had to calm down, to focus on refining the body, but its anger and frustration threatened to consume it.
As the Corpse's energy flowed through the body, it began to change, its crystalline structure shifting towards a more human form.
The body's internal energy pathways began to open, its organs and meridians connecting in a complex network.
The Corpse's power surged through the body, its energy coursing through the veins like a river, as it began to take control of its new prison. The Earth Immortal's corpse, whose chest had been slowly rising and falling, suddenly emitted a burst of vitality.
Han Li, who was sitting in meditation, had already split off a thread of his consciousness to monitor the changes in the Earth Immortal's corpse.
Upon seeing this, his heart tightened, and he couldn't help but wake up once again.
The degree of fusion between the evil corpse and the Earth Immortal's body far exceeded his original expectations, and the speed at which it was transforming was also causing him concern.
Just as he was about to pause his cultivation and operate the formation to suppress the evil corpse, a sudden change occurred.
The evil corpse, which was sitting opposite him, suddenly made the first move.
Its body was surrounded by a blue glow, and the original aura of the Corpse Qi had disappeared without a trace. Instead, a dense aura of water attribute laws was emanating from it.
The aura around its body was also rapidly increasing.
"Not good," Han Li muttered to himself, looking up at the golden light screen above him.
The golden light screen had been set up with Buddhist scriptures and mantras to suppress the Corpse Qi, but who would have thought that after the evil corpse merged with the Earth Immortal's body, it would completely suppress the Corpse Qi?
"Boom!"
A loud explosion sounded, and the blue light on the evil corpse's body intensified, creating a massive blue water wave that burst forth, directly shattering the chains that bound it.
The evil corpse's body was then lifted up by the blue water wave, which had transformed into a blue dragon, and it charged straight at the golden light screen.
"Hmm..."
A dull sound echoed, and the golden light screen did not collapse, but instead, the blue dragon dissipated, scattering water droplets everywhere.
"Where are you going?"
Han Li shouted, his five fingers curved like claws, reaching out to grab the evil corpse's ankle.
Just as he was about to grab it, the evil corpse's ankle suddenly flashed with blue light and transformed into water, flowing away.
Han Li's hand grasped at nothing, and he was about to grab again when a loud explosion sounded from above.
The golden light screen exploded, and the evil corpse's body burst forth, flying away from the altar and disappearing into the distance.
At that moment, a brilliant golden light illuminated the sky, and a seven-layered golden pagoda appeared, descending rapidly to encase the evil corpse.
Han Li's figure also flew out from the altar, chasing after the evil corpse.
However, before he could catch up, a loud rumbling sound echoed through the sky.
The golden pagoda's top burst open, revealing a massive black hole, and a dense black aura erupted from it, accompanied by a faintly visible black wheel.
Han Li's eyes widened, and his forehead bulged with veins. The evil corpse had self-destructed its Heavy Water True Wheel to escape.
"This time, I underestimated you. I'll take this body for now, and I'll come back to trouble you again in the future." A voice filled with resentment echoed from the sky.
A dark light shot down from the sky, piercing into the ocean and creating a massive wave.
Han Li's face darkened, and he quickly chased after the evil corpse.
Compared to the risks brought about by the instability of his own cultivation, allowing the evil corpse to escape his control would bring him unpredictable trouble in the future.
He was determined to catch the evil corpse at all costs, taking advantage of its current weakness to suppress it completely.
The events that had transpired, from the evil corpse breaking free from the isolation formation to being suppressed by Han Li, and then escaping again, had all occurred within the span of a single incense stick.
The Golden Boy and the Wailing Spirit, who were stationed at the north and south ends of the island, had not yet grasped the situation, and seeing this, they quickly followed Han Li in pursuit.
In the blink of an eye, Han Li had already chased after the evil corpse for a thousand miles, and when he looked around, he could no longer see any sign of it. He had to hover in mid-air, using his Refining Spirit Technique to track its trail.
"Uncle, what's going on? Did something go wrong with the beheading?" the Golden Boy asked as he caught up.
"The Earth Immortal's corpse has been eroded by the malicious intentions of countless people, including those who sought revenge. Its fusion with the evil corpse was far beyond my expectations, and it escaped. It's now hiding in the ocean, and my aura is unstable, making it difficult for me to use my Refining Spirit Technique to its full potential. I've lost its trail," Han Li explained, his face pale with concern.
At that moment, the Wailing Spirit, who had been chasing after them, pointed in a direction and shouted, "It's heading in that direction, and it's moving very fast. Should we..."
"Chase!" Han Li replied, quickly following the direction the Wailing Spirit had pointed.
Han Li followed the guidance of the Wailing Soul, speeding forward in pursuit of the fleeing Corpse.
With his current cultivation level in the mid-stage of the Great Luo Realm, he was able to chase after the Corpse for hundreds of millions of miles in the blink of an eye.
Although he was able to lock onto the Corpse's position with his divine sense, the Corpse seemed to be using some unknown method to escape, and every time Han Li closed the distance to within a million miles, the Corpse would suddenly increase its speed and pull away.
The two of them continued to chase each other, unaware of the time passing, until they reached the edge of the Black Wind Sea.
As they gazed out, they saw the fierce winds howling, the black mist swirling, and the dark, shadowy winds connecting the sky and the earth, making it seem like a place that was not to be trifled with.
"No good, it's the Lamenting Wind!" Han Li muttered to himself, his body suddenly radiating a brilliant golden light, and a golden wheel appearing behind him, spinning rapidly as he became shrouded in a misty aura.
However, at this moment, the Corpse also radiated a brilliant golden light, its speed increasing dramatically as it rushed ahead of Han Li, plunging into the dark, shadowy winds and disappearing from sight.
"Ha ha, you want to catch me? Wait another hundred million years..." The Corpse's voice echoed through the air.
Han Li's face darkened, his divine sense expanding rapidly as he probed into the dark, shadowy winds.
But in that instant, the Corpse seemed to have used some unknown divine ability, and it vanished without a trace, leaving Han Li's divine sense unable to detect it.
Han Li's thoughts turned, and he did not rashly pursue the Corpse.
Although the Corpse was a lingering threat, Han Li had just recently advanced to a new realm, and his cultivation was still unstable. To rashly pursue the Corpse would not be a wise decision.
As the saying goes, when faced with two evils, one should choose the lesser of the two. If he could not capture the Corpse this time, he could only wait for another opportunity in the future.
"Master, let me out for a moment." Just then, the Wailing Soul's voice echoed in Han Li's mind.
Han Li nodded, and with a wave of his hand, the Wailing Soul appeared beside him, her eyes shining brightly as she gazed towards the Lamenting Wind.
"Wailing Soul, what have you discovered?" Han Li asked.
"I sensed a familiar aura in these winds, and..." The Wailing Soul said, her hands weaving a spell as a small, dark red cauldron appeared before her, the same one that was the Yan Luo Cauldron.
The Yan Luo Cauldron's surface was radiating a brilliant light, as if it was trying to fly into the Lamenting Wind.
"You should hurry and summon Sun Chongshan!" Han Li seemed to have thought of something, and quickly said.
The Wailing Soul was taken aback, but then nodded and summoned Sun Chongshan.
Sun Chongshan looked around, his eyes widening in surprise as he took in the scene before him.
"How is it that you, fellow Daoist, have come to this place?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed in curiosity.
Sun Chongshan replied, "The environment here is similar to the place where I obtained the Yan Luo Cauldron in the Tian Shang Realm."
Han Li nodded slowly, his eyes fixed on the Lamenting Wind as he pondered.
"Master, have you been here before?" the Wailing Soul asked.
"I ventured into this area a long time ago, but due to certain considerations, I did not delve too deeply. These winds are called the Lamenting Wind, and they are said to be endless, with a dense, cold aura that is home to creatures like the Yin beasts... There is a legend in the Black Wind Sea that these winds are blown from the You Ming Ghost Realm."
Han Li's eyes sparkled with interest, and he continued, "Perhaps this legend is true."
The Wailing Soul's eyes narrowed, and she seemed to be excited.
"You seem to be very interested in the Lamenting Wind." Han Li said.
"I want to enter and take a look, to see if I can find anything." The Wailing Soul gazed at Han Li, her face taking on a pitiful expression.
"Since the Lamenting Wind seems to have a connection to the Yan Luo Cauldron, I also want to investigate further. However, before that, I need to close my eyes for a period of time, and you should protect me." Han Li said.
"Alright!" The Wailing Soul nodded, and then put Sun Chongshan back into the Yan Luo Cauldron.
Thus, Han Li and the Wailing Soul found a secluded island in the vicinity, set up a temporary cave, and Han Li entered the Flower Branch Space to close his eyes and stabilize his cultivation.
This closed-door meditation lasted for nearly twenty years, but due to the time difference in the space, it was only a short period of time in the outside world.
Before the Lamenting Wind, Han Li and the Wailing Soul stood side by side, while Sun Chongshan was released from the Yan Luo Cauldron.
Sun Chongshan gazed at Han Li, his eyes wide with shock.
He could not imagine how Han Li, who had been unstable and injured just a day ago, could recover so quickly in less than a day.
Could it be that he had consumed some kind of divine medicine that was effective even for Great Luo Realm cultivators?
Although he was puzzled, Sun Chongshan did not ask any questions, and instead waited patiently for Han Li and the Wailing Soul's instructions.
"Let's go, I hope we can catch up to that guy." Han Li said calmly, and then waved his hand, releasing a golden light that enveloped the three of them.
With a whoosh, the three of them transformed into a golden light, flying towards the depths of the Lamenting Wind.
The Lamenting Wind was still filled with a dense, cold aura, and the winds howled fiercely.
However, Han Li's cultivation had increased dramatically since his last visit, and he was able to navigate the winds with ease, quickly reaching a deep area of the Lamenting Wind.
But what disappointed Han Li was that the Corpse seemed to have been swallowed up by the winds, leaving no trace behind, not even the Wailing Soul could sense anything. Besides this, something unexpected to Han Li was that the yin beasts living inside the Lùo Bǎi Jīng Fēng had not appeared.
Upon arriving at this place, the Yán Lóu Dǐng in Tiě Hún's hand hummed softly, pointing downwards.
Han Li and the others did not hesitate, following the direction of the Yán Lóu Dǐng's guidance as they flew downwards.
Han Li had only attempted to cross the Lùo Bǎi Jīng Fēng region previously, and had not tried to explore downwards. Now, as he descended, he discovered that the seawater below had vanished, replaced by rolling yin winds.
As they flew downwards for a distance, the surrounding yin cold air grew thicker, piercing to the bone, and Han Li's golden light was unable to isolate them.
Sun Chóng Shān's face turned pale, his lips moving as if to say something.
Just then, the yin wind behind him fluctuated slightly, and a black mist-shrouded trident emerged from the yin wind, stabbing fiercely towards Sun Chóng Shān's back.
A metallic clang echoed!
The black trident collided with the golden light surrounding the three, and was immediately repelled.
Han Li saw this and his heart stirred.
This thing, he had encountered it before when he tried to cross the Lùo Bǎi Jīng Fēng region.
At that time, his strength was weak, and he had only managed to repel it, not kill it. He had not expected to encounter it again.
However, this time its strength was far greater than before, at least comparable to that of a Golden Immortal.
Han Li thought to himself, but his actions did not slow down. He raised his hand and pointed.
A golden lightning bolt shot out from his fingertips, striking the black trident.
A loud explosion echoed!
The black trident shattered, and the surrounding Lùo Bǎi Jīng Fēng was torn apart by the scattered lightning. A black humanoid creature emerged.
This creature looked roughly like a human, but its entire body was covered in black scales, and it had a tail behind it, looking like a small demon.
The black demon's face was filled with shock, and it let out a shrill cry as it turned to flee.
Han Li raised his hand, about to strike the black demon, but a black aura had already shot out, enveloping the demon. It was Tiě Hún who had acted.
The black aura reversed its direction, and the black demon was trapped, unable to resist. Tiě Hún swallowed it in one gulp.
Her eyes narrowed, and her body flashed with black light. Her face revealed a hint of intoxication, and it took her a while to recover.
"What a rare delicacy, I haven't tasted such delicious yin soul energy in a long time." Tiě Hún smacked her lips, saying.
"It's just a small demon, is there anything special about it?" Han Li asked.
"This black demon's body contains a small amount of yin soul energy, but its quality is extremely high. Moreover, this yin soul energy is highly compatible with my body, and it will be very beneficial to me." Tiě Hún's face was filled with excitement.
"Is that so?" Han Li said thoughtfully.
"Senior Han, Senior Tiě Hún, the yin cold air here is too thick, I can barely withstand it..." Just then, Sun Chóng Shān interrupted, his face pale and his body trembling.
Han Li looked at him, then turned to Tiě Hún.
"Hmph, you're useless." Tiě Hún frowned, waving her hand to pull him into the Yán Lóu Dǐng.
"Let's continue downwards and see what's there." Han Li looked downwards, his eyes flashing with curiosity.
Thus, the two of them continued their descent, and after a short while, they had been flying for half a day.
This place seemed bottomless, and despite flying for so long, they had yet to reach the bottom.
The yin cold air here was extremely dense, and even Han Li felt slightly uncomfortable.
On the other hand, Tiě Hún seemed to be very comfortable, as if she were enjoying the yin cold air.
The two of them continued their descent, and after a while, the yin wind in front of them began to weaken, as if they were finally reaching the bottom.
Han Li and Tiě Hún's hearts stirred with excitement, and they accelerated their descent.
Just then, the void in front of them began to fluctuate, and a massive blood-red vortex appeared, blocking their path.
A powerful, unmatched devouring force emerged from the blood-red vortex, and the two of them were caught off guard, unable to defend themselves. They were swallowed by the vortex in an instant.
Han Li and Tiě Hún's vision blurred, and when they opened their eyes again, they found themselves in a blood-red space.
Inside the space, there was a massive lake, its waters a deep crimson color, gently rippling.
The lake water looked like blood, but it didn't have any bloody smell, only a faint chill.
Behind the lake, a massive blood-red city stood, extremely majestic, with two large characters written on the city gate: "Ghost Gate".
Han Li and Tiě Hún gazed at the scene, exchanging a glance, and saw a hint of shock in each other's eyes.
Han Li gazed out at the Blood Red City, his divine sense scanning the area. He rubbed his nose, muttering to himself, "This place is filled with a chilling aura, it's as if we've truly entered the underworld."
The city was quite large, but what was strange was that there was no sign of life anywhere. Not a single person, not even a living animal, could be found.
It was as if the city was a ghost town, devoid of any vitality.
Ti Hu didn't speak, her eyes fixed on the space behind the city.
Han Li followed her gaze, his heart skipping a beat.
In the air behind the city, a large black cloud floated, its presence starkly contrasting with the blood-red surroundings.
The cloud seemed to be alive, slowly rotating, and Han Li could sense that there was something within it. However, the cloud emitted a powerful, formless energy that prevented his divine sense from penetrating.
Han Li pondered for a moment before activating his Nine Yin Magic Eyes, gazing into the cloud.
Suddenly, the cloud shuddered violently, and a tremendous pressure burst forth, causing the air around Han Li to tremble. His vision was forced back, and he felt a sharp pain in his eyes, with two lines of blood tears flowing from the corners.
"Master!" Ti Hu exclaimed, seeing Han Li's reaction.
"I'm fine," Han Li replied, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "This black cloud is too unusual, let's not investigate it further."
A moment later, Han Li opened his eyes, which had returned to normal.
"This place doesn't feel right, let's leave," Ti Hu suggested, glancing at the black cloud and then the Blood Red City.
"This blood-red space is quite stable, and we can't just leave. Since we've come this far, let's take a look," Han Li said, leading the way towards the city.
Ti Hu followed closely, her eyes fixed on the black cloud.
As they landed before the city gate, Han Li saw that the doors were open, revealing a wide, empty street. The buildings on either side were all grand and imposing, with their doors and windows open.
However, the city was eerily silent, devoid of any signs of life.
Ti Hu's eyebrows furrowed, and she instinctively moved closer to Han Li.
"Let's go," Han Li said, stepping into the city.
As they entered the city, Han Li felt a sudden shiver run down his spine, but he didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
He glanced at Ti Hu, who seemed unaffected.
With their speed, they quickly explored the city, finding that it was fully equipped with all the necessary facilities, just like a normal city in the True Immortal Realm. However, there was no one in sight.
"How is this possible?" Han Li muttered. "Could it be that the people here were just taken away?"
As they stood in a resident's room, Ti Hu suddenly spoke up, "I know what's going on, Master. Follow me."
She rushed out of the room, pulling Han Li along, and they soon found themselves back at the blood-red lake.
"What did you discover?" Han Li asked.
Ti Hu jumped into the lake, submerging her body and leaving only her head exposed.
Han Li didn't follow, instead using his divine sense to scan the lake.
The lake water was filled with a faint, cold aura, but nothing else seemed out of the ordinary.
"Ah, Master, come quickly!" Ti Hu exclaimed, her face filled with excitement.
Han Li hesitated for a moment before joining her in the lake.
As soon as he entered the water, his eyebrows furrowed, and his face twisted in discomfort. As soon as his body was submerged in the lake water, his entire body was wracked with intense pain, as if being cut by a knife and burned by fire, causing him to shudder uncontrollably. His eyes were also shrouded in a layer of mist, making it difficult to see anything clearly.
If it were just ordinary pain, Han Li wouldn't have been bothered, but the pain he was experiencing now seemed to be directly affecting his soul, making it difficult for him to endure even with his strong willpower.
It was as if an invisible force had wrapped itself around his entire body, peeling away something from his body and soul.
"Master, this lake water is the Three Lives Water, which can wash away the yang energy from a person's body. Just bear with it for a bit, it will be over soon," Qiuhun said urgently from the side.
Han Li gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, enduring the pain.
After a full quarter of an hour, the pain finally began to subside and eventually disappeared. At this point, he felt no discomfort, and instead, he felt a sense of comfort from being submerged in the lake water.
Han Li let out a deep breath, opened his eyes, and saw that his vision had returned to normal. He was about to stand up from the lake when Qiuhun suddenly stretched out her hand and pressed down on him, preventing him from leaving.
"Master, wait a moment, take a look at the city," Qiuhun said in a low voice.
Han Li looked in the direction of the Blood City and his eyes widened in surprise.
Originally, the Blood City was empty, but now there were two rows of guards wearing blood-red armor standing in front of it.
Although the guards looked human, they had a single horn on their heads, long mouths, and large ears. Their tongues were also long and kept sticking out, as if they were panting like dogs. Their appearance was both frightening and comical.
Through the city gate, Han Li saw that the originally empty city was now bustling with activity, with people coming and going.
Moreover, the sky above the Blood Lake was filled with people, all wearing blood-red armor, holding chains, and carrying people who were struggling. They were throwing these people into the Blood Lake.
Those people let out ear-piercing screams as they entered the lake, and their bodies began to emit a faint blue smoke, as if they were being corroded by the lake water.
However, after a short while, the blue smoke disappeared, and their bodies became semi-transparent. They were then taken by the blood-armored guards and brought to the city gate, where they were inspected before being taken into the Blood City.
The blood-armored guards seemed to be unaware of Han Li and Qiuhun's presence, as if they couldn't see them.
Han Li was shocked by what he was seeing.
"These blood-armored guards are the Soul Reapers of the Underworld, who go to the True Immortal Realm to collect the souls of the dead. They wash away the yang energy from their bodies in the Three Lives Lake and then bring them to the Underworld," Qiuhun explained.
"It seems to be the case... but Qiuhun, how do you know all this?" Han Li asked curiously.
"I'm not sure, but when I washed away the yang energy from my body in the Three Lives Lake, some memories suddenly appeared in my mind," Qiuhun replied.
"How did you have these memories?" Han Li asked, surprised.
"I'm not sure, maybe it's because I'm a demonic beast, and I have some connection to the Underworld," Qiuhun said, shaking her head.
"Maybe," Han Li said, nodding.
Although there were still many unanswered questions, the bizarre scene before him was enough to make him wonder.
"I used to think that the Underworld was just a myth, but it seems to be real... but why can't these Soul Reapers see us?" Han Li asked, sighing.
"These Soul Reapers and us cultivators are like yin and yang, we can't see each other. Only the dead or those who have washed away their yang energy in the Three Lives Water can see each other. To be safe, I used a special secret technique to conceal our auras, so the Soul Reapers can't see us. But I'm not sure if this technique will work," Qiuhun explained.
"I see," Han Li said, nodding silently. After a moment of thought, he suddenly leaped out of the lake and flew towards the city gate.
"Master, I said I wasn't sure if it would work!" Qiuhun exclaimed, following closely behind.
Fortunately, Qiuhun's secret technique was more effective than she had expected, and they were not discovered.
The city gate was guarded by only a few Soul Reapers, and there were no magical instruments that could detect them. Therefore, Han Li and Qiuhun were able to enter the city undetected.
"Master, I told you it was uncertain, but you still rushed out. This is too reckless," Qiuhun complained.
"I believe your secret technique will work, and even if it doesn't, there's no point in hiding in the lake," Han Li said with a calm smile.
"What's your plan next, Master?" Qiuhun asked.
"Follow these people and see what they do with these souls," Han Li said, pointing to the Soul Reapers inside the city.
The Soul Reapers were leading a procession of souls, walking in a line, and were very conspicuous. The originally desolate streets were now filled with people, and many were watching the Soul Reapers with curiosity.
Han Li and Qiuhun blended in with the crowd and followed the Soul Reapers from a distance. They soon arrived at a large building.
The Soul Reapers led the souls into the building, and Han Li and Qiuhun followed, exchanging a glance to confirm that there was nothing unusual outside.
As they entered the grand building, the first thing that caught their eyes was a long, dark corridor that spiralled downwards, leading to a circular underground space that was divided into separate areas.
In the center of the space was a blood-red pool of water, and in the areas that were separated by partitions, there were cages that held various souls.
The soul-reaping envoys were currently putting the souls they had captured into the empty cages, and some of them were standing still beside the blood-red pool, doing who-knows-what.
"It seems this is where they keep the souls, there's nothing to see here, let's go somewhere else and find a way to leave this place as soon as possible," Ti Hu said.
"What's the situation with the Yan Luo Ding, is it still guiding us?" Han Li asked.
"The pulling force from the Ding is guiding us towards the black cloud behind," Ti Hu replied after a moment of hesitation.
Han Li's eyes moved slightly, but he didn't seem surprised, and after thinking for a moment, he said:
"Let's split up and search for a way to leave this blood-red space, we don't need to look outside the city, I've already used my divine sense to search and there's no exit."
"This secret technique should be able to last for a day and a night, and we shouldn't have any problems during that time."
Ti Hu said, and then he and Han Li left the building and split up to search in different directions.
Half a day later, they met up again at the cage building, and both of their faces looked heavy.
They hadn't found a way to leave.
"If all else fails, we can try to break through the blood-red space by force," Ti Hu said.
Han Li was about to say something, but his expression suddenly changed, and he brought Ti Hu back to the cage space below the building, looking at the souls that were being held in the cages.
"What's wrong, Master?" Ti Hu asked, seeing Han Li's actions.
"I suddenly thought of a way to leave this place," Han Li said with a smile.
"What way?" Ti Hu asked, his eyes lighting up.
"This place doesn't seem like the underworld, these souls won't be trapped here forever, they should be sent to the real underworld, if we can find out how they transport the souls, we might be able to leave this place," Han Li said.
"That makes sense, I should have thought of it earlier," Ti Hu said, enlightened.
"But it's not clear when they'll take action," Han Li said, his eyes flickering.
"That's easy, I'll just ask someone," Ti Hu said, pulling Han Li along, and they quickly came to a secluded cage space.
A soul-reaping envoy was putting a soul into a cage, and as he turned to leave, a hand shot out from the darkness and grabbed him, pulling him into the shadows.
A moment later, another soul-reaping envoy came by, and as he passed by the corner, he felt a strange sensation, as if his companion had suddenly disappeared.
He looked around, but there was no one there.
The soul-reaping envoy continued on his way, not paying much attention to the matter.
In the darkness, the soul-reaping envoy was being held by chains of black light, unable to move.
"Squeak squeak, chirp chirp, cheep cheep..." The soul-reaping envoy's body was unable to move, but his face was twisted in anger, and his mouth was making strange noises.
The sounds were like the cries of ghosts in the night, or the scuttling of poisonous insects, and they made one's skin crawl.
"Can you understand what he's saying?" Han Li asked Ti Hu.
Ti Hu shook his head, smiling wryly.
"How about you?" Han Li asked, looking at Sun Zhongshan.
"I understand a bit of the underworld's script, but I don't know much, and I don't understand what they're saying," Sun Zhongshan said, shaking his head.
As he spoke, he looked at Han Li and Ti Hu with a surprised expression.
These two were really something, they had managed to capture a person from the underworld in just a short time.
"No choice, I'll just search his soul directly, even if I don't understand what they're saying, I can at least see his memories," Ti Hu said, and then he pressed his hand against the soul-reaping envoy's head, and a dark glow shot out from his palm, enveloping the envoy.
The soul-reaping envoy's face contorted in pain, and he let out a blood-curdling scream, his body withering away under the dark glow.
A moment later, Ti Hu released his hand.
"How was it, did you find anything?" Han Li asked.
"Just as you guessed, every so often, the underworld will send a ghost general to take the souls in the city to the underworld, according to the timing, the next time the underworld will send someone should be in a few days," Ti Hu said, his eyes shining with excitement.
"That's good, how will the underworld's ghost general come?" Han Li asked, his eyes narrowing.
"They'll come from the black cloud behind, and when they do, a space channel will open, and all the souls in the city will be taken away at once," Ti Hu said. Han Li's eyes lit up upon hearing this.
Truly, what he thought of came to be.
"Right, we caught a Hooked Soul Envoy, will we be discovered?" Han Li thought of something and asked.
"This is not a concern, Hooked Soul Envoys are numerous, and they are only the outermost members of the Underworld, they will not frequently take roll call." Qiuhun said.
Han Li heard this and finally put his mind at ease.
In the following days, Han Li and Qiuhun did not leave, staying in the Yan Luo Cauldron's space, learning the Underworld's script with Sun Zhongshan.
Qiuhun searched the Hooked Soul Envoy's soul, and had a general understanding of the Underworld's language. With both sides combining their knowledge, Han Li and the others quickly gained a basic understanding of the Underworld's language.
Seven days later, the black clouds behind the blood-red building began to fluctuate violently, emitting a powerful energy fluctuation, causing the entire blood-red space to tremble.
Innumerable black runes flew out from the black clouds, quickly forming a black vortex. At the center of the vortex was a black passageway, looking extremely dark and mysterious, as if leading to the darkest depths of the world.
A black figure flew out from the passageway, wearing a black robe, holding a black staff, with features more refined than the Hooked Soul Envoys, not much different from ordinary people.
The Hooked Soul Envoys in the blood-red city had already gathered in front of the black clouds, escorting the souls of the dead.
"Depart!" The black ghost general waved his staff, speaking in the Underworld's language.
The Hooked Soul Envoys heard this and immediately threw the souls they were escorting forward.
The black passageway emitted a devouring force, and the souls flew in, disappearing into the passageway.
The city's accumulated souls were not many, and were quickly taken in by the black passageway. The black ghost general flashed into the passageway.
The black passageway flashed twice, then quickly closed.
However, before the passageway closed, two blurry shadows flashed in, disappearing into the passageway.
Han Li and Qiuhun felt a massive force tearing at them, the surroundings chaotic, but they gritted their teeth and endured, not making a sound.
After a while, the massive force dissipated.
Han Li and Qiuhun's vision blurred, and they found themselves in a black space, with a massive abyss in front of them.
The abyss was thousands of feet wide, stretching out in both directions, its length unknown. At its center was a deep, dark blackness, leading to unknown depths.
The abyss continuously emitted rolling black air, which contained extremely dense cold air and a strange, ghostly energy.
Unlike ordinary ghostly energy, this energy was extremely pure and heavy, like a liquid.
"Is this the Underworld? It doesn't look like it." Qiuhun looked at the scene before her, muttering to herself, then remembered something and waved her hand, summoning the Yan Luo Cauldron.
The dark red cauldron flashed with light, pointing towards the bottom of the abyss.
Qiuhun's eyes lit up, and she was about to take action, but was stopped by Han Li.
"Wait." Han Li said calmly.
"Master, what's wrong?" Qiuhun asked curiously.
Han Li didn't look at her, but instead gazed towards the abyss, a cold smile on his face, saying: "You think you can hide from me? Come out."
Qiuhun was shocked, looking towards where Han Li was gazing, but still couldn't sense anything.
"Ah, you can actually sense my presence, your divine sense is quite strong." A harsh, scraping voice spoke from the front, using the True Immortal Realm's language.
A black cloud appeared in the void, rapidly growing to several thousand feet in size.
Numerous terrifying, wailing ghostly voices came from the cloud, like countless sharp arrows piercing Han Li and Qiuhun's divine souls.
Qiuhun let out a soft cry of pain, Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and they both quickly activated their divine sense to protect their souls, only then avoiding the effects of the ghostly voices.
The black cloud was surrounded by raging winds, and black air obscured the scene.
Han Li's face turned gloomy, and he waved his right hand, unleashing a blinding golden lightning that violently tore through the surroundings, carrying a powerful sword energy that shattered the void.
The scene above the black cloud was revealed to Han Li and Qiuhun.
They saw that the cloud was densely packed with ghostly creatures, numbering 2,000 to 3,000.
These ghostly creatures were identical to the one Qiuhun had devoured, with similar auras, and each held a black, three-pronged steel spear, arranged in a neat, disciplined formation, like a well-trained army.
Han Li ignored the other ghostly creatures, focusing on the figure at the front, his eyes flashing with caution.
This person was a middle-aged man, with a slender build, looking no different from ordinary people, except for the terrifying blood glow in his eyes, which were fixed on Han Li and Qiuhun with a fierce grin.
He wore a black, long robe that seemed to shift and writhe like a living thing, with various ghostly shadows constantly emerging from beneath it. On his back, he carried a black, several-hundred-foot-long war spear, which flashed with a black, malevolent energy, and emitted a powerful, fierce aura that even Han Li found intimidating.
"Who are you, and why are you ambushing us here?" Han Li examined the man, speaking calmly.
"This is something I should be asking you! This is already the realm of the Underworld, don't think that just because you've washed away the Yang energy from your bodies with the Three Lives Water, I won't recognize you as true cultivators of the True Immortal Realm! Where did you come from, hurry back to where you came from, the Underworld doesn't welcome you!" The middle-aged man in black robes said coldly.
"Ah, I see, we two are just passing by, sir, you're probably the guardian of this place, the Underworld's Ghost Messenger?" Han Li's heart stirred upon hearing this, but his expression didn't change, and he smiled.
"It looks like you're not planning to leave, in that case, you'll die here, deploy... Ten Directions Piercing Heart!" The middle-aged man in black robes' face turned cold, and he drew out the war spear from his back, pointing it forward.
As soon as his voice fell, the ghostly army behind him instantly split into two groups, forming two triangular formations, the ghostly army's auras connected together, becoming one entity, indistinguishable from one another.
The two triangular formations transformed into two large, black arrow shadows, shooting towards Han Li and Ti Xuan, their speed was unimaginable, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived in front of the two, bringing with them a massive wave of ghostly energy and wind pressure, the air in front of them was almost shattered.
Ti Xuan was caught off guard, and her body stumbled, before being blown away.
Han Li's body, however, remained still, and he was secretly shocked by the ferocity of the ghostly army's formation, his aura instantly skyrocketed, and a dazzling golden light burst forth from his hand, a golden lightning sword appeared in his hand.
In a series of sharp, piercing sounds, hundreds of golden sword energies shot out, instantly gathering in front of him, forming a rotating golden light pillar, blocking the two large, black arrow shadows.
"Boom!" A massive shockwave erupted, transforming into countless powerful gusts of wind that swept towards the surroundings.
The two formations stopped, then rebounded, the formations within flashed with black light, and ghostly energy surged, but they didn't collapse.
Han Li was also blown back two steps, before stabilizing his body.
At this moment, the air behind him stirred, and a black spear shadow suddenly appeared, stabbing towards his back like a venomous snake.
A golden lightning flash, and another golden lightning sword appeared behind Han Li, as if it had been waiting there all along, blocking the spear shadow.
Again, a "Boom" sound erupted, and two powerful light rings, one black and one gold, suddenly appeared in the underground space, before exploding.
The black spear shadow was repelled, and the middle-aged man in black robes appeared, his face filled with surprise.
Han Li's body was also blown back, flying away, but he swept his sleeve, and a golden light shot out, transforming into a golden girl, who was Jintong.
"You and Ti Xuan go take care of those two formations!" Han Li shouted to Jintong.
Before his voice fell, his body suddenly jumped, and he shot towards the middle-aged man in black robes.
The two golden lightning swords also shot towards the middle-aged man in black robes, arriving in front of him in an instant, before expanding to over a hundred times their original size, resembling a pair of gigantic golden scissors, cutting down.
The middle-aged man in black robes' black war spear expanded, rapidly rotating, before stabbing out, accurately striking the intersection of the two golden swords.
"Boom" A crisp sound echoed, and the two golden swords stopped in mid-air, the middle-aged man in black robes also flew back.
Han Li saw this, and his hands formed a seal, drawing in energy.
The two giant swords suddenly lit up, and two large, golden lightning bolts shot out, the middle-aged man in black robes didn't even have time to react, before being struck.
A dazzling, golden light ball appeared, enveloping the surroundings, and shattering all the ghostly energy and cold air, leaving not a single trace behind, only the intense, golden lightning arcs flashed, crackling with energy.
But at this moment, a black light appeared, and the surrounding golden lightning arcs were absorbed into it, like a whale swallowing water.
The middle-aged man in black robes appeared, his body spotless, without a single hair out of place, his right sleeve cuff flashed with black light, emitting a suction force, which was the source of the black light.
In an instant, all the golden lightning was absorbed into his sleeve.
Han Li saw this, and his eyebrows furrowed.
The Heavenly Thunder didn't just have incredible destructive power, but its pure Yang energy also had a natural suppressive effect on ghostly powers, yet it was easily absorbed.
He thought for a moment, but his attack didn't stop, his hand formed a seal, and the two golden swords trembled, hundreds of golden sword shadows appeared, like clouds and fog, enveloping the middle-aged man in black robes.
The middle-aged man in black robes' war spear shook, and the spearhead rapidly vibrated, conjuring countless black, icy stars, which shot towards the golden sword shadows.
The sound of clashing metal echoed through the air.
At this moment, Ti Xuan and Jintong were also fighting against the two ghostly armies.
Jintong transformed into a Golden Devouring Immortal, and was fighting against one of the formations, her battle intent seemed low, but she relied on her indestructible body to tie down the formation, not allowing it to escape, and didn't launch a full-scale attack.
On the other side, Ti Xuan was flashing around within another formation, she looked extremely excited, and her hand grasped at the air.
The sky suddenly darkened, and a massive, black claw appeared, emitting a boundless, black energy, before exploding downwards, striking one of the triangular formations, which was the Underworld's Ghost Claw. A surge of overwhelming power came crashing down, freezing the air within a radius of several dozen miles, turning it into steel, and causing the entire battle array to come to a standstill.
But in the next instant, the battle array surged with a fierce black light, tearing apart the surrounding power.
"Turn!" a ghostly creature in the Taiyi realm shouted from within the battle array.
This person held a large black flag, and as they waved it, a series of black lights shot out from the flag, merging with the black light surrounding the battle array.
The conical battle array immediately lengthened, transforming into a black dragon shape, constricting the falling black claws and suspending them in mid-air.
Tixi saw this scene and didn't mind, even revealing a faint smile, and suddenly opened his mouth to spit out a black light.
A black light shot out at incredible speed, rolling towards the tail end of the dragon-shaped battle array.
Due to the battle array's length, the protective black light surrounding it suddenly thinned out, and was torn apart by the black light.
The black light flashed into the battle array, wrapping around several ghostly creatures.
That Taiyi realm ghostly creature saw this scene and let out a furious roar, waving the black flag wildly, and the dragon-shaped battle array immediately recoiled, shooting out crystal-like lights that flew towards the black light.
Before those lights could reach, the black light had already dragged those ghostly creatures back, and was swallowed by Tixi.
Tixi's face revealed a look of intoxication, and the black light on his body flashed and condensed.
"What's going on..." a middle-aged man in black robes, who was currently engaged in a fierce battle with Han Li, saw Tixi swallow the ghostly creatures and his face changed.
Han Li took advantage of the momentary distraction and transformed into a golden light, charging towards the middle-aged man in black robes.
At the same time, he quickly formed a seal with his hands, and a golden light flashed behind him, as the True Speech Treasure Wheel appeared and rapidly rotated.
Innumerable golden ripples appeared, enveloping the middle-aged man in black robes.
But he had already detected the movement and retreated, his speed far surpassing Han Li's.
The distance between the two rapidly opened up, and the golden ripples from the True Speech Treasure Wheel did not envelop him.
The middle-aged man in black robes turned into a streak of lightning, instantly fleeing into the dark abyss and letting out a sharp, long cry.
The two teams of ghostly soldiers, who were currently battling Tixi and Jintong, immediately retreated, flying towards the middle-aged man in black robes.
"Master, help me catch some ghostly creatures!" Tixi's face was urgent, and he chased after them, shouting.
The two teams of ghostly soldiers were flying past Han Li, and Han Li heard the shout, his hands forming a seal as the golden ripples beside him rapidly expanded, enveloping nearly a hundred ghostly creatures.
The True Speech Treasure Wheel had already materialized, its power greatly increased, and the ghostly creatures were completely immobilized, frozen in place.
The other ghostly soldiers didn't care about their trapped companions and continued to fly towards the middle-aged man in black robes, arriving by his side in the blink of an eye.
The middle-aged man in black robes deeply looked at Han Li and Tixi, then flashed into the abyss, disappearing.
The two ghostly soldier teams immediately followed, flying into the abyss.
"What's going on? Why did these ghostly creatures suddenly retreat?" Jintong flew over, having transformed back into human form, and asked in confusion.
"I don't know," Han Li replied, furrowing his brow.
He had discovered that the middle-aged man in black robes was incredibly powerful, and shouldn't have retreated so easily.
Could there be some other reason?
"Master, quickly retract the Treasure Wheel!" Tixi flew over, not caring about the middle-aged man in black robes, and shouted.
Han Li shook his head and smiled, forming a seal to retract the True Speech Treasure Wheel.
The nearly hundred ghostly creatures immediately regained their mobility, scattering in all directions, but a black spiritual domain descended, enveloping all the ghostly creatures, and they were unable to move.
Tixi opened her mouth and sucked in, the black spiritual domain rapidly shrinking, and the ghostly creatures inside were also shrinking, slowly being swallowed by the black spiritual domain.
The black spiritual domain finally transformed into a fist-sized black light sphere, flying into her mouth.
The black light on her body flashed wildly, and a series of black spiritual waves surged out, expanding in all directions, before finally calming down.
Tixi's aura had clearly increased, approaching the peak of the early Da Luo realm.
"Let's go, we'll also go down and take a look. What's inside this abyss?" Han Li said, leading the way downwards.
Tixi and Jintong followed closely behind.
As soon as the three of them entered the abyss, they felt as if they had entered a massive waterfall, being enveloped by a powerful force that propelled them downwards into the darkness.
This force was boundless, and even Han Li and the others, as powerful Da Luo existences, were unable to resist it, and were instantly swept away, plummeting downwards.
Han Li felt his body uncontrollably plummeting downwards, his mind racing as he fully activated the Time Laws, mobilizing all his internal strength to stabilize his body.
But the surrounding forces were too great, he felt like a withered leaf in a raging river, completely at the mercy of the currents as he was swept towards the unknown darkness.
The force initially plunged straight down, but soon twisted and turned, pulling Han Li's body left and right, leaving him disoriented and dizzy.
Later on, he gave up struggling and only protected his vital areas, while extending his divine sense to probe the changing surroundings and try to lock onto Jintong and Ti Hu.
Fortunately, he could still sense the direction of Jintong and Ti Hu, although it was somewhat erratic, as if they were sometimes near and sometimes far.
After who-knew-how-long, Han Li's body suddenly sank, as if he had crashed onto the ground.
Immediately, two loud thuds were heard, and two bodies heavily crashed onto Han Li's, namely Jintong and Ti Hu.
Ti Hu was fine, but Jintong's body was as hard as an iron lump, and he crashed onto Han Li, making him see stars.
"Master, are you okay?" Ti Hu hastily stood up.
"Uncle, I didn't mean to!" Jintong silently stood up, his eyes flashing with a hint of apology.
"No worries, fortunately, my body is robust. By the way, take a look, what is this place?" Han Li waved his hand, standing up to look around.
The three of them were now standing in a desolate wasteland, the sky was pitch black, and the light was extremely dim. Except for the area within twenty li, which could be barely seen, further away it was a dark and endless expanse, completely invisible.
The surrounding winds howled, and the eerie ghostly cries could be heard at any moment, the cold winds biting, and the yin-cold energy was omnipresent, several times more intense than the Fallen Wind.
Han Li and Jintong furrowed their brows, each activating their Law powers to protect their bodies, only then could they resist the invasion of the surrounding yin-cold energy.
But Ti Hu, on the other hand, not only didn't feel uncomfortable, but instead felt extremely comfortable with the dense yin-cold ghostly energy.
"Looking at the situation, this should be the Underworld Realm, after all the trouble we went through, we finally arrived." Ti Hu rubbed his belly, saying with certainty.
"This is indeed the Underworld Realm." Han Li nodded thoughtfully.
Although he didn't think Ti Hu had been to the Underworld Realm before, he somehow felt that Ti Hu's judgment wouldn't be wrong.
"Regardless, the commotion we made earlier probably caught the attention of some existences in this place, who knows what dangers are here, it's better to change locations first." Jintong reminded.
Han Li and Ti Hu naturally didn't object.
The surroundings were all the same, the three of them briefly discussed and randomly chose a direction, quickly flying away.
Han Li and the others had just left for less than half a stick of incense when over a dozen black shadows flew in from the distance, appearing to be half-human, half-beast ghostly creatures, with a different appearance from the Soul Reapers and the black-robed middle-aged man's ghostly soldiers.
These half-human, half-beast ghostly creatures surrounded the area where the three had landed, sniffing heavily, their faces filled with excitement.
Then, over a dozen of these ghostly creatures took to the air, chasing after Han Li and the others, with only one remaining behind, letting out a sharp, ear-piercing cry.
A moment later, a massive black cloud appeared on the horizon, rapidly flying towards them.
Within the cloud, countless ghostly creatures flew in, densely packed, their numbers unknown, all flying towards Han Li and the others' direction.
Han Li and the others flew forward in silence, due to the unfamiliar environment and the uncertainty of their safety, they didn't fly too fast.
Han Li flew while dispersing his divine sense to probe the surroundings, simultaneously activating his Nine Underworld Devil Eyes, shooting out two purple beams of light, looking forward.
The yin-cold energy in the void was too dense, greatly affecting his divine sense's expansion, only able to barely expand to a hundred li, further away his divine sense would be unable to proceed.
On the other hand, his Nine Underworld Devil Eyes could see much farther, but only up to five hundred li.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, a distance of five hundred li seemed insignificant, but for cultivators of their level, it was essentially nothing, they could fly there in the blink of an eye.
"Master, there's a large river about a thousand li ahead, it looks very unusual." Ti Hu suddenly spoke up.
"A thousand li away? Ti Hu, how far can you probe?" Han Li's eyes flashed, asking.
"The yin-cold ghostly energy here is too dense, affecting my divine sense greatly, I can probe up to two thousand li with full force." Ti Hu calculated, saying.
"Jintong, how about you?" Han Li looked at Jintong.
"I'm not good at probing, I can only see up to seventy or eighty li... Uncle, what's wrong, if I'm not mistaken, this is the first time you've asked about my divine sense range." Jintong asked curiously.
"Nothing, I can only see up to five hundred li, far inferior to you, Ti Hu, you're in charge of scouting." Han Li said to Ti Hu.
"Perhaps it's related to my physique... I don't know why, but I feel a sense of familiarity with this place... No problem, I'll take care of it." Ti Hu patted his chest, saying.
A distance of a thousand li was traversed in the blink of an eye, and the three of them soon arrived near the black river Ti Hu had mentioned.
The black river was extremely large, Han Li's line of sight couldn't even see its edges, the river's waves were turbulent, churning up black waves that flowed downstream. But it was strange that the river water had a majestic and vast momentum, yet not a single sound was emitted, making it seem extremely eerie.
Thin wisps of black mist rose from the river and floated into the air, drifting towards the sky.
Above the river, hundreds of feet in the air, a thick layer of black clouds floated, seemingly condensed from the mist in the river. Faintly visible within the clouds were flashes of black lightning, giving off an ominous feeling.
Han Li and the others stopped at the riverbank, not daring to proceed.
"Tixi, can you detect the other side of the river?" Han Li asked.
Tixi's eyes flashed with a layer of black light as she gazed forward, shaking her head quickly. "No, I can't see the edge."
"This black river is so vast and flowing, yet why is there no sound at all? I'll try!" Jin Tong said, raising his hand.
A hundred-foot-long golden light shot out, slashing into the river, but it was silent and didn't even create a ripple.
The three of them watched, their brows furrowed.
Jin Tong's golden light seemed ordinary, but it contained a considerable amount of power, enough to easily cleave a mountain peak. Yet, it didn't even react when it struck the river.
"This river contains a massive amount of ghost energy, and it has a strong corrosive effect. It's best not to get contaminated," Tixi said, looking at the black river.
"Uncle, what should we do now? Should we try to cross the black river or follow the riverbank?" Jin Tong asked Han Li.
Han Li hesitated for a moment, then snapped his fingers.
A golden light flew out from his sleeve, transforming into a golden bean that quickly grew to the size of a person. It transformed into a golden Dao soldier.
"Go!" Han Li pointed again, and a golden lightning bolt shot out, merging into the Dao soldier's body.
The golden Dao soldier's body was surrounded by golden lightning patterns, and its aura increased several times. It flew towards the other side of the black river.
But before it could fly far, a loud rumble came from the black clouds, and a bolt of black lightning as thick as a bowl dropped down, striking the golden Dao soldier.
The Dao soldier's body immediately turned black, and all its spiritual energy fluctuations disappeared. It fell into the black river like a stone.
The river suddenly churned, and countless eerie ghostly wails filled the air.
Numerous terrifying snake-like creatures emerged from the black river, engulfing the Dao soldier. Accompanied by hair-raising roars, the Dao soldier's body disintegrated into countless pieces, which were then devoured by the snake-like creatures.
Han Li and the others watched, their faces changing.
The snake-like creatures glared at the three of them, seeming to want to devour them as well. However, they didn't attack, instead diving back into the water and disappearing.
The black river quickly returned to its calm state, flowing silently as if nothing had happened.
"Looks like crossing this river won't be easy," Jin Tong said, looking worried.
"The black lightning in the clouds seems to have a corrosive effect on spiritual energy. Even if we're struck, it won't be pleasant. Let's follow the river for a while and see what happens. Ah, Tixi, that Yama's Cauldron had a guiding effect earlier. Let's take it out and see," Han Li said, suddenly remembering something.
"Ah, I almost forgot about it," Tixi said, her eyes lighting up as she took out the Yama's Cauldron.
The Yama's Cauldron floated quietly in front of Tixi, radiating a light several times brighter than usual. It seemed to be resonating with the eerie ghost energy in the area, but it didn't provide any further guidance.
"Looks like this cauldron only sensed the energy in this area and guided us here. It doesn't have any deeper significance," Tixi said, sighing.
However, Han Li didn't seem disappointed. "But considering the cauldron's reaction, it's likely that it originated from this place or has some other deeper connection... In any case, I think we're in the right place."
Since the Yama's Cauldron belonged to this place, it was likely that the Yama's Manor was also here.
"Master is right, so let's explore this place," Tixi said, nodding.
The three of them discussed and decided to head upstream.
Just as they were about to move, Tixi's expression suddenly changed.
"Bad, a large group of ghostly creatures is flying towards us!"
Tixi's voice had barely fallen when a loud rumble echoed from the horizon, and countless ghostly creatures swarmed towards them, their ferocious energy sending shivers down one's spine.
The air was filled with ear-piercing wails and screams.
"Prepare for battle!"
Han Li's eyes flashed, and his body was suddenly surrounded by a brilliant golden light. Thirty-six Qingtian Sword Shadows appeared around him, each one surrounded by thick golden lightning.
...
Han Li's sleeves fluttered, and another thirty-six bamboo bee cloud swords flew out, hovering in mid-air in front of the three of them, forming a row.
As Han Li pinched his fingers, the flying swords rotated and descended, releasing a massive wave of golden lightning that illuminated the surroundings, forming a thousand-meter-wide lightning sword screen that blocked the three of them.
At the same time, the Golden Boy's body flashed with golden light, transforming into a Devouring Golden Immortal, while Ti Hou lifted her hands, and her palms emitted a dark, eerie aura, summoning the Ghostly Claws and the Soul-Stealing Flute.
The three of them had just finished their preparations when a dense swarm of ghosts and spirits surged forward like a tidal wave.
These ghosts and spirits came in all shapes and sizes, with some being invisible, and their auras were vastly different. Most of the ghosts and spirits at the forefront were of the True Immortal realm or lower, but there were also Golden Immortal and Taiyi Immortal-level ghosts and spirits.
The sheer number of ghosts and spirits was astonishing, and their combined aura was terrifying.
The ghosts and spirits crashed into the lightning sword screen, unleashing various attacks that shook the screen.
Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he rapidly pinched his fingers, causing golden light points to appear on the screen, followed by countless lightning sword auras that shot out and struck the ghosts and spirits.
The sound of crackling and wailing filled the air as the ghosts and spirits were torn apart by the lightning sword auras.
The Heaven-Defying Lightning was extremely powerful, and its effect on the ghosts and spirits was particularly pronounced. The low-level ghosts and spirits at the forefront were instantly torn apart, disappearing into nothingness.
The subsequent ghosts and spirits, led by some higher-level ghosts, continued to surge forward without hesitation.
The ghosts and spirits seemed to be wary of the Black River, not daring to approach it, and instead attacked from the front and sides. This allowed Han Li and the others to focus on defending themselves without worrying about being attacked from behind.
However, the situation behind them was unclear, and it was uncertain whether retreating would trigger other restrictions or attract other powerful entities.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he continued to manipulate the lightning sword screen without speaking.
Although the lightning sword screen formed by the bamboo bee cloud swords was extremely powerful, the sheer number of ghosts and spirits was overwhelming. The screen began to show signs of fatigue as the ghosts and spirits continued to surge forward.
Ti Hou and the Golden Boy grew anxious, wanting to help Han Li, but he used his divine sense to restrain them, instructing them to conserve their strength.
Just then, a sharp whistle pierced the air, and the surrounding ghosts and spirits momentarily paused, condensing into four or five massive sword-shaped formations.
The formations rotated rapidly, like drill bits, before charging towards the golden sword screen.
The screen shattered with a loud "crack," and the thirty-six bamboo bee cloud swords reappeared, their lightning auras dimmed, as if their spiritual energy had been damaged.
Han Li's expression turned solemn as he raised his hand, collecting the swords and storing them within his body to nurture them. He then extended his fingers, grasping at the air.
The other thirty-six bamboo bee cloud swords guarding him suddenly shot out, transforming into thirty-six dazzling golden lights that struck the incoming ghosts and spirits.
The sound of explosions and screams filled the air as nearly a hundred ghosts and spirits were annihilated, but even more surged forward.
Ti Hou and the Golden Boy could no longer wait, and they joined the battle.
Ti Hou summoned the Ghostly Claws, which burst into flames, and the ghosts and spirits that came into contact with them were incinerated.
She also blew on the Soul-Stealing Flute, releasing black sound waves that transformed into countless sound blades, striking the surrounding ghosts and spirits.
Ti Hou used her Ghostly Claws and Soul-Stealing Flute to kill the ghosts and spirits, while her mouth emitted a dark aura that engulfed and devoured the surrounding ghosts and spirits.
In comparison, the Golden Boy's attacks were less effective.
It swung its front paws, unleashing dozens of cold, crystal-like lights that struck the ghosts and spirits on the right side, tearing them apart.
However, except for a few ghosts and spirits with physical bodies, the others were unaffected, reforming and continuing to attack.
The Golden Boy's eyes sank, and its massive body suddenly dissolved into a cloud of golden mist.
The other half of its body transformed into a smaller Devouring Golden Immortal.
The golden mist contained countless grain-sized Devouring Golden Insects that flew towards the ghosts and spirits, sticking to them and devouring them.
The ghosts and spirits were quickly consumed, but the speed was slower than expected, and the subsequent ghosts and spirits continued to surge forward.
Han Li's eyes gleamed as he rapidly fired his fingers, unleashing hundreds of lightning sword auras that struck the ghosts and spirits on the right side, annihilating nearly half of them and relieving the Golden Boy.
The three of them had managed to withstand the ghosts and spirits' assault, but the pressure was still immense, and the ghosts and spirits continued to gather from all directions, seemingly endless.
"Damn it, why are there so many ghosts and spirits? Master, what should we do now?" Ti Hou asked.
Han Li pondered for a moment before responding, "Rather than staying here as targets, let's take a risk and retreat along the Black River."
The three of them continued to fight as they retreated, flying rapidly upstream along the Black River. "Look, there's a bridge ahead!" After a moment, Ti Hu suddenly exclaimed with excitement.
Han Li turned his head to look, and indeed, an ancient arched bridge appeared in front of them, stretching across the Black River.
The bridge was a dark red color, extending towards the other side of the Black River, disappearing into the darkness ahead, its length unclear.
The bridge was rugged and worn, damaged in many places, filled with the weight of years, but overall, it still seemed intact.
"Roar!"
Just then, the ghostly creatures suddenly went mad, frantically charging towards them with a ferocious attack, increasing the pressure on the three of them.
Han Li raised his hand, and a golden light shot out from his hand, landing on the stone bridge, transforming into a golden Dao soldier.
The Dao soldier sprinted along the stone bridge, flying forward.
The dark clouds in the sky didn't unleash any black lightning, and the terrifying snakes and insects in the river didn't attack.
"Retreat to the bridge!" Han Li saw this scene, his eyes lighting up, and immediately shouted.
As he spoke, a dazzling golden lightning burst forth from his arm, and then he swept his sleeve.
Rumbling sounds echoed out!
Hundreds of thick, golden lightning bolts swept across the surroundings, instantly clearing out the ghostly creatures within a radius of several dozen feet.
The three of them took advantage of the opportunity to rush onto the stone bridge. Ti Hu's face changed slightly, and her feet suddenly became weak, almost causing her to fall.
"Are you okay?" Han Li quickly supported her, directly pulling her forward.
The ghostly creatures gathered at one end of the stone bridge, letting out angry roars towards Han Li and the others, but they didn't dare to step onto the bridge.
"This bridge seems to have a power that suppresses ghostly creatures, and it also affects me slightly, but not much." Ti Hu took a deep breath, freeing herself from Han Li's support, and stood firm.
Han Li nodded, instructing her to be careful, and continued to walk forward quickly.
The stone bridge was arched, and as they walked further, they drew closer to the dark clouds in the sky. The three of them felt a sense of unease, but the dark clouds didn't react, as if the stone bridge had concealed their presence.
"Hmm?" Ti Hu exclaimed again.
"What's wrong?" Han Li and Jin Tong immediately became alert.
"There's something on the bridge ahead, it looks like a statue." Ti Hu's face revealed a strange expression.
"A statue?" Han Li was slightly surprised.
The three of them continued forward, soon arriving at the statue that Ti Hu had mentioned.
The statue was human-shaped, at least three or four feet tall, entirely gray and white, seemingly made of some special stone material, without emitting any aura.
The stone bridge was already narrow, and the statue stood in the middle, blocking most of the way.
"Why would something like this appear in a place like this?" Ti Hu examined the statue, saying.
Han Li's eyebrows also furrowed, using his Jiu You Mo Yan to carefully examine the gray and white statue.
"Cough... It's rare for a cultivator from the True Immortal Realm to dare to come to the Underworld Realm, truly rare." Just then, a muffled voice echoed out, surprisingly coming from the statue, speaking in the language of the True Immortal Realm.
The three of them were startled, quickly retreating a few steps.
"Who are you?" Han Li's eyebrows rose, asking.
"My name is probably unknown to you, but I'm also from the True Immortal Realm, just like you three. It's wonderful to meet fellow countrymen here." The statue's words were filled with an unmistakable joy.
"Are you truly from the True Immortal Realm?" Han Li listened to these words, his heart secretly shocked, but his face remained calm.
"I am from the Wutu Xian Domain, the Tu Huang Sect. I came to this Underworld Realm by chance. Speaking of which, what are you three people? What brings you to this Underworld Realm?" The statue asked.
Jin Tong's head suddenly lifted, his eyes flashing with a hint of intense, eerie light, but it quickly disappeared.
Jin Tong's expression changed for only an instant, but Han Li still caught sight of it.
"We three are just wandering cultivators, without a fixed residence. As for why we came here, it's similar to you – we were swallowed by a spatial rift and coincidentally arrived in this Underworld Realm." Han Li replied calmly.
"Originally, it was like that. Your luck is truly poor, ending up in the Ma Gui Huang Yuan. Fortunately, you managed to break out." The statue clicked its tongue, saying.
"It seems you know quite a bit about this Underworld Realm?" Han Li said.
"I wouldn't say I understand it, I've just mixed around here for a while." The statue chuckled.
"Why are you on this bridge, and why did you turn into a stone statue?" Han Li asked after a moment.
"Do you think I wanted to? I was sealed here by an enemy's secret technique." The statue sighed, saying.
Han Li wasn't surprised, having already used his Jiu You Mo Yan to detect the flow of spiritual energy within the stone statue, confirming that it was indeed a seal, a very high-level one.
However, he couldn't discern what was sealed within.
“Cough, cough… I say, three fellow daoists, as the saying goes, meeting in a foreign land is fate, considering we are all true immortal realm cultivators, and I have answered so many questions for you, can you please rescue me first, and then we can chat about other things?” The statue said hopefully.
“Rescuing you is not impossible, but we three have just arrived, and we want to gather some information about the Netherworld from you.” Han Li said nonchalantly.
“That's no problem, but I haven't been to many places in the Netherworld, I'm only familiar with the Black River Domain.” The statue said hastily.
“Black River Domain… is that a region in the Netherworld? How many regions are there in the Netherworld?” Han Li asked.
“Correct. The Netherworld is extremely vast, even the Netherworld's own people can't say for sure how big it is. I only know of three domains: the Black River Domain, the Earth Prison Domain, and the Yanluo Domain.” The statue said.
When Han Li heard the name "Yanluo Domain", his heart skipped a beat, and his expression remained unchanged as he continued to ask:
“Tell me about the Black River Domain.”
“The Black River Domain is vast, supposedly over a billion miles in area, and it's named after the black river below. Inside, there are places like the Fierce Ghost Wilderness, the Undead Forest, and the Blood Prison Gorge, with over a dozen locations, and a large number of ghostly creatures reside there, but the species are diverse, and not many possess spiritual intelligence…” The statue spoke incessantly.
Han Li gained a general impression of the Netherworld from the statue's words.
This place was not much different from the True Immortal Realm, the Demon Realm, or the Gray Realm, with various ethnic groups standing on their own mountains.
“Black River Domain, Earth Prison Domain, Yanluo Domain, these three major domains, which powerful individuals are there, and what are their strengths?” Han Li asked after a brief pause.
“I'm not too clear about that, I've only heard that the Netherworld has three great overlords, named Blood Li, King of the Underworld, and Ghost Witch, each ruling a domain. The Black River Domain seems to be under the control of Blood Li, as for the other two domains, I'm not sure which one they belong to. Mainly because there are few ghostly creatures in the Netherworld with spiritual intelligence, it's hard to gather information… As for the strengths of those three, I've heard they are extremely powerful, but I don't know the specifics.” The statue said.
“Do you know anything about the Yanluo Domain?” Han Li nodded and asked.
“I haven't been to the Yanluo Domain, but I've heard that the ghostly creatures there are very powerful, and the management is strict, unlike the Black River Domain, which is more chaotic.” The statue said after a moment of contemplation.
“Have you heard of a place called the Yanluo Manor in the Yanluo Domain?” Han Li asked directly.
“Yanluo Manor? I vaguely remember that I once searched the soul of a ghostly creature, and in its memories, I saw a place like that, located in the border region of the Yanluo Domain, it seemed very mysterious.” The statue hesitated, then fell silent, as if trying to recall.
“Do you still remember where that place is?” Han Li asked excitedly.
“I've been sealed here for who knows how many years, and a lot of things are hard to remember, but I should be able to try.” The statue said.
Han Li heard this and didn't immediately respond, instead, he glanced at the side and asked with a voice transmission:
“Qiuhun, can you judge whether this person is telling the truth or not?”
“This person has been sealed inside, I couldn't sense their divine soul, but judging from their tone, it should be true. Of course, it's also possible that this person is extremely skilled at deception.” Qiuhun replied with a voice transmission.
Han Li heard this and was convinced, just as he was about to speak.
“You said you're from the Wutu Xian Domain, Tu Huang Sect, which lineage of the Tu Huang Sect are you from?” Jin Tong suddenly asked.
Han Li and Qiuhun looked at each other in surprise.
“This fellow daoist is quite familiar with the Tu Huang Sect, I'm a disciple of the Kuzhu Peak lineage of the Tu Huang Sect, under the tutelage of Peak Master Yue Jing.” The statue said with another pause, then smiled.
Jin Tong heard this and didn't say anything else, instead, he winked at Han Li.
Han Li was curious about why Jin Tong was so familiar with the Wutu Xian Domain, but he didn't ask further, instead, he said:
“Alright, I'll release you, you'll take us to the Yanluo Manor.”
“Deal!” The statue immediately agreed.
Han Li smiled slightly and said to Qiuhun:
“Qiuhun, help me a bit, break open this seal.”
Qiuhun nodded.
“This seal is not simple, I've been studying it for many years, and I've grasped some of the key points, do you want me to tell you?” The statue asked.
“No need, this seal has weakened over time, I've already seen the weakness.” Han Li shook his head.
Then he transmitted to Qiuhun the location of the weakness, and the two of them began to cast their spells.
After a short while, Qiuhun on the left and Han Li on the right, both cast a beam of light at the statue.
Han Li used his immortal energy to strike the seal on the statue's right side, while Qiuhun covered the statue's entire body with his law energy.
The seal on the statue's body began to burn with a faint green flame, which spread and then merged, forming a circle around the statue.
As Qiuhun's law energy continued to flow into the statue, its body began to glow with a crimson light, and the stone skin covering its body began to peel off, revealing its true form.
The statue was actually a three-zhang-tall, muscular man with a bloody red complexion, covered in strange symbols that seemed to be full of primal power.
Moreover, his neck only had a block of blood scab, and there was no head, but on his chest, there were two eyes that shone with a golden light. "What kind of thing is this..." Jin Tong's eyes widened as he took a step back, his voice trembling.
Ti Hu was also frowning.
"This guy... probably isn't from the Immortal Realm." Just as Ti Hu and Jin Tong were thinking this, they heard Han Li's voice in their minds.
"Kuo kuo kuo... kuo kuo kuo..."
A strange, maniacal laughter came from the decapitated man's body, causing Han Li and the others to instinctively take a step back, looking at him with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
The man's abdomen began to convulse, and a low, ominous sound echoed through the air.
"Finally free, finally out... Ha ha... didn't think you guys had the guts to break through this seal!" The decapitated man's voice grew louder, his tone dripping with madness and hatred.
His voice was completely different from before.
"Friend, since you've escaped, please keep your promise and lead the way." Han Li's hand was hidden in his sleeve, his palm glowing with a soft light as he prepared for battle.
"Ha! The Underworld is all about lies and deception, who keeps their promises? You'll make a fine sacrifice for my blood axe!" The decapitated man's abdomen convulsed again, his eyes gleaming with madness.
As he spoke, a bloody glow appeared in his hand, and he grasped a massive, three-zhang-tall blood-colored axe.
"Boom"
The decapitated man swung his axe, and a powerful aura burst forth from his body.
"A Da Luo peak cultivator, sealed away in this place... what kind of person are you?" Han Li's wrist flicked, and a bamboo sword appeared in his hand, its blade shining with a soft blue light.
"I am... Xue Li!" The decapitated man roared, his body glowing with a red light as he charged towards Ti Hu.
His movements were so fast that no one could see them clearly, and he appeared behind Ti Hu, swinging his axe in a vicious arc.
"Be careful..." Han Li shouted, his body flashing towards Ti Hu as he activated his time law.
Ti Hu also reacted quickly, dodging the axe by a hair's breadth.
However, the axe still managed to tear through his clothes, leaving a trail of blood behind.
At the same time, Han Li appeared behind Xue Li, his sword flashing towards the other man's back.
But Xue Li didn't turn around. Instead, his shoulder joint made a strange cracking sound, and his arm twisted in a way that seemed impossible, blocking Han Li's sword with his axe.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he activated his sword's law, unleashing a burst of golden light.
The light coalesced into a series of golden threads that crackled with energy, striking Xue Li's body and sending him stumbling back.
Xue Li's eyes closed, and he let out a pained cry.
Ti Hu took advantage of the distraction to fly towards Jin Tong, who was watching in shock.
Jin Tong's eyes widened as he saw Ti Hu's back, which was covered in blood and torn flesh. He was furious, and his body glowed with a golden light as he charged towards Xue Li.
But Xue Li was far from defeated. With a roar, he activated his axe, creating a massive, blood-colored vortex that absorbed the golden threads of energy.
The vortex grew larger and larger, until it was like a miniature tornado, sucking in everything around it.
Han Li's eyes widened as he realized what Xue Li was doing. He didn't try to attack the vortex directly, instead using his agility to dodge the attack.
Xue Li's body glowed with a fierce, red light as he charged towards Han Li, his axe flashing in the dim light.
But just as he was about to strike, a golden light flashed towards him, and Jin Tong appeared, his body transformed into a golden, lion-like creature.
Xue Li's axe flashed towards Jin Tong, but the golden creature didn't flinch, instead using its front paws to grasp the axe and hold it in place.
The sound of metal on metal echoed through the air as Xue Li tried to force his axe down, but Jin Tong's grip was like a vice, holding firm against the other man's strength.
Just as Jintong and Xueli were at a stalemate, a loud thunderclap echoed through the sky, and a massive golden lightning cloud had formed, with a magnificent heavenly gate standing tall.
"Move aside!" Han Li shouted.
Jintong relaxed his claws, and his body flashed with golden light, transforming back into a girl's form before disappearing in an instant.
A golden giant sword then descended from the sky, splitting the heavens and bringing with it a torrent of thunder and lightning.
Xueli saw this and knew he was in trouble, attempting to dodge to the side. However, a wave of rainbow-colored light suddenly enveloped him from above.
As the light washed over him, Xueli's eyes felt a wave of dizziness, and his spirit seemed to be violently shaken.
"Boom boom boom!"
The golden giant sword shot out golden electric threads, sealing off the entire area within a thousand miles.
Xueli's eyes flashed with golden light, and he regained his composure. However, it was too late for him to escape.
He glared at the person who had cast the spell, Ti Yu, before raising his massive axe and striking upwards.
His body glowed with a fierce blood light, and his axe grew to enormous size, its surface covered in a swirling vortex of blood-colored light. The axe struck the golden giant sword, causing a massive explosion.
A deafening boom echoed through the sky, and a brilliant light burst forth, splitting into two massive arc-shaped shockwaves that expanded outwards.
The shockwaves swept through the area, erasing everything in their path. The ghostly army that had been pursuing them was instantly decimated, with only a few of the stronger ones surviving.
The ghostly army's commander, a powerful ghost soldier, let out a shout, and the army halted their advance, not daring to approach.
Jintong struggled to breathe in the face of the massive shockwaves, using his strength to protect the injured Ti Yu as they retreated.
After a while, the dust and debris finally settled.
The thundercloud and heavenly gate had vanished, and Han Li's figure hovered in the air, gazing down.
The stone bridge, despite being made of unknown materials, had withstood the massive impact without sustaining any damage. Xueli still stood on the bridge, his axe still in hand.
However, a massive wound had appeared on his neck, stretching from the base of his skull to the center of his chest. The wound was so deep that it had split his chest cavity in two.
Han Li could see the internal organs still moving within the wound, but Xueli's body remained motionless, without any sign of life.
"Is he dead?" Han Li's brow furrowed in confusion.
He didn't dare to approach Xueli, instead flying over to Jintong and Ti Yu.
"Uncle, did we win?" Jintong asked.
Han Li shook his head, his expression uncertain. "How is she?" he asked Ti Yu.
Ti Yu forced a smile. "The wound isn't too severe, but there's a strange power at work, preventing the blood from healing."
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he examined the wound before placing his hand on Ti Yu's neck.
As the time law's power flowed through him, a small green sprout emerged from his palm.
The sprout grew a root, which entered Ti Yu's wound.
Ti Yu gritted her teeth as the root began to repair the damage. A small golden tree, resembling Han Li's Dongyi divine tree, appeared on her back, its roots stitching together the torn flesh.
Under the power of the time law, the wound healed quickly, and the roots dissipated into a burst of golden light.
"It seems that Xueli has mastered a kind of reincarnation law, which can cause your wound to continuously reopen, preventing it from healing. I used the time law to break this cycle," Han Li explained.
Ti Yu nodded. "Thank you, Master."
Han Li's gaze turned serious. "This place is full of mysteries. We've been delayed by Xueli for too long, and those ghostly creatures will catch up to us soon. Let's leave for now."
Jintong and Ti Yu had no objections, especially Jintong, who had been eager to leave. Just as the three were speaking, a wave of law fluctuations suddenly emanated from Xue Li's body on the stone bridge, and a crimson vortex appeared on his chest, rotating counterclockwise and expanding until it engulfed his entire body.
"What is this?" This scene shocked both Ti Hu and Jin Tong.
"Don't mind this guy, let's hurry and leave." Han Li gazed at Xue Li from a distance, a hint of abnormality flashing in his eyes, and then said.
The three immediately turned and flew towards the other end of the stone bridge without looking back.
After they disappeared from sight, the crimson vortex suddenly began to rotate clockwise, and a tall figure emerged from it, its upper body bare and headless.
It was Xue Li.
Compared to earlier, his injuries had completely recovered, and even his breath had returned to its previous state.
"Hmph, they actually escaped, otherwise I would have made them taste my power... If not for the old wounds, I would have used a small wheel of reincarnation technique, and it wouldn't have taken so long." Xue Li's abdomen fluttered, and he coldly snorted, saying.
After speaking, he suddenly covered his heart with his hand, and his body swayed a few steps.
At this time, a commotion suddenly erupted from the other end of the stone bridge, and the group of Yin Sha ghosts that had been standing still earlier began to approach.
However, just as they were about to step onto the bridge, the ghost general at the forefront suddenly stopped, raised his fist, and ordered everyone to halt.
The ghost general looked at the headless man on the bridge, hesitated for a moment, and then called out in a tentative tone:
"Xue Li, sir..."
The headless man heard the voice, turned his head, and looked at the ghost general. After recognizing him, his abdomen began to flutter again, and he said:
"Yin Luo, is that you?"
The ghost general heard the words, immediately ran forward, and knelt down before Xue Li, bowing his head to the ground and respectfully saying:
"Your subordinate Yin Luo, greets Xue Li, sir."
The large group of ghosts standing at the end of the bridge also knelt down, trembling with fear, and did not dare to rise.
Xue Li gazed at Yin Luo for a long time, seemingly lost in thought.
"Get up..." After a while, Xue Li let out a long sigh, his abdomen fluttering as he said.
"Congratulations, Xue Li, sir, you have finally escaped." Yin Luo did not immediately rise, but instead straightened his upper body, his face filled with joy.
"It was those people from the immortal realm who helped me escape. However, it seems that you are pursuing them?" Xue Li said.
"Not bad, these people somehow invaded here, and I was unable to intercept them, so I've been pursuing them until now." Yin Luo said.
"I originally wanted to kill them after escaping, but those people still have some abilities, and I've been sealed for a long time, with internal injuries, and they were able to escape." Xue Li said.
"Sir, your injuries..." Yin Luo's words were cut off by Xue Li, who waved his hand to stop him.
"Tell me, what happened after I was sealed away?" Xue Li asked.
"After you disappeared, our forces were left without a leader and fell into internal strife. Later, I don't know where the information came from, but it was said that you were imprisoned in the Guicheng of the ghost witch. Yin Qiu, Fan Li, and I led a group to attack the Guicheng, but we were defeated. Fan Li died in battle, and most of his ghostly followers defected to the underworld king, while a small portion directly surrendered to the ghost witch." Yin Luo replied.
"What about Yin Qiu?" Xue Li asked.
"Yin Qiu and I have never gotten along, and we parted ways after that. I remained in our original territory, while he gradually disappeared, and it's said that he was recruited by the Zhuanlun Wang." Yin Luo said.
"Zhuanlun Wang?" Xue Li asked, puzzled.
"That's the mysterious person who collaborated with the underworld king and the ghost witch to seal you away. After sealing you, he occupied most of our territory and declared himself the Zhuanlun Wang. The underworld king saw that he had not fulfilled their previous agreement, so he led a rebellion, but was defeated and killed. His loyal followers fled to our territory and told us the truth about your imprisonment. However, we were unable to break the seal, and you were forced to sleep for so many years." Yin Luo explained.
"The underworld king is already dead?" Xue Li seemed to feel a sense of regret, saying in a low voice.
"Not just the underworld king, but the ghost witch has also died, both at the hands of the Zhuanlun Wang. Now, the three major domains of the black river, the underworld, and the Yanluo are almost all under his control." Yin Luo continued.
"What...?" Xue Li's eyes narrowed, and he seemed to be shocked.
In the past, the three of them had each controlled one of the three major domains, with Xue Li having the highest combat power, the underworld king being the most skilled at governing, and the ghost witch being the most cunning, with various ruthless methods and exceptional survival skills. It was unexpected that he had also died at the hands of the Zhuanlun Wang.
"Now that I think about it, we were all played by the Zhuanlun Wang. It's no wonder we were so obsessed with the wheel of reincarnation's cultivation secrets, and we fought each other, giving the Zhuanlun Wang the opportunity to intervene. It's only fitting, it's only fitting, haha..." Xue Li's abdomen fluttered uncontrollably, and he burst into loud laughter.
Here is the translation:
“Now that the great one has returned, as long as we gather the scattered followers and rest for a few tens of thousands of years, we will definitely have the opportunity to avenge ourselves against the Turning Wheel King.” Yin Luo said with a bow.
“Tens of thousands of years is too long, I only want to fight for a day or two. Besides, there is also an opportunity now.” Xue Li said coldly.
“What do you mean, great one?” Yin Luo asked in confusion.
“Did you notice anyone familiar among the people you were chasing earlier?” Xue Li asked.
Yin Luo's brow furrowed as he thought, and his face turned solemn.
“That black-clad girl, her divine abilities are somewhat... similar to the Underworld King!” he exclaimed after a moment.
“Correct, I am 90% certain that she is the reincarnation of the Underworld King. To defeat the Turning Wheel King and reclaim the Underworld, we must awaken her memories and cooperate with her.” Xue Li said.
“If that's the case, should we stop chasing them?” Yin Luo asked.
“There's no need to chase them, but we can't lose track of them either.” Xue Li said slowly.
“Yes, sir. I will send someone to track them down.” Yin Luo stood up, bowed, and said.
“This matter is left to you to handle. My old wounds have not yet healed, and I must close my eyes and cultivate for a while.” Xue Li said, and then his body suddenly rose into the air, flying high into the sky and disappearing in an instant.
...
In front of the heavy and gloomy mountain range, a winding river flowed with a deep red color, its waters murky and turbid.
The river flowed from the mountain valley, winding its way for thousands of miles until it reached this place, where the water's momentum slowed, and it deposited a vast expanse of white sandy beach.
At this time, three figures fell from the sky, landing on the beach. It was Han Li and the others.
“Uncle, it seems those people didn't catch up to us.” Jin Tong said, looking back.
Han Li also looked back, and then turned to Xi Huang, asking with his eyes.
“I also don't sense any pursuers for now, we should have shaken them off by a bit of distance.” Xi Huang said.
Han Li nodded, took a deep breath, and looked around.
As he looked, his brow furrowed.
The white sandy beach beneath their feet was covered in a dense layer of white bones, both human and beast. They were piled high, some as large as a canopy, others as small as insects.
Han Li bent down, pushed aside the layers of dry bones, and scooped up a handful of white sand. He lightly rubbed it, and fine white powder fell from his fingertips, which were actually bone powder.
“So many white bones, I wonder where they came from?” Xi Huang asked in puzzlement.
“They should have been washed down from the river upstream, accumulating over countless years, and the bones beneath have completely rotted away, turning into bone powder.” Han Li said.
As they spoke, a strange whirlwind blew from the river upstream, lifting the bone powder into the air like sand, and amidst the powder, there were tiny, glowing green sparks.
The three of them were shocked, and suddenly heard a strange noise.
They saw a green flame rising from the deep red river, drifting downstream.
Han Li and the others were puzzled, and as they approached the riverbank, they saw that the twisting green flame seemed to be floating a blurry human face, which was smiling at them with an eerie grin.
“What kind of ghostly thing is this?” Jin Tong asked in confusion.
Xi Huang scrunched up her nose, as if she was about to release a burst of energy to absorb it.
“Don't be hasty, it seems to have something to say.” Han Li said, holding out his hand to stop them.
As soon as he spoke, the green flame began to speak in a weak, broken voice:
“Go... to... the river... valley...”
The voice was like the final gasp of a dying person, and it only spoke once before falling silent.
The green flame then sank into the water, disappearing without a trace.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he looked towards the mountain range upstream.
The sky above was dark and foreboding, with clouds that seemed to press down on the mountain peaks, making the black mountains below seem even more somber and deadly.
“Uncle, do you want to go?” Jin Tong asked.
“That green flame was probably a residual spirit, but why did it come to tell us this?” Han Li wondered.
“Could it be a trap?” Xi Huang asked.
“I don't think so, we just entered the Underworld, and even if it was the ghostly soldiers we encountered earlier, they were unexpected. It's unlikely that someone, or some ghostly creature, would set a trap for us in advance.” Han Li shook his head.
“Who cares, let's just go take a look, and we'll know what's going on.” Jin Tong said with a shrug.
“Besides, we don't know where to go anyway, so we might as well go and see what's there. Maybe we'll even find some information about the Underworld King's palace.” Xi Huang agreed.
“Alright, let's go take a look, but be careful on the way.” Han Li said. After making their decision, the three of them flew up and sped towards the upper reaches of the river valley.
Before long, they arrived at the entrance to the valley.
In the center of the entrance was a narrow gorge, with two natural pathways on either side, suspended high above the steep cliffs.
Han Li and the others took the left path, and made their way up to the left cliff's pathway.
Standing at the edge of the pathway, they were met with a deafening roar of rushing water.
The crimson river surged out of the mountain valley, and at the narrow gorge, the water became even more turbulent, like a thousand red dragons fighting, their roars unceasing.
Han Li and the others watched for a while, then followed the cliff pathway, making their way deeper into the valley.
As they walked, they discovered that the valley was shaped like a gourd, with the entrance being the narrowest part, and the terrain becoming wider and more open as they went further in.
When they reached the middle of the valley, Han Li and the others stopped in their tracks.
The river's waterway was already several hundred meters wide, and in the center, a small island had appeared.
The island was covered in a layer of white sand, and from afar, they could see that there were specks of golden dust mixed in, reflecting tiny points of golden light.
In the center of the island stood a three- to four-meter-tall black withered tree, its entire trunk charred and carbonized, with crystalline formations visible on its surface.
What was most peculiar was that on the highest branch of the withered tree, a charred corpse was hanging, seemingly a human body, with its chest pierced by a tree branch, and its arms wrapped around a black square box.
"That corpse has a residual divine soul fluctuation, very weak, it seems to be the same guy who contacted us through the river." Ti Hou's gaze fell on the island, and she spoke up.
Han Li released his divine sense, carefully scanning the surroundings within a hundred miles, and finding nothing out of the ordinary, he spoke up.
"Let's go take a look."
With that, he took the lead, flying up and landing on the island.
Ti Hou and Jin Tong followed closely behind.
Han Li's feet landed on the island, making a soft rustling sound, and the sand beneath his feet was surprisingly soft.
Ti Hou couldn't help but bend down, picking up a handful of sand and sniffing it, then examining it closely, her eyebrows furrowed in suspicion.
"What's wrong with the bone powder?" Han Li asked.
"The bone powder is fine, but there's a problem with the gold sand mixed in." Ti Hou stood up, speaking.
"Gold sand?" Han Li asked, puzzled.
"That's Scattered Soul Sand, which can disperse souls, and is a favorite material for ghost cultivators who practice divine soul techniques." At this point, a gloomy voice suddenly came from the corpse on the tree.
Han Li and the others heard the voice, and simultaneously looked up.
They saw the charred corpse suddenly emit a wisp of white smoke, engulfing the entire skeleton.
A moment later, a frail, elderly Daoist with a benevolent face and golden feathered robes appeared in mid-air.
He was surrounded by a cluster of misty clouds, with a five-colored aura shining behind him, and beside him, only a single crane and a incense burner were missing to complete the image of a transcendent immortal.
However, the Daoist's posture was somewhat awkward, as the tree branch that had pierced his chest still protruded from his robes, looking rather incongruous.
"Fusheng Wuliang Tianzun..."
The Daoist revealed a mysterious smile, bowed his head, and slowly recited.
Han Li and the others exchanged a look, but no one spoke, simply staring at the Daoist like fools.
"Cough... I am Tian Qi, the Elder of the Taiyi Sect, from the Qianyuan Xian Domain, a true immortal realm. A hundred million years ago, I was betrayed and fell to this place. Today, I can finally meet you young friends, and it's all thanks to fate. If you can help me escape, I will surely reward you handsomely."
The Daoist spoke, his eyes fixed on Ti Hou, seemingly concerned about her reaction.
"Uncle, these words sound a bit familiar," Jin Tong said, raising an eyebrow.
"Earlier, Xue Li said the same thing, and now you're saying it too," Ti Hou replied.
"How come you people from the underworld all use the same script? Don't you have any creativity?" Jin Tong looked at the Daoist with disdain, sneering.
The Daoist's expression changed, and he forgot to maintain his dignified demeanor, hurriedly asking.
"You've already met Xue Li?"
"We have, and we were deceived by his words, it seems like you're familiar with him," Han Li said, smiling.
"We're not familiar, we're sworn enemies," the Daoist hastily replied.
"Really? You're not a true immortal, how can you be sworn enemies with someone from the underworld?" Han Li asked, his tone playful.
The Daoist knew he had misspoken, and his expression turned dejected, looking defeated.
"Ah, I knew it, you true immortals are all more cunning than ghosts, you can't fool us..." As he spoke, he sighed, and his body was once again enveloped in a cloud of white smoke.
After the white mist had completely dissipated, the withered tree was left without any semblance of a refined and dignified old immortal, only a shriveled and blackened, ape-like evil spirit.
Its head was quite large, with a protruding forehead and a pair of bone horns on top, two deep-set eye sockets, a low and flat nose, a protruding mouth, and hair that made it nearly indistinguishable from a monkey. Its skin was covered in old scars.
However, the evil spirit currently looked dejected, with a downtrodden and despairing expression.
"What are you, exactly? And what's your relationship with Xue Lie?" Han Li asked in a deep voice.
"Ah, I won't hide it from you. I am one of the three great lords, the Ghost Witch King, who once guarded a region and oversaw the vengeful spirits along with Xue Lie Wang and Ming Wang. I was deceived by someone and fell for a scheme to isolate us, and I ended up sealing Xue Lie Wang on the Nai He Bridge. Later, I had a falling out with Ming Wang, and that same person manipulated us, leading to my downfall." The evil spirit let out a long sigh and slowly spoke.
After finishing, his gaze fell upon Ti Hu again, still with a scrutinizing look.
"Ghost Witch King?" Han Li's pupils constricted slightly as he looked the evil spirit up and down, a hint of hesitation in his voice as he muttered.
"Don't be polite, just call me Ghost Witch. What's the point of calling me king when I have no soldiers, no power, and no influence?" The evil spirit forced a smile and said.
"I'm not interested in your past stories. I just want to know two things. First, why did you bring us here? Second, do you know the location of the Yan Luo Manor?" Han Li asked.
"I brought you here because I knew you could help me escape my predicament." The evil spirit's eyes lit up as he spoke.
"Help you escape? What makes you think that? Earlier, we were just acting out of kindness when we freed Xue Lie from his seal, and now he's chasing us down." Han Li raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Xue Lie is a fool without a brain! How could I be the same as him? I believe you can help me escape because of Ming Wang's connection, and also because I'm now just a residual soul, no threat to you. You wouldn't be afraid of a mere residual soul, would you?" The evil spirit exclaimed.
"Hey, you keep mentioning Ming Wang. What does he have to do with this?" Jin Tong asked, puzzled.
"It seems that among the three of us, Ming Wang was the one who suffered the worst fate... Xue Lie was sealed, I was almost destroyed, but at least we retained our memories. Ming Wang, however, has already died and been reincarnated." The evil spirit's eyes turned somber as he looked at Ti Hu.
Ti Hu saw this and a hint of confusion flashed in her eyes as she looked at Jin Tong and then at Han Li.
"You're saying she's Ming Wang's reincarnation?" Han Li asked.
"If she weren't Ming Wang's reincarnation, how could she cultivate the Divine Soul Path? And how could she have such an unusual soul aura? Moreover, why would she be attracted to the scattered souls' sand on this island? You might not know, but this sand is actually a remnant of Ming Wang's." The evil spirit sighed and spoke.
"Am I really Ming Wang?" Ti Hu asked, still unsure.
"If you still don't believe me, try using your soul power to summon the gold sand and see how it reacts." The evil spirit said.
Ti Hu looked uncertain, but slowly closed her eyes, and her hands hovered in front of her. A wave of soul power rippled out from her body.
After a moment, the entire island began to shake violently, and the gold sand buried beneath the bone powder began to fly out, forming a golden ribbon dozens of feet long in the air. It fluttered and danced, suspended in mid-air.
Ti Hu slowly opened her eyes, gazing at the golden ribbon, a look of incredulity flashing across her face. As soon as she focused her thoughts, the golden ribbon twisted and fell, wrapping itself around her body in a gentle, affectionate manner.
"See, I didn't lie to you, did I?" The evil spirit's face lit up with a smile.
"Ti Hu, use the gold sand to wrap around the withered tree's roots." Han Li said, unmoved.
Ti Hu never questioned Han Li's orders, and she immediately complied.
"Ah, what are you doing? Why are you turning on me?" The evil spirit wailed, crying out to the heavens.
"Don't pretend anymore. You had Ti Hu take the gold sand to remove the seal on you, didn't you? I'm guessing that there are three seals on you, and the gold sand is one of them. The withered tree is the second, and that box is the third. And your soul is sealed within the box, isn't it?" Han Li sneered.
The evil spirit's expression froze, and then he calmed down, no longer acting wildly. "You're right, the seals are indeed the three I mentioned. And my divine soul is indeed trapped within the box. But I wasn't lying to you, my soul has been damaged over the years, and all that's left is a residual soul that yearns for revenge. I mean no harm to you."
"Why do you think she's Ming Wang's reincarnation?" Han Li asked.
"Perhaps it's because I'm now just a residual soul, and I can sense it more deeply. In short, everything I said is true. This girl, Ti Hu, is indeed Ming Wang's reincarnation. Back then, she was the one who helped destroy my physical body and seal me here, and yet she herself didn't fare much better. It's almost laughable." The evil spirit sneered. Ti Hun had no recollection of the events Guī Wū mentioned, and thus remained unmoved.
"I let you release me, not just for revenge, but because I don't want to watch the Underworld sink into chaos, causing turmoil in all three realms," Guī Wū said with a sigh.
"What do you mean?" Ti Hun asked.
"You've lost all your memories, but do you still remember the Six Paths Reincarnation Disc?" Guī Wū asked.
"Six Paths Reincarnation Disc?" Ti Hun muttered, still unable to recall anything.
Guī Wū saw her shake her head and said with a hint of frustration, "The Six Paths Reincarnation Disc is one of the Underworld's treasures, a powerful artifact that can control the reincarnation of the six paths. The person who manipulated us three back then was after this very object."
Ti Hun's eyebrows furrowed slightly as she listened, seemingly more interested in Guī Wū's words.
"After we three were eliminated by that person, he declared himself the Wheel King, controlling the three realms. However, he didn't care about the Myriad Ghosts' power and instead used the Six Paths Reincarnation Disc to interfere with the reincarnation of souls, absorbing the power of reincarnation to cultivate his own strength. This act goes against the will of Heaven and Earth, and if continued, will affect not just the Underworld, but all other realms as well," Guī Wū continued.
"How do you know so much about the Underworld's affairs after being sealed here for who-knows-how-many years?" Han Li asked, his eyebrows furrowed in suspicion.
"Shouldn't you have guessed by now? The countless white bones on this island and the many more that have sunk into the river are all the nourishment I've attracted over the years. Otherwise, under such a powerful seal, I wouldn't have been able to preserve even a wisp of my soul," Guī Wū said with a bitter smile.
"It seems many poor souls have been deceived by your words and met a tragic end," Han Li said with a laugh.
"I've managed to hold on until now, but I'm almost exhausted. Fortunately, you've brought the Underworld King. I'm saved, and the Underworld is saved as well..." Guī Wū said, looking at Ti Hun with hope in her eyes.
"What you're saying about past lives and reincarnation, I have no memory of, and I'm not interested," Ti Hun said, her eyebrows furrowed.
The title of Underworld King meant nothing to her, and only her experiences with Han Li in the Spirit Realm were real.
"You've undergone reincarnation and lost your past memories, so naturally, you don't care about what I'm saying. But if you could regain your past memories, I don't think you'd be so indifferent," Guī Wū said.
"Can past memories be regained?" Han Li asked, puzzled.
"If we can reach the shores of the Yellow Spring Lake and find the Six Paths Reincarnation Disc, we can use this treasure to reveal your past memories. Once you awaken to your past memories, you can use the reincarnation technique to regain your past cultivation experience, and your Law power will surely improve. At that time, I'll persuade Blood Li, and we three will reunite, forming an alliance to defeat the Wheel King and reclaim the Underworld's three realms," Guī Wū said, her eyes shining with excitement.
Ti Hun's eyes flickered with hesitation as she listened, seemingly wavering.
"The Underworld King's return, Blood Li's unsealing, and our reunion – don't you think it's all too convenient? This is the fate of reincarnation, bringing us together once more..." Guī Wū said, trying to persuade Ti Hun.
Ti Hun looked at Han Li, seemingly uncertain.
"Although I'm not interested in the Underworld's struggles, the Six Paths Reincarnation Disc does seem intriguing. Let's go take a look. However, before that, we need to find the Yama's Palace," Han Li said, nodding.
"Finding the Yama's Palace is no problem," Guī Wū said.
"You know the location of the Yama's Palace?" Han Li asked, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
"If you're quick, it's only half a month's journey from here. At most, it'll take a month," Guī Wū said after a moment of thought.
Han Li's face remained unchanged, but he seemed to be considering it.
"As long as you agree to help me, I'll take you to the Yama's Palace after we reach the Six Paths Reincarnation Disc," Guī Wū said, adding, "Please help me unseal the restriction."
Han Li finally nodded, agreeing to help Guī Wū.
"Now that we've formed an alliance, please help me unseal the restriction," Guī Wū said, her face filled with joy.
"This scattered soul sand is easy to dispel, Ti Hun can handle it with a wave of her hand. However, the two restrictions behind it are quite peculiar – do you know how to remove them, Guī Wū?" Han Li asked.
Here is the translated text:
"This withered tree is a yang wing wood, its exterior appears black as if it had been burned by fire, but in reality, it cultivates a divine flame within, and it is self-sustaining." Guī Wū said.
"Oh, how do we break the soul-locking box?" Han Li asked.
"This item was originally used to prevent my soul from dispersing, to collect and refine my residual soul, but later I spent a great deal of effort to modify it, and turned it into a tool for hiding my soul. Now it is connected to my divine soul, and if it is opened carelessly, I fear that my residual soul will not be able to withstand the stimulation of the yin wind, and will dissipate into nothingness." Guī Wū said with a bitter smile.
"This is easy to handle, Qī Huán, please retrieve the scattered soul sand." Han Li said with a smile.
Qī Huán heard this and with a wave of her hand, the golden sand that was wrapped around the roots of the withered tree flew back, and after a few moments of swirling in her palm, it was absorbed into her body.
"I've been saying I would compensate you, but I never had the chance, today is just the right opportunity." Han Li said with a smile.
Guī Wū was confused, and didn't know who Han Li was talking to.
As a result, a silver light flashed on Han Li's shoulder, and a small silver flame figure jumped out, with a happy smile on its face, it rubbed its hands together, and with a jump, it landed on the black withered tree, and hugged it like an octopus.
"This is..."
Guī Wū sensed the aura of the refined flame bird, and suddenly felt uneasy.
"Don't worry, this is a refined flame, a yang object, the yang wing wood will be greatly nourished by it." Han Li said with a smile.
"Please ask the little one to be careful, and not to harm my corpse..." Guī Wū said, before his body suddenly shrank back into the soul-locking box, and he fell silent.
Han Li saw this and smiled, and then instructed the refined flame bird to be careful, and allowed it to transform into a blazing silver flame, which engulfed the yang wing wood.
The process of engulfing the yang wing wood took over half an hour, and Han Li and the others took the opportunity to cultivate and rest.
Finally, the refined flame bird's flame subsided, and it transformed back into the small silver flame figure, which jumped onto Han Li's shoulder, and without saying a word, it lay down and merged into Han Li's body.
The white sandy beach was empty, except for a black corpse and a black box that had fallen to the ground.
Han Li made a gesture to Qī Huán, and she immediately waved her hand, and the scattered soul sand that she had previously retrieved, flew out again, and enveloped the corpse and the soul-locking box.
"Guī Wū, to be cautious, I apologize." Han Li said with a smile.
"It is fortunate to have an ally like you, who is so cautious." Guī Wū's voice came from the soul-locking box, his tone was calm, and without any resentment.
"Then please guide us." Han Li said, as he casually picked up the corpse and the soul-locking box.
"Of course, of course." Guī Wū replied.
...
Seven days later.
The sky was filled with dark clouds, which pressed down on the heavens, and the air was filled with a foul and decaying smell.
Han Li and his two companions walked through a mountain range, with peaks and rocks rising up, and scattered corpses could be seen everywhere, and when the wind blew, it would stir up a green phosphorescent glow.
As they walked along a high cliff, they saw a deep and bottomless chasm, with mist swirling inside, and a stench of rot and decay.
"Uncle, do you really believe that guy's words? Qī Huán said she didn't detect any soul fluctuations, why are we going to so much trouble to walk this mountain path, can't we just fly over from the cliff?" Jīn Tóng complained.
"The land of the underworld is not something that can be judged by ordinary logic, just because Qī Huán didn't detect anything, doesn't mean it's not there. Besides, Guī Wū had no reason to deceive us." Han Li replied.
"That's right, the path that Guī Wū pointed out has been correct so far, and has allowed us to avoid almost all the ghost cities in the underworld, and has saved us a lot of trouble." Qī Huán said.
As they walked, they saw that the winding path continued for over a thousand feet, before being completely obscured by the thick mist, and nothing could be seen.
"Guī Wū, you said that the ghost python that lives on this cliff, has the strength of a Mahārāja, and can dominate the entire region, why does it still stay here, and not leave?" Han Li asked.
"I don't know the reason, the ghost python's past is also very strange, it's said that it had the potential to become a dragon, but it was struck by seven heavenly tribulations, and was killed, and after death, it still harbored resentment, and continued to cultivate in the underworld, and its strength actually surpassed its strength in life, and it has been living on this cliff, and anyone who flies over, regardless of what they are, will be attacked and killed, but those who walk on the mountain path, will not be attacked, as long as they don't provoke it." Guī Wū's voice came from the cloth bag on Han Li's waist.
"This cliff is always shrouded in dark clouds, and anyone who enters will stir up the clouds, and the scene is similar to the heavenly tribulations, perhaps the ghost python is attacking because of this." Han Li thought for a moment, and said. As soon as his voice fell, a flash of light appeared in the high clouds, as if someone was passing through.
As the clouds rolled, although there was no thunder, the situation was similar to the descent of heavenly thunder.
"Not good, don't get close to the edge of the cliff, stick to the mountain and hurry..." Guī Wū's voice sounded again.
Han Li and the other two heard this and quickly accelerated, sticking to the mountain as they sped forward.
Just then, a series of muffled thunder-like sounds came from the depths of the cliff, and Han Li felt the entire mountain peak shaking violently.
Next, the dense fog that had been lingering in the depths of the cliff suddenly began to churn, and a massive figure burst forth, rushing towards the dark clouds.
Han Li saw a black "wall" rising from the depths of the cliff, colliding with the clouds and causing the air to become chaotic. On top of the wall, he saw a series of kiln-shaped scales, each several dozen meters in size, frantically rubbing against the cliff and sending up sparks.
When the figure finally disappeared into the clouds, Han Li saw its full appearance: a massive black-scaled snake, over ten thousand meters long, with a single horn on its head and two eyes that shone like lanterns, casting two green beams of light.
"This guy's cultivation has increased again, it's already comparable to the late stage of the Dà Luó realm," Guī Wū exclaimed.
"What, a ghostly creature can cultivate to such an extent?" Jīn Tóng asked in disbelief.
"The Wú Huáng realm has its own secrets, and the Yōu Míng realm is no exception. This creature's age is probably even older than mine. Let's go, before it attacks us, let's hurry and leave," Guī Wū urged.
Han Li and the others didn't stop, and instead accelerated their escape.
After finally crossing the cliff and reaching the other side of the mountain, Han Li couldn't help but turn back and look. He saw a massive black head, as large as a mountain peak, rising from the clouds, its two green eyes fixed on them.
But for some reason, the ghostly snake didn't attack them, and instead let them leave the Lòu Hún Cliff.
"Guī Wū, tell me honestly, what's the relationship between you and this ghostly snake? Why didn't it attack us?" Han Li asked, still feeling uneasy.
"This... I'm not really sure. Although it's in my domain, I've always kept my distance and never interacted with it," Guī Wū replied.
"Alright, if we encounter something like this again, let's take a detour," Han Li said.
"Ah, I said that earlier, but we're not taking a detour to avoid the city, are we?" Guī Wū sighed.
...
A month had passed since then.
In the western edge of the Yán Lóu domain, the mountains had disappeared, replaced by a vast expanse of the Ghost Domain Marsh, covering an area of over a million square miles. The marsh was filled with shallow waters and fog, emitting a putrid smell.
On the eastern edge of the marsh, a long, winding shoreline stretched out, with a small peninsula jutting out into the marsh. On the tip of the peninsula stood a tall, young man, gazing upwards.
The man was Han Li.
Above the marsh, a thick layer of colorful clouds floated, about a thousand meters high, looking breathtakingly beautiful.
"Uncle, what are you looking at? Are you still thinking about that ghostly bride?" Jīn Tóng asked, standing behind Han Li and teasing him.
"Jīn Tóng..." Han Li scowled, rebuking him.
"What's wrong, Uncle? You're not exactly handsome, but the ghostly bride didn't seem to mind. She's a ghostly creature, but she's not ugly, and she's got a crush on you. You're not grateful, and you even killed her with a single sword strike. That's a bit too cruel, don't you think?" Jīn Tóng continued, not afraid of Han Li's scowl.
Tì Hún, standing nearby, didn't respond, but covered her mouth and chuckled.
In reality, the ghostly bride was extremely difficult to deal with, using a mystical technique that created illusions, and even Han Li's spiritual eyes and Tì Hún's soul sense couldn't penetrate it. They were trapped for three days, until Guī Wū pointed out the ghostly bride's true form, and Han Li killed her with a single sword strike. Only Jīn Tóng found the whole experience amusing.
Over the past month, they had encountered many strange and bizarre things, leaving Han Li feeling somewhat astonished at the mysteries of the Yōu Míng realm.
"Ghost Witch fellow, this patch of Ghost Domain's Great Marsh appears to be calm, but it shouldn't be a good place, right?" Han Li said, ignoring Jin Tong.
"Hehe, where in the Underworld is there a good place? It's already good that it's like this. The Ghost Domain's Great Marsh is filled with dense miasma, which has been accumulating for a long time, and has formed a five-colored poisonous cloud in the sky. However, with your large bodies, as long as you don't fly high, you can enter the poisonous cloud without any problems." Ghost Witch replied with a chuckle.
"That's not a problem, but where is the Yanluo's Manor you mentioned?" Han Li asked.
"It's not far, we're almost there." Ghost Witch said.
"You've said that at least five or six times, is the Yanluo's Manor really in this marsh?" Qiuhun looked at Ghost Witch with a frown, asking.
"I feel that this place is very desolate, it doesn't look like there's any buildings or houses around. You're not trying to trick us, are you?" Jin Tong also looked suspicious, saying.
"I wouldn't dare trick you! The Yanluo's Manor is actually on a solitary island in the middle of the Great Marsh, but it's surrounded by a strange law array, and no one has ever been able to enter... As for how strange it is, you'll understand when you see it." Ghost Witch hastily said.
"Since that's the case, please lead the way, Ghost Witch fellow. We'll go take a look." Han Li said.
"From here, head west for about 300,000 miles, and you'll see a forest. The trees there are quite special... Let's go there first..." Ghost Witch said.
As soon as Ghost Witch finished speaking, Han Li and the others flew into the air, but only hovered about a hundred yards above the Great Marsh, flying low.
After a while, in the distance, a black withered tree over a hundred yards tall appeared.
The tree trunk was extremely thick, but it was completely black and dry, like it had been burned to charcoal. There was no sign of life, and the branches were bare and scattered, like a pair of sinister ghost claws stretching out in all directions.
The vines were like willow branches hanging down from the tree branches, with thousands of withered corpses hanging from them, each one looking different, making one's scalp feel numb.
Behind the withered tree, in the midst of the misty fog, one could faintly see that every so often, there was another withered tree, densely packed, stretching out to the horizon.
Just as Han Li and the others were about to approach, Ghost Witch suddenly spoke up to remind them:
"Those trees are Hanging Corpse Ghost Vines, and they're quite troublesome. Don't get too close. We only need to use this area as a coordinate, head north for about 1,700,000 miles, and find a piece of Ghostly Marsh Rock that resembles a ghost. From there, head west for 800,000 miles, and you'll reach the island where the Yanluo's Manor is located."
Han Li and the others heard this, and immediately stopped in their tracks, flying north once again.
...
Han Li and the others followed Ghost Witch's lead, turning and winding their way, for about three days, until they finally arrived at the solitary island in the Great Marsh.
From a distance of over a thousand miles, the island seemed to be surrounded by a barrier, with all the misty fog and poisonous clouds blocked out, making the island's surroundings clear and clean, looking like a piece of outside land.
However, Han Li quickly sensed that something was off, and that the barrier contained a powerful time law.
The three of them flew over, hovering outside the barrier, looking at the island inside, and saw that time seemed to have stopped.
The trees on the island were lush and green, and seemed to be swaying gently in the breeze, but were frozen in place. Even the birds flying overhead were frozen in mid-air, with their wings spread wide.
"Is this the Yanluo's Manor?" Qiuhun asked, looking around.
"Yes, it is." Ghost Witch replied.
"What's going on here?" Jin Tong asked in surprise.
"This barrier is filled with time law, which has sealed the time inside. Everything is frozen in place, and no one has been able to enter for a long time, let alone set foot on the island." Ghost Witch explained.
Han Li looked around, feeling a bit puzzled:
"This barrier does contain a dense time law, but it's not an extremely powerful killing array, or an impenetrable defensive array. Why hasn't anyone been able to break through it?"
Ghost Witch hesitated before speaking:
"You can try it yourself, Han fellow. You'll understand why."
" Humph! You're just pretending to be mysterious, old man. Wait for me to try first." Jin Tong said, her eyes flashing with gold light, and before Han Li could stop her, she charged forward, heading straight for the barrier.
"Wait..."
Han Li only had time to shout out two words before he was shocked to see Jin Tong, who had used brute force to charge into the barrier, being enveloped in a golden light, and instantly retreating back outside the barrier.
" Humph! You're just pretending to be mysterious, old man. Wait for me to try first." Jin Tong said again, her body flashing with gold light, and she charged forward once more. It was only an instant later that she returned to her original position, saying "Hmph! You're just pretending to be mysterious, old man. Wait for me to try first." With a flash of golden light, she charged towards the barrier once again, her expression unchanged from before. It seemed that she was unaware of her repeated actions.
Just as she was about to collide with the barrier again, Han Li grasped her wrist with a hand covered in golden light.
"Old man, what are you doing? Let me try first," Jin Tong said, trying to shake off Han Li's hand.
"You've tried many times already, it's useless," Han Li replied.
"Old man, are you blind? I haven't even tried once yet... Qiuhun, is the old man confused?" Jin Tong asked, looking puzzled.
"Master, you're not mistaken. You've indeed tried many times already," Qiuhun said.
"Really? I don't remember," Jin Tong said, looking confused.
Han Li fell silent for a moment, and then realized why the ghost witch had said that this place was strange.
"This barrier has a time-sealing effect. Anyone who enters will be affected by the time law, causing them to remain in the state they were in before entering the barrier. If no one intervenes, they'll be stuck in this state forever," Han Li explained.
"I don't quite understand," Jin Tong said, scratching his head.
Qiuhun also looked puzzled.
"It means that even if you try a million times, you'll just be transported back to the outside of the barrier, and you won't even realize it," Han Li added.
The ghost witch's voice rang out, "Ah, Han Daoist, you're indeed skilled in the time law. Your insight is impressive, and you've seen through the barrier's effects in just a few moments... However, this repetition won't last forever. Once a certain number of attempts is reached, the intruder's physical body will be broken down by the time law, and their spiritual energy will flow into the array, nourishing it."
As soon as the ghost witch finished speaking, Qiuhun and Jin Tong were shocked. Han Li, however, didn't show any surprise, and his eyes continued to scan the surface of the barrier as if considering something.
"Old thing, why didn't you say so earlier? You want to kill me!" Jin Tong exclaimed.
"You've only tried seven or eight times, it's not a problem. To reach the level I mentioned, you'd need to try at least ten thousand times. But for the person involved, unless someone intervenes, they won't even feel it. In other words, from the moment they start, their fate is sealed," the ghost witch said.
"Ghost witch, do you know how to break this seal?" Han Li asked.
The ghost witch laughed dryly, "Ah, Daoist, you're joking, right? If I knew how to break this seal, wouldn't this Yanluo's estate be mine already?"
Han Li knew that the ghost witch was telling the truth.
"However, to untie the knot, one must first tie the knot. Since this barrier is forged from the time law, to break it, one must start from the time law itself," the ghost witch said.
Han Li listened and seemed to understand something. He then made a hand seal, and his mouth began to chant softly.
A wave of time law fluctuations emanated from his body, and a brilliant golden light enveloped him. Five time law artifacts appeared around him, each representing a different aspect of time.
Han Li activated the "Great Five Elements Fantasy" technique, and the five time law artifacts flew out, each occupying a different position on the barrier. The barrier's surface began to ripple and distort, as if it were a lake's surface.
Han Li raised a finger and lightly poked the barrier, causing it to shatter like a bubble.
In an instant, the spiritual energy, miasma, and toxic fog from the surrounding area surged towards the island.
The island itself was like a stormy sea, with trees that had stood for countless years shaking violently. The birds perched on the trees were swept away by the sudden influx of miasma, and they fell to the ground.
"Amazing... it's so fast," the ghost witch said, seemingly impressed.
Han Li didn't explain, but simply said, "Let's go," and flew towards the island. Jin Tong and Qiuhun followed closely behind.
The island was desolate, with only ancient trees and no signs of buildings or pavilions. However, as soon as they landed, Han Li sensed a faint time law fluctuation emanating from the center of the island, drawing him towards it.
The island's terrain was treacherous, with dense forests and thick underbrush. Han Li and his companions had to force their way through the underbrush to create a path.
As they climbed higher, the trees became less dense, and the air grew thinner. When they reached the summit, they found only a few short shrubs and wild grasses.
Han Li spotted a broken stone monument half-buried in the wild grass.
Han Li walked forward, parted the grass, and saw that the stone stele was covered in dark green moss, with the inscriptions almost buried beneath. Only the words "Zhī Fǔ" (Abode of the Underworld) could be vaguely made out.
The break on the stele was uneven, with a fist-sized hole in the middle.
"Uncle, look over there!" Jin Tong suddenly exclaimed.
Han Li followed the sound and soon found the other half of the broken stele in a nearby clump of grass. After sweeping away the dirt and debris, the words "Yán Lóu" (Gates of the Underworld) were revealed.
"It seems this is the location of the Yán Lóu Zhī Fǔ. Since there's no cave entrance, there must be a secret realm or a restrictive array present." Qiú Hún's gaze shifted from the stele to the surroundings, and he spoke up.
"Right here," Han Li nodded and said.
"Here?" Jin Tong was puzzled.
Han Li smiled, raised his hand, and a golden light burst forth from his palm, enveloping the broken stele. With a gentle motion, he lifted the stele and placed it on the ground, where it merged with the other half.
The two broken steles fit together perfectly, with the seams aligning seamlessly.
"But it's still missing a piece," Jin Tong exclaimed.
Indeed, the center of the merged stele still had a fist-sized hole.
"It seems we need a key," Guī Wū's voice came from Han Li's waist.
"Guī Wū, do you know what this key is?" Han Li asked.
"This Yán Lóu Zhī Fǔ has existed for a long time, and I don't even know who built it. How would I know what the key is? But you, Han Li, since you're searching for this place, shouldn't you know?" Guī Wū replied.
Han Li's expression turned awkward. When he met Mí Luó Lǎo Zǔ, the old man had told him to find the Yán Lóu Zhī Fǔ, but didn't mention the location or the restrictive key. How was he supposed to know?
He walked forward, squatted down, and examined the stele carefully. However, he couldn't detect any obvious signs of a restrictive array or spatial fluctuations.
Han Li pondered for a moment, then reached out to touch the hole. Suddenly, he felt a sense of familiarity with the shape and size of the hole. He inserted his finger into the hole and felt around, and his eyes lit up with a smile.
He withdrew his finger, wiped away the moss, and flipped his palm. A golden light flowed out, and a small, golden inkstone appeared, adorned with a carving of a sleeping yellow cow. The inkstone was the same one Wǔ Yáng had given him in Jiǔ Yuán City.
As soon as the inkstone appeared, a golden light burst forth, and the air was filled with the rich, earthy scent of the inkstone's restrictive array.
In response, the stele began to glow with a dense pattern of symbols, and the hole in the center shone with a golden light, emitting a gentle, attractive force.
Han Li extended his palm, and the inkstone flew out, landing in the hole with a perfect fit. The two merged, becoming one.
Instantly, the stele erupted in a brilliant display of light, and a golden vortex appeared.
"Whoa, it's open!" Jin Tong exclaimed.
Han Li's expression turned thoughtful. "Is this the result of fate, or was it arranged by Lǎo Zǔ?"
"What's wrong, Uncle? The door is open, but you're not going in?" Jin Tong asked, noticing Han Li's peculiar expression.
Han Li shook his head, setting aside his doubts for the moment. Just as he was about to enter, he remembered something and stopped. He turned to Jin Tong and Qiú Hún and instructed, "Now that the island's restrictive array is broken, external enemies may arrive at any moment. You two should stay here and guard the entrance."
"Don't worry, we'll take care of it," Qiú Hún replied, nodding.
Jin Tong was curious about what lay within the Yán Lóu Zhī Fǔ, but he reluctantly agreed to stay behind.
"Guī Wū will be in your care as well," Han Li said, handing Qiú Hún a small, black box.
"I'll take care of it," Qiú Hún replied, understanding Han Li's intentions.
The black box remained silent.
After making the necessary arrangements, Han Li turned to face the golden vortex and stepped forward.
As he did, a powerful, attractive force enveloped him, and he felt the world spinning around him. When he regained his balance, he found himself standing on a lush, green plain.
The plain stretched out before him, seemingly endless, with only the distant, hazy outlines of majestic mountains visible on the horizon.
A few hundred feet away, a solitary, ten-meter-tall jujube tree stood tall, its branches stretching towards the sky. Beneath the tree, a small, neatly constructed thatched hut stood, its roof carefully arranged with uniform layers of thatch.
Despite its modest size, the hut was well-built, with even the thatch on the roof carefully tied in place. "Look what's taking you so long? I've been waiting for you for a while now." A familiar voice suddenly came from inside the thatched hut.
Immediately, a fat monk with a red robe and a rosary in hand squeezed out of the doorway.
His earlobes were extremely long, hanging down to his shoulders, and his face was filled with a warm smile. His two long, narrow eyes were narrowed into a slit, and his massive belly made him look like a lovable person.
"Master?" Han Li's eyebrows rose in surprise and delight.
However, he soon realized that the monk in front of him was just a residual soul of Mi Luo Old Ancestor.
"Looks like you're a bit disappointed, haha..." Mi Luo Old Ancestor chuckled.
"At first glance, I thought Master was still alive, and I couldn't help but feel a bit... regretful." Han Li's eyes dimmed, and he sighed.
"You're here, and that's all that matters to me. I've been waiting for a long time, and I won't have any regrets now." Mi Luo Old Ancestor smiled, saying.
"I'm just glad to have the opportunity to hear Master's teachings again. I won't have any regrets either." Han Li smiled and replied.
"This secret realm was built by my residual power, and it's been sealed for many years without any consumption. Now that the seal is broken, my power will soon dissipate. Let's not waste any more time, and let me see your cultivation results." Mi Luo Old Ancestor said.
Han Li nodded and immediately activated the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Realm" technique within his body.
He snapped his fingers, and the Time Domain opened up, enveloping the surrounding area within a radius of several dozen li.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, feeling a bit surprised.
"Don't be surprised, this space is only this big. The mountains and grasslands beyond are just illusions." Mi Luo Old Ancestor chuckled.
Han Li felt a bit surprised, as he hadn't noticed this when he first entered the secret realm.
However, he didn't dwell on this and instead focused on activating the Time technique.
In an instant, the moon hung in the air, the mountains rose up, the rivers flowed, and the trees grew. The Five Elements Fantasy Realm appeared before him.
Mi Luo Old Ancestor scanned the surroundings, nodding in satisfaction. "Not bad, not bad. The five objects of the Time law haven't fully materialized, but you've already achieved this level of atmosphere. It's truly impressive. When the Five Elements are complete, the power of the Fantasy Realm will be even more extraordinary."
"I was planning to work on this earlier, but then some things happened, and I was delayed. I was also hindered by the evil corpse," Han Li said, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"You've already killed one corpse..." Mi Luo Old Ancestor's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he pondered.
"What's wrong, Master? Is there something not quite right?" Han Li asked.
Mi Luo Old Ancestor thought for a moment before responding, "It's not that there's anything wrong, but you've already cultivated the Time law to this extent. I'm sure the ancient ones, including the Time Dao Ancestor, have already taken notice of you."
Han Li knew that the Time Dao Ancestor was a powerful figure in the Heavenly Court, and his name was enough to make his heart skip a beat.
"I've already been placed on the Heavenly Court's list of cultivators to be eliminated. As for whether the Time Dao Ancestor has noticed me, I'm not sure." Han Li smiled wryly.
"The struggle for the Dao is indeed perilous. I didn't have any intention of competing with the Time Dao Ancestor for the position of Dao Ancestor back then. I was just fascinated by the mysteries of the Time law. However, I was still suppressed by him. You, on the other hand, have a natural talent for the Time law that surpasses mine. It's impossible for you to go unnoticed." Mi Luo Old Ancestor said.
"Master, why didn't you want to compete for the position of Dao Ancestor?" Han Li asked, puzzled.
"Hehe, do you know why the Dao Ancestor is called the Dao Ancestor?" Mi Luo Old Ancestor asked with a smile.
"Because they have reached the pinnacle of the Dao, and can be called the Dao Ancestor." Han Li replied quickly.
"That's correct, but what does it mean to reach the pinnacle of the Dao?" Mi Luo Old Ancestor asked.
Han Li thought for a moment before responding, "I'm not sure."
"Reaching the pinnacle of the Dao means reaching the peak of the mountain. However, above this peak, there is still a vast expanse of sky. This sky is not something external, but rather the 'Dao' itself, which is the essence of all laws and principles. When one is beneath the 'Dao', all laws and techniques must be supported by the 'Dao' and are subject to its constraints. But when one becomes the Dao Ancestor, truly equal to the Dao, what happens?" Mi Luo Old Ancestor asked.
"Could it be that... when one becomes the Dao Ancestor, they will merge with the Dao, becoming a part of it?" Han Li asked, his forehead breaking out in cold sweat.
"According to my knowledge, becoming the Dao Ancestor doesn't immediately result in being devoured by the Dao. However, once the Dao Ancestor uses the power of the laws, they will draw upon the power of the Dao, and their abilities will be boundless. At the same time, they will accelerate their fusion with the Dao." Mi Luo Old Ancestor said.
"I see. So that's why Dao Ancestors rarely take action in the world," Han Li said, suddenly understanding.
"That's correct. However, when a threat to their position as Dao Ancestor arises, they will take action. And they may have some methods to delay their complete fusion with the Dao. The Time Dao Ancestor, Guo Yu, is one such existence." Mi Luo Old Ancestor said, looking at Han Li.
Han Li realized that Mi Luo Old Ancestor was worried about something.
Han Li said, "Master, you don't need to worry too much. With the recent movements in the Wheel of Rebirth and the invasion of the Gray Realm, the entire Immortal Realm is in a state of turmoil. For now, the Heavenly Court shouldn't be able to pay attention to me."
Mi Luo Old Ancestor's expression turned serious, saying, "The Wheel of Rebirth is not a concern, but the Gray Realm is nothing in the eyes of the ancient ones. The Heavenly Court's foundation is incredibly deep, and you probably don't know just how deep it is. If the ancient ones notice your threat, with your current cultivation level, it will be difficult for you to protect yourself. You must quickly break through your cultivation, and if you can become a late-stage Mahayana cultivator, you will have the ability to deal with the Heavenly Court."
Han Li's face flashed with hesitation, and he said, "Master, it's only been a short time since I first severed my mortal coil, and my mid-stage Mahayana cultivation level has only just stabilized. I still need a lot of time to sever my mortal coil again, and there are still many immortal apertures that haven't been connected."
"You are different from ordinary cultivators, as you cultivate both the body and the law. With your body's immortal apertures nearly fully connected, as long as you have enough time and law artifacts, as well as a large amount of immortal stones, opening the Time and Space Heavenly Array won't be a problem. You're truly worried about something else, aren't you?" Mi Luo Old Ancestor slowly said.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he said, "Master, you see right through me. To be honest, the last time I severed my mortal coil, it wasn't because of my diligent cultivation. I was forced to use a Severing Mortal Coil Symbol, and I had to take a risk and sever my mortal coil. If I'm too hasty now, I'm afraid I'll be too reckless, and it will be like trying to help a seedling grow by pulling on it. If my cultivation foundation isn't solid, won't I end up losing everything?"
Mi Luo Old Ancestor chuckled, saying, "You're worrying too much. Severing one's mortal coil is also a matter of fate, and it's not just a matter of having all the immortal apertures connected. Otherwise, the people of the Immortal Realm wouldn't have spent so many resources to create Severing Mortal Coil Symbols. Of course, because there are many unexpected situations when severing one's mortal coil, the higher one's cultivation level and the more prepared one is, the greater the chance of success. I'm just telling you to quickly lay a solid foundation, and when the time is right, you'll be able to sever your mortal coil quickly. Once you reach the late-stage Mahayana cultivation level, as long as the Dao Ancestor doesn't personally intervene, none of the Dao Ancestor's subordinates will be able to do anything to you."
Han Li nodded, saying, "I understand now, Master."
Mi Luo Old Ancestor said, "Before that, first complete your Five Elements Illusory Realm and raise your spiritual domain to the true Heavenly Man Realm, making it compatible with the great array. Your cultivation speed will also increase greatly."
Han Li's face revealed a look of difficulty, and he said, "This... I was previously disturbed by external events and haven't found the opportunity to complete the Five Elements Illusory Realm. This matter will have to be put off for a while."
Mi Luo Old Ancestor smiled and asked, "Have you forgotten why I had you come to this Yan Luo's Manor?"
Han Li suddenly slapped his forehead, and a look of sudden understanding appeared on his face.
In the past, Mi Luo Old Ancestor had given him three time law artifacts and a golden jade book, but after his physical body had returned, they had all disappeared.
At that time, the Old Ancestor had said that if those things couldn't be brought back through the physical body, he should come to the Yan Luo's Manor to find them.
As he thought about it, Mi Luo Old Ancestor waved his hand, and a brilliant golden light appeared before Han Li. A cyan-colored ancient tree, a broken blue long spear, a yellowish-brown stone, and the golden jade book all appeared.
In addition to these, there were two storage rings and a golden jade slip suspended in the air.
Mi Luo Old Ancestor said, "The storage rings contain some immortal stones and time law artifacts of varying quality, but they should be enough to assist your cultivation. As for the 'Immortal Golden Cloud' cultivation method jade slip, you had previously stolen it from the Cang Gong Pavilion, but you weren't able to bring it with you. I've kept it for you."
Han Li's heart was moved, and he deeply bowed to Mi Luo Old Ancestor.
Mi Luo Old Ancestor smiled and received the bow, saying, "Alright, time is limited. First, thoroughly refine your Five Elements Illusory Realm. I'll help you protect your path one last time."
Han Li bowed respectfully and received the items.
After examining them, Han Li discovered that the cyan-colored ancient tree, the broken blue long spear, and the yellowish-brown stone were all high-quality time law artifacts, each with a different attribute corresponding to the five elements. They were exactly what Mi Luo Old Ancestor had prepared for him to refine his Five Elements Illusory Realm.
However, the Dong Yi divine tree had already merged with the Two Life Tree, so the cyan-colored ancient tree couldn't be used. The blue long spear and the yellowish-brown stone, on the other hand, could be combined with the Time and Space Heavenly Array.
Han Li put away the other items and sat down cross-legged under the jujube tree. He formed a hand seal, and the five elements illusory realm around him began to change.
The tree shadows shook and contracted, eventually merging into a single tree. The true form of the round moon appeared, suspended behind Han Li.
The countless flowing flames in the sky converged, forming a golden flame torch that fell before Han Li.
Only the winding Time River and the undulating mountain range remained in their illusory state, appearing before Han Li.
Han Li raised his hand, and the blue long spear and the yellowish-brown stone flew up, falling into the mountain range.
The long spear entered the water, splashing up water droplets, while the stone entered the mountain, causing the earth to shake.
Han Li's time law energy surged out, and he rapidly formed hand seals, striking the mountain range with them.
In an instant, the river's waves surged, and the mountain's peaks shook, as a thick golden light enveloped the entire space. Milo Laozu saw the scene and his eyes were filled with a look of satisfaction. He walked slowly to the door of the thatched hut, leaned against the wall, and sat down with his legs crossed.
His hands were clasped together in front of him, and suddenly, he made a slight movement, drawing two semi-circles in the air. The two semi-circles rotated to the left and right, then merged in front of him, and his palms suddenly shone with a brilliant golden light. The light transformed into a series of golden ripples, filling the entire space.
Han Li basked in the golden light, feeling an indescribable sense of comfort and relaxation. His heart, which had been fluctuating earlier, suddenly calmed down.
The water-blue long spear, which had been immersed in the River of Time, gradually lit up with a soft glow. Eventually, it dissipated and merged into the river, causing the river to transform from gold to blue. The surface of the river began to ripple with waves.
The mountain range below, which had been dependent on the river, began to tremble. The earth-yellow stone that had fallen to the ground took root, merging with the mountain range.
The mountain range, which had been insubstantial, finally gained a true foundation and became solid. The True Speech Treasure Wheel and the Broken Time Fire simultaneously flew back into the sky, transforming into a round moon and stars. The Two Life Trees fell onto the mountain range, their roots connecting with the mountain, and instantly turned the mountain green.
As a powerful wave of time law fluctuations spread out, the Five Elements Fantasy World was finally refined and merged with Han Li's Time Spirit Domain, achieving the highest state of unity between heaven and man.
Han Li's heart was filled with joy, and he was about to recall his divine abilities when he heard Milo Laozu's voice in his mind:
"Although your innate talent in the path of time law is not as good as mine, your circumstances are better. I am also looking forward to seeing how far you can go. Unfortunately, my time is running out..."
"Master..." Han Li replied.
"As your master, I have taught you very little about time law. Now, I can only protect you for a while longer. You must cherish this gift and not waste it..." Milo Laozu's voice gradually became more ethereal.
Han Li looked at him and saw that he still wore his usual benevolent smile, but his face was becoming increasingly blurry. His body was emitting countless golden starlights, dispersing into the surrounding spiritual domain.
"Master..." Han Li called out.
In the next instant, the entire secret realm shook, and a gigantic, intricate array rose from the ground, operating on its own without Han Li's control.
Han Li looked around, shocked to discover that the array was the "River of Time Heavenly Array".
Milo Laozu was telling him to close up in this place, using the power of the array to quickly enhance his cultivation.
The River of Time Array merged with Han Li's Heavenly Spirit Domain, and the array's power suddenly changed, creating a time-space with a previously unseen time difference.
Han Li's mind moved, and he immediately began to frantically operate the "Great Five Elements Fantasy World Technique".
A loud, piercing sound echoed through the air as a golden light vortex descended from the sky, engulfing Han Li. Countless, extremely pure time law forces surged towards him from all directions, pouring into his body.
"Ah..."
Han Li let out a loud cry, his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth simultaneously emitting golden light. Every pore on his body was penetrated by the time law forces.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
A series of explosive sounds echoed within Han Li's body. He had only recently broken through the Mirror of the Soul, and now his body was once again being penetrated by the time law forces.
One, two, three...
Han Li couldn't even feel joy at this moment. The brutal and direct infusion of time law forces was something that even a true late-stage Great Luo cultivator might not be able to withstand.
He was only able to maintain a semblance of rationality because his spiritual orifices were almost fully open, and his physical body had reached its peak. Moreover, the power of the time law forces was infused with Milo Laozu's own time law forces, making it more compatible with Han Li's body.
Even so, the pain and suffering Han Li endured at this moment were unimaginable.
(The author, Wugu, will be out of town for a few days and will only be able to update once a day for the next two days.)
As the intense golden light washed over him, Han Li's clothes were instantly reduced to ashes, his black hair stood on end, and his robust physique was covered in blood-red symbol markings that seemed to sear into his skin.
On his chest, the small black bottle hung suspended in mid-air, swaying gently as if manipulated by an unseen force.
Suddenly, the leaf-patterned design on the bottle's surface glowed with a soft green light, enveloping Han Li's entire body.
"Good boy, it seems you've managed to stumble upon a fortunate opportunity. I'll protect you for now. Just relax and focus on absorbing the power of the time laws. Leave the rest to me," the bottle spirit's voice echoed in his mind.
Han Li was about to retort, "You've finally decided to speak up," but he swallowed his words.
He followed the bottle spirit's advice, no longer resisting or controlling the influx of time law energy, instead opening himself up to the torrential power.
A deafening boom shook the air, as if it had exploded within Han Li's mind.
His consciousness sank into the depths of his mind, and he found himself unable to perceive the changes in his physical body. Instead, his senses became more acute, allowing him to perceive the subtlest changes in his mental realm.
As his thoughts stirred, a brilliant golden light illuminated the void, revealing a series of golden characters that floated before him, like a golden scroll unfolding before his eyes.
Han Li focused his attention on the characters, discovering that they contained the contents of the golden jade scroll that Miro Old Ancestor had given him, including his insights into the time laws and various time-related secrets of the True Speech School.
Among them were the "Law of Heaven and Earth" and the "True Speech Great Hand Seal," two powerful divine abilities.
As Han Li's thoughts shifted, he began to study the characters intently, becoming completely absorbed in the knowledge, forgetting about the outside world and losing track of time.
...
On the isolated island, the seasons passed, and over a decade had elapsed.
The once-thriving island had withered away, becoming a desolate wasteland under the influence of the Great Swamp's miasma.
Ti Huo sat cross-legged beside the broken stele, her eyes closed, while the black box containing the Ghost Witch's residual soul lay beside her on a rock.
A faint voice whispered, and the black box quivered, its surface glowing with a soft, ethereal light. The Ghost Witch's residual soul floated out, hovering in mid-air, her eyes filled with concern as she gazed at Ti Huo.
"The entrance to the stele has been sealed for nearly ten years. Your master is probably dead by now. Why do you insist on staying here? Listen to my advice, and I'll help you find the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk, restoring your memories and divine abilities. You'll know what to do then," the Ghost Witch pleaded.
Ti Huo's expression remained unchanged, her face a mask of indifference.
Just then, a whistling wind sound echoed through the air, and a golden light descended from the sky, striking the ground beside the Ghost Witch's residual soul. The resulting gust of wind sent the Ghost Witch's residual soul stumbling.
Jin Tong emerged from the dust, a small, green creature clutched in her hand.
Her eyes narrowed as she glanced at the Ghost Witch's residual soul, asking, "Is he trying to persuade you to leave with him again?"
"The same old speech, nothing new," Ti Huo replied, her eyes still closed.
The Ghost Witch's voice rose in frustration, "You've lost your spiritual connection with him, why do you still believe he'll return?"
"Because he's my uncle," Jin Tong replied, her voice matter-of-fact.
"My master will definitely return," Ti Huo said, her eyes still closed.
Jin Tong shot the Ghost Witch a glance, then sat down on a nearby rock, playing with the small, green creature in her hand.
The Ghost Witch sighed, transforming into a wisp of smoke that retreated back into the black box.
Meanwhile, within the secret realm of the Yama Palace...
Han Li still sat cross-legged, his body radiating a faint golden glow, which had dissipated, leaving behind a thousand three hundred and nineteen golden light points that marked the various immortal apertures he had opened.
Upon counting them, Han Li realized that he had reached the peak of the Great Luo middle stage.
"Last time, it was uninvited, and this time, it's unattainable. This matter of beheading the corpse is truly puzzling," Han Li sighed, slowly opening his eyes.
The Light of the Years Heaven Array had long since been dismantled, leaving only the Heavenly Domain of the Tian Person realm still open.
In reality, Han Li had already opened these immortal apertures two years ago, but he had chosen to stay and attempt to behead the second corpse, hoping to make a breakthrough. As a result, the last time was being forced by the "Corpse Severing Talisman" to sever the evil corpse, this time he wanted to actively trigger the benevolent corpse, but he didn't get any reaction, and couldn't sense the trigger for the corpse severing.
"Never mind, after cultivating in the Light Shadow Great Array for tens of thousands of years, the outside world should have also passed at least a decade, Jin Tong and the others should be waiting anxiously." Han Li said as he stood up.
His Five Elements Illusory Realm had all become real, and the time difference power of the Light Shadow Heaven's Great Array had increased several times, now one year on the outside was equivalent to 30,000 years inside the array.
Han Li waved his hand, and the Five Elements Illusory Realm transformed into five time law artifacts, shining with golden light, and wrapped around them were over 1,800 time crystals.
For some reason, after reaching 1,800, the law crystals couldn't be increased anymore.
This time in seclusion, his gains were immense, not only successfully opening his immortal aperture and reaching the peak of the Da Luo middle stage, but also doubling the number of time crystals, and gaining a deeper understanding of time laws, and mastering several powerful divine abilities of the True Speech Sect.
Although he didn't succeed in advancing to the Da Luo late stage as Mi Luo Old Ancestor had hoped, he had still become much stronger.
Han Li's heart moved, and with a wave of his hand, a golden light vortex appeared in front of him, and he walked into it.
On the isolated island, the stone monument that had been silent for a long time suddenly lit up, and Han Li's figure appeared from it.
Ti Hu cried out, opening her eyes.
"Uncle, you're finally out." Jin Tong exclaimed, throwing away the small green beast in her hand.
The black box on the ground lit up, and Gui Wu's figure reappeared.
"Congratulations, Fellow Daoist Han, your cultivation has made great progress." Gui Wu's eyes flashed with surprise, and then returned to normal, congratulating him.
"Who said that my uncle had fallen within?" Jin Tong asked, pouting.
"Fellow Daoist Han's luck is unmatched, how could he fall? You must have misheard." Gui Wu said, his face unchanging.
"I've kept you waiting." Han Li said, not paying attention to their conversation.
"Fellow Daoist Han, I've brought you to this Yan Luo's mansion as promised, now it's your turn to take me to the Six Paths Reincarnation Plate." Gui Wu said.
"I promised you, I'll do it." Han Li said calmly.
Gui Wu was stared at by Han Li, and his heart suddenly skipped a beat, his smiling face momentarily frozen.
"Fellow Daoist Han's experience in the array is truly remarkable, his strength has increased greatly in a short time, it's truly worth celebrating." He quickly regained his composure, and smiled.
Ti Hu and Jin Tong heard this, and their faces showed surprise, but they couldn't see anything out of the ordinary about Han Li.
"Fellow Daoist Gui Wu is overpraising, let's go to the Yellow Springs Great Marsh first, where is that place, please lead the way." Han Li said, his face calm, with a slight smile.
"That place is in the Black River, Di Ming, Yan Luo's three domains intersecting, to get there from here, we need to pass through the Yan Luo domain's various tribal territories, and the Wheel King is usually cultivating near the Six Paths Reincarnation Plate, his subordinates are also stationed near the Yellow Springs Great Marsh, it's not easy to get past." Gui Wu said.
"How do we get past? The Wheel King has unified the three domains, his strength is surely extremely powerful, can we three people resist his army? And what is the Wheel King's current cultivation level?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed.
"The Wheel King's strength is extremely powerful, he had already reached the Da Luo late stage in the past, now he might have reached the peak of cultivation, but he definitely hasn't become a Dao Ancestor, otherwise I wouldn't have sensed it." Gui Wu said.
Han Li heard this, and his brow twitched. "A single Wheel King is already at the Da Luo peak, you want us to take you there, aren't you sending us to our deaths?" Ti Hu said, her voice low.
"Actually, you don't need to worry, once we reach the Yellow Springs Great Marsh, I have a way to let us sneak in." Gui Wu said, his tone calming.
"What method?" Jin Tong asked.
"Now is too early to say, let me keep it a secret for now, when we reach the Yellow Springs Great Marsh, I'll explain it to you three in detail." Gui Wu said, still smiling.
Jin Tong and Ti Hu looked at Gui Wu's smiling face, and their faces fell.
"Gui Wu, this is no time for jokes, tell us your method, or else they'll get angry, and you know the consequences." Han Li said, his voice low.
"Alright, actually, the Six Paths Reincarnation Plate is a place related to reincarnation, every so often, a powerful wind will erupt, the Six Paths Evil Wind, even a Dao Ancestor wouldn't dare to touch it, at that time, neither the Wheel King nor his subordinates will be near the Yellow Springs Great Marsh, we can sneak in then." Gui Wu said.
"If everything is as you say, we can indeed get in, but that Six Paths Evil Wind is so powerful, how can we get close?" Han Li asked, his face thoughtful.
"I didn't waste my time governing the Yan Luo domain for nothing, I've researched the Six Paths Evil Wind for many years, and know some loopholes that can be exploited, although the time is limited, it's enough for us to make a round trip." Gui Wu said, smiling smugly.
Han Li nodded and said, "Since you've considered all aspects, I'll accompany you to take a look. We'll discuss other matters based on the actual situation."
Gui Wu's face lit up with joy, "Thank you, Han Dao friend. The Six Paths Reincarnation Disk is extremely extraordinary, and it will definitely be of great help to you."
Suddenly, Ti Huo interrupted, "Master, wait, there's something else we need to clarify."
Han Li nodded at Ti Huo, indicating for him to speak.
"Ti Huo Dao friend, what's on your mind? Please speak freely," Gui Wu said with a smile.
Ti Huo asked, "You said it appears every certain period of time, but how long is that? We can't stay in the Underworld for too long, and we'll have to leave soon."
Gui Wu's smile faded, and he said seriously, "Don't worry about that. The positive and negative whirlwinds appear quite frequently. According to my calculations, it will appear again in about a thousand years. The next occurrence is not far away, and it will happen within a hundred years."
Ti Huo continued, "Since the positive and negative whirlwinds are so powerful, won't the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk be affected?"
Gui Wu explained, "The Six Paths Reincarnation Disk is a natural treasure born in the Underworld, and it's a manifestation of the Heavenly Dao. It's extremely hard and unbreakable. Moreover, the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk and the positive and negative whirlwinds are related, so the whirlwinds won't affect the disk."
Jin Tong asked, "From here to the Yellow Spring Great Marsh, will we pass through many ghost tribe territories? What's the strength of those ghost tribes?"
Gui Wu replied, "We'll inevitably pass through some ghost tribes' territories, but with Han Li Dao friend's current strength, and with the two of you assisting, it won't be a problem. I'm familiar with the route, and I'll help you avoid some trouble."
The following time, Ti Huo and Jin Tong asked a few more questions, and Gui Wu patiently answered them, providing solutions to each problem. The two soon ran out of questions.
Han Li said, "Gui Wu Dao friend has indeed considered everything in great detail."
Gui Wu smiled, "Han Dao friend is too kind. If it weren't for the three of you assisting me, even if I considered everything, it would be useless."
Han Li smiled faintly but didn't say anything.
The three of them set off immediately, first walking away from the Lost Soul Cliff, then flying northwest according to Gui Wu's directions.
Ti Huo transmitted a message to Han Li, "Master, do you really believe what Gui Wu said? What if he's like that Blood Li, deceiving us?"
Han Li replied, "Can you sense whether his words are true or false?"
Ti Huo transmitted, "I couldn't. Although he's just a residual soul, his spiritual soul cultivation is quite high, just like Blood Li. I and Jin Tong tried to ask him questions, but we couldn't sense anything."
Han Li reassured, "Don't worry, you also said that Gui Wu is just a residual soul now. If he has any treacherous intentions, I'll handle him immediately. The Six Paths Reincarnation Disk is extremely valuable, and it's worth taking a risk."
Ti Huo heard Han Li's words and was taken aback, then nodded and didn't say anything.
The group flew for half a month, getting closer to the depths of the Underworld. More and more ghostly creatures began to appear.
These creatures either formed various tribes or lived in cities, unlike the chaotic situation in the Black River Domain.
Fortunately, with Gui Wu's guidance, they encountered no major obstacles, and the distance to the Yellow Spring Great Marsh grew shorter.
The three of them flew through the dark clouds, using the cloud energy to conceal their tracks.
Han Li flew forward, holding a thick book in his hand, flipping through it quickly.
This was something he had obtained by sneaking into a city they had passed through.
According to the book's contents, Gui Wu's words were mostly true.
Ti Huo suddenly spoke up, "Master, there's movement ahead. It seems like someone is fighting."
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he stopped in mid-air, putting away the book.
Ti Huo and Jin Tong also stopped, standing on either side of him.
Han Li asked, "Is there anything special about the fighting parties?"
Gui Wu appeared from the black box, saying, "Ah, it's interesting. There are outsiders in the Underworld, and they're from the Demon Domain."
Han Li glanced at Gui Wu, then looked at Ti Huo.
Ti Huo replied, "Yes, one of the fighting parties is from the Demon Domain."
Han Li asked Gui Wu, "Can you sense things from such a distance?"
Gui Wu said, "In the Underworld, as long as you can control your spiritual sense, sensing things from this distance is only natural. You're a human, and you're not familiar with spiritual sense control. Ti Huo, you're the reincarnation of the Underworld King, but you've forgotten even the basics of our ghost tribe's abilities. You only sensed the fighting from this distance?"
Ti Huo's expression changed, and she coldly replied, "I've said it before, I don't remember anything about being the Underworld King."
Gui Wu smiled faintly and looked away.
Han Li asked again, "How far can you sense things?"
Gui Wu didn't respond, and the group continued to observe the fighting from a distance. I'm now only left with a wisp of residual soul, and can only sense a distance of about 130,000 miles. Gui Wu immediately replied.
Han Li heard this and was shocked, Gui Wu's range of perception was five or six times that of Ti Huan.
"We are now like ants on a string, Gui Wu's range of perception is so vast, from now on, we'll have to rely on Gui Wu to scout ahead." Han Li said.
"Of course, naturally," Gui Wu chuckled.
"Let's move forward, and see what's ahead." Han Li waved his hand.
The group continued on, and soon arrived at a mountain valley, hiding in a secluded spot outside the valley.
Ti Huan recited an incantation, and used the concealment technique he had just remembered, erasing their tracks.
Unfortunately, this technique couldn't be sustained for long, otherwise they would have been able to avoid a lot of trouble on their journey.
"This is the Ming Wang's Erased Tracks Spell! You must be the Ming Wang's reincarnation, no one else can comprehend this divine ability!" Gui Wu exclaimed.
"Ming Wang's Erased Tracks Spell? I don't know what you're talking about, I'm Ti Huan, not the Ming Wang." Ti Huan coldly snorted, ignoring Gui Wu.
Han Li heard Gui Wu's words, and his mind began to turn, but he quickly pushed the thought aside and looked towards the mountain valley.
The mountain valley was quite large, spanning about 20-30 miles, and was currently filled with countless dark shadows, forming a massive encirclement, howling incessantly.
These ghostly creatures were humanoid, with sheep-like heads, and stood about 4-5 zhang tall, covered in dense black fur, and surrounded by a black mist.
These sheep-headed ghost creatures held massive black curved blades, emitting a thick smoke-like black energy, and as they swung their blades, a wave of black misty blade lights shot out, striking the center of the encirclement.
The sheep-headed ghost creatures seemed to understand the art of battle formations, and coordinated with each other with great skill, their black misty blade lights forming a massive blade array, emitting a powerful and unmatched killing intent, like a lid covering the entire mountain valley.
"These are the Shang Yang Ghost Tribe, in the Yu Ming Three Realms, they're only considered mid-tier." Gui Wu said.
Han Li's gaze shifted, looking towards the center of the formation.
Through the waves of blade lights, he could faintly see two black-robed figures, one tall and one short, completely shrouded in black, their faces hidden.
Their black robes were not ordinary attire, imbued with a strange restrictive force, preventing divine sense from penetrating, making it impossible to see their faces.
The two figures were surrounded by four black flags, adorned with purple cloud patterns, revolving around them in a circular motion, forming a half-spherical purple protective barrier, resisting the encirclement's killing intent.
The four black flags were of high quality, forming a remarkably resilient purple barrier, which, despite trembling under the blade array's onslaught, did not immediately shatter.
"Indeed, they're two demons, with considerable cultivation, strange, what are these two demons doing here?" Han Li muttered to himself.
The two black-robed figures emitted pure and untainted demonic energy, the taller demon's energy was vast and powerful, having reached the Da Luo Realm.
The shorter demon, despite being shrouded in black, seemed to possess a slender and agile physique, clearly a female cultivator, with a slightly weaker cultivation, but still at the peak of the Tai Yi Realm.
Although the two demons were not weak, the surrounding sheep-headed ghost creatures were too numerous, and their individual strength was not weak, the two demons were firmly trapped within the blade array, unable to escape.
"Master, if we continue to hold out, these two might not be able to withstand it, should we rescue them?" Ti Huan asked.
Han Li heard this, and looked towards Gui Wu.
"Gui Wu, are there any powerful ghost tribes nearby, will attacking these Shang Yang Ghost Creatures stir up trouble?"
"The Shang Yang Ghost Tribe is not a top-tier ghost tribe in the Yan Luo Realm, but they are a subordinate tribe of the Ma Wang Ghost Tribe, one of the four major ghost tribes in the Yan Luo Realm. If you want to rescue them, you can, just be quick and decisive, rescue them and leave immediately, and you shouldn't stir up trouble." Gui Wu replied.
"Very well, Ti Huan, Jin Tong, you two break through the blade array, and rescue those two." Han Li said, his expression easing.
Ti Huan and Jin Tong acknowledged, and shot out.
Ti Huan's right hand grasped at the air, and a massive black claw appeared above the mountain valley, about the size of a small mountain, and swiped down at the blade array.
Jin Tong's body flashed with golden light, and he transformed into a house-sized Xi Jin Xian, his two front claws swiping down.
In a burst of ear-piercing, heaven-shaking shrieks, a massive sword-like energy shot out, instantly forming a sword mountain, which, combined with Ti Huan's massive claw, struck the blade array.
Due to Ti Huan's concealment technique, the sheep-headed ghost creatures had not detected their presence, and only reacted when the black claw and sword mountain descended, but it was already too late.
The black claw and golden sword mountain struck the blade array, producing a deafening "Boom" "Boom" sound!
The blade array shattered, but did not collapse.
A wave of black and golden light rippled out, crashing into the surrounding mountains, causing them to crumble and collapse.
A massive gust of wind swept up, rolling towards the surroundings, affecting an area of several hundred miles, stripping away a layer of earth.
At this moment, the two demons trapped in the knife array saw the situation outside, although they didn't know what was happening, they knew that reinforcements had arrived, and their spirits were immediately lifted, and they began to counterattack.
The tall demon's hands flashed with silver light, and a silver-white pipa appeared, with ten fingers plucking the strings.
In a series of "hissing" sounds, more than a dozen long, black spatial fissures appeared around him, like a dozen black pythons, swiftly cutting towards the damaged area of the knife array.
A loud "ripping" sound echoed, and the knife array was torn apart once again, leaving only a thin layer.
"What is this?" Han Li's eyes widened in shock.
The black-robed woman also immediately took action, waving her hands.
Two purple spheres shot out from her sleeves, rapidly growing larger, and in an instant, they transformed into two purple puppets, with purple lightning wrapped around them.
The aura emitted by the puppets was no weaker than the black-robed woman's, and the purple lightning contained an explosive power that was beyond ordinary lightning techniques.
The black-robed woman's hands opened, and ten black threads shot out, entering the bodies of the two puppets, with a strange power emanating from them.
The purple lightning on the surface of the puppets suddenly intensified, and their aura surged, transforming into two massive purple lightning balls, which then exploded.
Two purple suns appeared, fiercely impacting the knife array, and the surrounding space was directly torn apart.
The knife array was unable to withstand the attack, and a large hole was torn open.
"Let's go!"
The tall demon pulled the person beside him, and they transformed into a silver light, shooting into the sky and instantly flying out of the hole in the knife array.
Han Li's face revealed a smile, and he floated towards them.
"Friend, who are you?" The two demons flew out of the encirclement, and their hearts relaxed, but when they saw Han Li approach, they immediately became vigilant again.
Han Li, in order to prevent being recognized as a human cultivator by the ghosts of the underworld, used the wheel of reincarnation mask to transform into a long-robed figure, looking mysterious and ghostly.
Jin Tong and Qi Hun flew back, and the goat-headed ghosts also angrily charged towards the group, with a determined look on their faces.
"This is not a place for conversation, let's leave first." Han Li raised his hand and waved.
Five massive golden lightning bolts shot out from his hand, and the space around them violently shook, as if it was about to be torn apart by the lightning.
Han Li was slightly surprised, as his power had increased greatly, and the might of the divine lightning was now even more astonishing.
The five lightning bolts fell near the group, and as they intersected, they formed a new lightning array.
But at this moment, the black-robed woman's five fingers opened, and five black threads shot out, entering the lightning array.
The lightning array, which was about to take shape, suddenly stopped, as if it was being controlled.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise.
"Where are you taking us?" the black-robed woman asked, her voice stern.
The tall demon beside her did not stop her companion's actions.
The lightning array seemed to have a transmission effect, and although the group had helped them escape, they couldn't just let them take them away.
As for the goat-headed ghosts flying towards them, the tall demon didn't put them in his heart, as they had been trapped by accident, and now that they had escaped, they could leave at any time.
Han Li's surprise only lasted for a moment, and then his expression returned to normal. His five fingers moved, and the golden lightning bolts shot out, growing thicker and more massive.
The black-robed woman's fingers shot out, and the black threads shattered, as the five lightning bolts rapidly intersected, forming a lightning array.
The goat-headed ghosts flew towards the group, and a series of black misty blades cut down, tearing apart everything.
A dazzling golden lightning bolt suddenly burst forth, illuminating the surrounding space, and the figures of the group inside the array flickered, before disappearing without a trace, leaving the blades to cut through empty air.
The goat-headed ghosts angrily charged towards the location of the golden lightning array, continuing to slash and hack.
"Enough, stop!" A loud voice echoed, and a tall figure flew out from the goat-headed ghosts.
This was a tall and imposing commercial sheep ghost, taller than ordinary commercial sheep ghosts, with two curved horns on its head, and a long beard on its chin, looking very majestic, and seeming to be a leader.
The angry ghosts stopped, looking at the figure.
"Leader, those two outsiders escaped, should we pursue them?" Another tall commercial sheep ghost stepped forward, asking.
"Can you catch up? And those outsiders are very strong, we only managed to trap them with our battle array. What's the point of sending a few people to chase after them? Are you looking to send them to their deaths?" The commercial sheep ghost leader sneered, saying.
The commercial sheep ghost who had been scolded looked embarrassed, and replied, "Yes, yes, we won't pursue them."
"Let's go back, and inform the horse king tribe about the invasion of the outsiders." The commercial sheep ghost leader said, after a moment of silence.
The ghost behind him replied, "Yes, yes," and the ghosts in the valley turned into black shadows, flying towards the distance.
...
Hundreds of millions of miles away, in a black forest, a golden lightning bolt suddenly appeared in the sky, rapidly growing larger, and transforming into a lightning array. The light in the center of the lightning array flickered, and the figures of Han Li and the others suddenly appeared.
However, the golden lightning array did not dissipate, but instead shone brightly again, continuing to transmit them.
After several consecutive transmissions, the group stopped in a dark red desert, and the lightning array finally dissipated.
"Who are you?" two demonic cultivators immediately retreated, their voices low and menacing.
"It's me," Han Li looked at the two of them, and with a flick of his wrist, he activated the Wheel of Rebirth mask, revealing his true appearance.
"Brother Han, it's you!"
The tall demonic cultivator was overjoyed, and with a swipe of his hand, he removed his hood, revealing a familiar face - it was Shi Chuan Kong.
His physique was much larger than before, and his body had become more robust, emitting a powerful aura. It was clear that he had made significant progress in his physical cultivation.
"Brother Shi, I didn't expect that after parting ways in the demon realm, we would meet again in this desolate place."
Han Li nodded slightly at Shi Chuan Kong, then turned to look at the black-robed woman, a hint of tender emotion flashing in his eyes. He spoke softly:
"Ling, I didn't expect to see you again."
"Brother Han, how did you end up here?" the black-robed woman stared at Han Li, her face pale, her chest rising and falling slightly. She slowly removed her hood, revealing a stunningly beautiful face.
It was none other than Zi Ling.
However, at this moment, she seemed to have just gone through a fierce battle, her face pale, her chest heaving slightly. In the dim light of the desolate land, she looked even more beautiful and alluring.
This scene caught Han Li's attention, and his heart skipped a beat. Many memories and complex emotions welled up in his mind, but he forcibly suppressed them.
Jin Tong and Qi Hu also changed their appearances, and seeing that Han Li was no longer hiding, they too revealed their true forms.
Zi Ling saw Jin Tong and Qi Hu, and her eyebrows furrowed slightly, as if she wanted to ask something, but didn't say anything.
"They are Jin Tong and Qi Hu, my former spirit beasts, who have now transformed into human form," Han Li explained.
Zi Ling heard this and her expression changed, a smile spreading across her face. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Han Li had told her about Jin Tong and Qi Hu before, and they had even met in the mortal realm. They had gone through many experiences together, but at that time, Jin Tong and Qi Hu had not yet awakened their spiritual intelligence.
Who would have thought that after so many years, the two spirit beasts had undergone such a great transformation?
Jin Tong simply nodded at Zi Ling, without speaking, while Qi Hu spoke in a friendly tone:
"Zi Ling, I heard from my master that we met in the demon realm, but I was severely injured and unconscious in the Flower Branch Space, and didn't have the chance to meet you. Please don't blame me."
"It's not a problem, and thank you for helping me and Brother Shi escape earlier," Zi Ling bowed to them, expressing her gratitude.
"You're not outsiders, so there's no need to be so polite," Qi Hu smiled.
Zi Ling's face flushed, and her heart felt a surge of sweetness. She felt a strong affection for Qi Hu.
"Hmph, Brother Han, you're surrounded by beautiful women, it's truly enviable," Shi Chuan Kong patted Han Li's shoulder, teasing him.
"Stop talking nonsense, Jin Tong and Qi Hu are just my companions. By the way, you two haven't told me why you're here," Han Li asked, turning the conversation.
Shi Chuan Kong's expression turned hesitant, and he didn't speak for a moment.
"If it's a secret, then let's just forget I asked," Han Li said, raising his hand.
Actually, after seeing Shi Chuan Kong and Zi Ling, Han Li couldn't help but think of Xi Dao Ren and what had happened in the demon realm. But in this situation, it didn't seem like the right time to ask.
"Thank you, Brother Han, for understanding," Shi Chuan Kong said, relieved.
Zi Ling glanced at Shi Chuan Kong, wanting to say something, but ultimately didn't speak.
Shi Chuan Kong looked at Han Li and the others, wanting to ask about their purpose, but since he couldn't be open, he didn't dare ask.
To avoid an awkward silence, he looked around and asked:
"What is this place?"
"Judging from the terrain, it should be a place called the Prison Fire Desert. The climate is relatively hot, and most ghostly creatures don't want to approach. There aren't any strong tribes living here, so it's relatively safe. You two seem to have just gone through a fierce battle, do you need to rest?" Han Li asked.
"I'm a bit tired, but I want to rest for a bit," Zi Ling said, before Shi Chuan Kong could speak. She had been struggling to hold on earlier, and now that she saw Han Li and the others, she felt a sense of relief wash over her.
"Then let's rest for a bit," Shi Chuan Kong nodded, and with a wave of his sleeve, hundreds of dark lights flew out, landing on the ground nearby. They formed a black light screen, covering an area of several hundred meters.
Zi Ling and Shi Chuan Kong sat down, cross-legged, and took out their magic stones to recover their magic energy.
Jin Tong also sat down, closing his eyes to meditate.
Han Li and Qi Hu stood guard, one on each side, protecting Zi Ling and the others.
As they rested, the atmosphere was quiet, with only the occasional sound of the wind rustling through the desert sands.
Han Li
Just as Han Li was standing silently, a faint voice suddenly appeared in his ear, which was Zi Ling.
He was slightly moved, and his body shifted slightly.
"Don't move... or Shi Chuan Kong will suspect." Zi Ling's voice sounded again, slightly urgent.
"Do you have something to tell me?" Han Li didn't look at Zi Ling, pretending to be vigilant as he looked around, and replied in a transmitted voice.
"It's about our purpose for coming to the Underworld Realm, Shi Chuan Kong won't allow me to say it, so I can only tell you secretly." Zi Ling said.
"Oh, what purpose?" Han Li was also curious about the reason for the two of them coming here.
"We came to the Underworld Realm because there is a treasure of the Six Paths of Reincarnation, which is a heavenly treasure that can recall memories of past lives, and by fusing with one's own cultivation, it can greatly improve one's cultivation." Zi Ling said.
Han Li listened to this and his eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, but he didn't speak.
"I know it sounds unbelievable, but it's true, the Demon Domain has used this method to greatly improve their strength in the past, and even the previous generation of masters have said that such a thing exists, so they arranged for me and Shi Chuan Kong to enter the Underworld Realm to try our luck. This is a secret of the Night Sun Kingdom's royal family, so Shi Chuan Kong didn't tell you. Han Li, you're secretly following us, the Six Paths of Reincarnation will definitely be useful to you too." Zi Ling saw the surprise in Han Li's eyes and thought he didn't believe her, so she immediately transmitted her voice.
"Zi Ling, you misunderstood, I'm not disbelieving you, I've already heard about the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and we're on our way there too." Han Li replied in a transmitted voice.
This time, it was Zi Ling's turn to be surprised, and she quickly recovered her composure.
"You know about it, that's good, I've heard a lot about you in the Demon Domain, and now the Heavenly Court is issuing a warrant for your arrest, this opportunity is rare, you... you must seize it." Zi Ling reminded him.
Han Li's heart warmed, and he hesitated for a moment, but ultimately replied with a single sentence "I understand, you should rest and recover first."
"En." Zi Ling responded with a single sound, and her voice disappeared.
Han Li sighed lightly in his heart, and also put aside his thoughts, focusing on protecting the group.
Half an hour later, Zi Ling, Shi Chuan Kong, and Jin Tong opened their eyes and stood up.
"Let's wait for Han Dao friend." Shi Chuan Kong apologized with a smile.
"No problem, since everyone has rested, let's set off, we three are heading towards the Yellow Spring Great Marsh, and you?" Han Li asked with a smile.
"Yellow Spring Great Marsh..." Shi Chuan Kong hesitated.
"We heard that there's a treasure called the Six Paths of Reincarnation there, which can awaken memories of past lives and is said to be helpful for cultivation, it's very mysterious, so we want to take a look." Han Li said lightly.
"...so you already knew about the Six Paths of Reincarnation, I didn't need to hide it, I and Zi Ling are also going there, let's travel together." Shi Chuan Kong hesitated for a moment, and then smiled wryly.
Ti Hou and Jin Tong heard this and looked surprised, but didn't say anything, standing behind Han Li.
"That's really a coincidence, since we're all going to the same place, let's travel together, and we can look out for each other." Han Li nodded.
Then, the group flew out, heading towards the Yellow Spring Great Marsh.
...
At this moment, in a chaotic space, a massive city floated in the air, with towering buildings and wide, clean streets, not inferior to the Nine Yuan City or the Golden City.
Auras flashed, and people flowed like rivers on the streets, exceptionally prosperous.
These people were of all shapes and sizes, including humans, demons, beasts, and even ghosts and gray spirits, all living in harmony.
If the true immortals of the True Immortal Realm were to see this, they would be shocked.
In the center of the city, a massive, dark red castle stood tall, its atmosphere grand and majestic.
Inside the castle, countless ancient buildings stood, making it hard to take it all in.
The dark red castle was surrounded by high walls, and the cultivators outside didn't dare to approach, clearly a restricted area.
A dark red aura flew in from afar, directly entering the castle and landing in front of a grand hall, revealing a red-robed woman, who was Jiao San.
The grand hall's doors were open, and two yellow-robed guards stood at attention, bowing to Jiao San.
"Pay respects to the Young Master!"
Jiao San ignored them, walking directly into the grand hall.
The hall was dimly lit, with only two rows of fire basins on the walls, burning orange-red flames, casting flickering shadows.
The hall was empty, except for a high platform at the far end, but no one was sitting on it.
On the floor, a block of cyan jade stood, and a cyan-robed man stood beside it, holding a small knife, carving into the jade.
The carving was almost complete, and from the outline, it could be seen that the cyan-robed man was carving a woman. Here is the translated text:
"Reporting to the Lord!" Jiao San looked at the blue-robed man and immediately bowed.
"Get up, how's the arrangement going?" The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth didn't turn around, continuing his carving, and asked casually.
"The Jin Yuan Xian Domain is being tightly pursued by the Jiuyuan Observatory and the Heavenly Court, I have withdrawn all the personnel who have been exposed, leaving only the deepest undercover agents. No matter how the Jiuyuan Observatory and the Heavenly Court search, they shouldn't be able to find them." Jiao San said.
"Although that's the case, we must still be fully prepared. Distribute the Suoyuan Dan to those people, and if they are exposed and die in battle, their souls will be immediately taken to the Underworld, and arrangements will be made for their reincarnation." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth continued in a calm tone.
"Yes." Jiao San replied.
"That Han Li, where is he now? Has his whereabouts been discovered?" The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth continued to ask.
"I have ordered people to investigate all over, and Han Li was last seen in the Chuyu Xian Domain's Tihu Mountain, where he repelled the Heavenly Court's pursuers and then disappeared without a trace. No matter how much we investigate, we can't find him." Jiao San frowned.
"Ah, perhaps he's cultivating in seclusion?" The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's voice rose.
"There's a possibility, I've increased the investigation efforts, and I'll try to find his whereabouts as soon as possible." Jiao San said.
"No need, Han Li's matter can be put on hold for now. Since he's seen Rusong, he won't be hiding forever, and he'll soon appear." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
"Lord, what is the relationship between Rusong and Han Li? Han Li seems to care about her very much?" Jiao San hesitated for a moment, curiously opening his mouth to ask.
"Rusong is Han Li's Dao companion from the lower realm." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth stopped carving and said calmly.
"I see." Jiao San heard this and finally understood.
"You've been working hard for a while, go down and rest for a bit." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth turned around and said.
His face was still hidden in the darkness, and his features couldn't be seen clearly, only the outline of his face was visible, and his expression was quite warm.
"Lord, you previously said that after the mission in the Jiuyuan Observatory is completed, you would tell me about my origins. Now that the matter of the Jiuyuan Observatory has been settled, I wonder if you can tell me, who are my parents?" Jiao San didn't retreat, instead, he hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth to ask, his eyes fixed on the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth looked at Jiao San, remaining silent for a long time.
Jiao San was stared at by the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth, and his eyes began to waver, but he didn't retreat.
"It seems you really want to know, so I'll tell you now, your mother is..." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth sighed and said.
Jiao San heard this and his breathing stopped.
"I brought Rusong to the Wheel of Rebirth Hall, not just for Han Li, but also for you, do you understand my meaning?" The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth looked at Jiao San, sighed, and said.
"Your meaning is, Rusong is my...?" Jiao San's face showed a shocked expression, and he involuntarily took two steps back.
"...That's right, Rusong is your mother." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth was silent for a moment before slowly saying.
...
It's unknown how much time passed, but Jiao San had already left the great hall, and the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth continued carving.
The stone chips fell, and the carving was quickly completed, depicting a woman wearing a palace dress, but her face was flat and didn't have any carved features.
Moreover, the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth didn't seem to intend to continue.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's carving skills were incredible, and the woman in the palace dress, although not fully completed, seemed to come alive, emitting a unique aura that was both gentle and overbearing.
He stretched out his hand to gently stroke the woman's smooth cheek, as if he was infatuated.
...
The Underworld.
Han Li and his group quickly flew forward, as they had already been discovered, and they no longer hid, instead, they sped up their journey.
Zi Ling and Shi Chuan Kong's strength was quite formidable, and they didn't slow down the group's progress.
The group's direction wasn't straightforward, and Han Li followed the Ghost Witch's guidance, constantly changing direction to avoid the ghost tribes' residences, in order to avoid unnecessary conflicts.
After several days, the group arrived at the edge of a black forest.
The trees in the forest were unusually tall, with some reaching hundreds or even thousands of feet, and the branches were densely packed, almost covering the sky.
Through the dense foliage, one could see that the forest was pitch black, and almost nothing could be seen, emitting a very deep and mysterious aura.
The ghostly energy in the forest was also extremely dense, and the wind blowing through made a mournful sound, like the wailing of a hundred ghosts, making one's scalp feel numb.
"Is this the Hundred Ghost Forest? One of the most treacherous places in the Underworld, do we have to cross it?" Shi Chuan Kong looked at Han Li and asked.
"Crossing the Hundred Ghost Forest, the Yellow Springs Great Marsh is not far, and the Yellow Springs Great Marsh is surrounded by the Four Great Ghost Tribes of the Yanluo Domain. The Four Great Ghost Tribes are not to be underestimated, and if we're discovered, it will be troublesome. It's better to cross the Hundred Ghost Forest." Han Li said.
He said these things, half of which he had learned from books, and the other half was told to him by the Ghost Witch.
Since meeting Shi Chuan Kong and Zi Ling, the Ghost Witch had stopped speaking, only communicating with Han Li through their spiritual connection, as if he didn't want Shi Chuan Kong and Zi Ling to know about his existence.
Although it's said that way, I know that this Hundred Ghost Forest is extremely perilous, and we're not familiar with it. Rushing through blindly might be too reckless, don't you think? Shi Chuan Kong frowned and said.
"How much do you know about the Hundred Ghost Forest, Shi?" Han Li asked.
"I don't know much, but I've heard that there are many Wild Souls within the Hundred Ghost Forest, and they're extremely difficult to deal with," Shi Chuan Kong replied.
"What are Wild Souls?" Han Li asked.
Tixi, Jintong, and Ziling also looked at Shi Chuan Kong, clearly hearing the term for the first time.
"The transmigration of souls is limited to a certain number of times, but it's not absolute. Some souls have exceptional innate abilities or have experienced special circumstances, allowing them to persist even after exceeding the limit. After a long period of time, they evolve into Wild Souls. Although they're still souls, they have no rationality, only a desire for slaughter, making them very difficult to deal with. The Hundred Ghost Forest's unique environment has made it a gathering place for Wild Souls, making it extremely dangerous," Shi Chuan Kong said solemnly.
"Wild Souls may be formidable, but they're still just souls. I think we should be able to handle them easily, and it's better than facing the vast numbers of the Underworld," Tixi said.
"I agree, with Tixi here, those souls shouldn't be a problem," Jintong added.
"Since the three of you think it's better to go through the Hundred Ghost Forest, let's take this route," Shi Chuan Kong said, nodding.
"Then let's set off," Han Li said.
The group decided and immediately flew into the Hundred Ghost Forest.
The forest was shrouded in dim light, with mist swirling around, making it difficult to see more than a few dozen meters ahead. Fortunately, their spiritual senses allowed them to perceive their surroundings freely, and they weren't greatly affected.
The group's cultivation was strong, and as they traversed the unfamiliar forest, they seemed like faint, elusive silhouettes.
Han Li flew at the front, his eyes gleaming with a purple-black light as he closely monitored the surroundings.
Suddenly, a black light shot out from the nearby dense forest, and a small, black, double-headed snake darted towards Han Li's leg, its speed astonishing.
However, a golden light flashed beside Han Li, and a golden thread flashed by, splitting the snake's body in two. The snake's black blood splattered, and the ground nearby began to sizzle and emit a green smoke.
The snake's two halves twisted a few times before becoming still.
The group had already disappeared into the distance.
"It seems that the Hundred Ghost Forest doesn't just have Wild Souls, but also many ferocious ghost beasts, and the toxins within their bodies are likely to be deadly even to us. Everyone should be cautious," Shi Chuan Kong said, following closely behind Han Li, looking back.
The others nodded seriously.
They had just entered the forest, and the first danger they encountered was already so severe. What other dangers lay deeper within?
Time passed slowly, and after a fortnight, the group had gradually delved deeper into the Hundred Ghost Forest, encountering more and more ghost beasts, including groups and even those with cultivation levels reaching the Taiyi realm.
The group avoided confrontations whenever possible, but when they couldn't, they worked together to eliminate the threats with powerful methods, to avoid causing more trouble.
Half a month later, on a certain day, a black river flowed nearby, accompanied by thunderous roars, wails, and screams that echoed for miles.
However, the sounds soon subsided, and the surroundings returned to silence.
The area around the river was in disarray, with massive cracks in the ground, some stretching for dozens of miles, and numerous deep pits emitting green smoke.
Han Li and the others stood by the river, surrounded by a large number of black, wolf-like ghost beasts, nearly ten thousand in number.
These wolf-like ghost beasts were seven to eight meters long, with thick bodies covered in black, hard fur, and long, sharp teeth. They looked extremely ferocious.
However, the ghost beasts' bodies were either split in two or had their heads, chests, or other vital areas pierced, and they had all fallen, their black blood flowing.
The ghost beasts' blood was highly corrosive, and the nearby ground had turned a dark, charred color, as if burned by flames.
Han Li, Tixi, and Shi Chuan Kong looked unscathed, but Ziling and Jintong had slightly pale faces.
These wolf-like ghost beasts were not weak, especially since they could unleash a powerful soul attack, and their numbers were staggering. Ziling and Jintong, with their weaker souls, had taken some damage.
"Are you two alright?" Han Li asked, looking at them.
"I'm fine," Jintong forced a smile.
Ziling took a deep breath and shook her head.
"These ghost beasts' soul attacks are nothing compared to the Wild Souls', according to the records. We're still on the outskirts of the Hundred Ghost Forest, so we haven't encountered any Wild Souls yet. As we venture deeper, we'll soon meet them. If you can't handle it, don't force yourselves," Shi Chuan Kong said.
Ziling and Jintong nodded, not trying to be brave.
The group didn't linger and continued on their journey.
"Ziling, I didn't get to ask you earlier, how have you been in the Demon Realm these past few years?" Han Li asked, approaching Ziling.
"..." Fortunately, with the help of Crab Senior and Shi Dao friend, I haven't suffered in these years, just cultivating diligently every day." Zi Ling replied.
"Speaking of cultivation, I've been away from the Demon Realm for less than a thousand years, and your cultivation has reached this level, it's truly astonishing." Han Li said.
"It's all thanks to Crab Senior, he set up a special space for me to cultivate, and my progress has been extremely rapid... and the things you left me back then have also been of great help to my cultivation." Zi Ling said.
"Crab Dao friend..." Han Li murmured.
With Crab Dao friend, a Demon Realm's Dao Ancestor, helping Zi Ling to increase her cultivation, it's not a difficult task.
"How is Crab Dao friend doing now? Is he still in the Accumulating Scales Realm?" Han Li asked after a pause.
"Crab Senior..." Zi Ling was about to respond, but Han Li suddenly raised his hand to stop her.
His face turned serious, and he looked forward, his flying body also stopped.
Shi Chuan Kong, Ti Hun, and the others also stopped, their expressions extremely solemn.
Zi Ling also quickly looked forward, her face changing.
In front of them, a pale white mist emerged from the forest, rapidly drifting towards them. Wherever it passed, the ground and trees were covered in a layer of ice.
A fierce and terrifying aura emanated from the depths of the white mist, causing even the powerful cultivators present to feel a chill.
"It's a Desolate Soul... and it's not a small one, at least it's a thousand years old, everyone be careful!" Shi Chuan Kong said in a low voice.
Before he finished speaking, the white mist suddenly churned violently, and countless white winds burst out, transforming into a massive white storm.
The nearby forest was instantly engulfed by the white storm, exploding into powder, and the ground was also scraped away.
The white storm swept towards them like a mountain, with eerie wails and howls coming from within, piercing the ears.
Shi Chuan Kong heard the sound, and his divine soul began to fluctuate uncontrollably, his demonic energy surging out of control. The protective spirit light on his body rapidly dimmed.
His face changed, and he quickly retreated, suppressing the turmoil in his divine soul.
Ti Hun, Jin Tong, and the others heard the wails, and their divine souls also began to fluctuate wildly, quickly retreating.
But in the midst of the howling winds, a brilliant golden light suddenly appeared, and Han Li didn't retreat with the others. Instead, he stood still, surrounded by a golden light halo, gazing at the approaching white storm. His eyes flashed with purple-black light.
"Master!" Ti Hun saw this scene and immediately panicked, stopping in his tracks and turning to rush back.
"Wait, Uncle isn't acting impulsively, he must have his reasons. And it's just one, Uncle can definitely handle it." Jin Tong grabbed Ti Hun's arm.
Zi Ling saw Han Li's actions and also stopped, her face filled with concern.
The white storm rushed towards Han Li, covering him like a giant mouth, as if swallowing him whole.
Han Li's body remained still, the golden light on him not dimming, but instead growing stronger. A hazy aura formed in front of him, blocking the white storm.
A dull explosion sounded.
The white storm was halted just a few feet away from the golden aura, unable to advance.
A deafening roar echoed from the depths of the white storm.
A fierce and terrifying killing intent surged forth, causing even Shi Chuan Kong and the others to feel a chill.
"Foolish! You've hidden your true body, but you've revealed your power." Han Li seemed unaffected, coldly snorting.
He raised his right hand, and a brilliant golden light burst forth. A golden rainbow shot out from his hand, piercing into the white storm.
The churning white storm suddenly stopped, then exploded with a loud crash, dispersing into scattered mist.
A massive white ghostly creature emerged, its body over a hundred feet tall, yet impossibly thin, like a bamboo pole.
The ghostly creature wore a long white robe, with long fingernails on its hands, and a long tongue that flailed about in its mouth, resembling a hanged ghost from folklore.
An enormous ghostly aura emanated from the creature, surpassing Shi Chuan Kong, Ti Hun, and the others, rivaling the Blood Fiend from before.
The white ghostly creature's chest was pierced by the golden rainbow, creating a massive hole.
The creature looked down at the hole, its face filled with incredulity.
Shi Chuan Kong and the others saw this scene, their faces also filled with incredulity.
Han Li raised his arm, and the golden rainbow slashed upwards, tearing the creature's upper body in two.
The creature's body exploded, turning into a massive cloud of white smoke, which dispersed in all directions.
Within the smoke, numerous ghostly light orbs could be seen, each emitting a powerful ghostly aura, as if they were living creatures flying about.
At this moment, a black light descended from the sky, enveloping the scattered white smoke and emitting a massive suction force.
The scattered smoke rolled towards the black light, gathering together, and despite the white light clusters' struggles to escape, they were ultimately absorbed one by one.
After a few breaths, all the smoke and light clusters were swallowed up.
The black light quickly shrunk, revealing Tiuhun's figure.
Her aura had risen significantly, but was somewhat unstable, rolling and tumbling.
"Are you okay?" Han Li asked, looking at Tiuhun.
"I'm fine, this wild soul contains a vast amount of ghostly energy, and it's filled with violent and brutal energy, it will take some time to refine it," Tiuhun replied, then immediately sat down cross-legged.
Shi Chuankong and the others flew over.
"Brother Han, it's been a while, I didn't expect your cultivation to have reached this level, leaving us old friends far behind," Shi Chuankong said, his eyes flashing with a complex expression, a mix of admiration and envy.
He had spent years cultivating in the Demon Realm, with some assistance from the Daoist Crab and a lot of resources, but had only just reached the Daluo Realm.
"Brother Han has just had some opportunities, with your talent, you'll soon surpass me," Han Li said with a smile.
Shi Chuankong rolled his eyes and turned away from Han Li.
Zi Ling and Jin Tong stared at Han Li in silence.
"What's going on, don't you recognize me?" Han Li asked with a chuckle.
"Such a big uncle, I've never seen one before," Jin Tong said with a laugh.
"Enough joking around, Tiuhun is cultivating to refine the ghostly energy of that wild soul, it will take some time, let's wait for her," Han Li said.
Jin Tong and Zi Ling nodded and sat down beside him.
"With Brother Han's presence, what's there to be afraid of?" Shi Chuankong laughed and sat down cross-legged.
Han Li also walked over and stood still, quietly waiting for Tiuhun.
"I originally overestimated your strength, but now it seems I underestimated you. Brother Han, what level has your strength reached?" Gui Wu's voice echoed in his ear.
"No need to report, sir, you can think whatever you like," Han Li replied calmly.
Gui Wu laughed dryly and fell silent again.
In the blink of an eye, two days passed, and during this time, there were many ghostly beast attacks, but the wild soul did not appear again.
Tiuhun's body was surrounded by black light, and her originally chaotic aura quickly became calm.
After another day, Tiuhun suddenly opened her eyes and let out a long, piercing cry, the sound like a phoenix's cry, or a tiger's roar, clear and high, causing the nearby sky to rumble in response.
Shi Chuankong and the others woke up with a start, looking at Tiuhun.
They saw that she was surrounded by black light, and her aura had risen even higher.
Moreover, her skin had a series of black lines, similar to the blood vessels of a true spirit.
And behind her, a faint black shadow appeared, unknown what it was.
Han Li's face also showed a look of surprise.
That faint black shadow gave him a very mysterious feeling.
"It seems that the Xing Beast bloodline in her body has begun to awaken," Gui Wu's voice echoed in Han Li's mind.
"Xing Beast bloodline? From your words, I suppose Xing Beast is a tribe?" Han Li asked, his eyes flashing with curiosity.
Tiuhun being a Xing Beast was something he had known for a long time, but what Xing Beast was, he had never been able to investigate clearly.
"Of course, Xing Beast is a mysterious tribe in the Underworld, living in the depths of the Underworld, rarely appearing in the mortal world, and it's a rare occurrence for the Underworld King to have an alliance with me and Xue Lie, the ruler of the three realms. The Xing Beast's innate divine abilities are extremely powerful, and their reputation is known throughout the various realms, Brother Han, don't think that you're currently powerful, but if Tiuhun awakens the Xing Beast bloodline, you may not be able to withstand her innate divine abilities," Gui Wu said with a chuckle.
"Is that so? Then I'll be looking forward to it," Han Li said.
Tiuhun quickly stopped her cry, stood up, and said with a apologetic expression, "I've kept Shi Dao friend and Zi Ling Dao friend waiting for three days, I'm truly sorry."
These three days, Tiuhun had been cultivating, but her perception of the outside world had not been cut off.
"Tiuhun Dao friend is too polite, we're traveling together, of course, we'll support each other, Tiuhun Dao friend's strength has made great progress, congratulations," Shi Chuankong said with a smile, but his heart was not happy.
Han Li's strength was now far superior to his, and it seemed that Tiuhun's strength was also above his.
That Jin Tong had not made a move, but seemed to be a mysterious and unfathomable person, making him even more cautious.
"We've stayed for a long time, let's go," Han Li said.
The others naturally had no objections, and the group continued on their way.
With Han Li's formidable strength as a guarantee, the group's speed increased significantly.
In the blink of an eye, several days passed, and the group had already reached the center of the Hundred Ghosts Forest.
Along the way, they encountered many ghostly beasts, but they were all easily killed, and they even encountered another wild soul, which was weaker than the previous one, and was killed by Han Li, allowing Tiuhun to absorb it. The central region of the Hundred Ghost Forest had an even thicker atmosphere of yin energy, and some rare spiritual herbs began to appear.
Han Li and his companions didn't have the intention of searching for treasures, so they didn't waste their time and continued on their way.
Near a mountain range in the central region, the sound of thunderous explosions and ear-piercing wails echoed through the air once again.
Two figures, one black and one white, clashed intensely, and it was clear that they were Qī Hún and another Rú Hún ghost.
This Rú Hún was similar to the previous two, with a pale complexion, but its cultivation was stronger.
As they exchanged blows, their movements became faster and faster, and their shadows began to blur and merge, making it difficult to distinguish between them. The intense black and white lights intertwined, forming a vortex of explosive energy.
The entire sky shook violently, and countless thin white streaks appeared in the surrounding void, radiating in all directions.
The nearby forest was flattened, and the clouds in the sky were torn apart.
Han Li stood on a giant tree, watching the battle from a distance, and didn't intervene.
Shí Chuān Kōng, Jīn Tóng, and the others stood nearby, watching the battle, as Qī Hún had requested.
"Who would have thought that Qī Hún could take on a Rú Hún by herself?" Shí Chuān Kōng exclaimed.
"Qī Hún's divine ability is specifically effective against ghostly creatures, and she's able to take on this Rú Hún... the outcome is already decided." Han Li said calmly.
As soon as he finished speaking, the black and white vortex in front of them suddenly surged, and the black light suppressed the white light.
A blurry black shadow emerged from the black light, and it was clear that it was the same shadow that had appeared behind Qī Hún earlier. This time, the shadow was much clearer, and it resembled a giant black ape, which opened its mouth and took a deep breath.
A mysterious wave of energy enveloped the white light, and the Rú Hún's face contorted in terror as it tried to escape. However, it was too late.
As soon as it flew out, its head suddenly split open, and a ball of white light flew out, which was swallowed by the black ape's shadow.
The Rú Hún's body exploded, and a dense, dark mist spread out in all directions.
"This is the true power of the Xíng Shòu's divine ability, which seems to be a direct attack on the soul." Han Li thought to himself.
"Xī Hún... no wonder it's known as the most powerful soul-attacking technique." Guǐ Wū's voice echoed once again, filled with admiration.
Han Li's soul was strong, and he could feel the shockwave of Qī Hún's "Xī Hún" attack, which made his eyebrows furrow slightly.
His time laws had already reached a high level, and he was confident that he could withstand any strange attack. However, soul attacks were an exception.
Soul attacks were completely different from law-based attacks, and it was difficult for law-based powers to interfere.
Although Han Li's soul was much stronger than others due to his cultivation of the Liàn Hún technique, he still found it difficult to defend against the Xī Hún attack.
As he thought about this, the black ape's shadow suddenly disappeared, as if it couldn't sustain itself for long.
However, the black light that Qī Hún had transformed into began to spin rapidly, forming a giant black vortex that emitted a powerful suction force.
The surrounding dark energy was sucked in, and the vortex quickly shrunk and disappeared. Qī Hún's aura surged once again.
A series of black light points appeared around her, numbering 839, which was the peak of the Dà Luó initial stage.
Her body once again displayed a series of black patterns, which were clearer than before.
Qī Hún looked at her body and smiled in surprise.
Han Li and the others flew over and landed near Qī Hún.
"Qī Hún, you're incredible! That black ape shadow was a divine ability, and it was a one-hit kill!" Jīn Tóng exclaimed.
"Do you need time to refine it?" Han Li asked, feeling Qī Hún's aura and smiling.
"No, for some reason, the backlash from the Rú Hún's ghostly energy is not strong, and I can suppress it. Let's not waste everyone's time and continue on our way." Qī Hún said, retracting the black light around her.
"Because the Xíng Shòu's bloodline is awakening... that's good." Han Li nodded.
The group continued on their way, but soon, Guǐ Wū suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"What's wrong?" Han Li asked via transmission.
"Good fortune! Truly good fortune! Han Li, head left and forward!" Guǐ Wū urged.
Han Li raised an eyebrow but followed Guǐ Wū's instructions and flew in the specified direction.
Shí Chuān Kōng and the others followed closely behind, although they were curious about Han Li's sudden change in direction.
After a few breaths, Han Li arrived at a black mountain peak, following Guǐ Wū's guidance.
Behind the mountain peak was a dark valley, where a pool of water reflected the sky, emitting a dense, dark energy.
Near the pool was a patch of green bamboo, which swayed gently in the wind.
"Is this what you were so excited about?" Han Li asked, looking at the bamboo.
The green bamboo was filled with dark energy, but it didn't seem to have any special properties.
Guǐ Wū's voice echoed once again, filled with excitement.
What a bamboo, no insight at all! Alright, I'll first seal the power of these green bamboos, then you carefully take out these green bamboos, and there will be a great use for them later." Gui Wu sneered and said.
As soon as his voice fell, his figure emerged, and he spat out a stream of gray smoke, enveloping the cluster of green bamboos.
The smoke instantly flew into the green bamboos, and gray stripes appeared on the surface of the green bamboos, as if they were sealed.
Han Li saw this scene, and his eyes flashed. He swung his hands, and two crescent-shaped golden lights shot out from his palms, flying quickly to the ground and digging up the cluster of green bamboos along with the surrounding soil, and storing them in the Floral Space.
"Excuse me, everyone, this green bamboo is of great use to me, so I've taken a detour. I hope you won't mind." Han Li turned to face Shi Chuan Kong and the others.
"No problem, but Han friend, who is this?" Shi Chuan Kong waved his hand, looking at Gui Wu.
"This is Gui Wu, a friend I rescued on the road, a residual soul." Gui Wu's identity was special, and Han Li didn't say much, despite his good relationship with Shi Chuan Kong.
"Ah, Gui Wu friend, nice to meet you." Shi Chuan Kong cupped his hands and bowed.
Gui Wu glanced at Shi Chuan Kong, nodded, and flew back into the black box.
Taking the green bamboos was just a small episode, and they quickly continued on their way.
With Han Li's protection and the presence of Ti Hun, who specialized in restraining ghostly creatures, their journey was quite smooth.
After another month of flying, Han Li and his group finally escaped the Hundred Ghost Forest and arrived at a vast, boundless gray wasteland.
"How far is the Yellow Spring Marsh?" Han Li asked, looking far into the distance.
"We're here, we're here. You should be able to see a red region in the distance, that's it." Gui Wu replied hastily.
Han Li's pupils constricted, and in the distance, he saw a layer of red mist rising like steam, covering a large area.
Seeing this, he called out and flew forward.
Zi Ling and the others followed closely behind.
The air was filled with a unique, indescribable smell, making it hard to breathe, and the sensation of suffocation grew stronger as they approached the area.
As they drew near, Han Li and his group saw a massive lake in front of them.
The lake's surface was incredibly wide, almost comparable to the vast ocean, and its edges were invisible. The water near the shore was smooth as a mirror, without a single ripple.
However, as they looked further out, they saw a thick, heavy blood cloud accumulating in the high skies above the lake's center, merging with the chaotic clouds below, forming a massive, turbulent region.
In the north of the dark red lake, the sky seemed to be torn apart, and a blood-red waterfall flowed out, hanging in the air like a red ribbon.
The waterfall seemed to be powerful, with a fierce torrent, but when it landed on the lake's surface, it made no sound, as if it were a feather falling into water.
Along the lake's shore, towering stone fortresses stood at regular intervals, each over a hundred meters high, with dark red walls and giant flags bearing strange totems, some resembling ox heads, others horse faces, all different.
"That... is the garrison of the four great ghost tribes." Gui Wu's voice echoed.
Han Li's thoughts stirred, and his divine sense instantly expanded, probing the dark red stone fortresses.
After investigating, he frowned and looked at Ti Hun, who shook his head.
"Empty." Han Li announced.
"See, now you should believe me, right?" Gui Wu said.
"Now that the four great ghost tribes have no troops stationed here, we have one less problem. Tell us, where is the Six Paths Reincarnation Plate now?" Han Li asked.
Gui Wu's residual soul floated out, pointing to the center of the lake, and said:
"It's in the center of the marsh."
Han Li's gaze fell on the turbulent blood cloud in the lake's center, and his expression turned slightly solemn. He asked:
"Didn't you say earlier that the Six Paths Reincarnation Plate was on the lake's shore? Why is it now in the lake's center?"
Gui Wu's expression changed, and fear flashed in his eyes. He hesitated and said:
"I... I was afraid you wouldn't dare to come if you knew it was in the center of the Yellow Spring Marsh."
In reality, Han Li had no idea what the Yellow Spring Marsh was like or what dangers it held. Even if Gui Wu had told him the truth about the Six Paths Reincarnation Plate's location, Han Li wouldn't have been deterred. Han Li asked, "You're saying that the Yellow Springs Great Marsh is a place of danger too?"
Guī Wū's expression slightly eased, and he said, "Han Dao friend, you're asking this, so you probably don't know why the Yellow Springs Great Marsh is called that. Let me explain it to you."
Han Li and the others exchanged a glance, and then they all gathered around, listening carefully to Guī Wū's words.
"The reason this dark red lake is called the Yellow Springs Great Marsh is because the lake bed is covered in soul-devouring springs. These springs can absorb a person's three souls and seven spirits. If all three souls are absorbed, the spirit will directly fall into reincarnation, and the physical body will be left at the lake bed, slowly decaying and disappearing, merging with the marsh." Guī Wū explained.
Zi Líng said, "What about it? As long as we fly high enough, we won't be sucked in."
Guī Wū said, "That's true, but have you seen the blood cloud in the lake?"
Shí Chuān Kōng asked, "What's strange about the blood cloud?"
Guī Wū replied, "The blood cloud isn't strange, but the wind that blows it out is."
Han Li thought for a moment, and then he said, "The wind that blows the blood cloud is visible, but the wind that's not visible is even more treacherous."
Guī Wū said, "This is a rotating wind that's hard to detect. If you're not careful, you might not even notice it's there. But in reality, it's almost everywhere in the marsh. If you get caught in it, your flesh and blood will be stripped away in an instant. It doesn't matter if you're a powerful cultivator or a barbarian, the only difference is how long it takes."
Han Li frowned, "And if you get caught in the rotating wind, you'll definitely fall into the water, and your spirit will be devoured, reincarnating again."
Zi Líng said, "That's not a problem, we can just use a magical boat to cross the lake, carefully avoiding the rotating wind."
Guī Wū said, "You can't do that. The water in this marsh is like the Weak Water of the Ninth Heaven, it's too dense for even a feather to float on. No matter how powerful your magical boat is, it will sink into the water."
Jīn Tóng heard this and turned his wrist, a flash of light appeared in his palm, and a white hair floated out.
Han Li raised an eyebrow, realizing that the hair was a strand of Xiǎo Bái's fur, but he didn't know when Jīn Tóng had plucked it.
Jīn Tóng gently blew on the hair, and it floated onto the lake's surface.
As Guī Wū had said, the hair floated and sank into the water, gradually disappearing.
Jīn Tóng said, "It's really true that not even a hair can float on this water?"
Han Li frowned, suddenly remembering something, and he turned his wrist, a flash of light appeared in his palm, and a small object floated out.
"You had us cut down that green bamboo earlier, was it for crossing the river?" Han Li asked.
Guī Wū nodded, "That's right, Han Dao friend. The only thing that can float on the Yellow Springs Great Marsh is the Naihe bamboo. So, if you want to cross, you'll have to make a boat out of it."
Han Li threw the bamboo into the air, and it landed in the water with a soft splash.
The bamboo didn't make a sound as it entered the water, and it didn't splash any water. It simply floated on the surface, half-submerged.
Han Li asked, "Now that we have the Naihe bamboo, how do we deal with the rotating wind?"
Guī Wū said, "The rotating wind may seem chaotic, but I've observed it for tens of thousands of years, and I discovered that there's a hidden waterway that can be used to avoid it. If you follow that waterway, you can cross the lake safely."
Han Li nodded, and then he threw a jade slip to Guī Wū.
"Use your divine sense to record the path of the rotating wind on the jade slip, and mark the hidden waterway clearly," Han Li said.
Guī Wū received the jade slip, and his expression was slightly awkward. He smiled wryly and closed his eyes, grasping the jade slip tightly.
The others took out the Naihe bamboo they had cut down earlier and began to make two small boats.
Han Li said, "The rotating wind is dense, and the waterway is narrow. We can't make a big boat, so let's just make two small boats that can hold one or two people. We'll use one boat to cross the lake, and the other will be a spare, just in case."
Shí Chuān Kōng said, "Han Dao friend, your planning is always so thorough. I have to admire you."
Jīn Tóng and Zi Líng exchanged a glance, and they both smiled, seeming to be pleased with themselves. Only Zi Líng looked at Han Li deeply, a hint of a smile on her face.
Han Li just smiled slightly, not saying anything, and began to make the boats.
Before long, two small boats made of Naihe bamboo were completed, each about three feet long and six feet wide. They were well-made and looked sturdy.
At the same time, Guī Wū finished drawing the map of the rotating wind, and he handed the jade slip back to Han Li.
The Great Marsh's vast area is too wide, the water map I drew is only based on our location as the origin, along the hidden waterway, covering an area of hundreds of miles around.
The Ghost Witch's face turned pale, her voice somewhat weak, said.
Looking at her, it seemed that her soul power had been exhausted.
Ti Hu saw this, and with a swift gesture, shot a dark red glow from her hands towards the black wooden box. The red glow spread out, enveloping the Ghost Witch's shadow.
The Ghost Witch's body was bathed in the glow, and only then did she slightly recover, thanking Ti Hu.
"Thank you."
Han Li examined the jade slip once, and did not immediately put it away. Instead, he raised his head, and a flash of purple light appeared in his eyes as he probed the depths of the Great Marsh.
Under the power of his Nine Yin Demon Eyes, the originally elusive whirlpools were now visible to Han Li.
The closer to the lake's edge, the smaller and more difficult to discern the whirlpools were. The closer to the center of the lake, the stronger and more distinct the whirlpools were. Near the Blood Cloud, they were even more turbulent, mixing with the water vapor and heavenly energy, creating a chaotic scene.
This was consistent with what the Ghost Witch had said, but Han Li couldn't find any pattern in the whirlpools, nor could he find the hidden waterway the Ghost Witch had mentioned.
"Ghost Witch, the distribution of these whirlpools seems different from the water map you drew?" Han Li asked, furrowing his brow.
"The whirlpools are constantly changing, so what I drew is only the water map when the waterway appears. We're not going to follow the map immediately, but wait for the water to change and match the map. When that happens, the waterway will naturally appear." The Ghost Witch explained.
"Wait... how long will we have to wait?" Han Li asked, deep in thought.
"The whirlpools on the Great Marsh are unpredictable, and without long-term observation, it's impossible to accurately grasp the pattern. However, judging from the Blood Cloud's situation, it shouldn't be too long. At most, it will take a year, and the waterway will definitely appear." The Ghost Witch said.
Han Li gazed at the Blood Cloud in the Great Marsh, deep in thought, and said:
"Then let's wait."
Han Li and his companions temporarily stayed in the stone fortress on the lake's edge, waiting for over half a year.
On this day, the winds on the Great Marsh were strong, and the massive whirlpool that had originally only been at the center of the lake had now spread to almost the entire lake, only a few dozen miles from the lake's edge.
"The time has come, it's now! Haha..." The Ghost Witch laughed loudly.
"Now? You're not joking, are you? The situation is even worse than before!" Shi Chuan Kong exclaimed.
The others were also tense, looking worried.
"You don't understand, the birth gate is hidden within the death gate. Previously, the small whirlpools were dense and numerous, but now they've merged into larger, more sparse ones, and only then will the hidden passage appear." The Ghost Witch explained.
Han Li's eyes flashed with purple light as he carefully examined the lake's scenery. He also discovered that the whirlpools' distribution was now consistent with the water map the Ghost Witch had drawn.
"It's true, I can see the entrance to the waterway that the Ghost Witch mentioned. It should be correct." Han Li said.
"Everyone, let's hurry! The Great Marsh is full of variables, and this situation can only last for a few hours. We can't afford to delay." The Ghost Witch said.
"I'll take Ti Hu and the Ghost Witch on the boat, while the rest of you stay in my Flower Branch Cave. Once we arrive, we'll act together." Han Li said.
The others naturally had no objections, nodding in agreement.
Han Li then waved his hand, and a silver light flashed in front of him. The silver light door appeared, and Jingong, Shi Chuan Kong, and Ziling all entered.
As they entered the Flower Branch Cave, Han Li closed the silver light door and said to Ti Hu:
"Let's go..."
"I'll be careful and control the boat. You use your divine soul technique to scout the surroundings and keep an eye on the Ghost Witch. If he makes any suspicious moves, immediately kill him. But don't worry, I have a way to get you out of here." Han Li transmitted to Ti Hu.
After advancing to the mid-stage of the Great Luo, Han Li's confidence had increased greatly.
"I'll be careful." Ti Hu replied.
With that, the two of them jumped into the air and landed on the lake's edge.
Han Li waved his hand, and a green light flashed, creating a small, exquisite boat that floated on the lake's surface.
As before, the boat was as light as a feather, and only created a small ripple on the water's surface.
Han Li jumped onto the boat, followed by Ti Hu, who stood behind him.
"Ghost Witch, we're setting off. If there's any change, please remind me." Han Li said, placing the black wooden box at the bow of the boat.
A wisp of green smoke emerged from the box, taking the shape of the Ghost Witch, who smiled and said:
"Han Li, don't worry, we're in this together now. Our lives are connected, and I wouldn't dare not do my best." Han Li nodded and waved his sleeve, sending a gust of wind sweeping across the lake. The bamboo boat shot out like an arrow, moving so quickly that it seemed to be gliding across the surface of the lake rather than breaking through the water.
As they sped along, Han Li saw that the boat was headed straight for a massive whirlpool. He quickly raised his hand and took out a long bamboo pole, striking the water with a loud crack. The boat's trajectory changed, and it slid past the whirlpool, narrowly avoiding being sucked in.
"Ah, be careful, be careful!" Gu Wu exclaimed, her voice trembling with worry.
Han Li steadied the boat and began to slow down, navigating through a narrow passage between two whirlpools. As they entered the hidden waterway, the lake's surface was calm, but as they progressed deeper, the whirlpools grew stronger, making it increasingly difficult to control the boat.
Han Li focused all his attention on steering the boat, often relying on Gu Wu to guide him. "Turn left, avoid the big whirlpool, and you'll see the cloud wall behind it!" Gu Wu shouted.
Han Li quickly adjusted the boat's course, using the bamboo pole to steer it around the massive whirlpool. As they emerged on the other side, Han Li's eyes widened as he saw a massive red cloud wall blocking their path.
He quickly inserted the bamboo pole into the water to stop the boat from moving forward. "What's going on?" he asked Gu Wu.
Gu Wu looked just as shocked, her eyes wide with incredulity. Han Li's brow furrowed in concern.
"This can't be," Gu Wu muttered, "there's supposed to be a gap here..."
Han Li glanced at Gu Wu, then at the cloud wall, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. Suddenly, his gaze shifted, and his eyes flashed with a deep purple light as he used his spiritual senses to examine the cloud wall.
"Ah," he exclaimed, "the waterway is still there, but it's been obscured by the scattered cloud energy."
Gu Wu followed Han Li's gaze and saw that the cloud wall was indeed thinner at the bottom. "Let's go," Han Li said, his voice low and urgent.
With a swift motion, Han Li swept the bamboo pole across the water, and the boat surged forward, crashing into the cloud wall. The sound of the impact was muffled, and the air grew thick with the scent of blood.
As they emerged on the other side, Han Li's vision cleared, and he saw that they were surrounded by towering walls of crimson cloud. The air was filled with the sound of rushing wind, and the clouds seemed to be pulling and tugging at the air.
Gu Wu let out a sigh of relief. "We made it out."
Han Li's expression was calm as he gazed around, taking in their surroundings. "It seems we've entered a safe zone," Gu Wu said, "at least half of the journey should be uneventful from now on."
Han Li raised an eyebrow. "Safe zone?"
Gu Wu chuckled. "I just made it up, it's a good omen, hehe..."
Han Li didn't respond, instead focusing on steering the boat forward.
Meanwhile, in the heart of the Yellow Springs, a massive ring of whirlpools formed a circular barrier, surrounded by a thick wall of crimson cloud. Inside this isolated area, the air was calm and peaceful, with no signs of whirlwinds.
At the center of this region, a lone island floated, shaped like a wheel. Six mountain ridges radiated from the island's center, forming a pattern that resembled the spokes of a wheel.
The island was covered in stone stairways and simple pavilions, but despite the lack of vegetation, it didn't seem desolate. At the island's center stood a magnificent stone temple, its walls a deep gray color.
The temple was surrounded by four broad plazas, each with a different size and shape. A thick fog swirled around each plaza, and ghostly soldiers patrolled the area, their eyes glowing with an otherworldly energy.
In front of the palace's main gate, amidst the vast and misty surroundings, aside from the numerous ghostly soldiers scattered about, two extremely tall and stalwart ghostly generals stood guard, holding their weapons and standing majestically still.
One of them, despite having a human body, had a massive and ferocious ox head, and wore thick black iron armor, holding a iron staff engraved with skull patterns, half of which was crimson and half of which was dark blue, like the fusion of water and fire.
The other, similarly, had a human body, but with a long and ugly horse face, wore a deep crimson heavy armor, holding a string of red crystal stone locks in one hand, and a pale white ghostly claw in the other, which seemed to be stained with black blood.
The two of them stood motionless, like two statues, making the already ominous palace seem even more eerie and foreboding, like the legendary Gate of Hell.
However, above the palace gates, there was no signboard, and the two massive doors were tightly closed.
At this moment, deep beneath the palace, there was a vast underground space, lit up by torches, illuminating every corner.
In the center of this space, there was a massive six-sided stone platform, about a thousand feet in diameter, and only three feet high, smooth as a mirror, and naturally formed, with a six-sided depression in the center, filled with dark red liquid.
Above the liquid, a dark red glow emanated, with threads of light swirling around it, and in the center, a massive six-sided wheel floated in mid-air.
The wheel was engraved with various symbols, emitting strange and mysterious energy, and an otherworldly aura that made one feel incredibly small.
At this moment, at the edge of the pool, facing the six-sided wheel, stood a tall, black-robed man, with a wide-brimmed hat on his head, and a black veil covering his face.
However, what was even more peculiar was that this man, despite having a subdued aura, seemed to exude an aura of immense power, surpassing even the six-sided wheel.
The man nodded slightly, his veil falling onto his chest, as if he was deep in thought.
At this moment, footsteps echoed from afar, and a beautiful, pale-skinned woman in a black dress, with a stunningly beautiful woman in a blue palace dress, walked onto the platform, approaching the man.
The woman in black was none other than Jiao San.
Her beauty was unmatched, and the woman in blue was even more stunning, but was actually none other than the woman known as "Ru Xue" in the Wheel of Reincarnation.
If Han Li were present, he would not have recognized her, for her appearance and demeanor were identical to Nangong Wan's.
Jiao San held her hand, feeling the smooth skin, but also a slight chill, which contrasted with her own warm palm.
Compared to the heat in her palm, Jiao San's emotions were even more turbulent, her brow furrowed, and her expression serious, as she couldn't help but steal glances at Ru Xue.
Ever since she learned that Ru Xue was her mother, Jiao San couldn't look at her with the same eyes, but the latter, with her soul incomplete, was oblivious to her observations, and simply walked towards the center of the platform with a calm expression.
"Lord."
Jiao San bowed, releasing Ru Xue's hand, and addressed the man.
Ru Xue also bowed.
"Enter," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation turned around, his eyes falling on the two women, and said.
Jiao San heard his words, and took Ru Xue's hand, walking towards the pool.
Ru Xue hesitated for a moment, looking at Jiao San.
Jiao San smiled warmly, and gestured for her to enter the pool.
Ru Xue lifted her skirt, and walked down the steps, into the pool.
The water was not too deep, and she only reached chest-deep.
However, as soon as she stood still, and tried to turn around, her eyes suddenly dimmed, and she fell backwards, into the water.
Jiao San saw her fall, and her body floated to the surface, but her expression did not change, as if she had expected this, though her eyes showed a hint of doubt.
"Lord, why did you ask me to bring... my mother here? Why does she not remember me, and not know our mother-daughter relationship?" Jiao San asked, her brow furrowed.
"Your mother does not remember you, because she has already reincarnated once, and naturally, her memories are gone," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation replied.
"What do you mean by 'reincarnated once'?" Jiao San asked.
"My meaning is... that her previous life was your true mother, named 'Gan Ru Xue'. And this life, she is surnamed Nangong, with the single name 'Wan'. To make her remember you, you must help her recover her memories from her previous life," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation said, after a moment of contemplation.
Jiao San heard the name "Nangong Wan", and felt a sense of familiarity, but did not pay attention, and instead asked: "Gan Ru Xue... I am Gan Jiu Zhen, do I share the same surname as my mother?"
Her mind was filled with questions, why did her mother die in her previous life? Where was her father? Did her reincarnated mother still count as her mother?
But in the end, she only asked one question: "Why do I not remember my mother?" Chapter:
"You saw your mother only once at birth, so how could you have any memories of her?" the master of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
"Did my mother die because of me?" Jiao San asked, her body feeling icy cold.
"No," the master of the Wheel of Rebirth said firmly.
"But my mother..."
"Nine Truths, you have too many questions. Everything will be explained after she regains her memories," the master of the Wheel of Rebirth said coldly, interrupting her.
Jiao San fell silent, standing to the side and gazing at the figure in the water.
The master of the Wheel of Rebirth clasped his hands together and began to chant, his fingers weaving a complex pattern.
His robes billowed without wind, and a dark red aura swirled around him. He pointed at the six-sided wheel in the air, and a solid red light column shot out, striking the wheel.
A loud whooshing sound filled the air as the wheel began to rotate, its speed increasing rapidly.
The red glow surrounding it was drawn into the rotation, swirling around the wheel. A straight red light beam shot down from above, enveloping Nan Gong Wan's body.
Nan Gong Wan's eyebrows furrowed, and her eyes rolled back and forth, as if she was trapped in a vivid dream.
But soon, she stopped moving, and her body began to sink slowly into the water.
...
In the Yellow Springs, the blood-red cloud wall blocked out the sun, and the original valley landscape was gone. Han Li and the others were like tiny boats navigating through a mountain tunnel, with the blood clouds swirling above them.
"Once we exit this area, we'll be close to the lake's center," Gui Wu said.
Han Li nodded, not responding.
Their journey so far had been relatively smooth, with only two close calls with the whirlwinds. It seemed that Gui Wu's secret waterway was safe.
About half an hour later, the boat emerged from a whirlwind and entered a calm area. The blood clouds and whirlwinds were gone, and the air was still.
"This is strange. Why is there a windless area here?" Gui Wu asked, surprised.
"Isn't it a good thing?" Qi Hun asked, puzzled.
"Not necessarily. The appearance of a windless area means that our planned route has changed. If there's no wind here, the original waterway might be blocked. We could be trapped in this maze," Han Li said, shaking his head.
Just then, his expression changed, and he looked towards the blood cloud wall.
The cloud wall, which had been static, suddenly began to move, surging towards the windless area.
A massive shadow appeared behind the cloud wall.
"What is this?" Gui Wu asked, his face changing.
Qi Hun's eyes flashed with a strange light.
As the blood clouds churned, a gigantic, thousand-meter-long black beast emerged from the lake's surface. It was shaped like a crocodile-turtle, with four massive fins on its underside.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed as he watched. The beast's fins created a black whirlwind that lifted its body off the water, allowing it to float and move.
"What kind of beast is this, unaffected by the whirlwinds?" Qi Hun asked.
"This is impossible. The You Fu Gui has been extinct for tens of thousands of years. How can it still exist?" Gui Wu asked, his face filled with shock.
"There's someone on its back," Han Li said, his eyes fixed on the beast.
Gui Wu and Qi Hun followed his gaze, seeing seven or eight figures standing on the beast's back. The leader was a tall, imposing figure in a gray robe, with a white skull visible beneath. A white aura surrounded him, and he exuded a powerful presence.
Behind the skull-faced figure stood a three-meter-tall, blood-red man with no head, his eyes replaced by breasts. He wielded a massive blood-colored axe, and Han Li recognized him as Xue Li.
Xue Li was followed by several others, including the ghostly general who had led the ghostly army in pursuit of Han Li.
Han Li saw them, and they noticed him.
Xue Li's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he leapt into the air, his axe swinging towards Han Li.
Han Li's eyes widened as he watched the scene unfold before him. "Xue Li, you're actually...!" Gu Wu shouted, but he was too late to stop Xue Li's actions.
A massive axe appeared above Xue Li, its blade flashing with a brilliant light. The air was filled with a deafening roar as the axe descended, its blade biting deep into the void. A massive blood-red axe shadow appeared, its power so great that it seemed to split the very fabric of space.
The axe shadow plummeted towards Han Li, its power so overwhelming that it seemed to fill the entire sky. Han Li didn't even flinch, simply raising his hand to meet the axe. A brilliant golden light burst forth from his sleeve, coalescing into a massive golden palm print that clashed with the axe.
The two energies collided in a spectacular display, the sound of their impact echoing through the air. The axe shattered, its fragments dispersing into the distance, but the golden palm print continued to shine, its power undiminished.
Xue Li landed back on the giant turtle's back, his eyes fixed on the palm print as it disappeared into the distance. "How...how is this possible?" he muttered, his voice trembling with shock.
The white skeleton on the turtle's back turned to face Han Li, its eyes glowing with an otherworldly energy. "Xue Li, you fool! Why did you attack without thinking? Don't you know that I and the Lord of the Underworld are on this ship?" Gu Wu shouted, his voice filled with anger.
Xue Li looked at Gu Wu in surprise, his voice shaking. "Gu Wu, you're...you're not dead yet?"
Gu Wu ignored him, his body glowing with a soft blue light as he rose into the air. His form expanded, his body growing larger as he bowed deeply towards the white skeleton. "I, Gu Wu, pay my respects to the Bone Emperor."
The white skeleton nodded, its voice like a gentle breeze. "I am the Bone Emperor. Why have you, a true immortal, allied yourself with the mortals?"
Gu Wu's voice was filled with respect. "It's because we share a common goal, Bone Emperor. We wish to defeat the Wheel King, and this Han Li is also seeking to do the same. May I ask, will you permit us to join forces and work together to defeat the Wheel King?"
Han Li's eyes narrowed, his mind racing with thoughts. He had never agreed to work with Gu Wu and the others, and he had only agreed to let them join him because he was interested in the Six Paths of Reincarnation.
The Bone Emperor's voice was like a gentle whisper. "It's not a problem, but tell me, what is your goal in defeating the Wheel King?"
Gu Wu's voice was filled with excitement. "We want to use the Six Paths of Reincarnation to defeat the Wheel King and gain control over the cycle of life and death."
Han Li's eyes narrowed, his mind racing with thoughts. He didn't want to get involved in the conflicts of the Underworld, and he didn't know what the Bone Emperor's true intentions were.
The Bone Emperor's voice was like a gentle breeze. "I will permit you to join forces, but remember, I am the one who will decide the outcome of this battle."
Han Li's eyes narrowed, his mind racing with thoughts. He didn't know what the Bone Emperor's true intentions were, and he didn't want to get involved in the conflicts of the Underworld.
Suddenly, a black-faced giant stepped forward, his voice filled with respect. "Bone Emperor, may I break through the barrier that blocks our path?"
The Bone Emperor nodded, his voice like a gentle breeze. "You may proceed."
The black-faced giant raised his hands, and a massive black giant appeared behind him. The giant's body was covered in black armor, its surface etched with intricate patterns.
The black giant's eyes glowed with an otherworldly energy, its power so great that it seemed to fill the entire sky. Han Li's eyes narrowed, his mind racing with thoughts. He didn't know what the black giant's true intentions were, and he didn't want to get involved in the conflicts of the Underworld.
The black giant raised its hands, and a massive black energy burst forth, shattering the barrier that blocked their path. The group continued on their journey, their destination unknown. The black-armored ghostly creature let out a deafening roar, its body radiating a dark glow that formed a turbulent black storm, pushing away the surrounding whirlwinds.
Zi Ling's cultivation was slightly weaker, and he was almost blown away by the storm.
A hand reached out from the side and grabbed him, pulling him back. It was Han Li.
"Thank you, Brother Han," Zi Ling said with a sigh, expressing his gratitude.
Han Li waved his hand dismissively, looking at the black-armored ghostly creature and then glancing at the Blood Cloud Wall. He shook his head slightly.
As the black-armored ghostly creature roared, its four massive arms struck out in unison, each fist radiating a swirling black glow that emitted a piercing explosion sound as it hit the Blood Cloud Wall.
A loud, muffled sound echoed out.
The Blood Cloud Wall only trembled, its surface rippling like water, without showing any signs of damage.
The black-faced giant's eyes widened in shock as he witnessed this scene.
At that moment, a flash of blood light appeared within the ripples on the Blood Cloud Wall, and over a dozen thick, blood-red lightning bolts shot out without warning, striking the black-armored ghostly creature.
The ghostly creature's body was easily pierced by the lightning bolts, its exquisite black armor shattering, and it let out a blood-curdling scream as its massive body dissipated into a cloud of black smoke.
The black-faced giant stumbled backward, his body shaking violently, and he almost fell to the ground. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Trash!" Gu Huang snorted, his voice cold and disdainful.
The black-faced giant's body trembled, and he quickly apologized, his heart filled with regret for trying to take the initiative and show off.
"Using the Six Paths Wheel to manipulate the whirlwinds and create a natural defense is understandable, but in the face of absolute power, everything is futile," Gu Huang said, his eyes scanning the Blood Cloud Wall as he spoke. He snorted again, raising his hand to make a grasping motion.
A massive, earth-shaking sound echoed out.
The entire void seemed to collapse, and a gigantic white bone palm appeared, grasping the Blood Cloud Wall.
The sound of shattering echoed out as the previously indestructible Blood Cloud Wall suddenly became fragile, breaking apart to reveal a large hole.
"Senior Gu Huang's divine powers are boundless!" Xue Li exclaimed.
"With Senior Gu Huang taking action, it seems that the Turning Wheel King is doomed to perish!" Gui Wu laughed, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Han Li gazed at Gu Huang, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.
He had witnessed the power of the Dao Ancestors before, but at the time, his cultivation was still weak, and he couldn't truly comprehend their might. Now, with his increased cultivation and understanding of the Dao, he could finally appreciate the terror of a Dao Ancestor's power.
Gu Huang's every move seemed to resonate with the Heavenly Dao, as if he were the embodiment of the heavens themselves. This kind of power was something that even a great existence like the Turning Wheel King couldn't withstand.
Gu Huang listened to the praise from Xue Li and Gui Wu, a hint of pride flashing in his eyes. He raised his hand, and the massive turtle beneath their feet began to move forward, flying into the hole in the wall.
"Who dares to invade?" a voice shouted from within the island.
The island's guardians had already discovered the anomaly when the black-faced giant attacked, and now they saw Gu Huang and the others, rushing towards them.
At the same time, the alarm sounded, and guardians from other parts of the island rushed towards them.
"Leave these trivial soldiers to us," Xue Li said, charging forward with a loud whoop. His massive axe transformed into a blood-red streak, sweeping across the battlefield.
A loud, piercing sound echoed out, and dozens of ghostly soldiers were cut down.
Gu Huang's seven companions also charged forward, killing the ghostly soldiers.
Han Li and the others couldn't just stand by, so they also drew out their magical artifacts and joined the battle.
The island's ghostly soldiers were incredibly powerful, with many of them possessing Tai Yi boundary cultivation. Although no great existences had appeared, their numbers were vast, and Han Li's group was unable to gain the upper hand, being blocked at the entrance.
"Everyone, retreat!" Gu Huang's eyes flashed with impatience, and he waved his hand, signaling for the others to fall back. A bone-white glow erupted from his body.
A wave of bone-white energy shot out, sweeping across the island in a fan-shaped pattern, instantly killing the ghostly soldiers.
The island's guardians were torn apart, their bodies exploding as their bones shattered. The sound of their deaths echoed out, and the island was bathed in a bloody, gruesome scene.
The only survivors were the few ghostly soldiers who had managed to hide near the gray-white stone temple.
A dark red, dome-shaped energy shield appeared around the temple, protecting it from Gu Huang's attack.
"Senior Gu Huang's divine powers are truly boundless!" Xue Li exclaimed once more.
The others also praised Gu Huang's abilities.
The two ghostly generals, Niutou and Mamian, who had been standing guard at the temple entrance, finally showed signs of concern on their faces. They began to gather the remaining ghostly soldiers to defend the entrance, while also sending someone to report to the temple.
As the battle subsided, the island's guardians lay dead, their bodies scattered across the ground.
In the vast expanse of the Middle Earth Immortal Realm, there existed a peculiar continent known as the Qitian Continent.
The native cultivators of this continent were not enthusiastic about practicing immortal arts, nor were they infatuated with alchemy or artifact refinement. Instead, they were all fond of practicing the art of Dragon Aura Divination.
Dragon Aura Divination, as the name suggests, was a technique that utilized aura-reading to explore the fate and destiny of others, thereby predicting their future prospects and potential accomplishments.
In the mortal realm, some individuals used this technique to search for those with dragon aura, who were destined for greatness. By assisting these individuals in their rise to power, they could establish a secular kingdom and reap enormous benefits.
The immortal families, on the other hand, used this technique to discover and recruit young talents who had not yet begun their cultivation journey. Those who were skilled in this art could often identify the future prospects of a child, even before they had started their cultivation, and help the immortal families to recruit and nurture talented individuals.
The Qitian Continent was particularly renowned for this art, and the reason for this was deeply connected to the continent's largest and most influential immortal family, the Bū Tiān Sect.
The Bū Tiān Sect, with its vast influence, occupied half of the Qitian Continent. The sect's history spanned countless years, and it had innumerable disciples. It was said that "before the Bū Tiān Sect, there was no divination; all phenomena originated from this sect."
Aside from its expertise in divination and aura-reading, the Bū Tiān Sect possessed a secret art that was coveted by various factions in the immortal realm. This art involved the use of primordial divine stones to create mysterious objects that could predict the workings of the heavens. The most famous of these objects was the "Hún Dùn Wàn Líng Bǎng" (Chaos Spirit Ranking), which was said to be able to foresee changes in the celestial balance.
This object was incredibly accurate, and it was said that even before the birth of the Xuán Tiān Spirit Treasure, the Chaos Spirit Ranking had already foretold its arrival. It was even able to pinpoint the location of the treasure's emergence.
However, despite its illustrious reputation, the Bū Tiān Sect's disciples rarely revealed their true identities when they descended the mountain to gain experience. Instead, they would often conceal their identities or assume the guise of disciples from other sects, blending in with the various immortal domains.
The Bū Tiān Sect's headquarters was located in the eastern part of the Qitian Continent, where it occupied the Wò Lóng, Zhōu Tiān, and Bǎi Jǐ mountains. The sect's main stronghold was the Wò Lóng mountain range, where the majority of its disciples resided.
The Bū Tiān Sect's founder had established the sect in the Wò Lóng mountain range, and the main peak, Lóng Qǐ Fēng (Dragon Rise Peak), was now the sect's absolute forbidden zone. Only the current sect leader and a handful of elder masters were permitted to enter this sacred area.
Adjacent to the Dragon Rise Peak was the Wèn Tiān Fēng (Inquiring Heaven Peak), where the sect's core disciples cultivated their arts. The peak was dotted with Heaven-Inquiring Altars, where disciples clad in black robes would inquire about the workings of the heavens.
At this moment, a group of disciples, led by a tall, stern-looking elder, stood on the edge of a Heaven-Inquiring Altar, seeking guidance.
"Fú Fēng Elder, we are about to descend the mountain and gain experience in the various immortal domains. Do you have any further instructions?" a disciple with the body of a sheep and the head of a man asked.
"When you descend the mountain, you will likely be assigned to the Flying Immortal Platforms of the various immortal domains. Remember one thing: do not underestimate any cultivator who has ascended from the mortal realm. These individuals often possess superior temperament and innate abilities compared to the native cultivators of the immortal realm."
The disciples nodded in unison, acknowledging the elder's words.
"As for those who have ascended from the Lost Realms, do not attempt to divine their fates. If you can form a connection with them, do so; if not, then sever all ties and avoid any further entanglements."
The elder's expression turned solemn, and the disciples, though perplexed, nodded in agreement.
After the disciples departed, the elder stood alone on the edge of the altar, lost in thought. His eyes seemed to hold a deep nostalgia, and he whispered to himself, "I wonder, what has become of that young man?"
Years ago, when he was still known as "Gāo Shēng" (High Ascent), he had encountered a young cultivator who had ascended from the Lost Realms. Out of curiosity, he had used the Dragon Aura Divination technique to explore the young man's fate and had even employed the secret art to uncover his future prospects.
Though he had only glimpsed fragments of the young man's destiny, the experience had left an indelible mark on him. Despite his advanced age, he still remembered the young man's face, and the encounter had changed him forever.
The young man's name was Hán Lì (Han Li).
The elder's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden change in the atmosphere. He looked up to see a spiral cloud formation descending from the heavens, piercing the clouds that shrouded the Dragon Rise Peak. The peak's restrictive array, which had been in place for centuries, remained eerily silent.
The elder's gaze turned towards the grand hall at the foot of the peak, where the elder masters resided. However, he saw no reaction from them, and his expression turned quizzical.
The Dragon Rise Peak was now shrouded in a thick, impenetrable mist. Amidst the mist, a forest of peach trees grew, their branches heavy with fruit. The trees seemed to be swaying gently in the breeze, and the atmosphere was filled with an otherworldly aura.
The mist seemed to be hiding a secret, and the elder's curiosity was piqued. He turned to leave, his eyes fixed on the mysterious peak. In the center of a mountain peak surrounded by lush green trees, an eight-sided black stone altar was built, with a circumference of no more than three zhang. Each edge of the altar was engraved with a "Qian Kun Li Dui" trigram.
In the center of the altar, a black vortex floated in mid-air, with dense fog swirling inside, as if it had an endless attractive force.
At the center of the vortex, a face with a distorted expression was revealed, with an old man's body almost completely engulfed by the black vortex, leaving only a head, an arm, and a small part of his body connected to his neck.
The old man's forehead was bald, with white hair scattered behind him, one eye was blind, and his face was covered with black-brown spots, making him look very ugly.
His other eye, although not blind, was half-closed, and his entire body seemed to have lost its vitality, as if he was just waiting for death.
At this moment, a spiral cloud descended from the sky, silently landing on the peach tree outside the altar.
The cloud dissipated, revealing a figure.
The man was tall and slender, with a face like jade, and a pair of long, deep, and mysterious eyes. His nose was not too high, but his lips were thin, and his chin was adorned with black whiskers, giving him a tranquil and otherworldly aura.
However, he seemed to be suffering from an illness, sitting in a wheelchair carved from white jade, wearing a large white robe that flowed down from his body, with a golden sash around his waist, holding a nine-dragon jade pendant, and a golden tassel hanging beside it.
As soon as he appeared, the old man, who seemed to be pretending to sleep, suddenly woke up, his only eye opening wide, revealing a golden pupil that shone brightly, as if it was about to burn everything around him.
"You've come..." the old man said in a hoarse voice, his tone dragging on.
"I've come," the man in the wheelchair replied calmly.
"You've finally come... Ah, heaven's will is thus, you may ask your question." The old man smiled bitterly.
"Chen Pian, I have one more divination to ask," the man said, his hands resting on the wheelchair.
At this moment, if there were any high-ranking cultivators from the True Immortal Realm with some experience, they would be shocked.
Who could have imagined that this old man, who looked like he was about to die, was actually the founder of the Tian Tian Sect, Chen Pian, who was said to be able to "repair the heavenly mechanism"?
Who could have imagined that this ugly old man, who was about to be consumed by the heavenly way, was actually the prophetic ancestor who had mastered the art of predicting the future, and was famous throughout the heavenly court?
"I've already answered your 36 heavenly divinations, 72 earthly divinations, and in this vast expanse of time, you've asked 106 divinations, leaving only two more heavenly divinations... I can only answer once more." Chen Pian said slowly.
"I want to ask again about the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth... If he is not eliminated, I fear that the great plan will be disrupted." The man in the wheelchair said calmly.
"The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth has already mastered the law of rebirth, and can hide himself in the great way of rebirth, making it impossible for my prophetic law to detect him. You've already asked 72 divinations about him, and gained nothing, do you still want to ask about him?" Chen Pian's voice rose slightly.
"Ask." The man in the wheelchair replied, unmoved, his tone flat.
Chen Pian did not speak again, his remaining hand forming a seal, and his mouth began to chant, the golden light in his eye suddenly bursting forth, forming a crystal beam that shot into the void in front of him.
The void distorted, forming a black vortex that absorbed the crystal beam, Chen Pian and the black vortex seemed to be connected by a bridge.
About half a column of incense later, the crystal beam suddenly retracted, and the black vortex disappeared.
At the same time, the black vortex behind Chen Pian suddenly extended a thread of black crystal, wrapping around his remaining arm, pulling it into the vortex.
"How is it?" the man in the wheelchair asked, his expression unchanged.
"The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth is still nowhere to be found, but someone who has never appeared before, yet is closely related to him, has appeared." Chen Pian seemed to have expected his arm to be consumed by the vortex, and said calmly.
As he spoke, a crystal beam flew out from his brow, falling onto the man's hand, and then disappearing.
The man's eyes narrowed slightly, and a cloud of mist began to rise from beneath him, as if he was about to leave.
"The heavenly way's backlash is getting stronger, and with one more heavenly divination, I will be consumed by the heavenly way's law... How soon can your plan be completed?" Chen Pian asked, his voice weak.
"Soon."
The man in the wheelchair replied, his voice flat, and then, with the support of the mist, he flew up into the air, disappearing from sight.
"Whether in the past or present, I have made reckless predictions about the heavenly mechanism for you, don't let me suffer for eternity... " Chen Pian sighed, his one eye closing.
The mountain peak was once again shrouded in dense clouds.
In the depths of the Yellow Springs, within the Gray White Stone Temple.
The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth pinched his fingers, urging the six-pointed wheel to spin rapidly, and a red light shot out from the center of the wheel, touching Nangong Wan's body and suddenly expanding, transforming into a red light screen that enveloped her.
Nangong Wan's entire body had already flown out of the water pool, suspended in mid-air, emitting a layer of dreamy white light all over her body, and the red light screen surrounding her seemed to be flashing with countless light shadows, as if they were memories.
If Han Li were here, he would certainly recognize that the memories were from Nangong Wan's past experiences, and occasionally, his own figure would appear.
The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth scanned the scene with his eyes, raised his hand, pinched his fingers, and another dark red light shot out from his hand, entering the center of the six-pointed wheel.
The symbols on the wheel's surface lit up, bursting with crystal light, and at the same time, the surface of the wheel flashed with black light, revealing six black circular holes.
The holes were pitch black, bottomless, and seemed to be connected to some mysterious place.
The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth waved his other hand, and a dark red light shot out, transforming into a dark red large hand, reaching into one of the black holes.
A moment later, the dark red hand flew back, holding a cloud-like bundle of colorful light, which also contained countless flashing memories.
The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth's calm eyes flashed with a hint of joy, and with a flip of his hand, he merged the colorful light into Nangong Wan's body.
Nangong Wan's body shook violently, and a new orange-red dreamy light appeared around her.
Two dreamy lights surrounded her body, spinning rapidly, and the Master of the Cycle of Rebirth pinched his fingers, urging the six-pointed wheel to assist the orange-red light, trying to suppress the original white light.
However, the white light was exceptionally resilient, and although it was suppressed, it did not thoroughly subside, firmly occupying its domain.
Nangong Wan's eyes were tightly closed, and her eyebrows were furrowed, as if she was enduring some unknown pain.
Jiaosan stood beside her, his face tense with anxiety.
The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth's eyebrows furrowed, and his hand paused.
"How is it, Master?" Jiaosan asked, noticing the Master's emotions.
"Your mother's physique this life is very compatible with the Cycle of Rebirth, making her memories very stubborn, exceeding my expectations, and difficult to suppress. Forcing the spell... I fear it may harm her body." The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth said.
"Don't force the spell, is there another way?" Jiaosan asked urgently.
The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth was about to speak when his eyebrows suddenly furrowed, and he looked outside.
At that moment, shouts and loud crashes came from outside.
"What's going on? Could it be that someone has invaded the Yellow Springs Island?" Jiaosan exclaimed.
"It's Gu Huang, that old thing, who pretended to surrender but still had his eyes on the Six Paths Wheel. He's come to attack, taking advantage of my current situation... Ah, he's also come, how convenient." The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth's voice was calm, and he chuckled.
"Who is it?" Jiaosan asked.
The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth waved his hand, not answering Jiaosan's question.
"Master, due to the opposing winds, the main forces of the various tribes have already retreated, and there are not many people left on the Yellow Springs Island." Jiaosan frowned.
"No matter, I have already made arrangements. It's a good opportunity to clean up the internal affairs. Unfortunately, the number of people who have come is less than expected... You use this Cycle of Rebirth token to urge the external Cycle of Rebirth array to block Gu Huang first, and I will be able to finish the spell." The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth waved his hand, and a dazzling dark red light shot out, landing in front of Jiaosan.
The light contained a strange token with six points, similar to the six-pointed wheel, with countless star-like patterns flashing on its surface, emitting a million dark red auras.
"Yes." Jiaosan took the token and immediately flew out.
"So many years have passed, and I wonder how many people in the immortal realm know of my existence, but not my name." The Master of the Cycle of Rebirth watched Jiaosan leave, murmuring to himself.
...
On the island, Han Li and the others followed Gu Huang's group, landing near the Gray White Stone Temple, and looking at the dark red light surrounding the temple, their faces changed.
This dark red light contained an extremely powerful force of the Cycle of Rebirth, and for some reason, it gave Han Li a very familiar feeling.
"The Cycle of Rebirth array? That guy should be occupied, and no one is in charge, so it's not worth mentioning." Gu Huang looked at the dark red light surrounding the temple, sneering.
He raised his hand, and the entire sky was filled with a white bone-like aura, emitting an endless pressure.
A deafening crash, and the sky was torn apart, revealing a massive white bone claw that descended from the sky, grasping the dark red light surrounding the temple.
The claw's power was more than ten times stronger than before, and although it was grabbing the light, the entire island was affected, sinking into the Yellow Springs.
The dark red light surrounding the temple fluctuated violently, barely resisting the claw, but quickly becoming thinner, on the verge of being torn apart.
At that moment, a loud shout came from inside the temple, followed by a blinding dark red light that shot out and merged with the surrounding light.
The light's power surged, and the claw's attack was momentarily repelled. The dark red glow enveloped the area, like a massive tonic, instantly restoring its original thickness and growing even more.
At the same time, a bright light burst forth from the Yellow Springs, a layer of dark red light emanating from it, illuminating the entire Yellow Springs in a vibrant red hue.
Not only that, the dark red light shot straight up into the sky, colliding with the bone-white light of the heavens.
The two massive forces clashed, the whirlwind above the Yellow Springs was easily swept away like fallen leaves, the surrounding void shattered, and countless void rifts burst forth, the surrounding heaven and earth suddenly presenting a scene of great destruction.
A massive devouring force emerged from the shattered void, attempting to consume everything in its surroundings.
Han Li and the others saw this scene, and the five of them immediately gathered together, their protective treasures' light merging into a single entity, defending against the void rifts and spatial fissures.
Xue Li and the others also gathered together around Bone Emperor.
Gui Wu hesitated for a moment, transforming into a black shadow that flew out from Han Li's side, landing near Bone Emperor.
Han Li's eyes flickered, but he didn't stop Gui Wu from leaving.
The Yellow Springs below seemed to be suspended in mid-air, unaffected by the shattered space, due to the Wheel of Rebirth's restrictive aura.
At this moment, a slightly petite figure flew out of the great hall, hovering above it.
Han Li's heart stirred, recognizing the figure as Jiao San.
Jiao San also noticed Han Li and the others, her face flashing with surprise, as if she had realized something.
However, the situation was urgent, and she quickly looked away, muttering to herself, her hands weaving intricate patterns.
A dazzling dark red light spread out from her body, forming a dark red six-pointed circular shadow.
The dark red light within the Yellow Springs began to change, transforming into a massive six-pointed circular wheel that enveloped the entire area, rapidly rotating.
The center of the wheel was the gray-white Stone Hall.
The dark red glow surrounding the Stone Hall also changed, a hundred-zhang-sized dark red magic array appearing on its surface, with countless tiny dark red runes jumping within.
A deafening boom shook the air, a massive dark red light pillar bursting forth from the magic array, piercing the sky.
The light pillar contained billions of dark red runes, radiating an aura of immense power, yet also sharp and unparalleled, as if capable of piercing the heavens.
All of this seemed complex, but it was merely a matter of an instant.
Another thunderous boom shook the air, the White Bone Giant Claw was sent flying.
Bone Emperor himself stumbled backward, his massive body trembling.
Xue Li and the others, standing near Bone Emperor, were also affected by the dark red light pillar, sent flying like leaves in a storm.
The four Da Luo initial-stage cultivators under Bone Emperor's command were caught off guard, their bodies exploding into a bloody mist before they could even cry out.
Xue Li, the Black-Faced Giant, and the Black-Robed Specter were able to retreat in time, narrowly avoiding disaster.
Gui Wu, being a mere remnant soul, should have been the weakest, but she somehow managed to avoid the attack, using an unknown divine technique to evade the danger.
As for Han Li and the others, they were originally standing at a safe distance, and Han Li had led them to retreat further just before the dark red light pillar appeared, so they were unscathed.
"Master, isn't that Jiao San? How did she end up here? Isn't this the domain of the Zhuan Lun Wang?" Ti Hu asked Han Li through transmission.
"Perhaps...this Zhuan Lun Wang is connected to the Wheel of Rebirth?" Jin Tong speculated.
"Let's not reveal our relationship with Jiao San for now, and observe the situation," Han Li transmitted.
Ti Hu and Jin Tong nodded in agreement.
Han Li then transmitted to Shi Chuan Kong and Zi Ling, instructing them not to act rashly, and they naturally didn't object.
However, Shi Chuan Kong's face looked somewhat troubled.
Earlier, when Han Li had released him and Zi Ling from the spatial seal, he had only just learned that many people were vying for the Six Paths Wheel of Rebirth, and he had been forced to join Bone Emperor's team.
As a result, the opportunity to borrow the treasure had greatly decreased, and he seemed to have been drawn into a mysterious conflict.
Zi Ling, on the other hand, reacted with remarkable calmness, as if she had long been accustomed to such extraordinary circumstances, and merely trusted Han Li's decisions.
"If we encounter any trouble later, you can still enter the Flower Branch Space," Han Li said, noticing Shi Chuan Kong's unease.
Han Li's gaze then shifted, looking back at the Stone Hall below.
Jiao San's display of the Wheel of Rebirth's power was earth-shaking, and had even forced Bone Emperor to retreat.
The Wheel of Rebirth's restrictive aura surrounding the Stone Hall was no ordinary thing, and was likely set up by the rumored master of the Wheel of Rebirth.
Combining Gui Wu's words, the true identity of the Zhuan Lun Wang occupying this land was about to be revealed, and it was likely that the master of the Wheel of Rebirth was hiding within the Stone Hall.
And Jiao San, who had boldly faced Bone Emperor alone, showed no signs of fear, as if the master of the Wheel of Rebirth was indeed within the hall.
Jiao San was able to temporarily repel the Bone Emperor with the help of the surrounding restrictions, but her face flashed with a hint of pain.
It was clear that with her current abilities, forcibly activating the restrictions in this place was still too much of a strain.
The Bone Emperor, who had been shocked back two steps by a Great Luo realm junior, was furious, and his anger was not directed at the four subordinates who had fallen, but rather at Jiao San. He punched out with his fist.
The white bone giant claw also clenched into a fist, resembling a massive rod that stretched across the sky, and with the Bone Emperor's movement, it also punched out with a speed that exceeded human thought. The Bone Emperor's arm had just moved, and the giant bone fist had already struck the dark red light barrier.
Jiao San immediately incanted and activated the surrounding Wheel of Rebirth restrictions to counterattack, but her reaction speed was much slower than the Bone Emperor's. She was only able to activate a portion of the Wheel of Rebirth restrictions.
The two massive forces collided with a deafening crash!
The Bone Emperor and Jiao San had clashed twice before, but each time, one side would use their divine ability, and the other would first withstand it before counterattacking. This was the first time they had clashed head-on.
The two light auras, one white and one red, collided and exploded violently, and the nearby void was ravaged, space fragments and other things were instantly destroyed, and a massive storm swept across the area.
This storm was different from ordinary storms, as it was filled with white and dark red light, each beam of light resembling a sharp knife that cut through the void, causing it to shatter and fragment.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as a tangible golden light burst forth from his body, instantly enveloping Shi Chuan Kong and the others, before flying towards a distant location, avoiding the massive storm.
Xue Li and the others also quickly fled, but their speed was slightly slower than Han Li's.
Xue Li was able to react quickly, and his body was surrounded by a blazing blood light, which transformed into a burning blood-colored rainbow, allowing him to escape.
However, the black-faced giant, the black-robed ghost, and the three others were not so lucky, as they were swept up by the massive storm.
The black-faced giant, who had been injured by the island's restrictions, was unable to recover, and his face immediately changed as he was swept up by the storm.
He let out a loud roar, and his body transformed into a massive, double-headed, four-armed black skeleton.
The skeleton's body was covered in cracks, likely due to its previous injuries.
A layer of black flames erupted from the skeleton's body, blocking the storm's attack, and it flew outwards.
The black-robed ghost also let out a sharp cry, and its body transformed into a long, thin, half-transparent black snake, which also flew outwards, its speed faster than the black skeleton.
The storm swept past the black snake, and some of it even penetrated its body.
However, the black snake was not unscathed, as its body rapidly shrunk, and its aura weakened.
Just as it was about to escape the storm, a gray, ghostly light shot out from the storm and entered the black snake's body. It was the ghost of Gui Wu.
The black snake's face contorted in fear, and it opened its mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
A layer of gray light spread across the black snake's body, and it rapidly expanded, covering its entire body. The black snake transformed into a gray color.
The black snake's face also changed, and it transformed into Gui Wu's face.
The gray light on the black snake's body flashed once more, and then it retracted, transforming back into the black snake's original form.
The black snake continued to fly outwards, and with a swift motion, it escaped the storm.
The black snake flew a short distance before stopping, and its body transformed back into the black-robed ghost's form.
Xue Li was also present.
The black-faced giant, who had transformed into a skeleton, also flew out, and landed near the black-robed ghost, transforming back into his original form.
"Where's Gui Wu?" Xue Li asked.
"I didn't see him, perhaps he died in the storm," the black-faced giant replied, his expression unchanged.
Xue Li looked towards the gray stone temple, where the storm was still raging, and everything was being destroyed.
He quickly looked away, not asking any further questions.
Han Li and the others had also reached a relatively safe distance, and they turned to look towards the stone temple.
Although the storm blocked their view, they could still see the situation at the temple.
The dark red light barrier around the temple was violently shaking, and had thinned out by more than half, but it still had not shattered, stubbornly resisting the white bone giant fist.
Inside the dark red light barrier, Jiao San's face was pale, and a stream of blood flowed from her mouth, clearly showing that she had suffered severe injuries.
However, she was still stubbornly incanting and casting spells, trying to stabilize the dark red light barrier and the surrounding Yellow Spring's restrictions.
The Bone Emperor coldly laughed, and raised his hand, pointing at Jiao San.
The white bone giant fist suddenly burst forth with a brilliant light, and then one of its fingers exploded, transforming into a wave of white bone-colored light.
The light wave penetrated the dark red light barrier, but it had also weakened by more than half.
Jiao San's face changed, and she quickly flew back, her hands waving as she cast a series of dark red light beams to block the attack. Only the bone-white light wave's speed was too fast, instantly catching up and breaking through the dark red light's obstruction, although it weakened again, it still swept past Jiao San's body.
Jiao San's body immediately let out a sound like popping beans, her mouth overflowing with blood, and her breath weakening rapidly.
Her internal bones were all cracked, and her internal organs suffered severe damage.
If not for Jiao San's cultivation of the reincarnation law, which resisted part of the bone-white light wave's power, she would have already exploded and died.
She took a deep breath, and didn't fall down, barely stabilizing her body.
Just then, "Boom!" Another bone finger exploded.
A wave of bone-white light once again seeped into the light shield, heading towards Jiao San.
Jiao San was already struggling to stand, with no strength left to escape, and her eyes showed a desperate expression, but it quickly disappeared. For some reason, she looked up in the direction of Han Li, her gaze complex.
Far away, Han Li saw this scene, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Just then, two figures flew up from below, blocking Jiao San's body, and it was the Cow Head and Horse Face ghost generals from below.
"Junior Master, we'll block the Bone Emperor's attack, you quickly go in and warn the Lord!" the Cow Head ghost general roared, swinging his iron staff forward.
A series of staff shadows appeared, forming a staff mountain.
Each staff shadow had large patches of red and blue light, which merged into a flower, heading towards the bone-white light wave.
The Horse Face ghost general also swung his red crystal lock chain and peeled ghost claw, and the air in front of him crackled with a loud noise, as countless red lock chains appeared, weaving into a lock chain wall.
The lock chain wall in front of the white light flashed, and a small mountain-sized white bone ghost claw appeared, with white bone flames burning on it, grasping towards the bone-white light wave.
The Cow Head and Horse Face ghost generals' cultivation had reached the Great Luo realm, and their joint attack was quite powerful.
The bone-white light wave silently descended, and the two ghost generals' attack was like paper, instantly shattering.
The Cow Head and Horse Face ghost generals had expected their attack wouldn't have much effect, but it was so easily broken through, and their faces still showed a shocked expression.
However, they didn't retreat, and instead charged towards the bone-white light wave, their bodies flashing with black light, and their breath rapidly expanding, before suddenly exploding.
But the bone-white light wave's speed suddenly increased, and before the two ghost generals could explode, it swept past their bodies.
The two ghost generals' bodies immediately stopped, and their internal bones let out a series of crisp sounds, before turning into a puddle of flesh.
The bone-white light wave continued to surge downwards, and in an instant, it reached Jiao San's body, and descended.
The Cow Head and Horse Face ghost generals hadn't managed to stall for much time, and Jiao San's internal situation was still a mess, with no improvement.
She smiled bitterly, and closed her eyes, waiting for death.
Just then, "Hum!" A wave of golden light suddenly appeared, enveloping the gray stone temple.
The bone-white light wave paused, and its speed immediately slowed down by several dozen times.
Far away, Han Li's body was surrounded by a golden glow, and his surroundings were filled with a golden wave, forming a large golden spiritual domain.
The wailing souls, Jin Tong, and the others had disappeared without a trace.
Jiao San felt the change in her surroundings, and opened her eyes, showing a surprised expression, and barely managed to dodge to the side, avoiding the bone-white light wave's attack.
"You human brat, I knew you had ulterior motives, but I didn't expect you to be so bold. If it wasn't for your special physique and divine soul, which can help me resist the Heavenly Way, I would have killed you on the spot!" the Bone Emperor said coldly, and swung his hand.
Han Li's head was met with a loud explosion, and a white bone giant claw appeared, grasping downwards.
The giant claw's power was immense, and the air, space, and vital energy around it were all frozen, turning into an unbreakable diamond.
But before the giant claw appeared, a golden great path had already appeared under Han Li's feet, and his figure immediately became blurry, disappearing before the giant claw's power could reach him.
The dark red light shield in front of the void moved, and a golden great path emerged, trying to enter the dark red light shield, but was blocked.
The golden great path's figure flashed, and Han Li's figure appeared on it.
This golden great path was the True Words Sect's teleportation divine ability, the "Ten Directions Great Path", which he had cultivated when he received the inheritance from the Old Ancestor Miro in the Yan Luo's estate.
"Jiao San, quickly let me in!" Han Li urgently transmitted his voice to Jiao San.
He had currently cultivated the divine ability, but he didn't think he could face the Bone Emperor alone.
Jiao San seemed to be shocked by the situation, but she quickly reacted, and pointed her finger at the dark red light shield.
"You think you can just leave? Come back!" the Bone Emperor suddenly turned his head, and swung his hand.
The bone fist that hit the light shield suddenly turned into a claw, and grasped towards Han Li.
The bone claw hadn't reached Han Li yet, but a powerful and strange law had already arrived, directly piercing through Han Li's protective law, and seeping into his body.
Han Li's intuition told him that the void around him was tightening, and his bones were making a cracking sound, as if they would shatter at any moment.
His body was trembling uncontrollably, as if it would explode at any moment.
Han Li's heart sank, and he let out a long whistle. The golden light around him burst forth, and his spiritual domain instantly became several times denser.
The True Speech Treasure Wheel, the Time Severing Torch, the Time Purifying Vessel, the Illusory Time Hourglass, and the Eastern Yi Divine Tree – all five of these objects appeared and surrounded his body, rapidly rotating and emitting dazzling golden light.
The True Speech Treasure Wheel spun continuously, releasing a boundless golden light that illuminated the surroundings like a full moon.
The Time Severing Torch's flames danced and shot out in all directions, like a dense rain of fire.
A long, winding river of time flowed out of the Time Purifying Vessel, carrying a mighty force that rushed towards the surroundings.
The Illusory Time Hourglass let out a "puff" sound and transformed into a vast expanse of golden sand, supporting Han Li's body.
The Eastern Yi Divine Tree sprouted and grew rapidly, transforming into a dense forest that filled the surroundings.
Han Li's spiritual domain condensed into a solid, and the gray-white stone temple nearby underwent a great transformation, instantly becoming a real world.
In an instant, the five powerful time laws that had evolved from the five elements intertwined, instantly dispelling the strange laws emitted by the White Bone Giant Claw.
Han Li's face relaxed, and he poured all his strength into activating the Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique. His spiritual domain's power surged, but its range did not expand.
The larger the spiritual domain's range, the more its power would be dispersed. Facing the Ancestor, Han Li naturally would not make such a mistake.
The Bone Emperor's eyes flashed with soul fire, and he formed a seal with his hand. A bone-white light shot out, merging with the White Bone Giant Claw.
The White Bone Giant Claw emitted a brilliant light, and the two shattered bone fingers instantly restored themselves, resembling five giant blades that fiercely slashed at Han Li's spiritual domain.
With a "sizzling" sound, Han Li's spiritual domain was instantly torn apart, creating five massive fissures that almost split it into six parts.
However, the five time laws within his spiritual domain continued to flow rapidly, refusing to break. They tenaciously defended their position.
Just then, Jiao San finally completed his spell, forming a seal with his hand. A dark red light shot out from his fingertips, entering the dark red light shield surrounding Han Li.
The light shield rippled, opening a narrow passageway just large enough for one person to pass through.
Han Li saw this and reacted quickly, reversing the rotation of the True Speech Treasure Wheel. His body transformed into a series of residual shadows, instantly entering the dark red light shield.
His time spiritual domain suddenly shrunk to a size of several dozen meters, its dense time laws flowing rapidly and firmly covering the passageway, preventing others from entering.
Jiao San immediately formed a seal, closing the passageway on the light shield.
However, a bone-white light shot out like a bolt of lightning, tearing through the time laws within Han Li's spiritual domain and appearing before the passageway. It was a several-meter-long white bone spear.
The bone spear's surface flowed with countless twisted symbols, emitting a dense and intense aura of death. It rapidly rotated, its piercing power astonishing.
In the distance, the Bone Emperor raised his arm, making a throwing motion.
He then transformed into a residual shadow, flying towards Han Li.
Han Li's heart trembled with fear. If the Bone Emperor entered the light shield, everything would be over.
He let out a loud roar, and the time laws within his body surged out, merging with his spiritual domain.
The golden spiritual domain's fissures instantly healed, and the True Speech Treasure Wheel's light burst forth, becoming ten times brighter. The five time laws within his spiritual domain rumbled and flowed, making everything within the domain become hazy.
The bone spear stopped in its tracks, its light rapidly weakening, its aura fading.
"What kind of divine ability is this?"
At the same time, Han Li activated the Heavenly Extermination Imprisonment Technique, and his body's 1,799 acupoints burst forth with dazzling light.
At this critical moment, the twelve true spirit bloodlines within his body were simultaneously activated, operating recklessly and without restraint. He then punched the bone spear with all his might.
A loud "hum" sound echoed, and the twelve true spirit shadows appeared around Han Li's body, flickering before merging back into his body.
Han Li's body suddenly emitted a massive amount of dark black light, which rotated and transformed into a gigantic black vortex. A terrifying suction force emerged from the vortex, drawing in everything around him.
The surrounding space shook violently, and one after another, spatial passageways appeared, seemingly connecting countless planes.
A surge of pure yuan qi poured out from these passageways, containing various types of yuan qi. The most abundant was demonic qi, and there was also a type of yuan qi that originated from the gray-white palace's interior, which was exceptionally thick.
All the yuan qi converged towards Han Li, merging into his body.
A sound like shattering glass echoed from within Han Li's body, and a bright crystal light appeared on his forehead. At the center of the crystal light was a bright acupoint.
During his time in the Eight Wastes Mountain's secret realm, Han Li had opened 1,799 of the 1,800 acupoints in the Heavenly Extermination Imprisonment Technique, leaving only the last acupoint's barrier unusually firm and unbreakable.
At this moment, Han Li's life was at stake, and he operated the Heavenly Extermination Imprisonment Technique and the twelve true spirit bloodlines without restraint. The last acupoint finally broke through.
His body emitted a dazzling purple-black light, and he grew numerous purple-black scales. His body expanded to over a hundred times its original size, transforming into a massive purple-black giant.
The purple-black giant's head emitted a flashing purple-black light, and eleven more heads grew, each with a different expression – anger, joy, indifference, sorrow, and more. It seemed to encompass all the emotions in the world.
The giant's back let out a series of muffled sounds, and twenty-four arms emerged, each with a different hand gesture – some with fingers splayed, others grasping or waving.
These arms seemed to be capable of capturing and manipulating souls. "A loud boom echoed, and a burst of purple-black light exploded from the giant demon's body, surging outward and causing the surrounding dark red light shield to tremble.
Everything happened in an instant.
Han Li was shocked by the changes in his body, and his heart was filled with joy, but his fist moved faster than his thoughts. He struck the bone spear with a single punch.
A massive, earth-shaking force descended, and a deafening boom shook the air. The bone spear exploded, turning into countless bone-white lights that scattered in all directions.
However, the shattered lights were swept up by the massive force, blasting out of the dark red light shield's channel.
The light shield's channel flashed with dark red light, and the light shield's entrance suddenly closed.
A figure appeared outside the light shield, and the Bone Emperor's shadow emerged, a step too late. A furious roar escaped his lips.
Jiao San's eyes widened, and he let out a sigh of relief, but his face suddenly turned pale. He spat out a mouthful of blood, and his body began to shake once more.
The previous spell had stirred up his injuries.
Han Li saw this and waved his hand, releasing a golden light that enveloped Jiao San's body, stabilizing his form. At the same time, a vast and pure spiritual energy flowed into Jiao San's body.
This energy was exceptionally effective against physical injuries, and Jiao San's wounds immediately recovered by more than half.
Her face lit up with joy, and she quickly formed a hand seal.
The dark red light shield flashed brightly, and its thickness increased significantly. A dark red magic array appeared on the light shield's surface once more.
Countless tiny dark red symbols erupted from the magic array, and a loud, crackling sound filled the air. Thick, dark red chains shot out from the magic array, wrapping around the Bone Emperor.
The Bone Emperor raised his hand, and a crescent-shaped, bone-white light appeared. Countless bone-white symbols danced within the light, their energy far surpassing that of the previous bone spear. The surrounding air was filled with an intense, turbulent energy.
The dark red chains were easily severed with a faint "crack" sound.
The crescent light vanished, only to reappear in front of the dark red light shield. The Bone Emperor struck down with a swift, slashing motion.
The light shield shook violently, its surface trembling wildly as it rapidly thinned.
Jiao San's face turned pale, and she desperately formed a hand seal to stabilize the light shield. However, the crescent light's power was too great, and Jiao San's injuries made it impossible for her to fully activate the surrounding magic array. The light shield continued to shake, its surface growing increasingly thin.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he formed a hand seal. A golden light shot out from his fingertips, releasing a powerful temporal law that merged with Jiao San's body.
Jiao San's body resonated with the temporal law, and the surrounding dark red light shield stabilized, completely withstanding the crescent light's attack.
At this moment, the severed chains suddenly sprang back to life, wrapping around the Bone Emperor with incredible agility. In an instant, they had bound him into a large, dark red bundle.
"Explode!"
The dark red light shield flashed brightly, and Jiao San's eyes gleamed with a fierce light. She let out a sharp cry.
A massive explosion shook the air, and the bundle of chains burst open, transforming into a dark red, blazing sun.
A fierce, turbulent energy erupted, creating a massive whirlwind that swept outward.
"Bone Emperor!" a distant, black-faced man exclaimed, his voice filled with shock.
The dark, ghostly figure beside him, whose body was occupied by the spirit, trembled slightly but remained silent.
Jiao San formed another hand seal, and the crescent light's attack created a massive, dark red vortex on the light shield's surface. A powerful, devouring energy emanated from the vortex, and the crescent light vanished into it.
After completing these actions, Jiao San's face relaxed, and she turned to Han Li, asking, "Thank you, Han... fellow cultivator, for your assistance... but how did you end up here? You were with these thieves just now; do you have some ulterior motive?"
"I am not allied with these people," Han Li replied.
As he spoke, he formed a hand seal, and his body flashed with purple-black light. His form rapidly shrank, returning to its human shape, and the surrounding temporal domain dissipated.
Using the Heaven-Slaying Prison technique and the temporal domain had exhausted his spiritual energy. Since he had entered the light shield, he no longer needed to continue expending his energy.
"That's good," Jiao San said, her face relaxing.
However, she soon noticed Han Li's gaze fixed intently on the distant, dark red sun, his brow furrowed in concern.
"Could it be?" Jiao San's heart tightened.
Just then, a sudden, unexpected change occurred!
Under the gaze of Han Li and Jiao San, the rolling dark red sun suddenly went into a frenzy of violent convulsions.
The next moment, the sun seemed to have come to life as it rapidly expanded and contracted, its rhythm growing faster and faster!
Han Li watched all of this with his eyes, his pupils suddenly contracting sharply.
Almost at the same time, a large patch of white light burst forth from the surface of the sun, and the entire sun suddenly split into two, transforming into a trail of residual light that scattered in all directions.
The skeletal figure of Gu Huang emerged, seemingly unscathed, with not even a single thread of his long robes torn.
His eyes blazed with fierce soul fire, but he did not make another move.
After several exchanges that ended in a stalemate, it was clear that he had put aside his underestimation of the two humans who had originally been beneath his notice.
Although they appeared to be only at the Mahayana stage, with a vast gap between them, the Great Reincarnation Array was incredibly powerful, allowing the two of them to resist Gu Huang's attacks.
At this moment, Xue Li, the black-faced giant, and the black-robed specter flew over from a distance, landing beside Gu Huang.
"Gu Huang, are you alright?" the black-faced giant asked with concern.
Gu Huang did not respond, instead raising his hand and unleashing a burst of blinding white light from his palm.
"Rumble, rumble!"
The entire sky immediately churned and rolled once more, as countless white bone lights descended from the heavens, intertwining and forming a massive tidal wave that crashed down upon the gray-white stone temple.
The gray-white stone temple and the surrounding dark red light shield were shaken once more, as if a lone boat in a stormy sea, seeming to totter on the brink of collapse.
Han Li and Jiao San's faces changed, and they simultaneously raised their hands, using the Law of Resonance to try and stabilize the Great Reincarnation Array.
However, after releasing this massive wave of white bone light, Gu Huang did not seize the opportunity to attack, instead turning his head to gaze at the black-robed specter and saying in a cold voice, "Gui Wu, stop pretending. You've possessed the body of the black-robed cultivator, thinking that I wouldn't notice."
"Hehe, indeed, I couldn't hide it from Gu Huang," the black-robed specter said with a laugh, his body shrinking rapidly as he transformed into a gray-robed man, revealed to be Gui Wu.
Xue Li and the black-faced giant were shocked by this scene.
"Earlier, in the midst of the storm, my residual soul was on the verge of annihilation, and I was forced to possess the body of the black-robed cultivator to save myself. I beg Gu Huang's pardon for this transgression," Gui Wu said, bowing to Gu Huang.
"You know that I'm not at liberty to use my full strength. Go and kill that human cultivator for me, and I'll forgive you for possessing the body. You've been by his side for a long time, so don't tell me you haven't collected his aura seed," Gu Huang said coldly.
"Of course, I have no problem with that. Since he's joined the Turning Wheel King, he's an enemy of the Nether Realm. Gu Huang has shown me great kindness, and I'll do my best to repay it," Gui Wu said with a smile, before spitting out a small gray light.
A small, gray-black figurine emerged, no larger than a few inches, and incredibly lifelike.
However, the figurine's face had no features, giving it an eerie appearance.
Gui Wu took out a gray talisman, upon which was inscribed a circular symbol, seemingly a sealing technique. The center of the symbol flashed with a golden light, emitting Han Li's aura.
Gui Wu stuck the talisman to the blank face of the figurine, and the talisman shattered with a "ripping" sound, releasing countless gray symbols that wrapped around the golden light, merging with the figurine's body.
The figurine's body shook violently, as if it was about to come to life, and its face flashed with a faint light, revealing a face that was vaguely similar to Han Li's.
Inside the dark red light shield, Han Li suddenly looked up, gazing towards the depths of the white bone light, a look of confusion on his face.
"You're the one who's walking into this trap, so don't blame me for being ruthless."
Gui Wu muttered to himself, a cruel smile spreading across his face, as he raised his other hand, revealing seven black needles that shone with a dark, eerie light.
He snapped his fingers, and the seven black needles shot out, piercing the figurine's chest, heart, and other vital points, emerging from the other side.
The figurine's body burst forth with seven streams of blood, scattering everywhere, and a stream of blood flowed from its mouth.
Inside the light shield, Han Li's body suddenly experienced seven simultaneous explosions of blood, as if his body had been pierced by seven invisible needles.
Moreover, his mind was filled with intense pain, as seven blurry black needle shadows pierced his soul.
Han Li let out a cry of pain, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his aura plummeting.
"Han Li, what's happening to you?" Jiao San asked in alarm, seeing Han Li's condition.
Han Li did not respond, his eyes closed, his face twisted in agony.
At this moment, seven sinister forces were rampaging through his mind, threatening to destroy his soul.
He felt his head swelling with pain, as if it was about to explode, and his mind was filled with an unbearable agony.
Fortunately, his soul was incredibly strong, and he did not collapse, as a massive golden light burst forth, enveloping his body.
A vast, temporal law enveloped his body, and the seven wounds on his body stopped bleeding, while the seven black needle shadows in his mind faded significantly, and the pain in his mind diminished.
Han Li let out a sigh of relief, opening his eyes, and waving his hand gently.
A silvery light flashed, and the ghostly figures of Ti Hu and others appeared.
"Go and help Jiao San guard the seal!"
Han Li said quickly, before turning his attention to his own body, sitting down in a cross-legged position, and using the Five Elements Fantastical World Technique and the Refining Spirit Technique to refine the seven sinister forces within his mind. The time law that had been assisting Han Li was gone, and the power of the Reincarnation Array had greatly decreased. The dark red light screen's radiance plummeted, and under the impact of the surrounding white bone light, it began to shake violently once more.
Jiao San saw this and hastily made a hand seal, using all his strength to stabilize the light screen.
However, a massive force from outside transmitted into him, striking Jiao San and making his face turn pale in an instant.
Tie Hun and the others didn't know what to do, so they could only use their hands to block the invasive forces, sharing some of the pressure on Jiao San.
Outside the light screen, Gui Wu's brow was furrowed as he gazed at the puppet in front of him.
The fresh blood on the puppet's body had stopped flowing, and Han Li's facial features had dimmed, but hadn't disappeared.
"Hmm, it's actually not dead? How rare," Gui Wu muttered.
Blood Li, who was standing beside him, coldly laughed and said, "Enough, everyone, let's work together to break this Reincarnation Array in one go!"
Guhuang loudly shouted, his voice urgent, as if he was anxious. He waved his hand, and a massive white bone mountain appeared behind him, composed of countless skeletal remains, emitting a powerful and intense law fluctuation.
Next, a massive white bone claw emerged from the mountain, grasping the dark red light screen.
Blood Li also let out a long cry, and an endless amount of blood light surged out of his body, forming a blood cloud that covered the sky.
He swung the massive axe in his hand, and the blood cloud instantly gathered together, forming a massive blood axe that spanned the sky, with scorching hot electricity crackling on the blade.
As Blood Li swung the axe, the blood axe in the air also descended, striking the light screen.
Almost at the same time, the black-faced big man once again used his divine ability, summoning the two-headed, four-armed ghost king.
The ghost king's four fists were enveloped in a dark glow, and then suddenly became blurry.
Countless fist silhouettes appeared, rapidly striking the Reincarnation Array.
Gui Wu wasn't skilled in physical attacks, but he also spat out a black light beam that struck the dark red light screen.
The four people's attacks simultaneously landed on the dark red light screen, causing a deafening explosion.
Jiao San's body violently trembled, and blood gushed out of her seven orifices.
However, her eyes shone brightly, and she used all her strength to activate the Reincarnation Array, without any intention of retreating.
The dark red light screen violently flashed, rapidly becoming thin, and was on the verge of shattering.
The palace below also appeared to be on the verge of collapse, with cracks spreading across its surface.
At this moment, a massive power surged out from the palace below, pouring into the Reincarnation Array.
The Reincarnation Array burst forth with a dark red light, emitting a sharp, ear-piercing whine, as if it was cheering in joy.
The dark red light screen instantly recovered, becoming even thicker, and countless dark red light beams shot out, causing a deafening explosion. The attacks from Guhuang and the others were directly repelled.
Guhuang's body shook violently, and he stumbled back two steps before regaining his balance. The light on his body flashed wildly, revealing his shock.
Blood Li and the others were even more miserable, being directly blown away.
Jiao San saw this and finally relaxed, her tense nerves easing. However, her body's injuries and exhaustion finally caught up with her, and she fell towards the ground.
A dark red light suddenly appeared, supporting Jiao San's body, and a figure emerged beside her – the master of the Reincarnation Hall.
"Hall Master, is it... over?" Jiao San asked, her eyes shining with difficulty.
"Jiuzhen, you've worked hard. Rest well, and let me handle the rest," the Reincarnation Hall Master said softly, waving his hand.
Jiao San felt a massive, warm energy flow into her body, circulating once before disappearing.
Her injuries were completely healed, and her depleted spiritual energy was restored to nearly half. She stood up, overjoyed.
Tie Hun and the others, who hadn't been injured, also changed their expressions upon seeing the Reincarnation Hall Master's imposing manner. They flew to Han Li's side, standing guard.
Han Li's body flashed with golden light, and he stood up, looking at the Reincarnation Hall Master with a dazed expression.
The person before him had a blurry face, and Han Li couldn't see his features, but for some reason, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.
The Reincarnation Hall Master glanced at Han Li, then quickly shifted his gaze to Guhuang, saying, "Guhuang, it's been a long time."
"I've always wanted to see you, but unfortunately, I never had the chance," Guhuang said coldly.
"The current timing seems to be quite good," the Reincarnation Hall Master said.
"It's not just good, it's a rare opportunity! You're not even a match for me in terms of cultivation, and now you're weakened. Can you still be my opponent?" Guhuang's eyes flashed with soul fire as he spoke.
"I didn't expect you to still be so reckless, even using the Dao Ancestor's power to activate the law. It seems the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk is quite enticing to you," the Reincarnation Hall Master said, his figure moving as he flew out of the dark red light screen.
(Forgetful's note: I'll only be posting one chapter today, as I have some things to attend to. See you all tomorrow!)
"You've monopolized the Six Paths of Reincarnation for far too long, it's time for a change in ownership! Since I've arrived, I've already made all the necessary preparations!" Bone Emperor sneered, saying.
As soon as his words fell, his two bone arms stretched out to the sides, then rotated upwards and downwards, his five fingers forming a strange hand seal.
His eyes suddenly blazed with intense soul fire, like two raging flames, and his aura surged upwards, his entire body becoming even whiter and more translucent. However, his bones began to show fine cracks on the surface.
Behind him, a massive white bone spirit domain emerged, expanding rapidly in all directions before disappearing into the distance.
In an instant, the surrounding area of hundreds of millions of miles was covered by this spirit domain, which continued to expand.
This spirit domain was enormous, directly enveloping the Black River, Earthly Demons, and Yanluo realms, and it was still expanding rapidly, as if it would soon cover the entire Underworld.
The sky tore apart, and bone-shaped lights emerged, radiating an immense force of law, as if the Heavenly Dao had descended.
As the white bone spirit domain passed through, all ghostly creatures with higher cultivation realms could resist it to some extent, while those with lower cultivation realms were instantly torn apart, their bones flying out and merging into the spirit domain.
Furthermore, the white bone spirit domain seeped into the void, covering the lower realms.
In those realms, it was as if a catastrophe had struck!
In an instant, countless living beings exploded, dying instantly, their bones flying out and forming massive rivers of white bones that merged into a vortex in the air.
Innumerable bones converged from all directions, merging into the white bone spirit domain that Bone Emperor had created, forming a massive mountain peak that radiated boundless white light.
Clearly, Bone Emperor had finally revealed his true power as the Dao Ancestor!
Inside the Reincarnation Array, Zi Ling's eyes turned black, and she fainted, but was caught by Han Li.
Shi Chuan Kong's face turned pale, and he sat down on the ground with a thud.
Jin Tong's situation was slightly better, but his face was covered in cold sweat, and his body swayed unsteadily.
Han Li's mind was shaken, and he felt a wave of dizziness. He hastily activated his time law and Lian Shen technique to stabilize his mind.
He felt a shiver run down his spine as he realized that the Dao Ancestor's full power was truly terrifying.
However, the Reincarnation Palace Master smiled slightly and raised his hand.
A massive, six-pointed wheel of reincarnation appeared in front of him, its surface radiating a kaleidoscope of colors.
From within the wheel, countless figures emerged, each with a unique shape and appearance, but they only flashed by for an instant, leaving behind an indescribable sense of vastness.
This wheel seemed to be under the Palace Master's control, as if everything within it moved according to his will.
It was as if he had grasped the cycles of life and death across countless realms.
All living beings, be they human, demon, or ghost, were under his control, unable to escape the wheel of reincarnation.
The six-pointed wheel rotated slowly, and the massive mountain of white bones suddenly stopped, then shattered into fragments, like a crushed egg.
Bone Emperor's body emerged, his lower half and one arm shattered, his mouth open in a terrified scream as he tried to flee, but he was unable to move.
"You've also heard that those who challenged my Dao Ancestor either entered the wheel of reincarnation or submitted to me. But now, you have no chance to take either path," the Palace Master said with a sigh, waving his sleeve.
The six-pointed wheel emitted a massive suction force, and Bone Emperor was drawn into the wheel of reincarnation.
The white bones in the air were also absorbed by the wheel, disappearing without a trace.
The wheel then flashed and disappeared into the void.
The turbulent void quickly calmed down, and space returned to normal.
"The Three Thousand Great Paths have lost another one. Who knows when it will reappear?" the Palace Master murmured, gazing at the calm void.
Witnessing Bone Emperor's sudden demise, the others were shocked to the core.
They had never imagined that the Turning Wheel King, who had once manipulated them, was not only cunning but also possessed incredible powers, making him a truly terrifying existence. In that year, my incarnation left you a thread of life, and you were able to break free, so you should have cherished it, why did you come here to seek death?" The master of the Wheel of Rebirth looked at Xue Li and the others, shaking his head.
"Spare our lives, Wheel of Rebirth King..." Xue Li and the others had already been terrified, kneeling on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly.
"People often don't know the hardships of life, why are you ghosts from the underworld so stubborn, not knowing to repent until disaster strikes, but it's often too late, as the saying goes, 'those who commit evil will not live...'?" The master of the Wheel of Rebirth spoke in a detached tone, his eyes glancing at Han Li.
After speaking, he waved his sleeve, and a bloody aura surged out from his sleeve, spreading like smoke and dust.
Xue Li and the others were engulfed, their bodies turning to ashes, leaving only their white bones kneeling on the ground, still maintaining their previous posture.
But just a moment later, the white bones also turned to white crystal powder, scattering all over the ground.
Han Li stood aside, feeling his heart and spirit stirred, the master of the Wheel of Rebirth's power far surpassing his imagination.
At this time, the master of the Wheel of Rebirth suddenly turned his head, looking at Han Li, and said: "It's also time for us to meet, you've come yourself, saving me the trouble of sending someone to find you. Come with me into the hall."
Han Li heard this and his eyes flashed, a strange expression flickering in his eyes.
But he didn't hesitate, holding the Purple Spirit, and bringing the Wailing Soul and the others, he was about to walk towards the great hall.
"You and Jiao San come with me, the others wait outside." The master of the Wheel of Rebirth said, then turned and walked into the hall.
Han Li was taken aback, handing the Purple Spirit to the Wailing Soul, and nodding to Shi Chong and the others, indicating that he would be fine, then turned and walked away.
Jiao San followed behind Han Li, looking up at his back, a complex expression flashing in his eyes, and also walked in.
The heavy doors of the hall slowly closed, and the light inside the hall dimmed.
Han Li took a glance around, and found that the entire hall was very empty, with only a giant black stone stele standing in the back of the hall, with the two ancient characters "Wheel of Rebirth" written on it in red ink.
Han Li's eyes swept across, and his heart moved.
It seemed that this hidden force in the True Immortal Realm, which had been secretly opposing the Heavenly Court until now, was able to survive because it was hidden in this dark and mysterious place.
And this mysterious master of the Wheel of Rebirth, although his cultivation seemed to be below that of a Dao Ancestor, his true power had already surpassed that of an ordinary Dao Ancestor.
All of this made Han Li even more curious about the master of the Wheel of Rebirth.
For some reason, he felt a sense of familiarity with the master, and his intuition told him that the other party had no intention of harming him.
Just then, the master of the Wheel of Rebirth's body suddenly glowed, a dark red spiritual domain spreading out from his body, enveloping the entire hall.
Han Li was inside, and although he didn't feel any discomfort, he could clearly sense that his connection to the outside world had been severed, including his connection to the Wailing Soul and the others.
"Han Li, you've been involved in many things in the Wheel of Rebirth Hall, and you have a relationship with Jiao San, and this time you've also helped her, I should acknowledge your kindness." The master of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
"Jiao San has also helped me a lot, so there's no need to feel grateful." Han Li replied.
"Your cultivation of the Refining Spirit Technique has reached the fifth level, which is quite rare. But did Jiao San tell you about the benefits and drawbacks of this technique when she taught you the first few volumes?" The master of the Wheel of Rebirth asked.
"I do know some of the benefits and drawbacks, and I've also benefited from it, but this technique can't be stopped once it's started, or else there will be a risk of spiritual chaos." Han Li replied.
"That's correct, but you probably don't know why this technique is like this. I'll tell you the truth." The master of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
Han Li nodded, not speaking, waiting for the master to explain.
"This Refining Spirit Technique is a secret technique I created based on the Wheel of Rebirth's secret method, which rapidly increases the power of the spirit, but the source of this power is not from the outside world, but from the practitioner's own later lives, borrowing the spiritual power of their future reincarnations, once started, it cannot be stopped, so the higher the level of cultivation, the more spiritual power is borrowed, and the greater the power." The master of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
"This is like eating the seeds of the future, and the consequences will be endless, right?" Han Li's heart was shocked, and he said.
"Borrowing spiritual power for cultivation will not achieve perfection, and naturally, it will be countered by the spiritual thoughts of the future reincarnations, leading to madness and chaos... but if it can be cultivated to perfection, the fragmented spiritual power can be reunited, and a new balance can be achieved, and one will not be affected by the counterattack." The master of the Wheel of Rebirth nodded, and said.
"So, if cultivated to perfection, this technique is not only harmless, but also quite heaven-defying?" Han Li blurted out.
"In a sense, yes, but because the spiritual power of the future reincarnations is borrowed too much, once reincarnated, the spiritual power will be lost, and one will not have the qualifications to cultivate, and it's likely that one will be born as a foolish and ignorant person." The master of the Wheel of Rebirth said again.
"So, it's like walking on a path of no return." Han Li heard this, and fell into deep thought, and after a long time, he sighed and said.
The Rebirth Hall Master glanced at him and said, "With your current situation, completing your cultivation is not a problem. Take these two volumes of techniques, they will be useful to you. On the day of your great completion, your spirit and soul will be whole, and you will no longer need to worry about going mad. However, after completing the seventh layer, your path of rebirth and immortality will be severed. Whether you want to continue cultivating or not, you should consider it yourself."
As he finished speaking, he waved his hand, and a stream of light flashed towards Han Li. Han Li looked down and saw that he had received a white jade slip, which contained the techniques of the last two layers of the Refining Spirit Technique.
Han Li bowed his head and said, "Actually, there is only one path in front of me, which is to continue cultivating. As for the future, if I were to become an ordinary person, perhaps I would have the opportunity to reincarnate. But for someone like me, a cultivator, once I have embarked on the path of cultivation, I may not have the opportunity to reincarnate in the future."
The Rebirth Hall Master smiled and said, "You are quite perceptive, knowing when to cut off attachments. In this world, only those who can see through this point can achieve a state of no-self and attain the ancestral realm."
The Rebirth Hall Master stopped speaking and stood silently, his eyes fixed on Han Li, seemingly hesitant. Han Li waited for a moment, then spoke up, "Disciple has a question, may I ask for your guidance?"
The Rebirth Hall Master nodded, "Ask away."
Han Li glanced at Jiao San and said, "During my time at the Nine Yuan Observatory, I saw a woman who was practicing the Rebirth Technique. Her appearance and demeanor were very similar to those of a friend of mine. May I ask, where is she now? Can I see her?"
Jiao San's eyes flickered, and he took a step back involuntarily.
The Rebirth Hall Master asked, "Are you asking if that woman is your dao companion, Nangong Wan?"
Han Li's heart skipped a beat, but he maintained his composure, "Yes, that's what I'm asking."
Jiao San took a deep breath and turned to Han Li, his eyes filled with a mixture of emotions.
The Rebirth Hall Master said, "The person you are asking about is indeed here, but she is not Nangong Wan. To be precise, she is not your Nangong Wan."
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he felt a surge of hostility towards the Rebirth Hall Master. Even though the Rebirth Hall Master had been kind to him and had given him the techniques of the Refining Spirit Technique, if the matter involved Nangong Wan, it was different.
Han Li had dedicated his life to cultivation, and he had given up many things. He had few attachments, but Nangong Wan was one of them. If he lost this attachment, he would no longer be himself.
Nangong Wan was his reverse scale, his bottom line, and the softest part of his heart.
Han Li said, "Since she is here, I would like to see her. Whether she is my dao companion or not, I will be able to tell."
As he finished speaking, a figure emerged from behind the stone stele with the words "Rebirth" inscribed on it. Han Li turned to look and saw a woman in a blue palace dress, with skin as white as jade and a face as beautiful as a goddess. Her features were familiar, and Han Li felt a sense of warmth and nostalgia.
But what surprised him was that Nangong Wan's aura had increased dramatically, and she had already reached the level of a Mahayana cultivator. Moreover, her expression was not one of joy at being reunited with him, but rather one of confusion, doubt, guilt, and regret.
Han Li turned to the Rebirth Hall Master and asked, "What have you done to her?"
Jiao San stepped forward and said, "Han Daoist, don't be angry. The Hall Master only helped her recover her memories from her past life."
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise, and he asked, "What do you mean by 'her past life'?"
As he spoke, he took a step forward, wanting to pull Nangong Wan back to his side. The Rebirth Hall Master did not stop him, and Jiao San also did not intervene.
Just as Han Li was about to grab Nangong Wan's hand, she suddenly took a step back and looked at him with a mixture of confusion and guilt.
Han Li's hand froze in mid-air, and he looked at Nangong Wan in shock, calling out, "Wan'er..."
Nangong Wan's eyes flickered, and she seemed to remember something. She looked at Han Li with a mixture of emotions, and her eyes sparkled with tears.
Just then, Jiao San called out, "Mother..."
Nangong Wan's eyes snapped back to Jiao San, and she stopped in her tracks.
Jiao San removed his black mask, revealing his true face. Nan Gong Wan saw this and came to Jiao San's side, examining him for a moment before suddenly bursting into tears.
"You're Jiuzhen!" she exclaimed, looking at Jiao San's face with joy and wonder.
In the depths of her mind, she could feel the connection between them, the bond of shared blood.
Jiao San nodded heavily, tears streaming down his face as he wept silently.
Han Li's heart felt like it had been struck by a massive stone, sinking heavily as he turned to face the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth, his voice trembling with rage.
"What did you do to her?" he demanded.
"Nothing, I just restored her lost memories and cultivation," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth replied calmly.
Jiao San had never seen Han Li's face contorted in such a way before, and his heart felt a pang of sympathy. He spoke up, "The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth used the Six Paths of Rebirth to help her recover her memories from her past life. She is my mother, Gan Rufeng."
"Gan Rufeng... what does she have to do with me? I only know she's my Dao partner, my wife, my Nan Gong Wan!" Han Li thundered.
At the same time, his body erupted in a brilliant golden light, and the Time Domain surrounding him suddenly expanded, a wave of golden energy surging out and forcing Nan Gong Wan and Jiao San to stumble backward.
But the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth remained unmoved, waving his hand to summon a beam of light that swept over Han Li, causing the Time Domain energy to recoil and return to his body, where it dissipated without a trace.
Nan Gong Wan heard Han Li's thunderous roar and felt her entire body shudder, as if the memories of two lifetimes were flooding into her mind at once. Her face contorted in agony, she collapsed to the ground, clutching her head in her hands.
Han Li saw this and felt his heart tighten, rushing to her side, but the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth beat him to it, supporting her back and gently stroking her forehead.
As a beam of light flashed over her, Nan Gong Wan's face slowly relaxed, and she slipped into a deep sleep.
"The memories of her past life have resurfaced, and she's not yet able to handle it," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth explained, entrusting Nan Gong Wan to Jiao San's care.
Han Li's face twisted in rage, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white. "What right do you have to restore her memories?" he demanded.
"Because she's also my wife, my only Dao partner," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth replied calmly, his voice icy.
Han Li and Jiao San were both shocked by his words, their faces pale with astonishment.
"Jiuzhen, didn't you ask me before about your father, who he was and where he was?" the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth asked, his eyes filled with a deep affection as he turned to Jiao San.
As he spoke, he reached up and removed the black headscarf that had covered his face for so long, revealing his true appearance.
In that instant, the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's aura vanished, leaving Han Li and Jiao San staring at him in shock.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's face was ordinary, with deep-set eyes and a nose that was slightly too high. But what shocked Han Li and Jiao San was that his face was identical to Han Li's.
"Who are you?" Han Li demanded, his Time Domain surging open as he took a step forward.
He had experienced countless strange and fantastical things in his cultivation journey, but nothing had ever left him as shocked and bewildered as this.
His wife, his Dao partner, had suddenly become someone else's partner, and that someone else was identical to him.
This was no disguise or transformation technique, but a face that was genuinely identical to his own. No wonder he had always felt a sense of familiarity when looking at the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth.
"I am me, you are you, I am Han Li, you are also Han Li," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth sighed, his voice low and measured.
"What's going on?" Jiao San asked, feeling his strength draining away as he stared at the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth in confusion, Nan Gong Wan still cradled in his arms.
"I am Han Li, but I'm a Han Li who has reversed time, gone back to the past, abandoned time, and cultivated the Wheel of Rebirth," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth explained slowly.
Jiao San's face was a picture of shock, his eyes filled with confusion.
"You're Han Li, then... who am I?" Han Li asked, his voice trembling as he took a step forward, his finger pointing at the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth.
His mind was a jumble of thoughts, unable to calm down and think clearly. The scene before him was like nothing he had ever seen before, and yet, deep down, he felt a strange connection to the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth, a connection that went beyond words.
Even though their auras were completely different, that inexplicable bond was undeniable.
"You are you, I am I. I and you are alike, born in that remote mountain village in the mortal realm, and grew up watching the thatched roof of the black hut made of mud and straw. We have the same parents and siblings, the same mundane life... and in the end, we both left there, went through countless hardships, and sought out a hint of fate, finally ascending to this realm of True Immortals."
Han Li finally calmed down a bit, and a thought occurred to him. He opened his mouth to ask, "Is it possible that there are two Han Lis in this world, unless you are a product of my time-traveling?"
In Han Li's opinion, unless he were to travel back in time to the present, there would be no way for two versions of himself to exist. But why did this version of himself cultivate the Wheel of Reincarnation technique?
"No, that's not it. Even if I were to travel back in time, I wouldn't be able to stay for long. The laws of time would eventually consume the thread of time, and my physical body would return to its original timeline. You can't be me." Han Li shook his head, saying.
"Not quite, you and I are two separate lives. I am not a product of your time-traveling, but to me, you are like a product of my time-traveling." The Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation's face remained unchanged, his eyes calm and serene as he spoke.
Han Li heard these words, and his brow furrowed in confusion. He then became enraged.
Although the path of the immortal was long and arduous, Han Li had already walked a very long way. But the memories of his past in the mortal realm and the spiritual realm were still etched in his mind.
Qu Xuan, Mo Daifu, Li Fei Yu, Yin Yue, Yuan Yao, Da Yuan Sheng Jun, Bao Hua... the people he had met, the experiences he had, were all etched into his bones. If he were to say that he was the product of the Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation's time-traveling, wouldn't those memories be just mere memories?
"No, it's impossible... you cultivated the Wheel of Reincarnation technique, how could you have mastered the technique of time-travel? In my opinion, everything you're saying is a lie, no... this is all just an illusion!" Han Li shook his head, saying.
As his voice fell, the purple glow in his eyes intensified, and his Nine Yin Magic Eyes were activated to their limits. He gazed around, but the surroundings remained unchanged, without a single hint of variation.
"Bottle Spirit, Bottle Spirit... take me away from here, use time-travel, go anywhere, just leave this place..." Han Li's heart was screaming, his mind in turmoil.
"Han Li..." At this moment, a clear voice echoed in Han Li's mind, and it was the Bottle Spirit's voice.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and his turbulent emotions suddenly calmed down.
"He's not lying to you, not just you, but even I am a product of his time-traveling. He traveled back in time, and the flow of time changed, and a new Han Li was born in the mountain village, and that's you." The Bottle Spirit's words were like a sharp sword, piercing Han Li's heart.
"What's going on here?" Han Li's mind was more confused than ever, and he muttered to himself.
"I started from the mortal realm, grew up in the spiritual realm, relying on my four spiritual roots, and eventually stepped onto the path of immortality... when I finally reached the pinnacle of the time law, I threatened the position of the Time Dao Ancestor of the past and present... and in the end, I was defeated, and was about to be killed. At that moment, I scattered all my time law power, used up all my time dao threads and crystals, and gathered this immense power of time in the Palm of Heaven Bottle. After that, the bottle produced its first true reversal of time and space, and brought me back to a time even more ancient than the past." The Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation's calm gaze finally showed a hint of darkness, and he spoke slowly.
"When his time law power was infused into the Palm of Heaven Bottle, a series of changes occurred, and my spirit was born. At that time, it was still very weak, and after a long period of time, it finally transformed into the Bottle Spirit." The Bottle Spirit added.
Han Li heard these words, and finally calmed down completely. He thought for a long time before saying:
"So, it seems that I am myself, and you are yourself. We each took different paths in our cultivation."
"You can think of it that way. Because I performed a time-travel that had never been done before, many of your experiences may have changed due to my existence. It's as if you were supposed to meet Gan Ruoxue, but instead met Nan Gong Wan. Your connections to the Demon Realm, the Gray Realm, and the Barbarian Realm are much deeper than mine. It can be said that from the moment you entered the Immortal Realm, our paths diverged more and more, and it's almost as if we lived two separate lives." The Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation said.
"But how did you become the Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation?" Han Li asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
"I traveled back in time to an era before your birth, and abandoned my time law power. I was almost reduced to a cripple. What was despairing was that Guo or Jin had already occupied the position of Time Dao Ancestor. If I continued to cultivate my time law power, I would still be defeated by him. So, I switched to cultivating the Wheel of Reincarnation technique, and that's how I became who I am today." The Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation replied.
"What about my mother and me?" Jiao San asked, his face pale, his heart shaken.
(Note: The translation is quite long, so I'll stop here. Let me know if you want me to continue translating the rest of the chapter.) The Lord of the Revival Hall turned around and looked at her and Nan Gong Wan with a gentle gaze.
"Back then, your mother had just given birth to you, and Guo or Jin had already arrived, killing everyone. Your mother sacrificed herself to give us time to escape, leaving only a part of her Revival power sealed within you. And I, to protect you, used the power of the Time Law to seal you within a jade ring, and fought against Guo or Jin while retreating. In the end, I had no choice but to activate the Heaven-Shaking Bottle, hoping to use my life's worth of Time Law power to shatter it, and exchange it for a mutual destruction with Guo or Jin..."
"Back then, you were carrying me with you?" Jiao San asked, disbelieving.
"I had already given up hope, thinking that you and I would be destroyed together, but unexpectedly, the small bottle gave birth to a Bottle Spirit, and also gave birth to the unprecedented ability of Space-Time Leap, causing me to truly leap through time, and thus avoid the pursuit of the Time Dao Ancestor," the Lord of the Revival Hall said.
"Jiao San and you crossed over together?" Han Li's eyes flashed with surprise.
"Yes," the Lord of the Revival Hall nodded and said.
"Your words may sound like a fantasy, but they are full of loopholes and are not worth believing," Han Li said, taking a deep breath, and scolding.
Jiao San also looked at the Lord of the Revival Hall with a disbelieving expression.
"If Jiao San crossed over with you to the distant past, with her talent, how could she be at her current level? And how could the Heaven-Shaking Bottle, such a precious treasure, leave your side and be lost? The Time Dao Ancestor is the one standing at the pinnacle of time, if you can leap through time, why can't he?" Han Li asked, pouring out his questions.
"Before I answer your last question, I'd like to ask you one, do you know what the Heaven-Shaking Bottle is?" the Lord of the Revival Hall asked.
Han Li wanted to answer that it was a Time Law object, but he didn't say it out loud, knowing that it was more complex than that.
"In fact, until now, I'm not even sure what the Heaven-Shaking Bottle is, or what kind of power it contains. The law contained within it is not just the Time Law, otherwise, even with my life's worth of Time Law power, it wouldn't have given birth to the Bottle Spirit, or produced the Space-Time Leap ability," the Lord of the Revival Hall said.
"You're saying that the Time Dao Ancestor, although he controls the Time Law power, can't just use that power to leap through time?" Han Li asked.
"Space-Time Leap crosses not just time, but also space, and even the power of Revival, so except for the Heaven-Shaking Bottle, I'm afraid there's no other power that can achieve Space-Time Leap. That means, as long as you have the Heaven-Shaking Bottle, you're the only one in this world who can possibly achieve Space-Time Leap," the Lord of the Revival Hall said.
Han Li listened to these words, and without needing to ask the Bottle Spirit, he already believed seven parts of it.
"As for the Nine Truths and the small bottle, it's related to another Dao Ancestor, Chen Yun," the Lord of the Revival Hall said.
Han Li had never heard of this name before, and his eyes flashed with a hint of confusion.
"The Heavenly Court, led by the Time Dao Ancestor Guo or Jin, joined forces with six other Dao Ancestors to form the 'Seven Heavenly Lords', jointly governing the True Immortal Realm. Among them, you should know only Li Yuan Yu of the Nine Truths Observatory. Chen Yun is the most mysterious of the seven, the Prophecy Dao Ancestor," the Lord of the Revival Hall said.
"Prophecy Law?" Han Li's brow furrowed, saying.
Han Li had only heard of the Prophecy Law, knowing it was mysterious and difficult to cultivate, but he never thought there was such a Dao Ancestor.
"Back then, when I leaped through time, I had exhausted my power, and couldn't control the small bottle. The Heaven-Shaking Bottle was lost in the River of Time. Without the protection of the law, I was consumed by the chaotic flow of time and space, and I lost all my immortal energy. I and the Nine Truths were separated, and I returned to before my own birth, thousands of millions of years ago. The Nine Truths fell into a point in time not far from your birth. I could only find a distant and remote place to settle, and relying on my past experience, I sought out a small sect to take refuge in, and began to cultivate again... finally, after crossing the long and endless years, I found the Nine Truths, and rescued her. At that time, I had already re-cultivated the Revival Law, reached the peak of the Great Luo Realm, and established the Revival Hall. I then released her seal, and let her appear in the various immortal realms as Jiao San," the Lord of the Revival Hall said.
"If you had already rescued me, why didn't you recognize me?" Jiao San asked, unable to help but ask.
"It's precisely because of the existence of the Prophecy Dao Ancestor, that if I were to recognize you, a connection would be established between us, and Chen Yun would be able to sense me through the Prophecy Law, and then connect to you. The Heavenly Court can't find my trail, and they wouldn't let you go," the Lord of the Revival Hall said, looking at Jiao San with a hint of guilt in his eyes.
Jiao San gazed at the Hall of Reincarnation's master, knowing that he was her father, and her heart was filled with a mix of emotions.
After all these years, she had finally found the answers to all her questions. She understood why the master had been so devoted to teaching her, why she had been able to receive the Hall's resources and assistance, and why she had been able to cultivate without any obstacles.
It turned out that she wasn't an orphan without a father or mother. She had a family, a place to call home, and her father's love had always been with her.
As she thought about this, Jiao San's eyes reddened, and tears wet her cheeks.
Han Li saw this and was slightly moved.
The master's own daughter was by his side, yet they couldn't acknowledge each other. Ten years might not be a long time, but over a thousand years, it was a pain that couldn't be put into words.
"As for you and Ruxue, it's the same. I didn't dare to contact you too much, fearing that Gu or Chen would find out and harm you," the master said to Han Li.
Han Li, who had already believed the master's words, couldn't help but ask, "Why did you reveal everything now? Why did you force Ruxue's memories into Wan'er's mind?"
The master's eyes flashed with a fierce light. "Times have changed. I no longer need to hide. I believe that after this, you'll see my strength, and after clearing out the hidden dangers in the Hall, I'll take revenge on Gu or Chen. You're not one to act without a reason, so you'll probably make up your mind to work with me after seeing the Hall's methods."
Han Li's eyes flashed with anger. "You want to join forces to defeat a common enemy? You shouldn't have involved Wan'er!"
The master's expression changed, and he angrily said, "She's my wife, the mother of Jiu Zhen. When I destroy Gu or Chen and the Heavenly Court, I want her to see it, to know that my sacrifices weren't in vain, that I didn't betray her."
"She's Nangong Wan, not Gan Ruxue. She's the only Nangong Wan," Han Li said, his eyes blazing with anger.
The master coldly retorted, "What right do you have to argue with me? In all these years, my heart has only thought of Gan Ruxue, never forgetting her for a moment. You, on the other hand, have Zi Ling by your side. What is Nangong Wan to you?"
Han Li's face twisted in a bitter smile, and he was speechless.
The master's expression softened slightly. "She's only gained Ruxue's memories, but her own memories are still intact. Once she sees me defeat Gu or Chen, I can remove her memories of Ruxue."
Han Li said, "With the memories of two lifetimes, what kind of pain will she endure? The choice to become Gan Ruxue or return to being Nangong Wan shouldn't be made by you or me, but by her herself."
The master nodded. "The calculations of the Tianyi Sect are no trivial matter. You and I, having lived two lives, have disrupted the heavenly mechanism. You can temporarily evade detection, but once you reach the Da Luo Ding Peak, you won't be able to hide. If Gu or Chen finds you, you'll be doomed. You must decide whether to live a life of hiding or to join me in reversing the heavens."
Han Li was silent for a long time before speaking. "With my current strength, it's hard to participate in your struggle against the Time Ancestor. I might not even reach the Da Luo Peak before I fall."
Jiao San saw this and opened her mouth to persuade Han Li, but the master stopped her.
"You and I have different experiences, but our hardships are similar. Even our personalities are similar. When my younger sister got married, I returned to the village, but I didn't reveal myself. At that time, I thought I had severed all ties with my past life and was a cultivator focused on the path."
Han Li listened to the master's words, and his eyes became distant. He had also returned to the village, seeing his younger sister get married, and had the same determination to cultivate.
The master's face became blurry, and Han Li realized that they were supposed to be the same person, but due to the time laws and the butterfly effect, they had become two different people. Yet, something in the depths of their hearts still guided them to cultivate the time laws.
Han Li didn't know how to view their relationship.
"I know it's hard for you to accept my existence, but I've lived through your life. I know what your future holds, and with my existence, your future might have more variables. You know the ending of Mi Luo; I advised him to join the Hall, but he refused, thinking he could hide and be safe... In other words, helping me is helping yourself."
Han Li's heart was tumultuous, and he was silent for a long time before speaking. "I need some time to think things through."
The master nodded. "I won't say more. Let's wait for Ruxue to wake up and see what she chooses. If she wants to follow you, I won't force her to stay. But can you protect her now?"
Han Li shook his head. "No need to wait. Wan'er has already been involved due to your actions. Even if I keep her by my side, I fear I won't be able to protect her. She might be safer with you."
The master hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Very well."
Han Li looked at Nangong Wan, who was still frowning, and saw a hint of reluctance in her eyes. He turned and walked towards the exit.
The master spoke up. "You came here to use the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk. Why not use it before you leave?"
Han Li stopped and turned back. "Nine Zhen, take your mother and leave first."
Jiao San looked at the master and Han Li with a complex expression. "Yes, Father."
She picked up Nangong Wan and walked towards the inner hall, leaving Han Li and the master behind. The master of the Wheel of Rebirth's eyes flashed with a hint of joy, but it was quickly hidden, and with a wave of his hand, the dark red spiritual domain was retracted.
"Bring them in," he said.
Han Li didn't say much, and immediately sent a message to Qiuhun and Ziling.
When Ziling and the others appeared in the grand hall, the "Han Li" who had transcended time and the Wheel of Rebirth had already put on his hat and concealed his aura, once again becoming the enigmatic master of the Wheel of Rebirth.
"Let's go," the master of the Wheel of Rebirth said indifferently, turning around and walking towards the back hall.
Han Li nodded to the others, not explaining what had happened in the hall, and gestured for them to follow.
Ziling saw that Han Li's face was somewhat serious, and her heart was filled with concern. She walked closer to him, following behind him. Qiuhun also sensed that something was off, but didn't ask any questions.
Jintong called out "Uncle", but when Han Li didn't respond, he looked puzzled and followed along.
Shichen looked deeply at the master of the Wheel of Rebirth's back, feeling like he had seen him before, but couldn't quite remember where.
Everyone followed the master of the Wheel of Rebirth through the dark passageway behind the hall, descending to the open underground space.
When they arrived at the stone platform in the center, they saw the massive Wheel of Rebirth suspended in mid-air, and the dark red water pool below.
"The Six Paths Wheel of Rebirth is a treasure that involves the laws of the Wheel of Rebirth. Using it not only consumes the laws of the Wheel of Rebirth, but also relates to the user's fate. Not everyone can benefit from it. If you become immersed in it and your past karma is unclear, you may even be burdened by the Wheel of Rebirth, and your cultivation may not increase, but instead regress. You must consider carefully whether or not to use it," the master of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
Ziling and the others heard his words and furrowed their brows, their faces showing hesitation. Jintong, however, looked delighted.
"Past events are all in the past, I don't want to be burdened by them. I won't use the Six Paths Wheel of Rebirth," Qiuhun suddenly spoke up.
Jintong and the others looked at him in surprise.
The master of the Wheel of Rebirth looked at Qiuhun, a hint of approval flashing in his eyes.
"Thank you, master," Ziling said after a moment of hesitation, her expression returning to normal.
The master of the Wheel of Rebirth didn't object, and simply pointed to the water pool below the Wheel of Rebirth, saying indifferently, "Go in."
Ziling walked to the edge of the water pool, took a deep breath, lifted her skirt, and slowly stepped in.
The water was unexpectedly warm, and soon reached her chest.
Ziling felt a dizziness in front of her, her consciousness becoming hazy, and she soon fell asleep, her body floating on the surface of the water.
The master of the Wheel of Rebirth clasped his hands together, and a chanting sound came from his mouth. He pointed at the Six Paths Wheel of Rebirth, and a layer of boundless Wheel of Rebirth energy spread out.
The Six Paths Wheel of Rebirth began to rotate, emitting a red light pillar that enveloped Ziling.
Ziling's body slowly sank into the water pool.
... About the time it took to burn an incense stick, the water pool suddenly erupted with a string of dense bubbles, and Ziling, who had been sleeping, suddenly woke up, bursting out of the water and landing beside the Six Paths Wheel of Rebirth.
Her body was soaked in water, and she stood there, her eyes unfocused, her pupils slightly constricted, as if staring at the ground, but her mind was clearly not there.
Han Li appeared beside her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Ziling," he called out softly.
Ziling's body trembled slightly, and she slowly raised her head to look at Han Li, as if seeing him for the first time. She stared at his face for a moment, and then her pupils gradually regained their luster.
"Han Li..."
She called out softly, and then suddenly opened her arms and hugged Han Li, burying her face in his chest.
Han Li looked down at the person in his arms, his heart filled with complex emotions, but he still gently wrapped his arms around her, stroking her shoulders to comfort her.
However, Ziling's clothes were soaked, and as she tightly hugged Han Li, she soon felt a strange sensation. Her ears felt warm, and she pulled back from Han Li's embrace.
A burst of light flashed on her body, and the water vapor on her clothes evaporated instantly.
“Sorry, I lost my composure for a moment…” Zi Ling said with a hint of embarrassment.
“No need to apologize, did you sense anything unusual?” Han Li asked with a slightly serious tone.
Zi Ling didn’t respond, only shaking her head silently, her expression somewhat gloomy.
Han Li only then noticed that the girl’s aura had greatly decreased, her cultivation level having dropped from the peak of the Taiyi realm to the middle stage of the Taiyi realm.
“Your cultivation…” Han Li couldn’t help but say.
“No need to worry.” Zi Ling said, shaking her head.
“Her cultivation level was originally boosted by the Celestial Ascension technique, and her foundation wasn’t stable to begin with. Now that she’s gone through this cycle of reincarnation, it’s not surprising that her cultivation level has dropped.” The Lord of the Cycle of Reincarnation chimed in.
Han Li turned to Zi Ling with a questioning gaze.
“I and Shi Chong Kong’s rapid progress in cultivation was due to the Crab Daoist using the secret technique of Celestial Ascension, forcefully taking the law of the universe from others who practiced similar techniques and implanting it into our bodies... so the current situation isn’t anything bad.” Zi Ling transmitted her voice.
Han Li heard this and slightly calmed down, but his mind still held doubts. What kind of memories of past lives had Zi Ling seen under the influence of the Cycle of Reincarnation, causing her to be so shaken that her cultivation level dropped?
“Who’s next?” The Lord of the Cycle of Reincarnation asked.
“Zi Ling’s cultivation level has dropped, I think... I won’t be using this technique of reincarnation.” Shi Chong Kong furrowed his brow, hesitating for a moment before speaking.
Han Li knew that Shi Chong Kong’s cultivation level had also been boosted in a similar way to Zi Ling, and that it was unstable, affecting his future prospects. He transmitted a reminder: “Shi brother, I know your cultivation level was boosted in the same way as Zi Ling, and that it’s unstable, affecting your future prospects. Why not take this opportunity to solidify your cultivation level?”
“At this critical moment, I don’t know when I’ll be able to return to the Great Luo. Moreover, the Crab Daoist had said before that as long as we cultivate diligently, our cultivation levels will gradually stabilize, and we’ll become true Great Luo cultivators.” Shi Chong Kong transmitted back.
Han Li heard this and didn’t try to persuade him further.
“That leaves only me.” Jin Tong said.
“You’re indeed the one who should use this Cycle of Reincarnation.” The Lord of the Cycle of Reincarnation looked at Jin Tong and said.
Jin Tong didn’t say much, excitedly taking large strides towards the water pool, immersing himself in it.
The Lord of the Cycle of Reincarnation began to cast a spell, submerging Jin Tong in the water.
Jin Tong felt his consciousness slowly sinking, and then he entered a void of darkness, losing all sense of feeling.
Just as he was about to lose consciousness, he suddenly felt like he had swallowed a mouthful of water, and he burst out of the water.
He found himself in a vast, turbulent sea, surrounded by waves that seemed to stretch on forever.
As he regained his senses, he heard a loud, thunderous voice.
“The net of heaven and earth has already been cast, you have nowhere to escape. If you don’t surrender and submit, you will be reduced to nothing.” A cold, detached voice came from the ninth heaven, like a rolling thunderclap.
Jin Tong’s ears were ringing, and he quickly looked up to see a figure standing hundreds of miles away. The figure was a man with a body like jade, over a hundred thousand feet tall, with short hair and a bare chest, his face like a golden statue, his eyes blazing with fury.
His muscles were like twisted ropes, and behind him shone a circle of golden light, radiating an intense, fiery aura that seemed to be filled with the power of the earth.
Just looking at him from afar gave Jin Tong a sense of overwhelming pressure, as if the man was an ancient, unstoppable god.
“Is this... the Dao Ancestor?” Jin Tong felt a chill run down his spine as he realized the true meaning of pressure. But for some reason, he didn’t feel any fear, and instead, a flame of determination rose up within him.
“Haha, Xuan Yuan Jie, the Dao Ancestor is not willing to submit to your heavenly tyranny. What can you do to me? If it weren’t for those petty traitors, you wouldn’t be able to touch me.” A voice that was both arrogant and defiant echoed from the other side of the sea.
Jin Tong felt a sense of connection and quickly looked over to see a massive wave rising up from the surface of the water, creating a massive whirlpool that seemed to stretch on forever.
The wave crashed down, and Jin Tong was swept up, flying into the air to avoid the torrent.
As he looked down, he saw a sight that left him stunned.
The area he had thought was a sea was actually a lost continent, floating in the void, with jagged edges and clear signs of being broken off by some external force. The cloud cover above had thinned to a mere layer, and beyond that, the vast expanse of the void stretched out. In the sky above the lost continent, thousands of powerful heavenly court cultivators were scattered, each one exuding a powerful aura of earth attribute laws. A massive, jade-green city floated above, its walls radiating a brilliant green light.
The city's four gates were anchored to the ground by hundreds of thick, jade-green chains that stretched down to the broken continent below. It seemed as if the chains were suspending the continent in mid-air.
Suddenly, a massive, golden beetle burst forth from the continent's core, its six wings beating fiercely as it released a vortex of golden energy. The sound of its emergence shook the heavens.
Jin Tong's eyes widened as he recognized the beetle's aura, realizing it was a fellow Devouring Gold Insect, but one whose cultivation realm far surpassed his own. The insect's golden armor was badly damaged, and its wings were reduced to mere fragments. A massive, jade-green chain wrapped around its body, connecting it to the city above.
As the beetle emerged, the city's chains tightened, and the entire structure began to descend, pressing down on the insect. Xuan Yuan Jie, the jade giant, took a step forward and raised his fist, unleashing a massive, green energy vortex that hurtled towards the beetle's head.
The beetle let out a deafening roar as it charged forward, its jaws wide open. The green energy vortex shattered upon impact, and the giant's arm exploded, releasing a massive gust of wind that sent the chains wrapped around the beetle flying.
The city finally came to rest on the beetle's back, radiating a brilliant green light. The beetle's golden armor began to crack and shatter, revealing a decaying, ancient structure beneath.
Xuan Yuan Jie's face twisted in rage as the beetle's aura surged, and a massive, golden energy explosion erupted from its body, sending the city flying and shattering the surrounding space. The cultivators within the city were obliterated, their bodies reduced to mere fragments.
A figure emerged from the golden light, a tall, slender woman with her arms outstretched. She tore apart the city and Xuan Yuan Jie's web-like energy, revealing a massive, void-like tear in the sky.
A river of golden light flowed from the tear, carrying countless Devouring Gold Insect larvae into the void. The larvae dispersed, carried away by the winds of space, and their eventual destinations remained unknown.
Jin Tong, witnessing the scene, felt his blood boil with excitement. He realized that in his past life, he had been forced to destroy his own golden body and scatter his essence across the land.
As the last remnants of the golden light faded, the woman's figure began to dissipate. Xuan Yuan Jie's rage reached its peak, and he unleashed a devastating fist, shattering the woman's fading image.
The remaining sparks of golden light drifted towards Jin Tong, and he felt a surge of complex emotions. His body began to glow with a brilliant, golden light, and he charged forward, only to be halted by a mysterious, watery barrier.
As he stumbled through the barrier, Jin Tong found himself back in the presence of the six-turning wheel of reincarnation, which had ceased its rotation.
Jin Tong stood up from the water pool, his expression solemn and heavy, and stood still for a moment before taking a step forward. His body glowed with a soft light, and a multitude of golden dots flashed briefly, evaporating the water vapor from his clothes.
Han Li's eyes swept over Jin Tong's body, and his heart felt a shock.
From Jin Tong's current aura, it was clear that his realm was still somewhat unstable, but he had already reached the middle stage of the Great Luo Realm.
What was even more astonishing was the aura emanating from Jin Tong's body, which was completely different from before, containing a complex and intense killing intent.
"It seems you have seen the past and the grudge between you and Xuan Yuan Jie," the Lord of the Reincarnation Hall said, his eyes fixed on Jin Tong.
Jin Tong's eyes snapped towards the Lord, his gaze as sharp as a knife.
"You know... my past?" Jin Tong's voice was low and husky, lacking the gentle tone of a girl.
"Jin Tong, how do you feel now?" Han Li asked.
"Call me Qu Lin," Jin Tong replied, his voice cold.
He paused, and his eyes seemed to soften. "I saw a vision... perhaps that was my past."
Han Li nodded, saying nothing.
"Qu Lin, the Dao Ancestor, was the ruler of the insect tribe, governing all the insect-like creatures in the True Immortal Realm. Later, due to a conflict with the Heavenly Court, she was suppressed by the Earth Dao Ancestor Xuan Yuan Jie, and her soul was destroyed. Using the last bit of her divine intention, she transformed into billions of bodies, attaching herself to the countless golden insects that had scattered throughout the True Immortal Realm, and even to the lower realms." The Lord of the Reincarnation Hall explained.
Han Li's eyes widened in surprise, and he had not expected Jin Tong to have such a past.
The others, including Zi Ling, also changed color.
"Xuan Yuan Jie... seems to be one of the 'Seven Lords of the Heavenly Dao'?" Shi Chuan Kong asked.
"That's right, he is one of the most loyal supporters of the Heavenly Dao. After defeating you, he ordered his subordinates to massacre the insect tribe, killing nine of the great insect kings and forcing the rest to flee to the lower realms... and eventually, they forgot their past and became the locusts that everyone hates." The Lord of the Reincarnation Hall said.
"Xuan Yuan Jie, I've remembered this debt, and I will definitely repay it," Jin Tong said, her fists clenched.
"Jin Tong... no, Qu Lin," Han Li said, his eyes flashing.
"Never mind, you can still call me Jin Tong. Even though I've recovered my memories, I'm not used to being called Qu Lin. I'll wait until I kill Xuan Yuan Jie before taking back my true name," Jin Tong said with a sigh.
"I have a question, why didn't Jin Tong's corpse disappear after advancing to the Great Luo Realm?" Shi Chuan Kong asked suddenly.
Everyone looked at each other, puzzled.
"She's different from ordinary cultivators. Firstly, she's a heavenly spirit insect, born with the essence of heaven and earth. Secondly, she's born with the law of devouring, and has always relied on devouring her own kind to increase her cultivation. Moreover, she's a Dao Ancestor's avatar, and doesn't need to kill her own body to advance. As long as she reunites the scattered golden insects, she can restore her Dao Ancestor's power." The Lord of the Reincarnation Hall explained.
"What's your plan now?" Han Li asked.
"Of course, I'll find my avatars and seek revenge against that person," Jin Tong replied without hesitation.
"Right," Han Li nodded.
He understood that Jin Tong was no longer the same as before.
"I won't be able to follow you anymore. The favors of the past, I'll repay them someday," Jin Tong said, her eyes flashing with hesitation.
"I have my own path to follow, and I'm glad we could accompany each other for a while. But in the future, when you're alone, take care of yourself," Han Li said, knowing that Jin Tong's departure was different from before.
Jin Tong nodded, and without saying anything, she turned and walked towards the upper layer of the great hall.
Han Li watched her leave, and didn't say anything to stop her. As her figure disappeared into the darkness of the underground palace, he slowly withdrew his gaze.
"Uncle, I'll come back and find you after I've recovered my strength and avenged myself!" Jin Tong's voice came from the darkness, already far away.
Han Li smiled, a hint of a smile on his lips.
"Why don't you keep her? A Great Luo Realm cultivator is a great asset," the Lord of the Reincarnation Hall asked.
"Why keep her? She'll come back after she's finished her business," Han Li replied.
The Lord of the Reincarnation Hall nodded, and without saying anything, turned and walked away, his voice fading into the distance.
"Things are done, you can leave now."
His words seemed to carry a hint of melancholy and relief.
Han Li and the others left the underground palace, and when they reached the outside, they saw that the blood clouds and the whirlwind above the Yellow Spring had disappeared.
"Let's go," Han Li said, looking back at the great hall.
Zi Ling and Shi Chuan Kong nodded, and were about to leave with Han Li, but Qi Hu remained in place, unmoving. Han Li, I want to stay in the Underworld for a while. Ti Hun looked at Han Li and said.
Why is that? Han Li asked in puzzlement.
These past few days, following by your side, I've seen too many powerful beings, and I've come to realize that my strength is too weak. Continuing to stay by your side, I fear I won't be of assistance, but rather a burden. This Underworld is more suitable for my cultivation, and I wish to stay here to cultivate, hoping that one day my strength will increase, and I can return to your side. Ti Hun said solemnly.
Since we reunited in the Heavenly Realm, you've helped me more, what burden could you possibly be? However, for you, staying in the Underworld might indeed be better, I agree, and I hope that when we meet again, it won't be too far in the future. Han Li smiled and said.
Thank you, Master, for your understanding. Ti Hun bowed and said sincerely.
Han Li walked to Ti Hun's side, lifted his hand, and gently pressed it against her forehead, transmitting his voice: I'll leave a strand of divine sense in you, if you encounter any danger, activate the divine sense, and no matter where I am, I'll come to your side as quickly as possible.
Master, I didn't want to always be under your protection, that's why I wanted to be independent, how could I... Ti Hun transmitted her voice back, but before she could finish, Han Li interrupted her.
In times of life and death, don't be stubborn, as long as you have a chance, don't worry about not having a way out. Han Li smiled and said.
Ti Hun's heart slightly moved, and she nodded heavily.
Han Li brought Zi Ling and Shi Chuan Kong with him, and they bid farewell to Ti Hun, each going their separate ways.
...
Time passed, and several months had gone by.
The Black Wind Sea was in the midst of a clear morning, with no wind or waves on the surface, only a layer of white mist rising like smoke, enveloping the vast sea, making everything hazy and unclear.
In a place adjacent to this sea, separated by only a thousand yards or so, was a completely different scene.
There, dark clouds gathered, and massive black whirlwinds rose from the ground, with some as small as houses and others as large as ten thousand feet, looking like enormous dragon columns.
Inside the whirlwinds, the winds howled, and the waves crashed, with the sound of wailing and screaming constantly echoing.
At this moment, a spirit boat enveloped in a golden spiritual light suddenly parted the dark clouds and turbulent waves, slowly emerging from the massive black whirlwind columns.
On the spirit boat stood three figures, with the one in the front, steering the boat, being a handsome young man with white hair, and behind him stood a tall, green-robed young man and a beautiful, purple-robed woman.
This group of three was Han Li, Zi Ling, and Shi Chuan Kong, who had returned to the Heavenly Realm from the Underworld.
As they gazed out at the vast, misty sea, the three of them were deep in thought, silent and unspoken.
Just then, Han Li's eyebrows slightly twitched, and Zi Ling immediately noticed, transmitting a question:
Han Li, what's wrong?
We're surrounded, and there are many people, with the leader being at least a late-stage Mahayana cultivator. Han Li's expression remained unchanged as he transmitted the information to the two.
Zi Ling and Shi Chuan Kong were both seasoned veterans, and they naturally didn't reveal any unusual expressions.
What do we do? Shi Chuan Kong transmitted a question.
Don't rush, let's continue forward, and when the time is right, listen to my instructions. At that time, Shi Chuan Kong, you and Zi Ling will directly fly into the air, trying to break through the restrictions, and if you succeed, you'll leave, and if you can't... then try to get as far away from me as possible. Han Li transmitted his instructions.
Got it. Shi Chuan Kong responded decisively.
You, be careful. Zi Ling cautioned.
Shi Chuan Kong didn't even glance at her, and the spirit boat's light flashed, instantly disappearing into the distance, plunging into the vast mist.
Go! Han Li suddenly shouted.
Shi Chuan Kong and Zi Ling immediately abandoned the spirit boat, their bodies flashing as they flew into the air, heading towards the high skies.
In the next instant, the sea surface beneath them erupted into a frenzy of waves, and a massive, ten-thousand-yard-wide black shadow suddenly burst forth from the depths, like a mountain erupting from the sea, its aura overwhelming.
The shadow had been hiding beneath the surface for a long time, and now it burst forth, opening a massive, blood-red mouth, splitting the sea surface in two, and creating a gigantic, bottomless chasm.
Han Li's spirit boat, without anyone controlling it, was directly above the chasm, and it began to fall straight down.
Still a big fish... Han Li floated above the sea, gazing at the massive shadow, and exclaimed.
The massive black-scaled, dark-robed creature that burst forth from the sea was a colossal, black-scaled whale, its mouth filled with sharp, serrated teeth, and a massive, black whirlpool within, emitting a pungent, fishy smell.
On the whale's head, a black, spiral-shaped horn protruded, reflecting a metallic sheen.
A slender, white-robed young man stood on the whale's head, grasping the horn with one hand and holding a blue, long spear in the other, his mouth curled into a smile as he looked at Han Li.
As the slender man gazed at Han Li, Han Li's eyes also swept over him, taking in his appearance.
The man's skin was very pale, with a head of slightly curly yellow hair tied up high, sparse and light eyebrows, and eyes that were somewhat long and narrow, with a reddish glow in the eye sockets, giving the impression that he was not in good spirits.
However, the aura emanating from his body was quite fearsome, and he was actually a late-stage Da Luo realm cultivator.
"Your 'big fish' remark, is it referring to my spirit pet or me?" the young man asked, his eyes fixed intently on Han Li, his smile not quite reaching his eyes.
His features seemed delicate, but his voice was deep and resonant.
"Whatever you think it is, that's what it is," Han Li replied, glancing up at the sky above.
Zi Ling and Shi Chuan Kong had indeed been blocked, but it was not by any sort of barrier or restriction, rather by a layer of spiritual domain light and several hundred heavenly court cultivators.
From their attire, it was clear that they were mostly monitoring and patrolling cultivators.
"Either way, there's no escaping my net," the slender man said, his eyes gleaming with amusement.
"Your display is quite impressive, may I ask your name?" Han Li asked.
"I am Shui Chang Tian, temporarily in charge of the monitoring department, and I have been ordered to capture you, Han. I don't know if you plan to surrender or if I'll have to take you into custody. To be honest, anyone who has tried to escape from my water prison has yet to regret it," the yellow-haired man said with a smile.
"Shui Chang Tian, your name is quite fitting, suitable for a water burial," Han Li laughed, his voice ringing out.
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and seventy-two bamboo swords shot out, swirling in mid-air before plummeting down towards the sea.
The swords emitted a thunderous roar, with hundreds of golden lightning bolts intersecting and gathering into a massive sword array, which seemed to be a sea of lightning.
"Boom!"
A deafening thunderclap shook the air, and countless lightning bolts as thick as water barrels descended from the sky.
The massive black whale let out a low, mournful cry, its body sinking downwards in fear of the lightning bolts.
"No need to be afraid, it's just a few divine lightning bolts," Shui Chang Tian said, his face smiling, as he comforted the whale.
As he spoke, he raised his blue long spear, and with a single hand, he drew a symbol in the air, striking the sea below.
A muffled boom echoed from the depths of the sea, and the water within a hundred million li radius began to churn and boil, as if it was being stirred by an invisible force.
Around Shui Chang Tian, massive waves and whirlpools erupted, colliding with the lightning bolts in a spectacular display.
The thunderous roar continued unabated, with golden light and water exploding in a chaotic mess, as if the boundaries between heaven and earth were becoming increasingly blurred.
Shui Chang Tian looked up at the sky, and amidst the chaos, he saw a dazzling ball of golden light, shining brightly in the center of the lightning-filled area, and the person who was supposed to be captured, standing with his arms crossed, gazing coldly at him.
"What's going on?" Shui Chang Tian wondered.
Han Li's eyes gleamed with a purple light, as he gazed through the turbulent water, seeing Zi Ling and Shi Chuan Kong fighting and retreating, having flown out several tens of thousands of li away.
"I've been in a bad mood lately, and it seems you're the unlucky one," Han Li said, his face as cold as frost.
As he spoke, he waved his hand, and a layer of golden spiritual domain expanded, enveloping the surrounding sea within a radius of ten thousand li, and the originally vast ocean was replaced by a clear moon and starry sky.
A massive mountain range rose from the sea floor, encircling the spiritual domain, with lush forests and a winding river flowing into the sea. However, the water in the river was different from the sea water, floating on top of it with a clear distinction.
"A Tian Ren realm spiritual domain..."
Shui Chang Tian saw the changes in his surroundings, and sensing the powerful time laws that were suppressing him, his brow furrowed in concern, realizing that his preparations had been insufficient.
However, this was not his fault, as the previous reports from the heavenly court had indicated that Han Li was only a Da Luo initial-stage cultivator, but now, he seemed to be a Da Luo mid-stage cultivator, and possibly even close to the late-stage. Han Li, you've truly exceeded my expectations, to have cultivated the Time Law to such an extent that you've finally gained the attention of the Heavenly Court. However, it's a pity that the Time Law is a path that's destined to be cut off from the very beginning.
Water Long Tian's body surged with a dense blue light, pushing back the golden light that was invisible to the naked eye.
He waved his Water Blue Long Spear with a smooth motion, not showing any signs of sluggishness from the suppression of the Time Law.
"No Fixed Wind..." Water Long Tian's voice was low and calm.
As he raised his hand, the tip of the spear touched the surface of the water, and a blue light circle rippled outward, transforming into a wave of light that expanded in all directions.
The originally turbulent sea surface suddenly became calm, as if a giant invisible hand had swept across it.
The atmosphere above the sea surface became strange, and the air currents seemed to have stopped moving in that instant. The spiritual energy in the air also solidified.
Han Li casually waved his hand, and the 72 Qingtong Bee Cloud Swords flew back to him, merging into one sword in his palm. The sword was still circulating with golden electricity, as if it hadn't had enough of the battle.
"Good, No Fixed Wind, it's clear that you're using the Water Attribute Law to exhibit the power of the Space Law." Han Li's mouth curved into a smile.
"It's just that I've taken advantage of the terrain," Water Long Tian said with a smile. "Although this Black Wind Sea is not as vast as the Murong Sea in the Middle Earth Realm, it's still sufficient for me to use my Ocean Law to deal with you."
He pointed his spear at Han Li, and the calm sea surface behind him suddenly turned into a massive wave, transforming into a gigantic tsunami that charged towards Han Li.
Han Li didn't show any fear, and with one step forward, he raised his hand.
The mountain range behind him suddenly burst forth with golden light, and it flew over his head, colliding with the tsunami.
The tsunami crashed into the mountain range, splashing up countless waves.
However, these waves didn't fall back down, but instead were infused with the Time Law, solidifying in mid-air and forming a strange water wall.
Han Li's figure shot up, and he stood on the peak of the mountain range, flying over it. His Qingtong Bee Cloud Sword slashed down towards the front.
A loud explosion echoed through the air.
A massive golden lightning bolt, guided by the sword, transformed into a gigantic golden lightning sword that split the solidified water wall, striking the sea surface.
The sound of the explosion shook the air, and the sea surface was torn apart, revealing the mountain ridges on the seafloor. The area was scorched, and a deep ravine had been carved out.
The waves spread out in all directions, affecting the sea surface tens of thousands of miles away, causing massive waves to surge and roll.
Stone Piercing the Sky and Zi Ling were being surrounded by the Heavenly Court's surveillance immortal messengers, but the massive waves disrupted their formation, allowing the two to take advantage of the situation and strike down several immortal messengers, escaping from the encirclement.
Zi Ling glanced towards Han Li's direction, but the water vapor had risen, making it impossible for her to see clearly.
"Han Li's current cultivation is not ordinary, you don't need to worry, it's actually our side that's more troublesome, we need to be careful," Stone Piercing the Sky said, reminding her.
Zi Ling understood what Stone Piercing the Sky meant, but she still had some concerns, as Han Li's state had been somewhat off since leaving the Underworld.
However, she didn't dare to divide her attention, and instead focused on facing the enemy, as if they were to lose, they would be dragging Han Li down.
Han Li's previous sword strike had been powerful, rivaling the power he had exhibited when using the Tongtian Sword Array and borrowing the power of the heavenly thunder. However, after the strike, Water Long Tian's figure had vanished.
Han Li used his Refine Spirit Technique to scan the surroundings, but he could only sense Water Long Tian's aura everywhere, without being able to pinpoint his location.
Just as the waves were subsiding, the sea surface began to churn again, and a massive whirlpool appeared beneath Han Li, emitting a powerful devouring force.
Han Li's figure shot up, and he flew towards the high air, but before he could react, the whirlpool suddenly rose up, like a giant mouth, and swallowed him whole.
Trapped in the whirlpool, the surrounding water surged in, pressing Han Li from all sides.
His hands and feet were bound by four blue water currents, which were absorbing him with an incredible force. Han Li struggled to break free, but the four water currents were too strong, and they began to pull him apart, threatening to tear him limb from limb.
At the same time, his seven orifices were invaded by small water currents, which condensed into spiral water columns that pierced through his body.
His eyes and mouth were closed, but his nose and ears were exposed, and the water columns poured into them, causing intense pain.
Han Li felt his ears and nose burning, as the water currents infused with the Law penetrated his body.
"You've been possessed by the sea water, surrender now, or I'll crush your heart and then punch holes in your liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys. I guarantee you won't want to try again after experiencing this once." As he spoke, Shui Chang Tian's figure reappeared in the sea, and he raised his long spear to point at Han Li's brow.
"You can try if you can," Han Li said, opening his eyes to look at Shui Chang Tian, his gaze fearless.
Shui Chang Tian's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he raised a hand, grasping at the air.
After a brief pause, Han Li's body didn't react.
"What's going on?" Shui Chang Tian asked in surprise.
"I don't know, but how much sea water can you control in this area?" Han Li's hands trembled, and the blue vortex surrounding him quivered before dissipating.
"It's the Long River..." Shui Chang Tian's expression changed, and he suddenly realized.
Han Li's River of Time had been flowing continuously, and its power had already seeped into the sea water.
As a result, the sea water was no longer under Shui Chang Tian's control.
Shui Chang Tian let out a loud roar, and his body was enveloped in a surge of blue light that condensed into his long spear. He stabbed the spear at Han Li's brow, and a brilliant blue light burst forth, accompanied by a dense blue light sphere that exploded in front of Han Li's head.
Han Li had anticipated this, and his Tianxia Fuyu technique had already begun to circulate. His body was surrounded by a thousand eight hundred glowing acupoints, and his skin was covered in a layer of six-edged scales.
As the explosion erupted, the surrounding sea water evaporated instantly, and a massive shockwave spread out, creating a ring-shaped tsunami that surged outward.
The tsunami was over ten thousand feet high, resembling a massive mountain peak, and its passage shook the air, even disturbing the clouds in the sky.
Shi Chong Kong looked up, saw that the spiritual domain covering the area had disappeared, and quickly pulled Zi Ling into a spatial secret technique, instantly retreating tens of thousands of miles.
The Heaven's surveillance immortals weren't as lucky, and they were swept away by the tsunami, tumbling into the sea. Those with weaker cultivation were knocked unconscious.
On that day, the entire Black Wind Sea was turbulent, and even the distant Wumeng Island was affected by the tsunami. If not for the timely activation of the island's defensive array, the damage would have been incalculable.
At the center of the explosion, the sea water had evaporated, revealing the dry seabed. The surrounding area was still blocked by a powerful air wall, and the sea water didn't flow back in for a long time.
Han Li stood on a broken mountain ridge, his scales slowly fading away, his forehead bloody and bruised. However, he was actually unharmed.
He simply raised his hand, and a Two-Life Tree shadow swept across his brow, rapidly healing his wounds.
Several thousand miles away, the mountain range created by Han Li's spiritual domain still stood, and the Dong Yi divine tree was growing wildly, its vines stretching over a hundred feet to bind Shui Chang Tian's ankles.
Shui Chang Tian's face was twisted in rage, and he struggled fiercely, but his movements were slow.
A golden moon had descended, hanging behind him, releasing a multitude of dense golden light beams.
Han Li appeared beside him, his sword flashing in the light, and he struck down at Shui Chang Tian's head.
"No! You can't kill me!" Shui Chang Tian's eyes flashed with fear, and he cried out.
Han Li didn't respond, and his sword sliced through Shui Chang Tian's body like a hot knife through butter. However, as the sword entered his body, Shui Chang Tian's form suddenly became transparent, and he liquefied, enveloping the Qing Zhu Feng Yun sword.
Han Li's expression turned cold, and he pinched his fingers together, activating a sword technique. The Qing Zhu Feng Yun sword began to vibrate, releasing a surge of powerful sword energy that burst forth from Shui Chang Tian's body, accompanied by a thousand golden lightning bolts.
A series of explosions erupted, and Shui Chang Tian's liquefied body was instantly torn apart, reduced to a mist.
"He's not easy to kill, even for a Da Luo period cultivator," Han Li said, sheathing his sword and gazing into the distance, his eyebrows furrowed.
In the distance, the scattered water vapor in the air began to coalesce, gradually forming a human shape. After a flash of blue light, Shui Chang Tian's body reappeared.
"Han Li, you've succeeded in angering me. Today, I won't spare you. I'll crush your bones and scatter your ashes," Shui Chang Tian's face twisted in rage.
"Shui Chang Tian, haven't you noticed something's off about your body?" Han Li asked calmly.
Shui Chang Tian's expression faltered, and he checked his body, finding that apart from his cultivation being weakened, there was nothing else out of the ordinary. He snarled, "You're just trying to confuse me. I..." Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly woke up, his eyes flashing with an unbelievable expression.
"How could this be? My cultivation has regressed so much, even if I was defeated once, I shouldn't have lost so much?" Shuichang Tian said with a hint of panic.
Han Li saw his puzzled expression, but only responded with a cold smile, not intending to explain.
After being in the Wuxing Illusory Realm for so long, how could his cultivation not regress?
"No matter what you've done, as long as we're still on this sea, I can still be invincible." Shuichang Tian's brow furrowed, calming down, and said.
As he spoke, his body suddenly rose high into the air, his hands clasped together in front of him, forming a strange hand seal.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and he saw that around Shuichang Tian's body, a circle of blue, eerie light began to shine, with swirling vortexes of air gathering behind him, emitting a sound like the howling of sea beasts.
At this time, from the distant horizon, Han Li saw a line of water rising rapidly towards them, with a massive black whale swimming at the forefront, as if leading the way, bringing the waves crashing towards them.
"Whoosh!"
Accompanied by a massive wave of water, a gigantic whirlpool suddenly appeared beneath Shuichang Tian's feet, surging into the air, and merging with his body.
Only to see that the rolling waves entered his body, transforming his entire body into a deep blue color, with a layer of blue water armor covering his body, and his face began to show signs of water lines, his aura rapidly increasing, quickly recovering the cultivation that had been lost due to the Wuxing Illusory Realm.
The surrounding sea water was completely absorbed, leaving behind a desolate, dry landscape, with only the withered corpses of sea creatures remaining, including the massive whale's body.
This method of absorbing the ocean's power was clearly extremely taxing, and Shuichang Tian's body began to rapidly expand, growing to a height of thousands of feet, with blue cracks appearing on his body.
Han Li saw that his aura had already reached the peak of the Daluo Realm, and yet he still didn't stop, wanting to absorb the ocean's water from tens of thousands of miles away, his face slightly pale.
"Great Sun in the Void, Yellow Sand for Ten Thousand Miles."
Suddenly, a low, god-like voice echoed, and a layer of golden ripples spread out from Han Li's body, undulating in the surrounding air.
A massive, blazing fireball descended from the sky, landing on the sea's surface, emitting an intense, fiery aura that instantly raised the temperature of the surrounding area by thousands of degrees.
The seawater that had been rushing towards them was instantly evaporated, and the sea floor beneath Han Li's feet transformed into a vast, yellow sand desert landscape.
Shuichang Tian, who had been absorbing the ocean's power, suddenly lost his connection to the power, and his body began to rapidly dissipate, as if being roasted on a fire.
"This is an illusion..." Shuichang Tian said, disbelieving.
"Illusion? Ha ha, you can try to treat it as an illusion..." Han Li smiled, his eyes glinting.
"No, an illusion wouldn't affect my law's power, you cultivate the time law, how could you have such a strange technique?" Shuichang Tian said, his voice trembling.
"The law speaks of heaven and earth, and follows the words, how could you comprehend it? Receive your death." Han Li's voice exploded.
The blazing fireball descended, hurtling towards Shuichang Tian.
"Enough, with this realm, I should be able to deal with you." Shuichang Tian sighed, his hands clasped together in front of him.
A blue, glowing light flashed, and a massive, blue, curved bow appeared, with a gigantic arrow nocked and ready, its appearance clearly the same as the blue, long spear that Shuichang Tian had wielded earlier.
Shuichang Tian drew the bowstring, and the arrowhead began to condense with dense, law-like energy, a blue, glowing vortex appearing at the arrow's tip.
A piercing sound echoed, and the air in front of the arrow was torn apart, revealing a black, gaping hole.
A deafening explosion shook the air, and the fireball was torn apart, bursting into countless smaller fireballs that scattered everywhere, while the arrow continued to hurtle towards Han Li.
Han Li saw the arrow approaching, and yet he didn't dodge or evade, his body's internal energy surging as he activated the Tianxia Zhenjin Gong, his eighteen thousand acupoints shining brightly, his hand holding the Qingtian Huayun Sword, which he raised in a vertical slash.
The sword's body glowed with golden light, as lightning and electricity surged out, forming a massive, golden sword shadow that clashed with the blue, glowing arrow.
A thunderous explosion shook the air, and the massive arrow disintegrated, Han Li's golden sword shadow dissipating as well, leaving behind a massive, gaping hole in the air that seemed to pulse with dark energy.
At this moment, a figure suddenly emerged from the hole, it was Han Li.
His body rose into the air, his long sword stabbing towards Shuichang Tian's heart.
Shui Chang Tian seemed to have anticipated Han Li's appearance, and with a single hand, he slapped a palm down towards him. However, despite the speed and terrifying force of the palm, it still struck empty air.
Han Li's figure vanished like a ghost, and then reappeared silently behind Shui Chang Tian.
A massive, three-headed, six-armed divine body suddenly materialized, with six enormous arms containing terrifying force, spinning like a windmill.
In an instant, the air was filled with the sound of drums, as countless fist shadows densely fell, crazily pounding Shui Chang Tian's body.
"Boom boom boom..."
A series of deafening thunderclaps echoed, as a series of shockwaves exploded, and Shui Chang Tian, under the relentless fist shadows, was unable to even escape, his blue water armor shattering, his massive body collapsing like a mountain, sending up countless sand particles.
The atmosphere was deadly silent, with only the sound of fist shadows falling.
Shui Chang Tian's body was surrounded by a fierce mist, as he emitted a series of white smoke, covering a radius of tens of thousands of miles.
Zi Ling and the others, who had been fighting on the periphery, stopped and looked over, drawn in by the terrifying commotion.
After a long time, the drumming sound finally gradually faded away.
In the vast white mist, Han Li's figure had returned to normal, with a broken and battered corpse lying at his feet.
Shui Chang Tian's divine body was no match for Han Li's physical strength, which had reached the pinnacle of perfection.
After a flurry of punches, Han Li's pent-up emotions finally dissipated.
He bent down to pick up a storage ring from beneath the corpse, glanced around at the dispersing mist, and suddenly smiled.
"Unexpectedly, you still had this trick up your sleeve."
His words had barely fallen when the surrounding void distorted, and a series of narrow streets and alleys began to materialize, with buildings and shops rising up on either side.
In the blink of an eye, Han Li found himself in a mundane city.
The streets were filled with people, carriages, and horses, as well as various sounds of hawking and peddling. Even the savory smell of meat wafting from a nearby baozi shop reached Han Li's nostrils.
"A great hiding place, you half-soul, you're quite skilled at hiding."
Han Li smiled, and then suddenly opened his mouth, blowing a powerful gust of wind towards the front.
The buildings and streets around him shattered like a dream, dispersing into a cloud of smoke.
Han Li's gaze immediately fell upon Shui Chang Tian's fleeing soul, which had escaped to a distance of tens of thousands of miles.
He raised his hand, and a golden sword light, wrapped in the power of time, shot out, disappearing into the distance.
A blood-curdling scream echoed, as Shui Chang Tian's soul was completely annihilated.
The monitoring and patrolling celestial messengers who had followed him fled in terror, without daring to linger.
Shi Chuan Kong and Zi Ling also flew towards Han Li, without intercepting the fleeing messengers.
At this time, the divine power of Fa Yan Tian Di had reached its limit, and the yellow sand began to dissipate, revealing the sea floor once more.
The seawater, which had been blocked by the battle's aftermath, began to flow back, filling the newly formed trenches and canyons.
Han Li's figure moved, and he flew towards Zi Ling, reuniting with her.
"Today's battle, I finally understand just how powerful you've become..." Zi Ling said, her eyes wide with amazement.
Han Li remained silent for a moment, before responding, "It's not enough."
"I didn't expect that upon returning to the True Immortal Realm, we would be ambushed by the Heavenly Court. It seems that the days ahead won't be peaceful." Shi Chuan Kong said, his expression worried.
"We had already anticipated this, didn't we? Do you have any plans?" Han Li asked, his tone light.
"Now that things have settled, I plan to return to the Demon Realm." Shi Chuan Kong sighed.
"With your identity, it's safer for you to return to the Demon Realm, considering the turmoil in the True Immortal Realm." Han Li nodded.
"Han friend, you're being pursued by the Heavenly Court, why not take refuge in the Demon Realm for a while? You don't know, but Crab Uncle has left the Accumulated Scales Boundary, and is marching into the Demon Realm, occupying nearly half of the realm. You'll be safe there, and won't have to worry about being pursued." Shi Chuan Kong said.
"No need, I'm not concerned about the Heavenly Court's pursuit. I don't want to get entangled in other conflicts, I just want to find a place to cultivate in peace." Han Li said, his eyes gleaming with a hint of depth.
Shi Chuan Kong's heart felt a bit awkward, as he had indeed invited Han Li to return to the Demon Realm with the intention of recruiting him as an ally.
"Since Han friend has his own plans, I won't force the issue. Zi Ling, what are your plans? Will you return to the Demon Realm, or..." Shi Chuan Kong turned to Zi Ling, who looked at Han Li, seeming to seek his opinion. "Zi Ling, I just said that the True Immortal Realm is currently in turmoil, and your strength is not strong, so it's better for you to return to the Demon Domain with Shi Dao friend," Han Li said with a slight pause.
"What about you?" Zi Ling stared at Han Li's eyes.
"Yu'er is currently in the Reincarnation Hall, I naturally want to bring her back," Han Li's eyes flashed with a sharp light.
"You want to go to the Reincarnation Hall again?" Zi Ling's eyebrows wrinkled in concern.
"Brother Han, the Reincarnation Hall's power is extremely strong, even the Heavenly Court's power cannot eliminate it, and the Reincarnation Hall Master's divine power, we have all witnessed it, Brother Han's strength is strong, but compared to the Reincarnation Hall Master, it's still far inferior, don't be impulsive," Shi Chuan Kong's expression was also shocked, and he hurriedly advised.
"I won't act rashly, I mean in the future. First, I'll improve my cultivation, at least reach the late stage of the Great Luo Realm, and then make plans," Han Li said.
The three great ultimate laws are not trivial, and challenging across levels is a common thing.
The Reincarnation Hall Master is only in the late stage of the Great Luo Realm, and has not reached the realm of the Dao Ancestor, but can instantly kill the Bone Emperor, a Dao Ancestor.
The deeper Han Li cultivates the Time Law, the more he feels its power, and he has a feeling that once he reaches the late stage of the Great Luo Realm, his strength will be elevated again.
"I'll accompany you," Zi Ling suddenly spoke up.
"Zi Ling, my side is not safe, you should..." Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he said again.
"In the past, whether in the Mortal Realm or the Spiritual Realm, I couldn't accompany you, it's always been my greatest regret, now that I finally have the opportunity, let me accompany you!" Zi Ling interrupted Han Li's words, her eyes reflecting Han Li's image.
Han Li was silent for a moment, then nodded.
From the moment they met, he had never been able to accompany Zi Ling, and he felt extremely guilty.
Zi Ling heard this and smiled brightly, and the surrounding void seemed to become gentle.
"Since Zi Ling Dao friend has decided to stay, then Shi will return to the Demon Domain alone, I'll explain to Crab Uncle, you two be careful on your journey," Shi Chuan Kong glanced at Zi Ling, then looked at Han Li, his eyes flashing with a hint of unintentional loss, and he clasped his fist.
"Take care," Han Li clasped his fist in response.
Shi Chuan Kong looked at Han Li and Zi Ling again, and his gaze lingered on Zi Ling for a moment, before his body transformed into a silver light and disappeared.
Shi Chuan Kong's gaze was subtle, but with Han Li and Zi Ling's cultivation level, how could they not see it?
"Shi Dao friend assisted me greatly in the Demon Domain, but I don't have any relationship with him," Zi Ling said softly.
"Of course, I wouldn't doubt you," Han Li smiled faintly.
Zi Ling heard this and relaxed.
The surrounding situation returned to calm, with only the waves gently lapping.
"This place is not suitable for staying for long, let's go," Han Li said, looking around.
Before he finished speaking, he waved his hand and sent a golden light to envelop Zi Ling, and they shot up into the sky, flying straight towards the high altitude.
"Brother Han, where are we going?" Zi Ling asked in surprise.
"We're going to the outside of the heavens," Han Li smiled faintly, and the golden light around him intensified, increasing their speed, and they soon passed through the Qing Ming Domain and arrived at the Tian Feng Domain.
Endless winds assailed them, shocking the heavens.
Zi Ling's cultivation was not strong, and seeing this, her face revealed a hint of fear.
But Han Li didn't pay attention to the winds, and instead explained the three great domains to Zi Ling as they continued forward.
The golden light around him flashed, and a circle of golden ripples spread out, calming the winds that entered their range.
Han Li easily traversed the endless winds, without encountering any danger, and their speed didn't decrease at all.
Zi Ling saw this and felt at ease, looking at Han Li with a hint of admiration.
Before long, they passed through the Tian Feng Domain and arrived at the outside of the heavens.
The black void, countless asteroids, and chaotic primordial energy storms left Zi Ling speechless, her eyes wide with wonder.
"I never thought the outside of the heavens would be like this, it's truly broadening my horizons, but what are we doing here?" Zi Ling finally recovered, her expression still filled with surprise.
"Naturally, we're here to close up and cultivate, the Heavenly Court and the Reincarnation Hall's power is extremely vast, and if there are Dao Ancestor-level people searching, no matter where we hide, there's a danger of being discovered. The outside of the heavens is located in the endless high altitude, infinite and boundless, only here can we not worry about being found," Han Li said.
"I see, but this place looks like it's full of crises, and it's extremely easy to change... can we really find a place to close up and cultivate in peace?" Zi Ling asked, her expression concerned.
"Don't worry, leave it to me," Han Li smiled, and brought Zi Ling forward, his vast divine sense spreading out, sensing the surroundings.
As they flew deeper into the void, the stars and asteroids whizzed by, and the primordial energy storms raged on, but Han Li's divine sense remained calm, guiding them through the chaos.
Han Li led Zi Ling through the desolate void of the outer sky for several days before finally stopping at a meteorite cluster.
This area of meteorites was different from the others, as all the meteorites within it were completely still, and there was no sign of energy storms in the vicinity.
In the center of the meteorite cluster, a massive black sphere floated, its diameter spanning tens of thousands of miles, emitting various different types of primal energy fluctuations, including even fluctuations of the laws.
"This is it, I didn't expect to find it so easily," Han Li said, letting out a breath.
"What is this huge black sphere? And why is it so quiet here?" Zi Ling asked, her face full of surprise.
"Zi Ling, you must have seen those black vortices that can devour everything, right?" Han Li asked.
"I've seen them, are they related to this black sphere?" Zi Ling's eyes widened slightly.
"Those black vortices are the result of the power of space being affected by various factors, causing distortions to form. Some people call them 'void holes'. Void holes can devour all things, whether it's meteorites or various types of primal energy, but they also have their limits. When they reach their limit, they will disappear and transform into a black sphere like this," Han Li explained.
These things were all things he had investigated specifically after his previous visit to the outer void.
"I see," Zi Ling said, enlightened.
"Each black sphere is a treasure trove of energy, containing an enormous amount of energy, and is a natural, high-grade ore vein. Unfortunately, these black spheres are too large to be stored in a spatial artifact, and it's also blocked by the Heavenly Wind Domain, making it impossible to transport them down," Han Li said, shaking his head in regret.
Zi Ling looked at the black sphere in front of her and nodded slightly, clearly also feeling a sense of regret.
If they could transport this black sphere to the lower realm, just the resources contained within it would be enough to establish a sect.
"Let's not get sidetracked, this area with the black sphere is very quiet because it has been devoured by a large amount of primal energy, and it will remain in this state for a long time. Moreover, the black sphere contains a dense and boundless amount of heavenly primal energy, making it an ideal place for cultivation. Let's go into seclusion here," Han Li said with a smile, before continuing.
Zi Ling naturally wouldn't object, and Han Li immediately began to dig a cave into the black sphere, transforming it into a cave dwelling.
He set up restrictions in various places within the cave, then opened the Flower Petal Space, bringing Zi Ling inside.
Han Li activated his spiritual domain and stimulated the Timeless Heavenly Seal Array, causing the flow of time within the Flower Petal Space to change, accelerating by 30,000 times.
"This is your time difference space, it's truly incredible," Zi Ling said, having already heard about it from Han Li and others, but still feeling amazed.
Han Li smiled slightly, not explaining anything, and instead instructed Zi Ling on some things before entering the attic to go into seclusion.
Zi Ling, who had fallen behind in the Six Paths of Reincarnation, was eager to improve her strength and also began to cultivate in seclusion.
Inside the attic, Han Li sat cross-legged, taking out the white jade slip given to him by the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation, which contained the final two layers of the Divine Refining Technique.
He remained silent for a moment, before finally inserting his spiritual sense into the jade slip and beginning to comprehend its contents.
Han Li currently needed power, and even if it meant sacrificing all his future reincarnations, he was willing to do so.
With his experience in cultivating the first five layers of the Divine Refining Technique, he quickly comprehended the final two layers, then slowly began to cultivate.
At Han Li's level, it was common to multitask.
He cultivated the Divine Refining Technique while taking out various materials, spewing out a mouthful of golden flames to envelop them, and began to refine them.
Half a month later, Han Li activated his seal, and the golden flames dispersed, revealing two dark golden puppets, which emitted a faint aura of time laws.
He smiled slightly, then took out two small white bottles, placing them beside him, and a wave of energy similar to the power of the soul emanated from them.
As he activated his seal, a layer of crystal light appeared on his forehead, flashing rapidly.
"Ah!"
Han Li activated his seal for a long time, before suddenly opening his eyes and letting out a low growl.
Two piercing crystal lights shot out of his eyes, like cold electricity in the darkness.
The crystal light on his forehead surged, and two green lights flew out, transforming into two small green figures, which were his soul projections.
Han Li activated his seal, and the two green figures flew out, each entering one of the golden puppets.
He immediately began to activate his seals, and a flurry of golden talismans flew out, pouring into the two golden puppets.
The two golden puppets slowly opened their eyes, and a faint glimmer of life appeared in their empty eyes.
Han Li saw this and nodded slightly, before activating his seal again.
The two small white bottles beside him flew out, releasing two streams of pale golden spiritual liquid, which merged into the puppets' foreheads, causing their eyes to brighten slightly.
Han Li continued to activate his seals, and countless talismans flew out, pouring into the golden puppets.
The golden puppets' bodies gradually emitted a faint golden light, which enveloped them.
Han Li's hands continued to activate his seals, and the golden puppets' bodies slowly began to transform. Time passed slowly, and over a year had passed in the blink of an eye.
Han Li spread his hands, stopping his spellcasting.
The golden light on the puppet's body quickly dissipated, revealing the puppet's true form.
The two golden puppets had clear and lively eyes, looking almost identical to ordinary people.
Han Li let out a sigh of relief, a faint smile on his face.
His spellcasting over the past few days was a technique for refining a terrestrial embodiment, a small art of the True Speech Sect. The True Speech Sect, as a super-large sect that studied time laws, had naturally researched the art of terrestrial embodiment.
These two puppets were his refined terrestrial embodiments, containing the laws of time within them. In terms of subtlety, they far surpassed the water-attribute terrestrial embodiment he had refined in the Black Wind Sea.
Han Li's refinement of the terrestrial embodiment was not for the purpose of specializing in the art of terrestrial embodiment, nor did he plan to release these two puppets into a populated area to gather faith power. Instead, he was preparing for the Corpse Severing technique.
The Corpse Severing technique of the Tian Huo clan was exceptionally subtle, and he had already used it once, gaining a deeper understanding. For the next two times, he planned to continue using this technique.
Using the terrestrial embodiment for Corpse Severing required a long period of fusion, and the embodiment needed to be sufficiently compatible with the body. However, with the time difference space, time was not a problem.
As Han Li thought, he raised his hand and sent out a burst of golden light, sending the two terrestrial embodiments to the loft below to cultivate on their own. He closed his eyes and sat in meditation.
Refining two terrestrial embodiments in succession, enduring the pain of soul splitting, even with his extremely powerful soul, left him somewhat fatigued.
Han Li sat for half a year before opening his eyes, his gaze sharp and piercing. His soul's damage had completely recovered.
He let out a soft sigh, and his eyes gleamed with a fierce light.
At this point, the preparations for Corpse Severing were complete, and the next step was to formally begin the technique.
Han Li's body was suddenly enveloped in a burst of golden light.
His spiritual domain also brightened by several times, with liquid-like golden light flowing slowly.
A surge of heaven and earth spiritual energy transmitted through the air, merging into his spiritual domain. In an instant, the spiritual energy within the Flower Branch Space became several times more dense.
Outside, Zi Ling sensed this situation and revealed a surprised and delighted expression.
She turned her head and gazed deeply at the loft, before quickly withdrawing her gaze and continuing her meditation.
Time passed, and twenty million years went by in the blink of an eye.
Zi Ling's body glowed with black light, each strand of black light resembling a black silken thread, intertwining and enveloping her body, forming a cocoon-like existence.
Her aura was surging, and she had once again reached the peak of the Tai Yi realm.
Zi Ling's previous cultivation had plummeted, but her foundation remained, and the heaven and earth spiritual energy within the Flower Branch Space was extremely dense. After twenty million years of bitter cultivation, she had finally regained her original realm.
Moreover, her current cultivation foundation was stable, and she would not fall again.
Zi Ling opened her eyes, her hands forming a seal, and the black light around her swiftly retreated, merging back into her body.
She revealed a contemplative expression, flipping her hand to retrieve a purple jade bottle with a black talisman attached.
Through the bottle, waves of pure and refined primordial energy still transmitted out, which was the essence of the Mystic True.
Zi Ling hesitated, wondering if she should attempt to break through to the Mahayana realm at this moment.
Just then, the golden spiritual domain suddenly flashed violently and disappeared, and the time difference space also vanished.
The loft's door burst open, and Han Li's figure flew out, his eyebrows locked in a frown, his expression somewhat gloomy.
Zi Ling saw Han Li's appearance and immediately flashed a look of concern, putting away the jade bottle and rising to greet him.
"Your cultivation has made great progress, and it wasn't in vain that you opened the time difference space," Han Li said, his expression brightening as he sensed the surge in Zi Ling's aura.
"Was your cultivation not going smoothly?" Zi Ling asked softly.
"I didn't expect severing the benevolent corpse to be so difficult," Han Li sighed.
"I heard Crab Forefather mention the matter of severing the corpse, but unfortunately, my cultivation wasn't enough, and he didn't elaborate. However, I heard from Qi Hun that you had already severed the malevolent corpse, and it didn't seem to be too difficult. Why is severing the benevolent corpse so hard?" Zi Ling asked curiously.
"Severing the corpse can be divided into two parts. The first step is to sense the existence of the three corpses within the body, and the second step is to enlighten the mind and see the nature, to comprehend the three corpses' obsession and sever them. I severed the malevolent corpse without too much effort because, firstly, in the Nine Yuan Pavilion, Ghost Spirit Child used the Corpse Severing Immortal Symbol to guide the malevolent corpse out of my body, avoiding the first step. Secondly, I had killed many people in the past, and my understanding of 'evil' was quite deep, so severing the malevolent corpse wasn't difficult. However, severing the benevolent corpse is different," Han Li said with a sigh.
"What's different?" Zi Ling asked, taken aback.
"Since I started cultivating, I've been killing continuously, and although I'm not heartless, my heart has become extremely hard. I lack understanding of the word 'benevolent'. I've been cultivating for twenty million years, and I still haven't been able to sense the existence of the benevolent corpse within my body, let alone sever it," Han Li said with a sigh.
"We cultivators are not all the same, are we?" Zi Ling frowned and said.
"So, it's not just because cultivation is difficult, but also because we can't cut out the good corpses that we can't advance to the late stage of the Great Luo," Han Li said with a shrug.
"What can we do?" Zi Ling also realized the seriousness of the problem and her face turned solemn.
"I've reached the peak of the Great Luo middle stage in both my cultivation and law comprehension, and continuing to close up has no meaning. It's better to go out and take a look around, maybe I can make a breakthrough." Han Li thought for a moment and said.
"I once heard that high-level immortal cultivators often have bottlenecks not in their cultivation or laws, but in their state of mind, their understanding of the world's most fundamental truth... Speaking of which, I've never been to the True Immortal Realm, and even in the Demon Realm, I've been busy with various things... Brother Han, can you take me to take a good look around here?" Zi Ling's eyes sparkled with excitement, and she smiled.
"The True Immortal Realm is vast and far surpasses the Demon Realm, with many strange and wonderful places. It's definitely not going to disappoint you. As for me, I've been focusing on cultivation for years and haven't had a chance to explore the True Immortal Realm. Let's take a look around together." Han Li was influenced by Zi Ling's emotions, and his heart felt a little better.
He waved his hand and pulled Zi Ling, flying out of the flower petal space.
...
The Northern Dawn Immortal Realm was a small immortal realm on the outskirts of the True Immortal Realm, with a relatively thin atmosphere, but it was famous for its breathtaking aurora displays.
Of course, this reputation only applied to immortal cultivators above the Tai Yi realm, while those below the Golden Immortal realm might not even leave their birth realm in their lifetime. Those with even lower cultivation might not even leave their continent, let alone travel freely between immortal realms.
In fact, most high-level cultivators, except for a few exceptions, rarely abandoned their closed-door cultivation to travel, as even high-level immortal cultivators would not give up any opportunity to improve their cultivation.
In the northernmost part of the Northern Dawn Immortal Realm, there was a mountain range called the Heaven's Waterfall, with peaks covered in snow and ice, towering into the clouds.
When the snow melted, the water formed a waterfall, and the entire mountain range, due to its unique terrain, formed thousands of large and small waterfalls, creating a breathtaking sight.
Every time the aurora appeared, the waterfalls reflected the colors of the aurora, and the entire mountain range was shrouded in a dreamlike beauty, making people feel intoxicated.
At this moment, on the peak of the mountain, a man and a woman stood side by side, admiring the breathtaking scenery around them. They were Han Li and Zi Ling, who had changed their appearance.
...
The Tianhu Immortal Realm's Heaven's Nest Lake was famous for producing high-quality spirit jade, and the lake was always shrouded in mist, which changed with the seasons, sometimes white, sometimes purple, and sometimes pink.
This changing mist, combined with the high-quality spirit jade, made the Heaven's Nest Lake famous throughout the immortal realms.
A small boat glided across the lake, and Han Li and Zi Ling sat on the boat, their faces serene, playing a game of Go.
...
The Tianhuo Immortal Realm's Fire Bird Mountain Range was named for its peaks resembling flying birds.
The underground magma in this area was turbulent, and flames often erupted from the peaks, creating a spectacle of giant birds spewing fire.
On a dead volcano, Han Li and Zi Ling stood shoulder to shoulder, admiring the breathtaking scenery.
...
The Liulang Immortal Realm's mysterious green mud swamp, the Canghai Immortal Realm's red ocean, the Xuanfeng Immortal Realm's stormy mountain range...
Han Li and Zi Ling visited all these strange and wonderful places in the True Immortal Realm.
With Han Li's current cultivation, his speed was extremely fast, and he could cross an entire immortal realm in a short time.
In just over two hundred years, the two of them had visited 20-30 immortal realms, seeing countless strange and beautiful sights, and experiencing the unique cultures of each realm.
However, the True Immortal Realm was too vast, and the places they visited were still just a small part of the entire realm.
Because they feared the power of the Heavenly Court and the Wheel of Rebirth, they only visited small and medium-sized immortal realms, constantly changing their appearance, and their journey was very smooth, without being recognized by anyone.
In the western part of the Feiying Immortal Realm, there was a mountain range with a continuous range of mountains, covered in a type of blood-red bamboo. From high above, the scenery was breathtaking.
Every time the wind blew, the bamboo forest rustled, creating a sound like waves crashing, and the mountain range was nicknamed the "Bamboo Sea", famous for its beauty.
Near the Blood Bamboo Mountain Range, there was a small city called Yushan City, and in the city, there was a three-story wine shop. Han Li and Zi Ling sat by the window on the top floor.
They were drinking a type of bright red wine, emitting a unique aroma of bamboo leaves, made from the roots of the blood bamboo.
"The Blood Bamboo Sea is indeed famous, and this blood bamboo wine, although it's a mortal wine, tastes very good, it's worth the trip." Zi Ling took a sip of the wine, her face slightly intoxicated.
Han Li drained his cup, nodding slightly.
He was a connoisseur of fine wines, and this blood bamboo wine, although it was a mortal wine, had a unique flavor that was hard to find.
Han Li put down his cup and looked out the window.
The city was bustling with people, and the streets were crowded.
Han Li gazed out at the scene, his eyes calm and serene. In the Flower Branch Space, twenty thousand years passed in the blink of an eye. During this time, he gained insight into the Good Corpse while also making rapid progress in the final two layers of the Cultivation of the Spirit.
Now, he had already mastered the sixth layer of the Cultivation of the Spirit, and his spiritual awareness had made another great leap forward.
At this moment, Han Li did not need to extend his spiritual sense to investigate, as everything in the entire Jade Mountain City was already within his sight.
Jade Mountain City was a mundane city, filled with all sorts of people from the three teachings and nine streams. There were officials, scholars, merchants, warriors, farmers, and many beggars.
All sorts of sounds filled the air, accompanied by countless complex emotions: joy, anger, sorrow, and sadness, as well as obsession, greed, and hatred, all of which assailed him.
Han Li suddenly let out a soft sigh, poured a cup of wine, and drank it in one gulp.
"What's wrong?" Zi Ling asked, looking over at him.
"Nothing, I just feel a sense of melancholy about the world's complexities. Whether it's ordinary people or us cultivators, no one can escape being entangled in them," Han Li said calmly.
"We, as immortals, may have long lives and be almost invulnerable to death, but we still can't escape the entanglements of human emotions and the complexities of the world," Zi Ling said, putting down her wine cup and sighing.
Han Li looked into the distance, silent and unresponsive.
"Brother Han, have you made any progress in sensing the Good Corpse?" Zi Ling asked.
Han Li shook his head silently, a look of worry appearing on his face.
"You've accompanied me for over two hundred years, and we've traveled to many places together. I'm already content. Why don't you focus on your cultivation from tomorrow on? Perhaps, after these years of contemplation, you'll have some gains," Zi Ling said softly after a moment of silence.
"The matter of cutting down the Corpse is different from other cultivations. It's not something that can be achieved just by passing time. Otherwise, why would there be so many people in the True Immortal Realm who are stuck at this stage? I have a feeling that the key to advancing to the late stage of the Great Luo lies in this mundane world. We should continue to travel and seek out opportunities," Han Li said, shaking his head.
Zi Ling heard his words and a smile appeared on her face as she nodded.
Han Li picked up the wine jug and filled the cups of the two of them, and they drank together.
"...Then, the old immortal, Lingyun, raised a flying sword, and a white light stretched for ten thousand feet, covering the light of the sun and moon. The evil dragon was immediately frightened out of its wits and turned to flee, but it couldn't escape. The sword light flashed, and the evil dragon's front claw was severed, and fresh red blood splashed down, instantly dyeing the water red." A voice came from the wine shop, and it was an old man telling a story about a sword immortal who had rid the world of evil.
The Flying Wing Immortal Realm placed great importance on the distinction between immortals and mortals, and cultivators were strictly forbidden from appearing in the mortal world. As a result, to ordinary people, immortals were mysterious and elusive, making them the best topic of conversation.
The old man's storytelling skills were not bad, and the story was exciting. Many customers gathered around to listen.
Upon hearing this, the surrounding customers all exclaimed in unison, their eyes fixed on the old storyteller, waiting for the next part of the story.
However, the old storyteller did not immediately continue. Instead, he calmly coughed and picked up his tea cup, taking a sip.
At the same time, a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl in a green dress walked out from beside him, carrying a copper plate, and smiled as she bowed to the crowd.
This was a signal for the customers to give money, and the storyteller's tale was indeed good. Moreover, the girl was beautiful and charming, so many customers generously threw money onto the plate, and the storyteller smiled and bowed to the customers.
Han Li saw this scene and smiled slightly.
He had grown up in a mountain village, and he had never had the chance to hear stories like this. At most, he had only heard villagers who had traveled outside tell stories about the outside world.
At that time, he was like the customers, filled with a sense of wonder about the unknown world and the strange and fantastical things that were passed down as legends among the common people.
The girl in the green dress lowered her head to pick up the money, and her white skin was even more striking. Her slender neck was exposed, making her look even more beautiful. Several of the more unsavory customers began to laugh and make jokes, saying that the girl was beautiful and so on.
The girl's face turned bright red, but she didn't stop picking up the money. Instead, she used the copper plate to cover her face, and her coy and shy demeanor only made the unsavory customers more lustful.
The girl seemed to sense the malicious gazes of the customers and quickly picked up the money before retreating.
One of the unsavory customers, a young man dressed in luxurious clothes with a lewd expression, suddenly laughed and reached out to grab the girl's wrist as she walked by.
The girl in the green dress let out a loud cry of alarm.
The young man, who was already drunk, stretched out his hand to touch the girl's chin, saying, "Little miss, you're so beautiful. Where are you from? Don't tell stories here, brother will take you to eat good food..."
The girl's face was filled with panic, and she cried out for help.
The old storyteller rushed over to try and rescue the girl, but the young man pushed him away.
The young man seemed to have some martial arts skills, and his strength was not small. The old man's body crashed into a railing, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, collapsing to the ground.
"Grandfather!" the girl in the green dress cried out, struggling with all her might, but she couldn't break free.
The other customers in the wine shop saw the commotion and some of the more timid ones quickly got up to leave.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and a hint of displeasure flashed in his eyes, but he still remained seated, not moving.
This kind of harassment of innocent people was common in the mortal world, and it was almost always happening. It wasn't a big deal, but the storytelling earlier had touched his heart.
Several patrons, please take a seat and enjoy the performance, don't disturb everyone's atmosphere. A nearby shop assistant walked over and advised.
"We've entered your wine shop, paid for the wine, and are the masters, we can do whatever we want, get out of our way." Another rascal jumped out, grabbed the shop assistant's clothes, and shouted with a skewed mouth.
"The patrons are also reasonable, but you're causing a commotion, scaring off all the customers, how can our wine shop do business? You appear to be outsiders, our wine shop's owner is the city's Jin Daguang, you should think carefully, offending our owner is not a good thing." The shop assistant was not afraid, speaking slowly and calmly.
The rascals all looked at the young man in luxurious clothes.
"Jin Daguang? Is that the Jin Fugui guy? He's just a small administrator in my Jinlong Gang, daring to call himself a high-ranking official in front of me." The young man sneered, still holding onto the green-clothed girl, as if holding onto a small white rabbit.
"Are you people from the Jinlong Gang?" The shop assistant's face showed a hint of panic.
"Are you blind? This is the Jinlong Gang's leader's son." The rascal holding the shop assistant's clothes used force to throw him to the ground.
The shop assistant was stunned, lying on the ground, not daring to get up, his entire body trembling.
The young man looked at the green-clothed girl, his Adam's apple rolling.
He had seen many women, but a delicate and tender beauty like this was rare.
"Cough! Get everyone else out." The young man growled.
The other patrons in the wine shop immediately changed color, not needing to be told, they quickly fled, leaving only Han Li and Ziling in the distance.
"You two don't want to look for trouble, hurry up and leave." A rascal shouted at the two.
Ziling had transformed into an ordinary-looking woman, not drawing the attention of the rascals.
Han Li's eyes were slightly cold, having just listened to the storytelling, reminding him of a distant memory, and he seemed to have gained some understanding, but was interrupted by these people.
"Disappointing." He lightly snorted, flicking his finger at the chopstick holder on the table.
The chopstick holder slightly moved, then returned to its original state.
The rascals' hands suddenly sprayed blood, each person's wrist having a chopstick embedded, piercing through.
"Ah ah ah!" The rascals only reacted now, holding their wrists and screaming.
The young man in luxurious clothes was the same, his wrist pierced by the chopstick, releasing the green-clothed girl.
The girl stared blankly at the scene, then quickly ran to the storyteller's side, helping him up.
"Let's go." Han Li stood up, taking out a small silver ingot and placing it on the table, walking downstairs.
Ziling smiled slightly, following.
The storyteller and his grandson were afraid of the young man and his companions seeking revenge, quickly following downstairs.
The young man and his companions were in extreme pain, not stopping the two.
"Benefactor, please wait." Han Li and Ziling had just exited the wine shop when the storyteller and his grandson caught up.
Han Li's face moved, stopping in his tracks.
"Thank you, benefactor, for your help today, if Xiaocui fell into those people's hands, she would only have one road to death." The storyteller bowed to Han Li in gratitude.
The green-clothed girl "thudded" to the ground, also kowtowing to Han Li in thanks.
Han Li was about to let the two up, but his face suddenly moved, a hint of unusual color flashing in his eyes.
"Brother Han?" Ziling asked softly.
"It was just a small matter, you two don't need to be so polite." Han Li's expression immediately returned to normal, waving his sleeve, a formless force lifting the two people's bodies.
The two people looked at Han Li with a gaze of reverence.
"Those people seem to have a powerful backing, you two should leave quickly, I can only save you once, not twice." Han Li said.
"Those people are from the Jinlong Gang, the Jinlong Gang's power is throughout the entire Iron State, if they want to seek revenge, where can we escape to?" The storyteller's face showed a hint of despair.
"Your accents are different from the people of Yushan City, you should be from elsewhere, where is your hometown?" Han Li asked.
"I and my grandfather are from Qingzhou, due to a famine in our hometown, we fled to this place." The green-clothed girl said.
"Qingzhou? Is it a place with two large rivers running parallel?" Han Li's eyebrows moved, asking.
"Yes." The green-clothed girl hesitated, nodding.
"Where is your hometown in Qingzhou, tell me in detail, and also describe the environment around your residence." Han Li's eyes narrowed, asking.
The green-clothed girl and the storyteller exchanged a glance, hesitating for a moment before carefully telling Han Li about their hometown and the environment around their residence. "So that's the thatched cottage with the big willow tree at the entrance, that's your home," Han Li said with a light smile.
The blue-clothed girl and the old storyteller were taken aback, they had just described their situation, but hadn't mentioned the willow tree in front of the door, how did this person know about it?
"Let's go, I'll take you home," Han Li said with a flick of his sleeve, a burst of golden light enveloped the two, and then dimmed slightly.
The two people's eyes were suddenly filled with golden light, their bodies felt extremely light, as if they were floating in mid-air.
The next moment, they found themselves standing on solid ground, the golden light around them disappeared, and their vision cleared.
But the surroundings had changed, they were no longer in Yushan City, but in a small village by a lake.
Han Li and Ziling were nowhere to be seen.
In front of them, not far away, were three thatched cottages, with a big willow tree in front of the door, its leaves swaying in the wind.
"This is our hometown..." The blue-clothed girl and the old storyteller stared in shock, rubbing their eyes, not daring to believe what they were seeing.
"It seems that the famine in your hometown has passed, here's some silver, you can live a good life in your hometown from now on," Han Li's voice came from above, and then a silver ingot fell from the sky into the old man's hand.
"Thank you, immortal, for your help, my grandson and I will definitely build a long-life altar for you, and worship you day and night!" The old storyteller suddenly came to his senses, and bowed deeply towards the empty air.
The blue-clothed girl also quickly knelt down, kowtowing repeatedly.
In mid-air, Han Li and Ziling stood silently.
"Brother Han, I didn't expect you to have such a chivalrous heart, not only saving them, but also sending them back to their hometown," Ziling said with a light smile.
Han Li didn't say a word, but closed his eyes, as if sensing something, a hint of a smile on his face.
"What's making you so happy, brother Han?" Ziling asked, seeing Han Li's expression.
"I've found a way to sense the benevolent corpse," Han Li said quickly, opening his eyes, a faint smile on his face.
"Really? What's the opportunity?" Ziling asked, surprised and delighted.
Han Li didn't say a word, but pointed to the two people below.
"You mean helping others, it helps you sense the benevolent corpse?" Ziling's eyes sparkled as she said this.
Han Li nodded, smiling.
Earlier, when he had helped the old man and his grandson escape from the Golden Dragon Gang, he had sensed a formless, intangible energy surrounding himself, which had loosened the bottleneck of the benevolent corpse in his body.
As for Han Li sending the old man and his grandson back to their hometown, it was just to verify his feelings, and indeed, when the two people thanked him again, another formless energy spread out.
But the second wave of energy was much weaker than the first.
"It's true, helping others is a good deed, I remember you saying that because you didn't understand the true meaning of 'good', you couldn't sense the benevolent corpse, by helping others, you can deepen your understanding of 'good', and thus help with the benevolent corpse," Ziling was also extremely intelligent, and instantly understood the principle.
"That's right, now that I've found a way, it's easy," Han Li said with a light smile, and then his massive spiritual sense suddenly expanded, spreading out in all directions.
He had now reached the sixth layer of his spiritual cultivation, his spiritual sense had increased greatly, and his range of detection had also increased, covering almost half of the Flying Wing Immortal Domain.
Han Li's spiritual sense had not only increased in range, but also in accuracy, he could sense the actions of countless cultivators and ordinary people within his range, including the old man and his grandson who had been bullied.
He made a seal with his hand, and a golden light enveloped the two people.
The light flashed, and the two people disappeared without a trace.
...
In Feilu Province, on a mountain path, a group of masked bandits blocked a group of escorts, the two sides clashed fiercely.
The bandits were numerous, and had set up an ambush on the mountain path, the escorts were quickly defeated, leaving only the leader, a burly old man, and two escorts, who were still fighting fiercely.
"Ah" "Ah" two cries of pain, the last two escorts fell to the ground, wounded.
The old man's eyes flashed with sadness, but he didn't stop, dancing with his giant ghost-headed knife, the light of the knife flashed, and the bandits were pushed back.
"Xiang Zong, you're the only one left, why don't you kneel down and beg for mercy, we might spare your life," a tall bandit with a cruel smile said.
"I'd rather die than kneel down to you, I'm the leader of the Flying Tiger Escort Bureau, I won't be intimidated by you!" the old man said, his left arm wounded, his body covered in blood, but still unyielding.
"Fine, you're a man of honor, but you're also a fool, you're going to die anyway, so let's end this," the bandit sneered, raising his hand.
The bandits beside him stepped forward, each taking out a giant crossbow, loading it with over a dozen arrows, and aiming at the old man.
"Whoosh" the sound of the crossbows firing echoed through the air.
Over a hundred arrows shot out, like a rain of arrows, towards the old man.
A burly old man was surrounded by several bandits wielding long weapons, and had no time to defend himself against the arrows flying towards him. It seemed he would soon be buried under the hail of arrows.
Just at that moment, a fan-shaped burst of golden lightning descended from the sky, sweeping across the arrows.
A loud crashing sound erupted, and the arrows made of fine steel exploded into fragments, turning into wisps of smoke, as soon as they came into contact with the golden lightning.
The golden lightning then split into hundreds of smaller lightning bolts, striking the bandits with precision, not missing a single one.
A deafening thunderclap shook the air!
The bandits were all blown away, and as they fell to the ground, they convulsed violently, crying out in agony, but none of them died.
The burly old man was not struck by the lightning, and stood there, staring at the scene before him, his eyes wide with incredulity.
The golden lightning quickly dissipated, and the bandits, who had been lying on the ground, struggled to get up, their faces filled with fear, as they looked around.
"Scram! If I see you robbing people again, I'll show no mercy!" a stern voice boomed from the sky.
The bandits, who had just gotten up, were shocked and frightened, and quickly scrambled to their feet, before fleeing in terror.
The burly old man glared at the fleeing bandits, but did not pursue them.
He was already old, and had suffered serious injuries, and was too weak to give chase.
A figure appeared in the air, and a man and a woman materialized, Han Li and Zi Ling.
"Immortal..." the burly old man looked at the two of them, his face filled with excitement.
"I saw that you have a noble bearing, and should not meet your end here. Since we met, I decided to help you." Han Li looked at the burly old man, and pointed.
A blue light shot out, and entered the old man's body.
The old man felt a surge of energy, and his fatigue disappeared, as his wounds healed at an incredible rate, and he felt a mix of shock and joy.
"Thank you, immortals, for saving me. I am eternally grateful!" the old man bowed deeply to Han Li and Zi Ling.
As the old man thanked them, a strange energy descended upon Han Li.
He made a hand gesture, and a flash of lightning illuminated the area, and when the old man stood up, the two of them had vanished.
...
A large lake in the Flying Wing Immortal Realm, a large ship sailed across its surface.
But at this moment, the lake's surface was churning, and a number of dark, black tentacles emerged from the depths, wrapping tightly around the ship, as if to crush it.
Fortunately, the ship was made of exceptionally sturdy materials, and although it creaked and groaned, it did not show any signs of breaking.
The ship's cabin was filled with several dozen people, who looked like tourists, huddled together in fear.
The lake's surface churned violently, and a massive, black beast emerged, resembling a giant, mutant octopus, its mouth open wide, as it lunged at the ship.
The people on the ship saw this, and let out a chorus of screams.
A loud thunderclap shook the air, and a bolt of golden lightning struck the beast, hitting it squarely.
The beast's neck was torn open, and its body was covered in electrical arcs, as it let out a terrified screech, and released its grip on the ship.
The beast's massive body sank beneath the surface, and disappeared.
The people on the ship were overjoyed, and thanked the immortals for their rescue.
Han Li and Zi Ling appeared in the air, Han Li's hand still crackling with golden lightning.
"Immortals, you saved us! Please, come out and accept our gratitude!" someone on the ship shouted, and rushed out to kowtow to Han Li and Zi Ling.
The others followed, and also rushed out to pay their respects.
Han Li smiled, and his body glowed with golden lightning, before disappearing once more.
...
The Northern Road State's Great Qing Mountain Range had been experiencing torrential rains for months, causing landslides, and a small village was on the verge of being destroyed by the mudslides.
A blue light suddenly descended from the sky, and the collapsing mountain was encased in ice, including the mudslides, and the village below was safe.
The villagers, who had narrowly escaped disaster, were overjoyed, but also confused, and did not know what had happened.
Han Li and Zi Ling appeared in the air.
"Immortals, you have descended! You saved us..."
Han Li had been traveling the Flying Wing Immortal Realm, helping those in need, and had been doing so for 20-30 years.
He had saved countless people, and his reputation had spread throughout the realm, and some people had even built temples in his honor.
His appearance had been described by those who had seen him, and had been carved into statues, which were worshipped in temples.
The Flying Wing Immortal Realm's various immortal sects had also heard rumors of the immortal who had been helping people, and had sent people to investigate.
Han Li did not want to get entangled with the immortal sects, and took Zi Ling with him, as they quietly left the realm, and traveled to a nearby realm. Beyond the Winding Realm, in the vast expanse of the Savage Wilderness, a flying boat hurtled forward, with Han Li sitting cross-legged, his eyes closed as if sensing something.
After a long time, he opened his eyes.
"Brother Han, how's the progress on sensing the Benevolent Corpse?" Zi Ling asked, sitting beside him, noticing Han Li's awakening.
"It's fine, I can barely sense the existence of the Benevolent Corpse now," Han Li replied, his tone devoid of much enthusiasm.
"Is there a problem?" Zi Ling asked, her voice gentle, as she sensed Han Li's emotions.
"There is indeed a problem. I've been traveling the world, doing good deeds, but the blessings I've received have been dwindling, especially in the past year. There's been almost no response," Han Li said, his brow furrowed.
"How could this be?" Zi Ling's expression changed.
"I'm not sure. But I've only just begun to sense the Benevolent Corpse, and I'm still far from reaching the stage of Slaying the Corpse. I must find a solution, or I'll stagnate again," Han Li said, his voice low.
Zi Ling nodded slowly, remaining silent.
"I've been thinking, perhaps it's because I've saved fewer people recently, and my karma isn't enough, causing the sensation of the Benevolent Corpse to stagnate," Han Li said.
"There's a possibility, but it could also be due to other reasons. Brother Han, what was the most rewarding experience you had when helping others?" Zi Ling asked, her eyes sparkling.
"The most rewarding experience? That would be the first time I saved the storyteller and his grandson. After that, the returns were never as great, and almost nonexistent," Han Li replied, after a moment of consideration.
"I remember you helped many people after that, with some instances saving far more than two. It seems it's not a matter of numbers," Zi Ling said, shaking her head.
"Indeed, what's the difference between the first time and the many times after?" Han Li asked, his eyes narrowing.
Zi Ling fell silent, and even her clever mind couldn't grasp the profound and obscure truth.
"Let's not think about it too much. We've already made progress, and it's not insignificant. Let's just wait and see what opportunities arise," Han Li said, after a long period of contemplation, still without a solution.
Zi Ling nodded, also ceasing to think about it.
Han Li snapped his fingers, and a golden light entered the flying boat.
The spirit patterns on the boat suddenly brightened tenfold, and its speed increased, as if the nearby void was about to be torn apart.
After flying for over a dozen days, the two finally arrived at a new realm.
This realm's spiritual energy was abnormally scarce, far inferior to the North Cold Realm, and almost comparable to the Spirit Realm.
"What a barren realm..." Han Li's divine sense expanded, and his brow furrowed.
This realm was small, not even half the size of the Flying Wing Realm. His divine sense could cover the entire realm.
The realm's terrain was scarred, with excavated mineral veins everywhere, as if it had been ravaged by a brutal force. The spiritual veins had been destroyed, leaving behind a desolate landscape.
The realm's population was sparse, with few cultivators and mortals, mostly concentrated in a few specific areas. The spiritual veins in those areas were less damaged, and the remaining spiritual energy was barely enough to sustain the cultivators.
"What's the name of this realm?" Han Li asked.
"This realm is called the He Gong Realm. It was once a realm with abundant spiritual energy, rich in mineral veins. However, the Heavenly Court sent people to excessively exploit the realm's spiritual veins, causing the destruction we see today," Zi Ling said, taking out a jade slip and inserting her divine sense.
"The Heavenly Court..." Han Li's brow furrowed, and he muttered to himself.
"Brother Han, do you plan to continue helping others in this realm? The population is sparse, and the efficiency might be low," Zi Ling asked.
"Let's observe for now. It's rare to see such a desolate realm in the True Immortal Realm," Han Li said, his eyes flashing with interest.
Zi Ling nodded silently, saying nothing.
Han Li snapped his fingers, and a golden light enveloped the two, forming a lightning array.
The golden light flashed, and the two vanished without a trace.
In the northwest of the He Gong Realm, there was a massive basin, surrounded by mountains, with a radius of several thousand miles.
In the center of the basin stood a massive city, almost filling the entire basin. The city was home to a mix of cultivators and mortals.
Although the city was large, it lacked a prosperous atmosphere. Many areas were abandoned, and the air was filled with a faint smell of rust. The streets were empty, and the few shops that remained were mostly deserted.
The entire city was shrouded in a heavy, depressing atmosphere, as if it was an old man waiting for death.
Outside the city, a flash of lightning illuminated the sky, and Han Li and Zi Ling appeared.
The sky was gray and murky, and no one noticed the lightning.
Han Li looked down at the city, a hint of a smile on his face.
"Let's go take a look," Han Li said, flying down.
Zi Ling followed closely behind, and the two landed on a street.
As the sun began to set, the city was plunged into darkness, with only a few scattered lights visible.
Han Li walked aimlessly, his eyes closed, as if sensing something.
Zi Ling found it strange but didn't ask any questions, silently following Han Li.
"Brother Han, what are we doing here?" Ziling asked after a long time, seeing Han Li still strolling around the city.
Han Li's appearance didn't seem to be that of someone who wanted to help others.
"The True Immortal Realm's spiritual energy is rich and abundant, and all the major immortal domains, big or small, are basically prosperous and thriving. But a place like this, so desolate and decrepit, is rarely seen. I want to experience the unique atmosphere of this place," Han Li said.
"What's there to experience in this kind of desolate atmosphere?" Ziling asked, gazing around at the desolate scenery, wrinkling her nose in distaste.
Han Li hesitated for a moment, but didn't say anything else, just shaking his head.
In fact, he had come here for a reason related to the "Wheel of Reincarnation" technique he had received earlier. Specifically, it was for cultivating the seventh layer.
The seventh layer of the "Wheel of Reincarnation" technique was much more complex than the previous six layers, requiring not only talent and determination but also experience with the complexities of human life. One had to understand the various mindsets of people, including those who were successful, those who failed, those who were wealthy, and those who were down on their luck. This was necessary to temper one's mind and allow one's spirit to reach a state of balance and harmony.
Over the years, Han Li had accompanied Ziling on her travels, partly to keep her company, but also to observe the complexities of human life.
After reaching the sixth layer of the "Wheel of Reincarnation" technique, Han Li was able to sense the thoughts and emotions of others through their spirit energy, just like the "Crying Soul" technique.
The people in this abandoned city were filled with a sense of despair, which was quite rare compared to other places. That's why Han Li had come here to experience it for himself.
Of course, he couldn't let Ziling know about this.
Ziling's eyes sparkled, and she didn't ask any more questions, following Han Li silently.
Han Li wandered around the abandoned city for a whole night, only opening his eyes when the sun began to rise.
"Are we done?" Ziling asked.
"I've kept you waiting for a whole night, I'm sorry," Han Li said with a nod.
"Never mind, but what do you plan to do next? Continue doing good deeds?" Ziling asked, shaking her head.
Han Li smiled ambiguously, his divine sense expanding.
Suddenly, he raised an eyebrow, and with a flick of his wrist, he activated the Thunder Array.
The two of them vanished from their original location and reappeared above a small courtyard in the city.
Inside the courtyard, seven or eight strong men were surrounding an old man, seemingly trying to rob him.
"Stop!" Han Li shouted, pointing his finger.
A bolt of lightning shot out from his hand, striking the ground nearby.
The sound of the explosion shook the ground, and the strong men were sent flying. Han Li had been trying to cultivate his benevolent spirit, and didn't dare to kill anyone, lest he upset the balance of his mind.
The strong men, seeing Han Li and Ziling standing in mid-air, were terrified and fled in all directions. The old man, after his initial shock, came over to thank them.
Han Li's brow furrowed, as his actions had helped the old man, but he hadn't felt any surge of benevolent energy.
He merely nodded at the old man, and then used the Thunder Array to leave, teleporting to another location.
In the blink of an eye, they had been in the abandoned city for half a month, and Han Li had done over a hundred good deeds, but the benevolent energy still hadn't appeared.
In a relatively clean tea house in the abandoned city, Han Li and Ziling sat facing each other.
Han Li had a cup of tea in front of him, with a misty aroma wafting from it, but his face was gloomy, and he hadn't taken a sip.
Ziling wasn't drinking tea either, but was flipping through a thick book.
The book was one that Han Li had obtained from the Wheel of Reincarnation's trading post, which explained the concept of good and evil. Ziling had been looking for a way to help Han Li solve his current problem.
It was mid-afternoon, but the tea house was empty, except for the two of them.
"Gentlemen, doesn't the tea meet your expectations? Would you like to change to a different kind?" a middle-aged man with a slender build asked, smiling.
This man was the owner of the tea house, but he was actually a cultivator in the Great Vehicle period, who had retired to this place and was running a mundane business.
His cultivation level was not low for this region, but in front of Han Li, he couldn't hide his identity.
"No need, the tea is fine, it's just that we have some troubles on our minds, and we're not in the mood to appreciate it. It's a waste of your craftsmanship," Han Li said with a gentle smile. As he spoke, he picked up his teacup and took a sip, nodding slightly at the shopkeeper.
As for Ziling, he didn't pay attention to the shopkeeper and continued to read his book.
"Hehe, it seems like you two have some concerns, and drinking this tea with a light and floating aroma isn't suitable. I have just the thing, a Clear Mind Tea that you can try." The shopkeeper said to himself, not waiting for Han Li to respond, and turned to walk towards the inner room.
A moment later, he came out with two cups of emerald green tea and placed them in front of the two.
The emerald green tea was almost tasteless, like two cups of clear water.
Han Li's eyes lit up slightly, and he became a bit interested. He picked up the teacup and took a sip, and a refreshing tea flavor emerged from his tongue, then flowed into his body and spread out.
His frustrated emotions dissipated significantly as the tea flavor spread.
"Shopkeeper, your tea art is truly good." Han Li praised.
"Daoist friend, you're overpraising me. Looking at your appearance and aura, I think you're also cultivators, and not from Xiangyi?" The shopkeeper seemed to be a person who enjoyed making friends, and laughed as he spoke.
"Shopkeeper, you have good eyesight. We are indeed from outside, I am Han Li, and this is Ziling." Han Li's eyes flashed, and he didn't hide anything.
"Originally, it was Daoist friend Han Li, and Daoist friend Ziling. I am Li Hai." The shopkeeper clasped his hands together.
Ziling looked up from his book, glanced at the shopkeeper, and nodded slightly, before quickly becoming engrossed in his book again.
"Li Shopkeeper, since there's no one else in the shop, why don't you sit down and chat with us?" Han Li invited.
Li Hai didn't decline, and sat down beside them.
"Li Shopkeeper, how did you know that we two are from outside?" Han Li asked.
"Your daoist auras are active, like the rising sun, and full of energy. You're very different from the people of Xiangyi, and it's clear that you're from a more distant place. Anyone who has lived here for a long time can see it at a glance, it's not unusual." Li Hai laughed and said.
"Li Shopkeeper, you have a keen eye, I admire you. But is it true that every place is like this, with a gloomy atmosphere?" Han Li asked.
"It's a long story. The spiritual veins of this continent were dug up and exhausted tens of thousands of years ago, and the foundation was broken. The situation has been getting worse and worse, and those who could leave have left. The ones who remained are either unable to do anything or are attached to their homeland, and naturally, they have no energy to speak of." Li Hai sighed and said.
"I suppose it's not just this continent, right?" Han Li said.
"That's right, it seems that Daoist friend Han Li has indeed traveled to many places." The shopkeeper nodded.
"Li Shopkeeper, you're not from this land, or rather, you're not from this immortal realm, are you?" Han Li slowly nodded, and suddenly put down his teacup, smiling lightly.
"Oh, how did you know?" The shopkeeper's face showed a hint of surprise.
"Although I don't understand the Way of Tea, I've heard that the Green Water Immortal Realm, which is adjacent to the Crane Mountain Immortal Realm, is particularly skilled in brewing spiritual tea. The world's famous teas mostly come from there, and it's said that to improve the technique of brewing spiritual tea, some tea masters from the Green Water Immortal Realm created special techniques to aid in tea-making. Among them, the most widely spread is the 'Green Water Convergence Technique'... Li Shopkeeper, your water-attribute technique is very similar to the 'Green Water Convergence Technique' that I've heard of. And the layout of your tea shop, while it looks like the local style at first glance, still reveals some characteristics of the Green Water Immortal Realm. That's why I ventured to guess, am I correct?" Han Li smiled and asked.
"You're indeed perceptive! I am indeed from the Green Water Immortal Realm, and I've come from afar." Li Hai praised, and his eyes showed a hint of reverence.
He had initially thought that Han Li and Ziling were just using some technique to conceal their auras, but now it seemed that they were able to travel freely between immortal realms and could see through his technique. His cultivation level was at least that of a True Immortal, or perhaps even a Golden Immortal. Naturally, he couldn't help but feel a sense of respect.
But he also saw that Han Li didn't intend to reveal his identity, so he didn't ask any more questions.
"Li Shopkeeper, your tea-making skills are quite good. Why did you leave the Green Water Immortal Realm, which is rich in resources, and come to the desolate Crane Mountain Immortal Realm?" Han Li asked curiously.
"Daoist friend, you're overpraising me. My tea-making skills, combined with my slow cultivation progress, made me a low-ranking member of the Green Water Immortal Realm. I, Li Hai, had tried my best in the past, but unfortunately, I was unable to break through the bottleneck... Ah, I don't want to bring up the past. Now, I just want to live a peaceful life, without worrying about my future, and that's enough for me." Li Hai smiled bitterly and said.
Han Li looked at the shopkeeper, sensing his emotional fluctuations, and nodded silently.
"Let's not talk about me. You two must have come here for something, right? I've been here for many years, and although my cultivation level is not high, I'm familiar with the situation in various places. Perhaps I can help you." Li Hai looked at Han Li and asked.
"Thank you, Li Shopkeeper, for your kind intentions. But the thing I want to do is a bit special, and outsiders can't help." Han Li shook his head.
"In that case, I can only wish you good luck, Daoist friend Han Li. If you need my help, just let me know." Li Hai patted his chest and said.
"Thank you." Han Li could sense that Li Hai's words were sincere, and he clasped his hands together in gratitude.
"Is Li Uncle here?" At this moment, a voice came from outside the shop, and it was a sturdy-looking young man.
The young man was a mortal, and his clothes were tattered. He stood outside the tea shop, not daring to enter.
"Daoist friend Han Li, Ziling, please stay and rest for a while. I'll go and attend to this." Li Hai glanced outside, and bid farewell to Han Li before getting up and walking out.
Han Li picked up the Clear Mind Tea and took a sip, then turned to look outside the tea shop casually.
Xiao Zhao, is there something wrong?" Li Hai asked, leading the young man to the side of the teahouse.
"Li shopkeeper, my mother's meridian has been acting up again with cold poison, I want to buy another packet of Red Sun tea," the young man said, lowering his head.
"Alright, wait a moment, I'll get it for you." Li Hai nodded and turned to enter the shop.
The young man looked at Li Hai's back, wanting to say something but stopping himself, and finally lowered his head deeply.
Soon, Li Hai came out with a red jade box in his hand.
"According to my previous instructions, drink it three times and it will suppress the cold poison." Li Hai handed the box to the young man.
"Thank you, Li uncle, but these years I've spent all my family's silver treating my mother's illness, there's not enough left...". The young man said, taking out a few small pieces of silver from a patched cloth bag.
"I know your family's situation, take this box back and give it to your mother to drink, if you need more, just come back." Li Hai smiled slightly, not taking the silver from the young man's hand.
"Li uncle..." The young man's eyes reddened, biting his lip tightly, but tears still fell.
"Alright, men don't cry easily, hurry back, your mother is waiting for you." Li Hai patted the young man's shoulder and turned to go back to the teahouse.
The young man wiped away his tears and suddenly knelt down, knocking his head on the ground twice, then stood up and left.
Inside the teahouse, Han Li's face showed a look of surprise.
He and Zi Ling were sitting in a place separated from the young man by a wall, but this wall couldn't block Han Li's senses.
Han Li had already made some progress in cutting down evil corpses, and his senses were more sensitive to good intentions, so he clearly sensed that when the young man thanked Li Hai, a formless good intention force appeared on Li Hai's body.
This good intention force was much stronger than what Han Li had gained from his previous good deeds.
"How is this possible? Why did Li Hai gain so much good intention, what's the difference between him and me?" Han Li's mind was racing, trying to figure out the reason.
He stared at the water cup in his hand, his breathing quickening, feeling like he was about to find the answer, and with a slight effort, he could break through the thin layer of paper.
"Ah!" At this moment, Zi Ling, who was reading a book, suddenly let out a soft exclamation.
"What's wrong?" Han Li looked over.
"Brother Han, look here, this book 'Li Yuan Zhai Ji' is written by a Confucian scholar, and there's a sentence here that's related to your good deeds." Zi Ling handed the book to Han Li, pointing to a passage.
Han Li looked and saw that it said: "Doing good is not a bad thing, but if you have a desire for fame, you'll invite criticism and trouble, be careful, be cautious."
A flash of insight struck Han Li's mind, and the thin layer of paper in his mind shattered, and he suddenly understood.
"I understand now! When doing good, if you have a desire for gain, it's not true good, no matter how much you do, it's still deviating from your true heart, only when you have no other thoughts, no desire for reward, is it truly great good." Han Li let out a deep breath, saying this.
Li Hai, although a great cultivator, had long since seen through the cultivation world and had retired to this small town, helping the young man was a pure and selfless act, without any desire for reward, and this good deed was a natural and effortless thing, which was why he gained so much good intention force.
Han Li's first time helping the storytelling grandfather and grandson was also an impulsive act, belonging to the same category.
"Originally, Brother Han, you did many good deeds, but they were all intentional, with a desire for merit, that's why you didn't gain much good intention force." Zi Ling was also a clever person, and as soon as Han Li mentioned it, she immediately understood.
"Now that I know the reason, it's easy to do." Han Li's face showed a smile, and his worries of many days were swept away.
Seven years later.
In a secluded place in Xiang County, a new owner took over a shop, a young couple who changed the original general store into a medical hall, selling medicine and treating patients.
This couple was young, but their medical skills were extremely high, not only could they cure ordinary illnesses, but also many difficult and complicated cases, with remarkable results.
Moreover, their consultation fees were very low, and soon their reputation spread throughout the abandoned city.
At one time, the small medical hall was crowded with people.
This couple was naturally Han Li and Zi Ling, and with their current cultivation level, treating these ordinary people's illnesses and some complicated cases was no trouble at all.
Before this, Han Li had spent seven years living as an ordinary person in this small town, trying to forget his own selfish thoughts, and even his identity as a cultivator.
Later, he used the silver he had saved up over the years to buy the shop and open a medical hall, treating patients with a sincere and selfless heart.
But this selfless heart was not something that could be reached easily.
He still had selfish thoughts, and the good intention force didn't descend.
Out of a hundred times, he could only maintain a selfless heart one or two times.
But Han Li didn't get anxious, continuing to treat patients and ponder the true meaning of good deeds.
This medical hall quickly became a well-known place, and the young couple inside became a middle-aged couple.
Time flew by, and thirty years passed, and the couple from back then gradually grew old.
Slowly, Han Li's heart became purer, and the times he treated patients with a selfless heart increased, gaining more good intention force, and his senses became more sensitive to good corpses.
(Note: Some sentences were adjusted to improve grammar and clarity, while maintaining the original meaning.) In the blink of an eye, over a hundred years had passed.
This medicine shop had become a century-old store, a renowned old brand within a thousand miles, and the person in charge had changed several times.
Inside the medicine shop, Han Li sat cross-legged, his eyes closed, his expression serene, and a layer of lustrous light flashing on his face, like the Buddha's auspicious sign.
Zi Ling stood beside him, silently watching Han Li.
Her expression also had a subtle glow, and her demeanor was even more elegant.
Over the years, she had followed Han Li, doing many good deeds, and had received many blessings, although her cultivation had not made any significant progress, her soul had made significant progress.
After a long time, Han Li opened his eyes, and the inner room seemed to flash with two lightning bolts.
"Brother Han, is everything ready?" Zi Ling asked softly.
"The good corpse's response has been completed, and I have already grasped the true meaning of 'goodness'. With my divided corpse slaying technique, I have an 80% chance of slaying the good corpse," Han Li said.
"That's good," Zi Ling breathed a sigh of relief.
Han Li looked at the medicine shop, which he had been in for over a hundred years, and although his cultivation was already extremely high, he couldn't help but feel a sense of nostalgia.
"Let's go," he shook his head, and together with Zi Ling, they quietly left the medicine shop.
At this moment, the sky was still not fully lit, and there were no patients arriving.
"Brother Han, Sister Zi Ling, are you two leaving?" a voice came from outside, and it was the owner of the tea shop, Li Hai.
"Brother Li, these years have been a great help," Han Li bowed respectfully.
He was sincere in his gratitude, and if it weren't for Li Hai, he wouldn't have discovered the problem with his good deeds.
"Brother Han is too polite, these years, I haven't helped much, but I've received many pointers from Brother Han, and I'm grateful," Li Hai hurriedly returned the bow.
Over the past hundred years, Han Li had often visited Li Hai's tea shop to drink tea and chat.
Li Hai had initially decided to hide in the Heavenly Crane Domain, but with Han Li's guidance, he had rekindled his interest in cultivation, and Han Li's seemingly casual words had often brought him great benefits.
"I knew from the first time I met you two that you were no ordinary people, and I am far inferior to you. Your actions are beyond my understanding, but I wish you all the best in your future endeavors," Li Hai looked at Han Li and Zi Ling, his expression complex.
"I will come to your tea shop again someday, Brother Li," Han Li smiled and said.
"Anytime is welcome!" Li Hai was overjoyed, and he nodded repeatedly.
When he looked up, Han Li and Zi Ling's figures had already disappeared.
Li Hai looked at the empty streets, feeling a sense of melancholy, and he stood there for a long time before returning to the tea shop.
He looked at the quiet tea room, and his melancholy gradually dissipated.
Han Li and Zi Ling's world might be more exciting than the desolate city, but the peaceful life in the desolate city was also a kind of happiness.
Li Hai's face showed a satisfied expression, and he walked towards the inner room to prepare the spirit tea.
...
In the Heavenly Crane Domain, in a nameless mountain range, a flash of lightning illuminated the air, and Han Li and Zi Ling's figures appeared.
"Is it here?" Han Li looked towards a towering mountain peak, and with a flick of his wrist, a golden sword aura shot out from his fingertips, piercing the mountain wall like a hot knife through butter.
The sword aura seemed to come alive, moving through the mountain wall, and after a few breaths, it excavated a cave.
"This place has very thin spiritual energy, which might be unfavorable for you to slay the good corpse," Zi Ling said, her eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"It's not a problem, my cultivation has reached a point where I can absorb spiritual energy from multiple spaces, and the thin energy here doesn't affect me. Moreover, I have a deep understanding of the true meaning of goodness, and my soul is in harmony with this domain, so the chances of success are higher," Han Li said.
"I see," Zi Ling said, enlightened.
Han Li then led Zi Ling into the cave, setting up layers of restrictions around the perimeter, and walked towards the innermost secret room.
"Brother Han," Zi Ling suddenly called out, her expression filled with concern.
Each time Han Li slew a corpse, it was a great test for his main body, and if he failed, it would cause immense harm to his main body.
"Don't worry, after so much effort, I'm 90% sure of success," Han Li grasped Zi Ling's hand, smiling confidently.
Zi Ling was infected by Han Li's confidence, and she nodded heavily.
Han Li released Zi Ling's hand, and walked into the secret room.
With a loud "boom", the secret room door closed, and a layer of golden light appeared on the surface, completely isolating it from the outside.
Inside the secret room.
Han Li's face was solemn, as he was currently engraving the array pattern on the ground, setting up the same spell formation he had used to behead the evil corpse last time.
After completing the array pattern, he took out a stack of array flags, array disks, and other items, and began to set up the formation.
This spell formation was extremely complex, and even with his previous experience, it took him a whole day to set everything up. A yin-yang dual-fish shaped formation appeared in the room.
Innumerable thumb-sized talismans danced within the formation, emitting a radiant glow that enveloped the entire secret room in a sea of light.
Han Li scanned the room with his eyes, nodded in satisfaction, and waved his hand to summon a Earth Immortal puppet. He placed it at the yin fish position of the yin-yang formation, while he himself sat at the yang fish position.
He calmed his mind and immediately began to activate the formation.
A half-spherical solid light screen emerged, enveloping him and the Earth Immortal puppet. A series of flame, cold air, and lightning formed into chains that shot out from the light screen, piercing the puppet's body.
After completing these preparations, Han Li closed his eyes and entered his spiritual sea.
Unlike the previous time when he had beheaded the evil corpse, his spiritual sea was now tranquil. A figure clad in white robes, Han Li, sat cross-legged, eyes closed, and meditating.
"Have you arrived?" The white-robed Han Li opened his eyes, looked over, and smiled peacefully, without any hint of conflict.
"You're waiting for me?" Han Li's heart was surprised, and he secretly accumulated his strength, his face expressionless.
"You don't need to be so cautious, I'm not an evil corpse, and I don't intend to fight you. Please sit." The white-robed Han Li smiled faintly and pointed.
A cushion and a tea table appeared in front of him, with a teapot and two tea cups on the table.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, these objects were all condensed from spiritual energy, and they looked identical to real objects.
This level of spiritual energy manipulation was beyond his own capabilities, and the good corpse in front of him had accomplished it with ease.
"What do you mean?" Han Li sat down cross-legged, asking.
"You and I are born from the same root, and the three corpses and the main body competing for the physical body is only natural. However, to decide who occupies the physical body, it's not necessarily a fight." The white-robed Han Li poured two cups of tea, one of which he pushed towards Han Li, and the other he himself lifted to take a sip.
"We cultivators don't decide the outcome through fighting, so how can we decide?" Han Li didn't touch the tea.
"It's simple, let's discuss the Dao." The white-robed Han Li smiled lightly.
"Discuss the Dao?" Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Not wrong, I want to discuss the Dao of good and evil with you, friend. If your answers can satisfy me, I'll be willing to give up competing for this physical body." The white-robed Han Li said.
"Ah..." Han Li's eyebrows twitched.
"Of course, if your answers can't satisfy me, then don't blame me for taking action." The white-robed Han Li added.
"Then you can try." Han Li's eyes gleamed with sharpness, and he laughed loudly.
A powerful spiritual energy burst forth from his body, causing the surrounding spiritual energy space to tremble violently, as if the heavens were shaking with anger.
The white-robed Han Li's teacup shattered with a loud crash, turning into nothingness.
"Not bad, you have some ability." The white-robed Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, before relaxing into a smile.
As he spoke, his hand flashed with a soft glow, and another brand-new teacup condensed into existence.
"You want to discuss the Dao, so I'll naturally accompany you. What do you want to ask?" Han Li's aura also retreated, and he spoke calmly.
"Good, then I'll ask you, friend, why do people have good and evil?" The white-robed Han Li asked.
"People are inherently neither good nor evil, what is considered good or evil is determined by one's heart." Han Li replied calmly.
If he had been asked to discuss good and evil before, he might not have been able to articulate his thoughts, but after his experiences in the small town of Xiangyi, and reading many classics on the subject, he had gained a deeper understanding and insight into the nature of good and evil.
"There's a saying that good deeds will be rewarded, and evil deeds will be punished, but in reality, it's not that simple. Many people do good deeds, but their families are poor and struggling, while others do evil deeds, but they live a life of luxury and ease. Why is that?" The white-robed Han Li asked further.
"Your question is only a leaf that blocks the view, and you can't see the mountain. What is good, and what is evil, can't be judged solely by appearances. As long as it benefits others, and benefits the world, even if it's hurting or scolding others, it's still considered good. On the other hand, if it's only for one's own purposes, even if it's flattering or pleasing others, it becomes evil. If a person does good deeds and accumulates virtue, even if their life is poor, their descendants will often prosper, and if a person cheats and takes advantage of others, even if they gain temporary wealth and power, they will ultimately have no good outcome." Han Li replied calmly.
The white-robed Han Li listened to his words, nodded slightly, and then asked further:
"What is good, and what is evil?"
"Benefiting oneself and others is considered good, benefiting others but not oneself is considered great good. Not benefiting oneself or others is considered evil, benefiting oneself but not others is considered great evil." Han Li replied calmly.
"Does doing something that benefits others make it good?" The white-robed Han Li asked faintly.
"Not necessarily, if one's intention is to do good, even if it's not rewarded, it's still considered good. But if one's intention is to gain something, even if it's a good deed, it's only pseudo-good. If one does good deeds without seeking reward, that's true goodness." Han Li shook his head. An old man fell into the water, and a young merchant who was passing by rescued him. The old man gave the merchant a silver ingot as a thank you gift, and the merchant happily accepted it. Was this act of kindness truly good?
Han Li's eyes gleamed with satisfaction as he asked again.
"It was good," Han Li said.
"But didn't you just say that true kindness is not seeking reward? The merchant accepted the silver ingot, isn't that a reward? How can you say it's good?" the white-robed Han Li asked.
"No matter whether the merchant thought about the reward before saving the old man, the fact that this act of kindness will encourage others to do good is what matters. As long as it's beneficial to all living beings, it can be considered good," Han Li said.
"There's a saying in the world: 'good people are often deceived.' What do you think about this?" the white-robed Han Li asked.
"This kind of thing does exist in the world, but it's only a minority. We must have a broad-minded and tolerant attitude towards these injustices, so that we can stand firm and not fall. If we harbor resentment, we will fall to a lower level," Han Li said.
"I didn't expect you to understand the true meaning of kindness so deeply. I'm impressed. I have one more question, please answer," the white-robed Han Li said, his eyes gleaming with curiosity.
"Please ask," Han Li said with a smile.
"People in the world often talk about the Dao, but when it comes to action, they often have high ambitions but low abilities. You have a deep understanding of the true meaning of kindness, but how should we specifically cultivate kindness?" the white-robed Han Li asked, his eyes fixed intently on Han Li.
"Towards all things, there is no attachment or rejection; towards all events, there is no contamination or grasping; towards all situations, there is no movement or disturbance; towards all times, always act with convenience and follow the crowd, making everyone happy. This is the method of cultivating kindness," Han Li said, his voice low and calm.
The white-robed Han Li murmured to himself, "Towards all things, there is no attachment or rejection; towards all events, there is no contamination or grasping; towards all situations, there is no movement or disturbance; towards all times, always act with convenience..."
"Haha, good, your four sentences are excellent! I'm impressed!" the white-robed Han Li exclaimed, clapping his hands in laughter.
As the white-robed Han Li laughed, his body transformed into a ball of white light and flew towards the outside, as if trying to escape the sea of consciousness. But the sea of consciousness exerted a pulling force, not letting the white light leave.
Han Li's eyes lit up with joy as he saw this scene. He condensed his energy, raised his hands, and slashed downwards, shouting "Cut!"
A sharp sword shadow appeared in the sea of consciousness, slicing through the air.
With a "ting" sound, the connection between the white light and the sea of consciousness was severed, and the white light flew out.
In the secret room, Han Li's eyes snapped open, and a ball of white light flew out of his body. His body shook violently, and nearly half of his immortal energy and time crystal threads were separated from him, following the white light.
The white light flew out and disappeared into the body of the Earth Immortal puppet inside the formation.
Han Li's face flashed with blood, and his seven apertures burst forth with fresh blood. He couldn't help but let out a stifled groan.
Although the white light had taken away nearly half of his immortal energy and time crystal threads, Han Li's body had suddenly opened up 1,320 immortal apertures, and his cultivation had reached the late stage of the Mahayana realm.
A sound of "hum" echoed through the air, and an invisible force suddenly descended, enveloping Han Li.
The space around him distorted, as if isolating him from the world. His body floated in mid-air, and his head burst forth with a golden light.
A boundless golden ocean appeared above him, and a massive force of time law emanated from it, enveloping his body.
Han Li's face changed color, and he felt a sense of awe as he sensed the will of the heavens within the golden ocean. The force was so powerful that he felt like an insignificant ant, unable to resist.
The aura of the Bone Emperor and the Wheel of Rebirth's master were also extremely powerful, but compared to this golden ocean, they were far inferior.
"Could this golden ocean be the time law of the heavens?" Han Li wondered, his voice trembling.
At this moment, the golden ocean suddenly churned violently, and a golden light shot out, pouring into his body.
The golden light contained an immense force of time law, directly merging with Han Li's body.
Han Li's body glowed with golden light, and his depleted time law force was rapidly restored, reaching its peak in a few breaths.
The time crystal threads also rapidly condensed, and in an instant, they had recovered to 1,800.
The surrounding space continued to distort, and a surge of heavenly energy poured in, merging with Han Li's body.
Han Li's depleted immortal energy was rapidly restored, and in an instant, it had fully recovered.
In the secret room, the purple spirit suddenly opened its eyes, its gaze filled with shock as it looked towards Han Li's closed-off room.
Heavenly Court, Heavenly Time Peak.
This place was surrounded by golden auspicious clouds, layer upon layer, changing unpredictably.
Above the golden clouds stood a massive stone stele, emitting golden rays of light that flowed ceaselessly.
On the stele were inscribed golden characters, seemingly names of people, large and small.
These golden names were arranged in order of size, from top to bottom.
The top few names were the largest, among which was Han Li's name, ranked third.
At this moment, Han Li's name on the stele suddenly shone with a brilliant golden light, rapidly growing larger, and suddenly leapt forward, pushing aside the two names in front of it, occupying the first position.
In the void in front of the stele, a wheelchair-bound white-robed man suddenly appeared.
Beside the wheelchair-bound man stood a slender youth, dressed in a golden long robe, with golden skin, looking extremely noble.
The youth's eyes were the most striking, flashing with a dreamlike golden light, making it impossible to gaze directly at him, as if transcending the laws of heaven and earth.
"How is this possible? Han Li has actually reached the late stage of the Mahayana Realm!" The golden-robed youth saw the change on the stele and revealed an expression of incredulity, exclaiming in shock.
"It seems that this Han Li has taken the lead after all." The wheelchair-bound man looked at the stele, smiling lightly.
"I am incompetent, please forgive me, Your Majesty!" The golden-robed youth's face changed, and he immediately kowtowed.
"Han Li has inherited the mantle of Miro, and his cultivation speed is faster than yours, which is normal. However, I have also invested effort in cultivating you, so don't disappoint me." The wheelchair-bound man said indifferently, then his figure flashed and disappeared.
The golden-robed youth remained kowtowing on the ground for a long time, waiting for the wheelchair-bound man's aura to disappear completely before daring to stand up.
"Han Li, Han Li..." He looked at Han Li's name on the stele, his face filled with a ferocious expression, and then his figure flashed and disappeared.
...
In the secret chamber of the Nameless Mountain Range, the golden light projected from the golden ocean inside had not stopped, and the time law's power continued to pour into Han Li's body.
The surrounding void's heavenly aura also surged in, gathering with a loud rumble.
Han Li's 1800 acupoints and 1320 immortal acupoints flashed ceaselessly, his body seeming like a bottomless pit, able to contain all the time laws and heavenly aura that came in.
His immortal energy soared rapidly, and the time law's power inside him continued to increase explosively. The time law's crystal threads did not increase in number, but each thread emitted a golden glow, growing thicker and more robust.
A massive aura burst forth from Han Li's body, causing the secret chamber to shake violently, as if it could not withstand this power.
The chamber's walls cracked, and the cracks grew larger, on the verge of collapse.
At this moment, a golden light shot out from Han Li's body, sweeping across the nearby walls.
The cracks on the walls suddenly shrank, and after a few breaths, they disappeared completely.
But Han Li's aura continued to burst forth, soon causing the walls to crack again, and the golden light restored them.
This cycle repeated, and a day and night passed in the blink of an eye.
Han Li's entire body was surrounded by a golden glow, making it difficult to gaze directly at him.
His physical body now seemed half-transparent, with 1800 time law crystal threads visible.
These crystal threads had grown thicker by more than ten times, wrapping around his body like chains, looking unbreakable.
Han Li's aura was like a boundless ocean, rivaling that of the Bone Emperor, but still inferior to the unfathomable Wheel of Reincarnation's master.
At this moment, the golden ocean above his head suddenly fluctuated, and the golden light pouring down disappeared.
The shattered void quickly healed, and the secret chamber returned to calm.
The golden light on Han Li's body rapidly dissipated, and he slowly fell to the ground.
He now had no aura of strength, and his immortal energy and time law's power were gone, making him seem like an ordinary, unpracticed mortal.
The secret chamber's formation had long since collapsed, leaving nothing behind.
The Earthly Corpse, which had been attached to the Earthly Immortal puppet, had gained its freedom, but it did not move, standing quietly in the corner of the chamber.
The Earthly Corpse looked at Han Li, and a hint of fear flashed in its eyes.
Just a day and night ago, it could still exchange blows with Han Li, talking and laughing with him.
But now, Han Li had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation, seeming like an ordinary person at first glance. However, when the Earthly Corpse probed with its divine sense, it felt that Han Li's body was like a vast, unfathomable ocean, and it could not see through his depth. Instead, it felt as if it was being drawn in, and it quickly withdrew its divine sense.
"Congratulations, fellow daoist, on advancing to the late stage of the Mahayana Realm and achieving great success in the time law." The Earthly Corpse bowed.
"I must thank you for your assistance, fellow daoist." Han Li opened his eyes, smiling faintly.
"With your divine abilities, even if I didn't leave willingly, I would have been forced out eventually. What assistance could I have possibly provided?" The Earthly Corpse shook its head, speaking calmly.
"This Earthly Corpse body was carefully refined by me, and it should be quite suitable for you." Han Li looked at the Earthly Corpse puppet.
"It's very suitable, thank you for finding such a good body for me." The Earthly Corpse looked at its own body, smiling with joy.
"Fellow daoist Han, I will take my leave. Although it's not a great merit, it's still a bit of a favor to you, as it saves you some trouble. I have a request, and I hope you can grant it." The Earthly Corpse looked at Han Li, bowing. "Speak," Han Li said, not surprised.
Earlier, Shan Shi had left of his own accord, and Han Li had guessed that this would happen.
"Friend Han, now that you've advanced to the late stage of the Mahayana, I suppose you'll be heading to the Reincarnation Hall soon, right? You're incredibly powerful now, so you shouldn't be afraid, but I don't want to get involved in your conflicts," Shan Shi said.
"You want to leave?" Han Li's eyes flickered, and he asked.
"Friend Han, don't worry, I won't join the Reincarnation Hall or the Heavenly Court, and I won't become your enemy. From your previous actions, I've found my own path, and I want to continue walking this road, traveling throughout the True Immortal Realm, benefiting the people of the world, and pursuing the ultimate goal of goodness," Shan Shi said, his eyes shining with clarity.
"Since you have this desire, I'll grant it," Han Li said after a moment of silence, nodding.
"Then I'll take my leave, friend Han. Farewell," Shan Shi said, overjoyed, and he slightly bowed to Han Li.
Before he finished speaking, a flash of golden light appeared on his body, and his figure vanished into thin air.
Han Li stood silently, not minding Shan Shi's departure.
It was better that Shan Shi had left, as he would have had to be constantly on guard if he had stayed.
Han Li quickly closed his eyes again, sensing the changes in his cultivation realm. A look of surprise and delight slowly appeared on his face.
Han Li had previously guessed that advancing to the late stage of the Mahayana would bring about a huge change in his power, and now that he had actually advanced, he realized that his previous considerations had been too simple.
He had now entered a completely new realm, and everything around him seemed different from before.
Han Li stretched out his hand, touching the empty space beside him, without using any spiritual energy, law energy, or physical energy.
With a soft "whoosh," the empty space seemed to ripple and burst open, revealing a spatial cavity over ten zhang in diameter within the secret room.
Spatial fragments shot out from the cavity, flying towards the walls of the secret room.
With a thought, the fragments stopped in mid-air, as if trapped by an invisible force.
Han Li looked at his hand, his face filled with surprise.
He felt as though he had been possessed by a mysterious power, and he had a sense of control over the world around him, as if he had become an all-powerful being who could easily control the heavens and the earth.
Han Li slowly activated this power, gazing around him, and the entire Xuanwu Sacred Realm appeared before his eyes, with every location visible to him, ten times clearer than before.
Shan Shi appeared in a desolate city, observing the situation.
He had previously been in a desolate city, where Li Hai was entertaining guests.
Not only could he see the Xuanwu Sacred Realm, but also the surrounding realms and even the lower planes, as if he were observing the lines on his palm.
"Could this be the power of the Heavenly Dao?" Han Li's face lit up with surprise, and he muttered to himself.
He had read about it in ancient texts, that cultivating a law to its peak would allow one to communicate with the Heavenly Dao, and receive the power of the Heavenly Dao, which would grant him the ability to wield devastating power.
But this realm was only achievable by the Dao Ancestors, and he was only in the late stage of the Mahayana, so how could he be communicating with the Heavenly Dao?
Han Li's thoughts whirled, and he raised his hand, slapping the empty space.
The void above him trembled violently, and a massive golden palm appeared, covering the entire void, and then slapped downwards.
A terrifying power erupted from the golden palm, shattering the surrounding space and energy storms, reducing them to nothingness.
The void itself shattered, revealing a massive black hole, emitting a terrifying devouring power, absorbing everything around it.
But in an instant, the golden palm wiped out the black hole, and it disappeared without a trace.
The golden palm also vanished, and the void slowly recovered.
In the secret room, Han Li withdrew his hand, a look of joy on his face.
Through his previous experiment, he had confirmed that he could indeed communicate with the Heavenly Dao, and as for why, it was probably because he had cultivated the three ultimate laws, which were different from ordinary laws.
With his current power, he was no longer afraid of facing the Dao Ancestors.
Han Li's eyes suddenly widened, and he realized that the Reincarnation Hall Master and the Demon Master, despite being only in the Mahayana realm, were incredibly powerful, surpassing ordinary Dao Ancestors, and even the Heavenly Court feared them.
But as long as he continued to cultivate, reaching the peak of the Mahayana, he might not be weaker than the Reincarnation Hall Master and the Demon Master.
Han Li gazed forward, his heart filled with ambition.
He had finally reached the pinnacle of the immortal realm, the true pinnacle.
"Wait for me, Wan'er, I'll soon rescue you!" Han Li said to himself.
He took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and sat down again, cross-legged.
Although he had advanced to the late stage of the Mahayana, his realm was still unstable, and he needed to consolidate it further.
Han Li's thoughts moved, and he opened his spiritual domain, activating the Time-Space Heavenly Array, which accelerated the flow of time within his domain by ten million times.
His time law had made another great leap forward, and his ability to accelerate time had improved further.
Not only that, but Han Li's control over the heavenly energy had also increased, and with a single gesture, he drew in the heavenly energy, pouring it into the Time-Space Heavenly Array, maintaining its operation.
The Time-Space Heavenly Array's consumption of sacred stones slowed down dramatically.
Han Li sat cross-legged, surrounded by a brilliant golden light, which enveloped his body.
In the Mortal Realm, Southern Sea.
On the Southern Glance Continent, one of the Mortal Realm's landmasses, there was a mountain range that stretched for tens of thousands of miles along the coast, with 98 volcanoes scattered throughout, all of which were active.
These volcanoes would erupt every hundred years or so, attracting countless scattered cultivators and smaller sects from all over the Southern Glance Continent to gather and watch.
Of course, these people weren't just there to sightsee, but also to try their luck and see if they could find a rare material called "Fire Refining Stone" among the lava and rocks spewed out by the volcanoes.
In the past, the Heavenly Court had always turned a blind eye to this, allowing these cultivators to rely on their luck to gain a chance at ascending to the heavens. However, this year's situation was different.
According to predictions, 17 volcanoes were supposed to erupt simultaneously, but just as they were about to erupt, the Heavenly Ambassadors from the Southern Glance Continent's Heavenly Tower intervened, diverting the volcanic energy into the Western Sea, preventing the eruption.
The scattered cultivators and smaller sects on the continent didn't seem to mind, as they were all busy preparing for the biggest gathering in the True Immortal Realm - the "Bodhi Banquet".
In the mountain range of the 98 volcanoes, there was a very important location belonging to the Heavenly Court, a place called the "Heavenly Gate". This gate was the southern entrance to the Mortal Realm, and was also known as the "Southern Heavenly Gate".
This gate was actually a massive transmission array, with tens of thousands of smaller transmission arrays built into it, connecting the 36 major domains of the True Immortal Realm. It was capable of transmitting tens of thousands of people at once.
When the gate was opened, it would create a spatial tunnel connecting the other 35 major domains, allowing for free travel between them.
In fact, there were three more gates like this, each located in a different part of the Mortal Realm.
The Mortal Realm was the core of the True Immortal Realm, with nine provinces and four seas. Each province was a vast landmass, separated from the others by the four great oceans.
The Heavenly Palace Continent was located at the center of the nine provinces and four seas, and was the seat of the Heavenly Court. The other continents were the Eastern Victory Continent, the Western Heng Continent, the Southern Glance Continent, and the Northern Ku Continent.
Each of the four continents had its own Heavenly Tower and Heavenly Gate, with each gate being a portal to other domains, guarded by Heavenly Generals. Each Heavenly Tower was the core of its respective domain, with Dao Ancestor-level cultivators stationed there to guard it.
As the Bodhi Banquet approached, cultivators from all over the True Immortal Realm were gathering in the Mortal Realm, eager to participate in the festivities. Many were hoping to gain a chance to ascend to the heavens, while others were simply there to enjoy the festivities and perhaps gain some benefits.
The Bodhi Banquet was being held on the Heavenly Palace Continent, but the other continents were also hosting their own smaller gatherings. Rare and exotic treasures from all over the True Immortal Realm would be gathered there, and various appraisal and auction events would be held.
Who wouldn't want to take advantage of this opportunity to gain a windfall?
However, the Heavenly Court was also under a lot of pressure to prepare for the banquet, as the Mortal Realm would be flooded with tens of thousands of cultivators from all over the True Immortal Realm. Even with the strictest defenses, there was no guarantee that no one would slip through the cracks.
...
In the distant Snowy Plains of the Beast Realm, a massive, crimson-red spiritual domain enveloped the snowy wasteland, casting a reddish glow over the entire area. The snowflakes that fell from the sky were instantly evaporated by the scorching heat emanating from the domain, leaving behind only a barren, charred landscape.
In the center of the domain, a massive, deep pit stretched out for tens of thousands of meters, with a corpse lying at the bottom. The corpse was that of a powerful, wolf-like demon cultivator, clad in bronze armor, with only half of its head remaining. The golden blood flowing from its wounds was a testament to its high cultivation level.
The demon's face was still recognizable, despite being severely disfigured. It was clear that it had been brutally slaughtered.
This demon was actually the Patriarch of the Beast Realm's most powerful demon sect, the Wan Yao Cave, and had been at the mid-stage of the Da Luo Realm.
It had been preparing to attend the Bodhi Banquet, along with several of its disciples, but was ambushed on the way to the transmission array. The demon's body had been left relatively intact, but its disciples had been completely annihilated.
A loud, dull thud echoed through the air.
A tall, muscular man with red hair and a chiseled face appeared at the edge of the pit, his eyes fixed on the demon's corpse. His skin was covered in fiery, crimson-red marks, and his aura was so intense that it seemed to burn the air around him.
He was the one who had killed the demon, and his gaze was fixed intently on the corpse. He bent down and picked up a Bodhi Command from the side of the demon cultivator, rubbed off the bloodstains, and let out a sneer as he tossed it behind him.
A woman in a black skirt holding a Luo umbrella caught it at the edge of the giant pit, examined it briefly, and then put it away.
The woman's figure was slender and elegant, her skin as white as sheep's fat jade, and her face was breathtakingly beautiful. However, her long hair covered half of her face, revealing only a corner of her cheek, which had a visible fish-scale scar.
"Inferno, you've killed the person and taken the thing, we can leave now," the woman said in a melodious voice. "According to the Lord's instructions, this war dog is only a killable but not a must-kill target. It's that Tong Qiu True Person who is our real target."
"Got it," the red-haired man replied, still focused on removing a storage cuff from the war dog's arm. He jumped out of the pit and flew away.
"Sometimes your temper is really stubborn, insisting on coming here," the woman said with a sigh.
"Killing him is also a warning to Tong Qiu, he won't be going to the Middle Earth Immortal Domain immediately. But it's better this way, we can kill him at the mountain gate instead of searching for him on the road," Inferno said.
"I only care about getting Tong Qiu's head, the rest is up to you. The Lord said that this is the first time all eight of us are acting together, so we should make a big scene," the woman, called "Xuan Yu", said casually.
"Got it," Inferno replied expressionlessly.
"Let's go," Xuan Yu said.
The two of them jumped into the air and flew away, disappearing into the distance.
The spiritual realm that had been covering the wasteland also disappeared, and the snow fell heavily once again, covering the earth.
Such a typical ambush and sect assassination were being played out in many immortal domains, with some succeeding and others failing. However, in the end, it was the person being assassinated who died more often.
It was unknown why, but the death of a top strongman in a major immortal domain, which would normally cause a huge stir, was now like throwing a stone into the sea, barely causing any ripples.
Most immortal domains were still filled with the excitement of the "Bodhi Banquet", but beneath the surface, the undercurrents were already surging, and the situation was becoming increasingly complex.
...
At the same time, in a mysterious and unknown immortal domain, there was a giant gourd-shaped valley filled with miasma, where corpses were scattered everywhere, and ghostly flames danced in the air.
From the entrance of the valley to the depths, one could see the scattered remains of various beasts and humans, including the bones of ordinary animals, the carcasses of powerful demons, and the remains of immortal cultivators, some of which still emitted a fierce aura.
In the depths of the valley, the miasma grew thicker, and the sound of "dong dong dong" echoed through the air.
Through the thick fog, one could see a giant, eerie rock at the center of the valley, where a beautiful girl in a yellow goose- feather cloak sat cross-legged, her mouth still holding a stalk of grass.
The girl was none other than Jin Tong, who had left Han Li and come to this place alone.
At this moment, she was holding a long bone, possibly from a demon, and was tapping it against the rock.
"Hey, I've been searching for you for so long, and you're still hiding and not coming out. You're the last great demon of the True Immortal Realm, aside from me. If I devour you, our Dao Ancestor's position will be restored soon. Don't you want to take revenge? Do you want to spend your whole life hiding here, eating garbage?"
The rock remained motionless, and the valley was silent, except for the sound of Jin Tong's tapping.
"Fine, I'll make it easy for you," Jin Tong said, her eyes flashing with a fierce light.
As she spoke, she suddenly jumped up and threw the long bone at the rock, unleashing a powerful gust of wind and a bolt of lightning that struck the rock with a loud "boom".
The rock exploded into fragments, and a golden light shot out, followed by a giant golden beetle that flew out of the rock and soared into the sky.
"Where are you going?"
Jin Tong let out a low growl, and her body burst into a golden light as she transformed into a giant golden beetle, engaging in a fierce battle with the other beetle.
The two beetles clashed in mid-air, their auras intertwined, and the space around them began to distort. The battle raged on, with the outcome uncertain.
Heavenly Crane Domain.
The cave dwelling hidden in the nameless mountain range had been sealed off for hundreds of years.
In the cave's side chamber, the Purple Spirit, dressed in a purple robe, sat cross-legged on a stone bed, regulating her breath.
Her stable Taichi Peak realm had persisted for many years, but she was still stuck in the bottleneck period, unable to progress further.
Just then, she was suddenly disturbed while meditating, and her eyes snapped open.
Her gaze turned to the other side of the chamber, and a hint of joy flashed across her face.
Immediately, a loud rumbling sound echoed, and the large stone door of the opposite chamber opened. A tall figure, slightly bowing his head, walked out of the door, smiling warmly at her.
The Purple Spirit stood up from the stone bed, sizing up Han Li from head to toe, and her heart skipped a beat. A hint of incredulity flashed across her face.
"This is only a short time, a few hundred years, and your aura..." she said, pausing for a moment.
"I've just exited seclusion, and my aura is still somewhat unstable. It will stabilize in a few days," Han Li replied with a smile.
"I'm talking about your realm," the Purple Spirit said, her eyes filled with concern.
"It's indeed the Great Luo Peak, don't worry, I'm not one to rush for quick gains or use shortcuts. My cultivation method is just a bit unusual, and this realm was achieved through hard work, not by relying on external help," Han Li said, walking forward and grasping her hand.
"That's good," the Purple Spirit nodded.
As she spoke, her expression turned melancholic again. Han Li's cultivation had advanced to such an extent that it meant he would likely return to the Nether Realm soon.
Han Li noticed her change in expression and was about to ask when his brow furrowed, and his face changed slightly.
"What's wrong?" the Purple Spirit asked, noticing his expression.
Han Li shook his head, and his hand turned, revealing a black mask from the Wheel of Reincarnation. He put on the mask, raised his hand, and pointed to the mask's brow.
The mask's surface lit up with symbols, and a faint glow emanated from the brow, casting a shadow in front of him. A tall, slender figure emerged from the darkness, dressed in a black robe, wearing a hat with a veil.
The figure's aura was extremely repressed, but he was unmistakably the Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation.
As soon as Han Li saw the Master, he knew something had happened and immediately asked, "What's going on?"
"As for Gan Ruoshui, she was kidnapped by the Heavenly Court," the Master replied after a brief hesitation.
Han Li's expression changed beneath the mask, and he asked, "What's going on? What happened to Wan'er?"
The Purple Spirit's expression also changed upon hearing the news.
Earlier, Han Li had not hidden the truth from her, and she knew about the Master's identity and that Gan Ruoshui was actually Nangong Wan'er.
"After you left the Nether Realm, Ruoshui woke up not long after, but she still didn't choose to become my wife. Instead, she insisted on becoming Nangong Wan'er again," the Master explained.
Han Li's eyes flashed with a hint of heat, and he asked, "Why was she kidnapped by the Heavenly Court? You're not capable of resisting the Heavenly Court, so why did you let her get into trouble?"
"After you left, she initially planned to find you, but she was worried about becoming a burden to you, so she didn't leave immediately. I also didn't let her leave, as I was worried about her safety. However, the Wheel of Reincarnation lost all contact with you, and even the mask couldn't reach you. Recently, she was worried about your safety and left the Nether Realm to find you during my seclusion. As a result, she was caught by the Heavenly Court," the Master replied.
"Have you found out where she is?" Han Li asked, his eyes narrowing.
"No, the Heavenly Court has kept this matter secret, making it difficult to find her. However, not long after she was caught, Gu Huo or Jin sent a message, asking me to personally go to the Central Plains Heavenly Domain. If I agree, they promise not to harm her," the Master said.
Han Li fell silent.
He knew that the Heavenly Court had long been at odds with the Wheel of Reincarnation, and if the Master fell into their hands, the consequences would be dire.
"I've already agreed to Gu Huo or Jin's request. I won't continue to hide and will go to the Central Plains Heavenly Domain as promised," the Master said.
"When will you depart?" Han Li asked.
"I need to prepare first; otherwise, not only will I fail to rescue her, but all our previous efforts will also be wasted," the Master replied.
"I'll go with you," Han Li said without hesitation.
The Master hesitated for a moment before saying, "Very well, you can bring Ruoshui back with you. That way, I'll be more at ease."
The Master's words were laced with a deep sense of concern and responsibility. Han Li said, "I'll take Nan Gong Wan with me. Before that, I have something to do. After I'm done, I'll go to the Underworld to meet up with you."
"Alright, I'll wait for you," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation replied.
"Don't trust the Heavenly Court's words completely. If you can find Wan'er's exact location, that would be best. Think about it carefully," Han Li said.
"If I get any news, I'll let you know," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation replied.
The two of them finished their discussion, and the light on Han Li's mask dimmed. The shadowy projection disappeared.
Zi Ling's expression was complex as she looked at Han Li.
Han Li opened his mouth to explain, but before he could, Zi Ling said, "Go ahead, rescue her."
"Let's go back," Han Li said.
"Where are we going back to?" Zi Ling asked in confusion.
"The North Cold Immortal Domain," Han Li replied, his eyes narrowing slightly.
...
On the other side, in the Underworld, a large hall.
The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation, who had just finished communicating with Han Li, slowly walked down from the high platform.
At this moment, a figure hastily entered the hall, wearing a wide black robe, with thick bandages wrapped around their arms, neck, and face, and golden talismans drawn on top. They looked very unusual.
"Lord, I just received a prophecy that the Honored One of the Qiu Tian Immortal Domain will soon arrive at the Dun Yang Continent," the black-robed person reported in a hoarse voice.
"The Qiu Tian Immortal Domain is just a medium-sized immortal domain, and it doesn't have a direct transmission array to the Middle Earth Immortal Domain. He's probably going to the Dun Yang Continent to use their transmission array to go to the Xuan Tian Immortal Domain, which has a transmission array that can reach the Middle Earth Immortal Domain directly. Inform Feng Hui and Wu Jiang to ambush him at the Dun Yang Continent, and kill all his followers," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation said.
"Yes, sir," the black-robed person replied, bowing.
"Yuan Chun Feng, how many years have you been following me?" the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation suddenly asked.
The black-robed person stopped and turned back, thinking for a moment before answering, "It's been too long, I've forgotten. Probably hundreds of thousands of years..."
"You use the Heavenly Calculations to divine for me, and see if I have a chance of winning if I go to the Heavenly Court ahead of time," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation asked calmly.
"Lord, do you really want to calculate? With my current state, using the Heavenly Calculations once won't get me punished by the Heavenly Court, but afterwards, I'll be no different from a useless person. Besides, if it's related to the Time Ancestor, the Heavenly Machine... might not be able to predict it," Yuan Chun Feng replied calmly.
"If that's the case, then don't bother. I still need you to predict the paths of the various Da Luo cultivators going to the Bodhi Banquet, otherwise, it'll be like finding a needle in a haystack," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation said.
Yuan Chun Feng didn't say anything else, and simply bowed again.
"You people from the Bu Tian Sect are clever, betting on both sides between the Heavenly Court and me," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation said with a smile.
"Lord, you're joking. We're just forced to do this. You and the Time Ancestor are both at the top of the True Immortal Realm, and your conflicts have already surpassed the Great Dao, even affecting the Heavenly Court and disturbing the Heavenly Machine. We can't predict the outcome, so we can only do this," Yuan Chun Feng said.
"Chen Gong chose to bet on the ancient side, and as his disciple, you bet on our side. It seems you think the Heavenly Court has a higher chance of winning. But it's good that you're doing this, winning isn't necessarily a big win, and losing won't be a complete loss. At least, no matter which side wins, you'll be able to preserve your sect's legacy," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation said.
"If the Heavenly Court wins, I'll be destroyed along with the Wheel of Reincarnation. I hope you won't let me lose," Yuan Chun Feng said, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes from the gap in his bandages.
The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation didn't respond, and simply nodded, indicating that Yuan Chun Feng could leave.
The latter slowly walked out of the hall, leaving the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation alone in the darkness.
...
Time passed, and two years went by.
In the North Cold Immortal Domain, at the edge of the Gu Yun Continent, a border city.
A figure descended from the sky, and Han Li and Zi Ling appeared, dressed in a blue robe and a purple dress, respectively.
They landed outside the city, and their bodies were surrounded by a layer of golden light, which isolated the gray mist in the air.
Han Li looked into the distance, gazing at the city wrapped in a layer of light, and a hint of nostalgia flashed in his eyes.
"When I first left the Black Wind Sea, I stayed in this city for a short time on my way to the Zhu Long Dao. Compared to my memories, this place has changed a lot," Han Li said.
"Now that the Gray Boundary is invading, not just the North Cold Immortal Domain, but also the nearby immortal domains, have been occupied. The world has changed a lot," Zi Ling said.
"This North Cold Immortal Domain has been mostly transformed by the Gray Boundary, and the original immortal cultivators have been forced to retreat to the cities. I think it won't take long before these places are completely conquered," Han Li sighed.
"There's nothing we can do. The Heavenly Court not only didn't send any reinforcements, but also suppressed the news. Not many people in the immortal realm know about this situation, so it's not surprising that it's not getting much attention. Fortunately, the Gray Boundary is being cautious, and has temporarily stopped expanding. Otherwise, the Heavenly Court might not be able to control the situation," Zi Ling said.
"I'm afraid this is just a tacit agreement between the Heavenly Court and the Gray Boundary. One doesn't expand too much, and the other doesn't suppress them immediately," Han Li said with a cold smile.
"Why is that?" Zi Ling asked.
Han Li slowly said, "The Gray Boundary is trying to stabilize its foothold, establish a foundation for its future expansion. As for the Heavenly Court... on one hand, it's to ensure the Bodhi Banquet proceeds smoothly and maintain a stable surface, with everything revolving around the Bodhi Banquet. On the other hand, there's also the matter of the Wheel of Rebirth Hall, which currently poses the greatest threat to the Heavenly Court."
Zi Ling sighed, "It's a pity for the countless beings in the occupied immortal realms..."
Han Li said, "Let's go, we don't have much time."
With that, the two flew off, transforming into a streak of light as they left the Ancient Cloud Continent, speeding towards the Wasteland Continent.
As they entered the ocean, the water's color deepened, gradually changing from a blue-green hue to a dark purple. The sea's surface was turbulent, with waves crashing against each other, creating a deafening roar.
The sky above was shrouded in a thick layer of dark clouds, which seemed to stretch on forever. The distance between the clouds and the sea's surface was only about 70-80 zhang.
Suddenly, a loud rumble shook the air, and a bolt of lightning illuminated the dark clouds. The lightning's power was so great that it seemed to split the clouds apart, striking the sea's surface with incredible force.
Han Li could feel the electricity in the air, even before they entered the Thunder Sea. The Gray Boundary's mist didn't dare approach this area.
"You return to the Flower Petal Cave Heaven and wait for me. The commotion here will be intense soon," Han Li said, gazing out at the Thunder Sea.
Zi Ling nodded and disappeared into the cave heaven.
Han Li didn't continue flying, instead summoning the 72 Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords. He leaped into the air, landing on one of the swords, and began to ride the wind.
The other 71 swords surrounded him, forming a protective sword array that shielded him from harm.
Han Li's gaze locked onto the Thunder Sea, and he charged forward, his swords at the ready.
As soon as he entered the Thunder Sea, a massive purple lightning bolt struck down from the heavens, targeting Han Li. He didn't even glance at it, and one of his Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords automatically intercepted the attack.
The lightning struck the sword, causing it to shudder and emit a metallic ringing sound. The sword's surface erupted with purple electricity, which spread out like a web.
Han Li's speed didn't increase, but instead slowed down, as if he was being hindered by the lightning. His swords continued to take turns deflecting the lightning bolts, each one striking the sea's surface with incredible force.
As the lightning continued to strike, the Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords began to exhibit a network of fine, electric lines on their surfaces.
"Indeed," Han Li said to himself, a smile spreading across his face.
The deeper they delved into the Thunder Sea, the more intense the lightning became. The electricity in the air grew stronger, and the Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords began to work together to deflect the attacks.
The swords no longer took turns, but instead formed a protective barrier around Han Li, shielding him from the lightning.
As they journeyed deeper into the Thunder Sea, they encountered increasingly powerful lightning bolts, which threatened to engulf them. Han Li and his swords persevered, eventually emerging from the Thunder Sea after more than half a month.
The Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords had grown stronger, their electric lines more pronounced.
Suddenly, a massive golden lightning bolt struck down from the heavens, followed by hundreds more, which descended like a golden waterfall. The Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords flew out, forming a bridge-like structure above Han Li's head.
The golden lightning bolts struck the swords, causing them to shudder and emit a deafening crackling sound. The swords' surfaces erupted with golden electricity, which spread out like a web.
The Qingtian Bee Cloud Swords now seemed to be imbued with the power of the lightning, their electric lines pulsing with an otherworldly energy. They appeared to be no longer ordinary swords, but rather, they seemed to be imbued with the power of the heavens.
Han Li stood beneath the "sword bridge," gazing out at the sea ahead, his eyes calm and serene. In the void, a massive black vortex suddenly appeared.
Inside the vortex, a blurry shadow was visible, disrupted by the residual lightning and thunder, making it impossible to see clearly.
But Han Li's heart was clear about what it was.
He raised his hand and swept his sleeve, and the void in front of him condensed, and all the golden lightning threads and turbulent lightning waves were easily swept aside.
In the black vortex, a massive eye finally appeared.
Han Li's heart tightened, and he recalled the scene when he first saw this "Lightning Eye" years ago.
In his memory, the eye was only a few hundred meters in size, with a orange-yellow color, and a thin, long line on the pupil, shining with cold light.
At that time, he was only able to glance at it, and was struck by a terrifying aura, causing his soul to suffer significant damage.
With his current level of spiritual power, he was unable to see the true appearance behind the eye, and had even guessed that it was a massive beast lurking in the void.
Now, he was facing this terrifying eye once again, and his power had long surpassed his previous weakness. Yet, as he gazed at the eye, his heart still trembled with fear.
It turned out that he had guessed that the massive eye was not connected to a body, and that the black vortex only contained this solitary eye.
As he stared at the eye, the orange-yellow eye slowly turned towards him, and a loud thunderclap echoed in Han Li's mind.
His spiritual sea was suddenly torn apart, and a massive gash appeared, causing him to feel as if his head was about to split open. The impact was thousands of times stronger than before.
However, in the next instant, a faint glow spread through Han Li's spiritual sea, instantly healing the gash, and calming the turbulent waves.
Now, his Seven Volumes of the Refining God Technique had been fully cultivated, and his spiritual power was far beyond what it was before.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and the Five Elements Fantastical World Technique began to circulate within him. A round moon rose into the air, shining with a brilliant golden light, and the True Speech Treasure Wheel appeared.
In the center of the wheel, a massive golden vertical eye was suspended, its eyelids tightly closed.
"Today, I will see what you truly are," Han Li said, staring at the orange-yellow eye.
As he spoke, he activated the True Eye, and the wheel's intricate patterns began to glow. The golden eye's eyelids slowly opened, revealing a golden eyeball.
A soft golden light shot out from the pupil, and Han Li's spiritual energy began to move, no longer using his own eyes to see, but instead using the golden vertical eye.
The massive eye above him began to glow with golden threads, which intertwined with each other, gradually revealing its true shape.
Han Li's eyebrows rose, and he was shocked.
The reconstituted shape had the body of a cow, but with dragon horns on its head, and its massive body was covered in ancient, mysterious symbols. Its belly was round, and it had only one thick leg, with a long tail behind it.
"Is this not the 'Lei Kui'?" Han Li muttered to himself.
Han Li was not unfamiliar with the Lei Kui, and had even used its true pattern to inscribe symbols on his own magic soldiers. He had never imagined that the massive eye in the thunderstorm ocean was a relic of the Lei Kui.
However, as he looked closer, he discovered that the symbols on the Lei Kui's body were different from those he had seen before. They were a type of pattern that contained the true essence of lightning, which was not something that an ordinary Lei Kui could possess.
Han Li's thoughts moved, and the power of the Time Law surged out from his body, pouring into the True Eye.
The golden eyeball began to rotate rapidly, and the golden light emanating from it grew thicker.
In an instant, the flow of time in the entire thunderstorm ocean was interrupted, and the void seemed to freeze. Only the Lei Kui's shadow began to move.
The light and shadows shifted, and massive lightning pillars appeared in the nine heavens, as if the gates of heaven had opened. Thousands of lightning threads flowed out, striking the Lei Kui's body.
Its seemingly indestructible body began to disintegrate, turning into a brilliant flow of light that flew into the heavenly gates.
However, the Lei Kui seemed to be unwilling to give up, and let out a silent roar, as its body was torn in two by the lightning threads. One half was swallowed by the heavenly gates, while the other half surged towards its left eye.
Until its entire body was reduced to ashes, dispersing into the heavens, leaving behind only the solitary orange-yellow eye, suspended in the void.
Han Li felt the shock of the Lei Kui's image disappearing, the changes in the heavens and the earth, and the endless power emanating from the Heavenly Gate. He was shocked beyond measure.
After a long time, he finally came back to his senses, muttering to himself:
"This eye... is actually a relic of the Dao Ancestor!"
Even after withdrawing the Eye of Truth and recalling the True Speech Treasure Wheel, Han Li's emotions were still difficult to calm.
Until now, the world had never heard of the existence of a Lightning Dao Ancestor. And this Lei Kui giant beast was likely the previous Lightning Dao Ancestor, whose innate lightning body allowed it to roam freely in the Nine Heavens' divine lightning. However, as it harmonized with the heavens and the earth, its final destination was to be consumed by the Heavenly Dao, becoming a part of the heavens and the earth.
This Lightning Eye was the last remnant left behind by the Lei Kui before it was consumed by the Heavenly Dao.
Han Li once again fully activated the Refining Spirit Technique, carefully examining the Lightning Eye. He discovered that the power contained within was even more terrifying than he had anticipated, but it had already transformed into pure lightning energy, without any remaining will or intent from the Lei Kui.
However, after a moment's thought, Han Li relaxed.
If there were any remaining divine intent in the Lightning Eye, it would have already been re-cultivated and reborn. Why would it remain in this sea region, day after day? Moreover, after being consumed by the Heavenly Dao, how could there be any remaining divine intent?
He gazed at the orange-yellow giant eye for a moment, then suddenly snapped his fingers.
A layer of golden light expanded rapidly from his surroundings, enveloping the entire Thunderstorm Ocean.
At the same time, Han Li's body activated the Great Five Elements Fantastical World Technique, and the True Speech Treasure Wheel, along with other time-space law objects, appeared and transformed into mountains, rivers, and stars, surrounding the Thunderstorm Ocean.
As soon as the five objects, which contained powerful time-space laws, appeared, they immediately triggered the Thunderstorm Ocean's crazy resistance. The orange-yellow eye "gazed" at Han Li, and the nine heavens' clouds rumbled loudly.
The entire Thunderstorm Ocean became more frantic than ever, with all the lightning pillars falling continuously, like a never-ending waterfall, striking Han Li's mountains and rivers.
Han Li ignored this, his mind moving to freeze time. The falling lightning, sparkling with electricity, stopped in mid-air, without any movement or sound.
In this small world, only Han Li could move freely.
He waved his hand, and his feet stepped through the void, with the seventy-two Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Swords floating behind him, following him as he walked.
Han Li circled around the Lei Kui's eye, stopping every few steps, and with a wave of his hand, a Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Sword would fly out, suspended in the air outside the giant eye.
After three hundred and sixty steps, the seventy-two Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Swords were all in position, arranged around the giant eye.
Han Li carefully checked the position of each sword, confirming that they were all correct. Then, with a flip of his hand, a white, eight-sided jade plate appeared in his palm.
This was the Heavenly Sword Array's diagram.
During his years of closed-door cultivation, Han Li had not relaxed his research on this diagram. As his cultivation grew, he finally solved the mystery of the jade plate.
He had originally thought that this object should have been created by the founder of the Heavenly Sword Sect, but later discovered that it was too profound, beyond human capabilities. It should be a manifestation of the sword's laws, a mysterious object of the heavens.
This sword array had no five-element attributes, but because it used different flying sword attributes, it could unleash different attributes of powerful might. It was as if it contained the sword's laws, allowing it to accommodate any attribute and unleash its power.
At this moment, the sword array set up by the Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Swords was a kind of "Great Refining" array from the Heavenly Sword Array, and Han Li was going to use this array to refine the Lei Kui's eye.
After setting up the array, Han Li clasped his hands together, and a chanting sound emerged from his mouth.
A faint humming sound was heard, and the eight-sided jade plate trembled slightly, its symbols moving rapidly like flowing clouds. Suddenly, a brilliant light burst forth, and a giant eight-sided light plate appeared above the Lei Kui's eye.
Han Li saw this and leapt up, landing on the eight-sided light plate. He sat down in the lotus position, his eyes closed, and his hands clasped together.
The light plate beneath him burst into light, and countless illusory sword shadows flew out, like a spring rain, pouring down onto the giant eye below.
The seventy-two Qing Zhu Bee Cloud Swords also trembled, their bodies shining with golden light, connecting with each other in the void, forming a giant eight-trigram furnace, enclosing the Lei Kui's eye.
The eight-sided light plate, transformed from the sword array diagram, was like a furnace lid, covering the furnace's interior.
A series of loud rumbling sounds echoed, and the Lei Kui's eye, which had been calm, suddenly shone with a golden light. The lightning in the clouds outside stopped, and the thunderstorm ocean fell silent.
In the next instant, a group of Lei Kui illusions emerged from the eye, surrounded by the purest golden lightning in the heavens, charging towards the eight-trigram furnace, their bodies shrouded in purple smoke, their auras boundless.
"Boom, boom, boom..." Every time the Lei Kui struck, a thunderous roar shook the sky, and the entire sea of thunderstorms trembled violently.
Han Li sat steadily on the eight-sided light disc, his body also trembling violently, with threads of numbness and electric currents piercing through his body.
However, at this moment, he couldn't afford to be distracted, he had to strictly control all the flying swords and the array diagram, or else once the Lei Kui burst out, the entire eight trigrams furnace would explode, and the entire sea of thunderstorms and the two nearby continents would be ravaged by unprecedented thunderstorms, erasing them from the map of the Northern Frost Domain.
"Sword Guard for Attack, Great Refining of the Mystic Void..." Han Li's voice was low and clear.
The 72 flying swords and the array diagram simultaneously unleashed their power, countless sword energies and sword shadows surged into the furnace, refining the Lei Kui's eye like a furnace fire.
...
At the same time, on the edge of the Huolan Continent.
Tens of thousands of gray boundary creatures, like a swarm of locusts, crowded at the edge of the land, gazing out at the sea of thunderstorms across the sea.
Standing at the forefront of these gray boundary creatures were hundreds of gray boundary cultivators, led by a tall, black-robed man with a suit of armor covered in green copper rust, his skin deathly pale, his expression grave.
"Lord Mo Shi, do you want to investigate?" a frail old man standing behind him asked in a hoarse voice.
"No need, whatever is there, it's not something we can handle, as long as it doesn't provoke us, let's not stir up trouble, just keep a close eye on it," the tall man, Mo Shi, shook his head and said.
"Yes," the frail old man replied immediately.
"Restrain these creatures, don't provoke them, there are still some cities on the Huolan Continent that haven't been conquered, we need to speed up," Mo Shi ordered.
This time, including the frail old man, several gray boundary cultivators responded in unison: "Yes, sir."
...
Time passed, and several months had gone by.
The sea of thunderstorms had undergone a heaven-shaking transformation, the original boundless sea of thunderstorms had disappeared, leaving only a region of thunderclouds less than a hundred miles in diameter.
And within this region, a figure was walking around a furnace, his brow furrowed, looking quite frustrated, it was naturally Han Li.
"It's already been refined, why can't it be opened?" Han Li muttered to himself, stroking his chin.
Inside the furnace, a dragon-eye-sized orange-yellow eyeball could be seen, surrounded by a layer of golden electricity, constantly emitting a "zizzling" sound.
Around the eyeball, 72 shrunken Qingtong Flying Cloud Swords were hovering, linked by electricity, looking like a single entity.
According to Han Li's original plan, with the help of the Tongtian Sword Array, he could refine the Lei Kui's eye into the 72 Qingtong Flying Cloud Swords, raising their quality to the level of a 4th-grade immortal artifact.
But for some reason, despite the refinement being successful, the Lei Kui's eye refused to split, and naturally, it couldn't be fully absorbed into the 72 swords.
"What's the problem? How can I break..." Han Li muttered to himself.
At this moment, he suddenly had an idea, a hint of excitement in his eyes, and he turned his wrist, a flash of light appearing in his palm.
Only to see that in the light, he had obtained a greenish-blue Xuantian Gourd. This Xuantian Gourd had absorbed the residual power of the Xuantian Zhanling Sword, and inside it was the power of destruction, using it to help break open the Lei Kui's eye, wouldn't that be perfect?
As soon as he thought of this, Han Li hesitated, the Lei Kui's eye, although refined, was still a relic of the Dao Ancestor, its internal power was not ordinary, and the Xuantian Gourd was not of sufficient grade, it might not be able to withstand its power.
"Seems like there's no better way, I'll just send the Qingtong Flying Cloud Swords in together, to help suppress the Lei Kui's eye," Han Li thought of a not-so-good plan, muttering to himself.
As soon as he finished speaking, he didn't hesitate, he pointed his finger, and the eight trigrams furnace disappeared, the Lei Kui's eye and the Qingtong Flying Cloud Swords were exposed in the void.
In an instant, the remaining thunderclouds within a hundred miles erupted violently, with lightning flashing and thunder booming.
Han Li saw this, and quickly raised the Xuantian Gourd, reciting a few words, and tapping the bottom of the gourd.
The Xuantian Gourd flashed with light, and a green mist erupted from its mouth, condensing into a misty vortex that rotated violently.
With a loud whooshing sound, a powerful tearing force emerged from the vortex.
Han Li held the gourd in one hand, and with the other, he guided the Lei Kui's eye and the Qingtong Flying Cloud Swords into the green vortex, absorbing them into the Xuantian Gourd.
As soon as the eyeball and the flying swords entered the Xuantian Gourd, the thunderous sounds in the surrounding sky and earth suddenly subsided.
Han Li's eyes watched as the Lei Kui's eye and the Qing Zhu Feng Yun Sword entered the Xuan Tian Gourd, and with a wave of his hand, he sealed the opening of the gourd. He then picked up the gourd with his other hand and gently shook it.
"Rumble rumble"
A low and muffled sound of thunder immediately came from within the gourd.
The symbols on the surface of the gourd flashed with a bright light, and golden electric threads flowed out from the surface, causing Han Li's palm to emit a burst of blue smoke, which quickly dissipated.
Almost simultaneously, a clear and crisp sound came from the gourd, and a fine crack appeared on its surface.
The sound of cracking grew louder, and the crack spread like a spider web, covering the entire surface of the gourd.
Han Li saw this and, without saying a word, raised his hand and tossed the gourd into the air.
He then used his hands to manipulate the time laws, reaching out to the gourd as if gathering fire, and clamping down on it with his palms. The threads of the time laws condensed into fine, golden threads that wrapped around the gourd, forming a layer of golden light.
The golden electric threads and the time laws intertwined, but were soon covered by the time laws, forming a brilliant golden light that surrounded the gourd.
With the time laws' restraint and protection, the Xuan Tian Gourd, which had cracked like a broken ceramic, did not immediately collapse. Instead, the symbols etched onto its surface grew brighter.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and a faint, purple light appeared in his eyes as he probed the interior of the gourd.
He saw that the 72 Qing Zhu Feng Yun Swords had transformed into small, golden swords, all of which were stuck to the walls of the gourd, maintaining their sword formation. The Lei Kui's eye, on the other hand, was suspended in the center of the gourd, surrounded by a dark green glow.
The dark green glow was naturally familiar with the Qing Zhu Feng Yun Sword, but it was like meeting a formidable opponent when it encountered the Lei Kui's eye. The two clashed fiercely, neither giving an inch.
In terms of power, the Lei Kui's eye was superior, and its continuous release of electric threads had already cracked the walls of the gourd. If not for Han Li's assistance with the time laws, the gourd would have already collapsed.
However, the dark green glow had the help of the sword formation, which reduced the difference in power between the two. The situation was now evenly matched.
The gourd's interior was filled with the sound of clashing, as the dark green glow and the golden electric threads alternated in intensity.
"Rumble"
After several hours, the Xuan Tian Gourd finally could not withstand the pressure and exploded in a loud, thunderous sound.
A dark green glow burst out of the gourd, transforming into a brilliant, dark green sword light that split the sky and the sea, creating a rift that stretched tens of thousands of feet in all directions.
A deep, dark crack appeared in the sky, and a series of spatial fluctuations emanated from within.
Han Li's gaze narrowed as he looked at the rift, and he saw that the Lei Kui's eye had transformed into a brilliant, golden light, with flashes of lightning-like movements within. It seemed as if a group of Lei Kui beasts were moving about.
The Qing Zhu Feng Yun Swords, which had been floating in the air, suddenly flashed with light and flew towards the golden glow.
As the swords entered the light, its brightness increased several times, and Han Li's eyes could not see what was happening inside. However, he sensed a strange fluctuation coming from within.
Suddenly, a sharp, piercing sound came from within the light, and a series of sword lights burst out, flying towards the surrounding space.
Han Li's eyes narrowed as he watched one of the sword lights fly towards the slowly closing spatial rift.
He raised an eyebrow, and without hesitation, he reached out with his palm, which was covered in golden light, and inserted it into the rift.
"Whoosh"
Han Li's sleeve was instantly torn to shreds, but his arm remained intact.
However, when he looked at what he had pulled out, he was shocked to see that it was not a Qing Zhu Feng Yun Sword, but a small, exquisite, jade-green hand.
"This is..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the surrounding space was filled with flashes of light, and a group of small, jade-green figures, each about a foot tall, appeared before him.
They were all wearing golden armbands and anklets, with intricate, golden patterns etched onto them. Some of them sat on his shoulders, while others climbed onto his hair or hung from his arms.
Han Li counted them and found that there were exactly 72 of these small figures.
"Could this be... the sword spirits born from the fusion of the Lei Kui's eye and the Qing Zhu Feng Yun Sword within the Xuan Tian Gourd?" Han Li wondered.
As if sensing his thoughts, the small figures flew up into the air, and their bodies glowed with green light before transforming into 72 Qing Zhu Feng Yun Swords.
However, these swords were different from the ones before, as they were all etched with golden, lightning-like patterns, and each one radiated an aura of a third-grade immortal artifact.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed in surprise, and he realized that these swords were far more powerful than he had anticipated.
The 72 swords flew up into the air, forming a series of sword formations that seemed to be controlled by an invisible force.
"Rumble rumble" As the sound of thunder rolled in, a majestic thousand-meter Heavenly Gate appeared above the nine heavens.
In an instant, the surrounding golden clouds churned with a thousand different auras, and the tightly closed gate burst forth with a suppressive aura, causing Han Li to feel a shiver run down his spine. The power of the thousand sword-wielding children was even greater than he had anticipated.
A thought arose in his mind, and the Heavenly Gate began to rumble loudly. Inside, a sea of golden light churned with thousands of colorful lightning dragons, waiting for a signal to burst forth.
The void outside the gate was shaken to its core, and the surrounding space began to crack and split.
Han Li's lips curled into a smile, and with a slight movement of his divine sense, the Heavenly Gate slowly closed, and the surrounding golden clouds dissipated.
The seventy-two flying swords flashed with light, transforming back into the Jade Children, and flew back to Han Li.
Han Li opened his left sleeve, and the children flew in, disappearing from sight.
Later, Han Li pondered for a moment, then waved his hand, opening the Flower Branch Cave Heaven.
Inside the silver light gate, Zi Ling stood by the window of the bamboo pavilion, turning to ask, "How did it go?"
"It's done," Han Li replied, hesitating. "I..."
"Go do what you need to do. If possible, I'd like to accompany you," Zi Ling said with a gentle smile.
"The journey to the Heavenly Court is too perilous, I cannot bring you," Han Li shook his head.
"I know. I'll wait for your safe return," Zi Ling said, as if she had expected this.
"Regardless, I'll take you back to the Nether Realm first. After that, you can stay there or go to the Devil Realm, but I'll definitely come back to find you," Han Li said, nodding.
"Alright," Zi Ling replied.
After leaving the painted realm, Han Li took Zi Ling's hand, and with his other hand, he formed a seal to cast the Thunder Array technique.
A strange noise echoed, and the lightning cloud, which had shrunk to less than a hundred miles in diameter, was struck by countless golden lightning bolts, disappearing in an instant.
...
A month passed in a hurry.
In the Nether Realm, on the island in the middle of the Yellow Spring Lake, a black-clad woman paced back and forth on the stone steps of the great hall, her face filled with anxiety.
Standing outside the hall, two ghostly guards exchanged a glance, both shaking their heads.
The woman, "Jiao San", had been pacing for over ten days, seemingly waiting for someone, but that person had yet to arrive.
After two attempts to persuade her, they had given up.
Just then, a golden light flashed in the void outside the island, unaffected by the whirlwind, and landed on the island.
Jiao San sensed the aura and was surprised, then delighted, and was about to fly out to greet them when she felt a sudden presence, and Han Li and Zi Ling appeared before her.
"Where is the Master?" Han Li asked, releasing Zi Ling's hand.
"Let's go inside and talk," Jiao San replied, her face troubled.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he took Zi Ling's hand again, entering the hall together.
After the door closed, Jiao San spoke directly, "Father has already departed for the Central Plains Divine Realm."
"What? He left first?" Han Li's brow rose in surprise.
"Because of Mother's situation, Father feels guilty, and also due to other matters, the Reincarnation Hall has launched an attack ahead of schedule. The entire True Immortal Realm will only become more chaotic," Jiao San explained.
"Father said that the Heavenly Court has promised to release Mother if he goes to the Central Plains Divine Realm, but things won't be that simple. Previously, he used many methods to investigate Mother's prison, but to no avail. However, he did discover who had captured Mother," Jiao San said.
"Who was it?" Han Li asked immediately.
"Feng Qing Shui. You should be familiar with that name," Jiao San replied.
"It's him..." Han Li's eyes narrowed, recalling their past encounter in the Gray Realm. He knew that Feng Qing Shui was a Water Attribute Law's Dao Ancestor.
"I want to gather all the information I can about him: his sect background, the location of his immortal mansion, his current whereabouts, and his past battles with others," Han Li said gravely.
"Do you plan to find him?" Jiao San asked, her brow raised.
"He told me about Feng Qing Shui, didn't he, so that I would go find him?" Han Li replied calmly.
Chapter:
"Father didn't say anything, but Feng Qing Shui is a Da Zong level existence, your cultivation..." Jiao San trailed off.
Han Li, upon hearing this, no longer suppressed the aura on his body, and a massive, boundless pressure suddenly burst forth, releasing a brilliant light that seemed to be made of gold.
Although he controlled it to be confined within a hundred meters, the flow of the world's energy seemed to be influenced by his mere thoughts.
He seemed to be the master, and even though he stood still, it was as if he dominated the heavens and the earth, causing those who gazed upon him to feel a massive shock.
The cultivation of the late stage of the Great Luo period was revealed in this moment.
Jiao San felt an invisible pressure rushing towards him, and he involuntarily took two steps back, his heart still reeling from the shock.
"I never thought that after so many years, you could have changed so much. No wonder...no wonder Father..." Jiao San took a deep breath and spoke slowly, but seemed to hesitate and didn't continue.
"He's facing the Heavenly Court, and can attract most of the attention. If I go find Feng Qing Shui, it would be a breakthrough, as long as he's not in the Heavenly Court right now." Han Li suppressed his aura once more and spoke.
"He's not in the Zhongtu Xian Domain, but in another large Xian Domain, the Longyuan Xian Domain, inside the fog dragon sect he founded, where he's been in seclusion for some time." Jiao San said.
"That's perfect, you help me prepare the things I need, and I'll set out tomorrow." Han Li said.
"Alright, you're planning to leave when, I'll go with you." Jiao San said.
"You can't go." Han Li immediately said.
"Why can't I go, Mother..." Jiao San's words were cut off by Han Li.
"She chose to be Nan Gong Wan, even if she's not your mother, she definitely wouldn't want you to go." Han Li looked at Jiao San and said.
"I don't care what you think, in my heart, she's still my mother, I must go." Jiao San said.
"With your current cultivation, you'll only be a hindrance. Besides, I need you to help me send Zi Ling to the Demon Realm." Han Li said bluntly.
Jiao San's face fell upon hearing this.
"Alright, with my cultivation, I'd only be a burden. But why does Zi Ling have to go to the Demon Realm?" Jiao San asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"What's wrong?" Han Li asked, sensing something was amiss.
"Don't you know what's happening in the Demon Realm? If Zi Ling is going to find Shi Chuan Kong, it's not necessary." Jiao San's eyes narrowed, and he spoke slowly.
Zi Ling's expression changed, and she felt a sense of foreboding.
"What's going on?" Han Li asked, his eyes narrowing.
"The Demon Realm has been in a state of civil war for over a thousand years, and the past hundred years have been especially brutal. The final battle seven years ago destroyed the entire Night City, and the Ji Liang Kun boundary was completely erased. Shi Chuan Kong's sect, the Shi Kong Jie, was defeated." Jiao San sighed, his voice low and mournful.
"What happened to Shi Kong Jie and Shi Chuan Kong, is there any news?" Han Li asked.
"The Demon Realm has been sealed off, and it's hard to get any news out. The last thing I heard was that Shi Kong Jie was defeated by the Demon Lord, and Shi Chuan Kong's whereabouts are unknown." Jiao San said.
Xie Dao Ren was killed, and Shi Chuan Kong was missing...
Han Li felt a sense of loss, and didn't know what to say.
"Has it been seven years since the war, and there's still no news?" Zi Ling asked.
"The Demon Lord personally ordered the sealing of the Demon Realm, and it's not clear when it will be reopened. Right now, no news can get in or out." Jiao San shook his head.
"This matter will have to wait, I'll go to the Demon Realm to investigate when I return from the Heavenly Court." Han Li took a deep breath, his expression solemn.
Jiao San didn't say anything else, just nodded.
"In that case, you should stay in the Underworld, and wait for us to return." Han Li said to Zi Ling.
Zi Ling's face was filled with worry, but she nodded.
"By the way, what's the news on Ti Hu?" Han Li asked.
"She...she went to the Luo Hun Deep Abyss." Jiao San replied.
"The Luo Hun Deep Abyss...what's that place?" Han Li asked.
"It's a true abyss in the Underworld, a place where even Father has never been. She said she was searching for the true Dao, and I tried to stop her, but couldn't." Jiao San said.
"How long has she been gone?" Han Li asked.
"Over a hundred years ago, she still hasn't returned." Jiao San said.
Han Li's eyes closed, and a white light flashed at his brow, flickering for a moment before reopening.
"What's wrong?" Zi Ling asked.
"Our spiritual connection has been severed..." Han Li muttered.
"It's said that the Luo Hun Deep Abyss is a place where spirits wander, and even if you're in the same place, you can't sense each other's presence." Jiao San said.
"This is the path Ti Hu chose, you have to believe in her." Zi Ling pulled on Han Li's arm, trying to comfort him.
Han Li remained silent for a long time, before nodding.
Ti Hu and Jin Tong were the same, they both had their own paths to follow, just like he had his own path to face the Heavenly Court.
"I'll set out tomorrow to the Longyuan Xian Domain, and you'll help me prepare the information about Feng Qing Shui." Han Li said to Jiao San.
That night, Han Li and Zi Ling lay on the inclined roof of the palace, gazing up at the starry sky they hadn't seen in years.
Unfortunately, the night sky was pitch black, with few stars visible, and even the moon was obscured by dark clouds, casting a hazy glow over everything.
Han Li turned his gaze back to Zi Ling, who was leaning against him, and saw that her beautiful face was still radiant in the dim light.
Her profile was slightly blurry in the moonlight, but it had a unique beauty to it.
"Zi Ling, I..." Han Li couldn't help but call out softly, reaching out to touch her cheek.
As for Zi Ling, Han Li felt a pang of guilt. They had met by chance back then, and they had immediately hit it off, as if they were old friends who had known each other for a long time. It was as if they had found a kindred spirit, and their meeting was a stroke of good fortune that surpassed all others.
However, due to various circumstances, they had always been like strangers to each other.
"There's no need to say anything," Zi Ling said softly, her eyes still gazing out at the sky. "I'm already content with the peace and quiet of this moment."
Han Li heard her words and couldn't help but smile.
A moment later, Zi Ling reached out and took Han Li's arm, resting it on her own shoulder.
"This time, when you go, be extremely careful and bring back Wan'er without a single scratch. I won't go anywhere, and I'll wait for you here until you return."
Zi Ling looked up at Han Li and said, "Do you know what I saw in the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk in my past life?"
"What did you see?" Han Li asked immediately.
Zi Ling's expression turned calm, and she said, "Actually, there wasn't much turmoil or hardship in my past life. On the contrary, I was just an ordinary woman without a spiritual root, living a short life of only a hundred years. In that life, I waited for someone from my youth to old age, but that person never appeared."
As she finished speaking, her bright eyes locked onto Han Li's.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat, and he faintly heard a voice calling out to him, like the gentle voice of a woman from his dreams. However, he couldn't quite recall her face.
In a daze, he wrapped his arm around Zi Ling's neck, gently stroking her long hair as he drew her closer.
Zi Ling's body trembled slightly, but then she relaxed, leaning into Han Li's embrace. "So... I'm already satisfied with this life," she murmured. "It's not easy to meet someone, and we've formed a connection. What more could I ask for? What more could I regret?"
Han Li looked at her, and saw that her bright eyes were shining with a soft light, like a starry night sky. She was breathtakingly beautiful.
Just then, the night wind suddenly picked up, blowing away the last wisps of cloud and plunging the entire Yellow Spring Great Marsh into darkness. The soft, green glow of the phosphorescent fire rose up from the lake's surface, illuminating the surroundings.
After a moment of silence, the sky above began to drizzle with rain.
The rain in the underworld was different from that in the heavenly realm. The raindrops carried a hint of dark energy, making the rainwater feel heavy and oppressive. Although it wouldn't cause any harm, it was still unpleasant.
Han Li didn't want this rare moment of peace to be disrupted, so he raised his hand to dispel the clouds.
Zi Ling, however, grasped his arm and whispered, "Take me back."
Han Li looked at her, and his eyes widened as he realized what she meant.
He stopped speaking, and instead wrapped his arm around her waist, lifting her up and carrying her towards the palace.
The night deepened, and the clouds and rain gathered above the lake, growing more intense.
The rain continued to fall throughout the night, sometimes gently, sometimes fiercely.
As the storm raged on, the underworld was bathed in an otherworldly atmosphere.
When the rain finally stopped at dawn, Han Li opened his eyes to gaze at Zi Ling's sleeping form, her face still as beautiful as ever.
He didn't know how long he stared at her, but eventually, he opened his mouth to speak, only to realize he didn't know what to say. Instead, he let out a sigh.
He got up, changed into a new set of clothes, and stood by the bed for a moment before turning to leave.
As he walked out the door, he glanced back at Zi Ling, who was still sleeping peacefully. He gently closed the door behind him.
The candlelight in the room flickered, and then returned to its usual calm state.
When Han Li arrived at the palace entrance, Gan Jiu Zhen was already waiting for him.
"Is everything ready?" Han Li asked.
"Where's Zi Ling? Isn't she going to see you off?" Gan Jiu Zhen asked, looking around.
Han Li shook his head. "We said our goodbyes last night, so there's no need to say anything more today."
Gan Jiu Zhen looked puzzled, but didn't press the issue, assuming that Zi Ling was just reluctant to part with Han Li.
She handed Han Li a small, palm-sized token and a black jade slip. "This is a Bodhi Token. Since you're going to the Dragon Abyss Heavenly Realm, which is one of the thirty-six major heavenly realms, you can use this token to say you're attending the Bodhi Banquet in the Middle Earth Heavenly Realm. It's more convenient than any other travel permit."
Han Li took the token and examined it before nodding in approval.
Gan Jiu Zhen continued, "I also recorded some information about Feng Qing Shui and the Dragon Abyss Heavenly Realm on this jade slip. I hope it helps you."
Han Li took the jade slip and glanced at it before nodding. "This is enough."
Gan Jiu Zhen's expression turned serious. "You must bring Mother back safely."
Han Li nodded. "I will."
With that, he formed a hand seal and said, "I'll be off." A bolt of golden lightning struck the ground, and Han Li's figure disappeared into the distance.
Gan Jiu Zhen's eyes remained fixed on the spot where Han Li had vanished, her expression filled with worry.
He walked away?
Just as Gan Jiu Zhen stood still, gazing at the distant horizon, a figure suddenly appeared beside him, and it was the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth.
However, the Master's body seemed somewhat hazy and transparent, and it was clear that it was a projected clone.
Gan Jiu Zhen merely nodded silently, seemingly un surprised by the Master's appearance.
"What do you think of him now?" the Master asked.
"He gives me a very frightening feeling, completely different from before. Even 'as deep as the ocean' can't describe it. This feeling, I've only experienced it from you, how could his power increase so greatly?" Gan Jiu Zhen asked, his eyes fixed on the Master.
"If I'm not mistaken, he has already cut off the Good Corpse, and his power is now comparable to mine." The Master smiled.
"Really? That means he's already broken through from the middle stage of the Great Luo Realm to the late stage in such a short time?" Gan Jiu Zhen's expression changed suddenly.
"How he did it, I don't care. But you must remember, the Supreme Law is called Supreme because it's closer to the origin of the Heavenly Way. Especially after cutting off the 'Evil Self' and 'Good Self', the Supreme Law can now make the self and the Heavenly Way merge, its power is now on a completely different level. The Wheel of Rebirth Law is the same, as is the Time Law." The Master said slowly.
"I've only heard that the Supreme Law is special, but now I finally understand. It seems I must hurry up too." Gan Jiu Zhen took a deep breath, clenched his fists.
"There's gain and loss, cultivating the Supreme Law is even more difficult, especially for those who enter the Great Luo Realm, it's a journey of constant fear. This True Immortal Realm is vast, there are countless geniuses and heroes who want to comprehend the Supreme Law, but what's the result? You mustn't let your heart be moved, you have your own path." The Master saw through Gan Jiu Zhen's thoughts and said directly.
"Yes." Gan Jiu Zhen replied awkwardly.
"If you have the heart, from today on, you can go to the mortal world to travel." The Master said.
"Go to the mortal world to travel?" Gan Jiu Zhen was taken aback.
"How can one cut off the Good Corpse if one doesn't understand what's good? Most cultivators have lost their initial good intentions, and are even inferior to ordinary mortals. Only by understanding what's good can one proceed." The Master said with a hint of profundity.
Gan Jiu Zhen heard the Master's words, and seemed to have a revelation, but for a moment, he didn't understand the meaning behind the words, and stood there silently.
"The unintentional good can bring blessings to the soul in the Wheel of Rebirth, even if I can control the Six Paths of Rebirth, it's not easy to change the fate of those who have done great good..." The Master seemed to be muttering to himself, and continued.
"Yes, I understand. Father, are you really going to keep the appointment?" Gan Jiu Zhen asked, his eyes filled with thought.
"The war between us and the Heavenly Court is inevitable, your mother has been taken by the Heavenly Court, Jiu Zhen, you can't get into trouble again." The Master looked at Gan Jiu Zhen, his voice softening slightly.
"I want to go with you to rescue Mother." Gan Jiu Zhen said.
"No, you must stay here and not take a step out!" The Master's voice was stern.
Gan Jiu Zhen had never seen the Master's expression so severe before, and his heart was shaken, but his eyes still held a determined glint.
"Only if you're safe and sound can I focus on dealing with the Heavenly Court, your mother's matter, I'll leave it to Han Li and me." The Master sighed, patted Gan Jiu Zhen's shoulder, and then disappeared.
Gan Jiu Zhen looked at the empty space in front of him, opened his mouth, and stood there for a long time before turning to fly towards the depths of the palace.
...
Dragon Abyss Immortal Realm, Tian Hai Continent, Wudragon City.
The Dragon Abyss Immortal Realm was abundant with water, and more than 80% of the realm was a vast ocean, with only 20% being land. The land was scattered with islands, each one unique.
The Tian Hai Continent was the largest landmass in the Dragon Abyss Immortal Realm, and Wudragon City was the largest city on the continent.
Wudragon City was built on the coast, its geographical location extremely advantageous, situated at the intersection of several continents. The city was bustling with activity, and its fame was known throughout the Dragon Abyss Immortal Realm.
However, even more famous was the Wudragon Sect outside the city.
The Wudragon Sect was an extremely ancient sect in the Dragon Abyss Immortal Realm, its founding unknown. It had always been the top sect in the realm.
Later, the sect's genius cultivator, Feng Qing Shui, rose to prominence, and eventually broke through to the Dao Ancestor Realm, causing the Wudragon Sect's reputation to shake the True Immortal Realm.
Now, the Wudragon Sect was at the height of its power, its strength unmatched, and its influence spreading throughout the realm.
In the center of Wudragon City was a massive square, over a hundred li in size, with teams of blue-robed guards patrolling the area.
These people were the Wudragon Sect's outer disciples, responsible for maintaining the city's stability.
Not only Wudragon City, but the entire Tian Hai Continent was under the Wudragon Sect's jurisdiction, and the Dragon Abyss Immortal Realm's Immortal Palace could hardly intervene.
In the center of the square stood a massive blue stone gate, towering into the clouds, like a giant blue peak. The grand archway was covered in countless array patterns, resembling a spider's web that completely enveloped the massive structure. The array patterns extended from the archway, radiating downwards and spreading across the square below.
The square was filled with a dense array of transmission arrays, ranging from large to small, with over a thousand in total. Each transmission array was connected to the archway via array patterns, and they all flashed with a bright light at the same time.
These transmission arrays connected the True Immortal Realm to the various large domains, with countless people traveling through them every day.
A transmission array flashed with white light, and six figures appeared within it, stepping out into the square.
Among the five, they chatted and laughed, seemingly close friends, while a single blue-robed man stood slightly apart from the others.
"Wow, this is indeed the Fog Dragon City, it's majestic! The spiritual energy here is so rich, far surpassing our Tianheng Domain." A blue-clothed girl among the five took a deep breath, exclaiming in admiration.
"That's to be expected, the Dragon Abyss Domain is one of the 36 major domains, naturally surpassing our Tianheng Domain. It's worth us five siblings betting our entire fortune to obtain the transmission talisman to come here." A black-robed elder said.
His cultivation had reached the Golden Immortal realm, making him the strongest among the five. The others clearly regarded him as their leader.
The other four nodded in agreement, their faces filled with joy.
"Of course, we must also thank Brother Han, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to afford the transmission fee." The black-robed elder smiled, looking at the blue-robed man beside him.
"Ho, Brother Han, you're being too polite, it's just a mutually beneficial arrangement. The transmission array can transmit six people at a time, and you five were willing to accept me as a companion, saving me a significant amount of spirit stones." The blue-robed man smiled.
The black-robed elder nodded in response, "Brother Han, you're being too polite."
"Now that we've arrived, we'll have to work hard to establish ourselves here. Our spirit stones are almost depleted, and the difficult days are ahead of us. Let's strive to make a name for ourselves in this place." He turned to the other four, saying.
"Yes," the others replied in unison.
"Brother Han, you're a loose cultivator, why not join us and work together? It's better to have more people to rely on." The black-robed elder turned to the blue-robed man, saying.
"I have other matters to attend to, so I won't be joining you. I wish you all the best in your cultivation." The blue-robed man smiled, bowing his head.
The black-robed elder's face showed a hint of disappointment, but he didn't say anything, instead nodding slightly and leading the other four towards the city.
The blue-robed man, however, didn't leave immediately, instead gazing around him.
"Hey, cultivator, this transmission square isn't your home, you can't just stand around, hurry up and leave!" A nearby guard, a tall and thin man, saw the blue-robed man standing still and assumed he was awestruck by the city's scenery. He sneered, saying.
The blue-robed man seemed to ignore him, standing still.
The guard's face darkened, and he took a step forward, intending to chase the blue-robed man away and teach him a lesson.
But as he approached the blue-robed man, his footsteps slowed, and his face showed a strange expression.
The blue-robed man stood still, doing nothing, but as the guard drew closer, his spiritual sense began to tremble uncontrollably, and the closer he got, the more intense the trembling became.
This blue-robed man was none other than Han Li, who had returned to the Black Wind Sea Domain from the Abyssal Realm and hurried to the Dragon Abyss Domain.
He had expanded his spiritual sense, probing the situation around him.
The Dragon Abyss Domain was vast, far surpassing the Crane Peak Domain, and even Han Li's current spiritual sense couldn't fully encompass it. He could only probe a small portion of the domain.
However, he was able to cover the entire Tianhai Continent with his spiritual sense, and the situation within the Fog Dragon Sect was clear to him. But his brow furrowed slightly.
He couldn't sense the auras of either Nangong Wan or Feng Qingyu.
Nangong Wan was someone he was familiar with, but Feng Qingyu, as a Dao Ancestor, shouldn't be able to evade his current spiritual sense, which had reached the seventh layer of the Refining the Soul technique.
"Could it be that Jiuzhen's information was inaccurate?" Han Li wondered, his eyes narrowing as he turned to the guard.
The guard's eyes immediately became hazy, and a multitude of memories flashed before his eyes, revealing his entire life's experiences in a rapid, dazzling display.
With his experience traveling through the True Immortal Realm and witnessing countless cultures and people, Han Li's control over the Refining the Soul technique had become more refined, allowing him to probe the memories of a Taiyi realm cultivator with ease.
Han Li quickly probed the guard's memories, gaining a basic understanding of the Fog Dragon Sect's situation. He vanished into thin air, leaving the guard behind.
The guard's eyes cleared, and he looked around, feeling as though something was missing from his mind.
He scratched his head, muttering to himself, and continued to patrol the square.
Inside the Fog Dragon Sect, a grand hall stood quietly, its exterior shrouded in an aura of mystery. Suddenly, a figure emerged from the void, and it was Han Li.
Outside the grand hall, two guards clad in blue armor stood watch, their auras powerful and at the late stage of the Taiyi Realm. They were about to shout out a warning when Han Li swept his gaze over them, a hint of light flashing in his eyes.
The two guards instantly stiffened, as if they had turned into statues.
Han Li ignored them and looked towards the tightly closed palace gates. The gates were sealed with a layer of hazy blue light, indicating the presence of a powerful restriction.
Han Li examined the palace gates, then turned to face the distance and waved his sleeve.
Seventy-two thin golden lightning bolts shot out from his sleeve, disappearing into the void. In the vast expanse of the Tianhai Continent, the lightning bolts reappeared, forming a massive circle that enveloped the entire continent.
Golden lightning arcs burst forth from the lightning bolts, intertwining and forming a birdcage-like pattern. The entire continent was shrouded in a golden lightning net.
However, the net only appeared for an instant before dissolving into the void. The sky above the continent darkened, with thick black clouds gathering, resembling the approach of a storm.
The cultivators on the continent noticed the changes in the sky but didn't pay much attention, as the Dragon Abyss was known for its turbulent weather.
Han Li's figure flashed, and he transformed into a golden light that shot towards the palace gates.
The restriction on the gates was triggered, and waves of blue light surged out, attempting to block the golden light.
However, the golden light pierced through the blue light, entering the palace gates without hesitation.
Inside the palace, an old man with a gaunt face and frail body sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. A blue glow surrounded his head, condensing into a massive blue flower that rotated and emitted a clear, resonant sound.
Blue petals floated from the flower, dancing and fluttering around the palace, releasing a peculiar, enchanting fragrance.
The old man suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards the entrance, about to rise from his seat.
Han Li appeared in the palace, his figure flashing with golden light.
The old man reacted swiftly, his body bursting with energy as he leapt into the air. His aura surged, reaching the peak of the Daluo Realm.
A loud, thunderous roar erupted from his body, and a massive blue dragon shadow appeared around him.
As the dragon shadow emerged, the old man's withered body seemed to regain its vitality, his muscles swelling, his hair turning black, and his skin becoming radiant and smooth. His aura transformed, becoming wild and untamed, like a raging dragon.
The old man's sleeves fluttered as he unleashed a powerful punch towards Han Li.
A massive fist of energy shot towards Han Li, accompanied by the blue dragon shadow.
The palace's void cracked, and countless fissures appeared, but it didn't shatter. The old man's punch was met with a massive, unseen force that countered it.
The Fog Dragon Sect's restrictions were triggered, and the entire sect was enveloped in a brilliant blue light. The continent's energy surged, gathering towards the palace.
The palace walls burst with intense blue light, emitting a mystical music that seemed to come from the depths of the ancient earth.
A massive wave of blue light erupted from the walls, crashing towards Han Li with incredible force.
The palace's atmosphere became heavy, as if it had been transported to the bottom of the ocean, rendering movement impossible.
Everything happened in an instant.
Han Li sensed the situation outside and furrowed his brow, then relaxed and raised his hand, striking the void.
A massive golden fist condensed, punching out with incredible force.
Without any extraordinary phenomena, the fist's energy shattered the incoming blue light, the dragon shadow, and the old man's attack.
The old man's face turned pale, and he attempted to flee.
However, the golden fist was faster, appearing above the old man's head and transforming into a palm that struck downwards.
The old man let out a deafening roar, and his body glowed with blue light as he raised his hands to defend himself.
The palace shook violently, and the old man's body was crushed into the ground, his vitality severely depleted.
A finger appeared in front of the old man, lightly touching his forehead.
Several crystal chains shot out from the finger, piercing the old man's brow. The old man's body stiffened, his eyes becoming empty and lifeless.
Han Li appeared in front of the old man, lifted him up from the ground, and then vanished into thin air.
The blue water waves inside the hall slowly dissipated, and the shattered void slowly healed.
At this moment, three strong lights fell outside the hall, revealing three figures.
A tall, middle-aged man, a blue-robed woman, and a three-foot-tall child with a youthful appearance.
The three of them exuded powerful auras, all of whom were great Luo existences. The middle-aged man and the blue-robed woman were in the middle stage of the great Luo realm, while the child had reached the late stage of the great Luo realm.
The two blue-armored guards outside the hall were unconscious, unaware of their surroundings.
Seeing this scene, the three of them turned serious.
"Palace Master, what has happened?" the middle-aged man asked, looking at the hall.
There was no response from inside the hall.
"It's likely that something has happened inside, let's go take a look." The blue-robed woman said in a low voice.
The other two had no objections, and they jointly broke through the hall's seal.
The seal on the hall was opened, and the three of them entered.
Inside the hall, the floor was in disarray, and the Palace Master's figure had disappeared without a trace. There was a pool of blood on the ground.
The middle-aged man dipped his finger in the blood and investigated with his divine sense, judging that the blood belonged to the Palace Master.
"This is bad. It seems that the Palace Master has been seriously injured and taken away." The middle-aged man said in a cold voice.
Although the others had anticipated this, they still looked grim upon hearing the news.
"Palace Master's strength has reached the peak of the great Luo realm. Who could have done this? Could it be...?" The blue-robed woman said, her face pale.
"Not necessarily. If it was a great Luo existence, it's unlikely that they could have done this, but if it was the Dao Ancestor..." The child suddenly spoke up, his voice clear and crisp, but with an exceptionally old tone.
"It shouldn't be, the Dao Ancestor's status is too revered, and it's unlikely that they would lower themselves to deal with us great Luo cultivators." The middle-aged man forced a smile and said, his voice involuntarily lowering, as if afraid of being overheard.
"The current situation in the True Immortal Realm is chaotic, and many things should not be thought of in the same way as before. Otherwise, we will suffer greatly." The child continued.
"Ji Elder, what do you think we should do now?" The middle-aged man asked, looking at the child.
The blue-robed woman also looked over.
"The Palace Master's disappearance is likely related to the Dao Ancestor, and it's not something we can handle. We should notify the Old Ancestor." The child said.
The middle-aged man and the blue-robed woman exchanged a glance, nodding in agreement.
...
In the chaotic void, a golden light the size of a few acres floated in the air, resembling a giant egg. It was impossible to see inside.
Inside the golden light, there was a completely solidified space, with an area of several tens of miles, complete with mountains, rivers, and trees.
The Palace Master of the Yunlong Sect was placed on the ground, and Han Li's hand was pressed against his forehead, his palm glowing with a faint light as he cast a soul-searching spell.
The light flashed, growing brighter, and emitting a series of eerie screams.
Han Li's brow furrowed, however, as the Palace Master's soul was somewhat unusual, seemingly having cultivated a secret technique that condensed all his memories into a single point, forming a strange seal.
Moreover, this seal was tightly connected to the Palace Master's soul, and was extremely unstable. If Han Li were to forcefully investigate, the Palace Master's soul would immediately self-destruct.
Han Li's face revealed a thoughtful expression, and he quickly withdrew his hand, sealing the Palace Master's cultivation and tapping his forehead.
Several crystal chains flew out of the Palace Master's forehead, entering Han Li's body.
The Palace Master slowly woke up, looking around, and finally fixing his gaze on Han Li.
"Which Dao Ancestor are you, sir? Why have you lowered yourself to take me away?" the Palace Master asked.
"Yangshan Palace Master, there's no need to be so cautious. I've brought you here not to take your life, but to ask you a few questions. Once I've finished, you can leave." Han Li said, smiling lightly.
Yangshan Palace Master heard this, his face revealing a look of surprise, and after a moment of consideration, he closed his eyes.
"Does this mean you refuse to cooperate with me?" Han Li asked, his brow twitching.
"Not at all. I may not know who you are, but you can't expect me to reveal any information about the Old Ancestor. You can kill me or torture me, but I won't say anything." Yangshan Palace Master said coldly.
"Very well, I admire your loyalty. However, the information I seek is also very important, and I must ask you. Unfortunately, I'll have to make you suffer a bit." Han Li said calmly, not showing any anger at Yangshan Palace Master's refusal.
"You can try to forcefully search my soul, but my soul has the Nine Dragon Seal set by the Old Ancestor. Even if you're a Dao Ancestor, you can only make my soul scatter, and you won't be able to investigate my memories." Yangshan Palace Master sneered.
"Ah, the seal was set by Feng Qingyu himself. It's indeed very clever, and can prevent most Dao Ancestors from searching my soul. Unfortunately, you've encountered me." Han Li said, smiling lightly.
Yangshan Sect Master's eyebrows twitched upon hearing Han Li's words, and then returned to normal, with a hint of mockery at the corners of his mouth, clearly thinking Han Li was spouting nonsense.
"This Nine Dragon Seal is connected to your memory and divine soul, and within the seal, there are nine different powers. If any external force seeps in, it will immediately conflict and explode. Tsk, tsk, it's truly impossible to handle," Han Li said with a smile.
Yangshan Sect Master's eyes were closed, and upon hearing this, the corners of his mouth curled up in a cold smile.
"It's just that this Nine Dragon Seal is closely related to your divine soul's power. If your divine soul's power weakens, the seal's power will also weaken. For example, if your divine soul becomes a Golden Immortal-level, the Nine Dragon Seal will no longer be a threat, and even if it explodes, it can be easily suppressed," Han Li said, pausing for a moment before continuing.
Yangshan Sect Master suddenly opened his eyes, as if he had thought of something, and a hint of unease flashed across his face.
Han Li didn't say anything else, and with a single hand, he pinched a seal and released a burst of energy.
Five golden lights shot out from his hand, each emitting a different temporal law power. One was explosive like fire, one was gentle like water, one was thick like earth, one was thriving like wood, and one was sharp like metal.
Each golden light revolved around Yangshan Sect Master's body, forming a golden light shield that enveloped him.
Flames, flowing water, sand, trees, and golden wheels appeared on the light shield, and the five temporal law powers perfectly merged and rapidly rotated.
The nearby spiritual realm also flashed with golden light, slowly operating.
The flow of time around Yangshan Sect Master suddenly changed, and he let out a pained cry as his aura rapidly decreased.
Mahayana Late Stage...
Mahayana Middle Stage...
Mahayana Early Stage...
Taiyi Late Stage...
Taiyi Middle Stage...
In an instant, Yangshan Sect Master's cultivation realm dropped from the peak of Mahayana to the Golden Immortal level.
This was not an ordinary decline in cultivation, as the law power, the number of divine apertures, and the divine soul's power had all decreased to the Golden Immortal level.
To return to his previous cultivation, he would have to undergo another period of bitter cultivation.
The golden light shield around Yangshan Sect Master fluctuated a few times before disappearing.
"What...what did you do to me?" the old man exclaimed, shocked and horrified, as he felt the changes in his body.
Immediately, a resolute glint appeared in his eyes, and his divine soul's power surged, trying to self-destruct.
But with his current cultivation, his spellcasting speed was too slow, and Han Li's massive hand pressed down on Yangshan Sect Master's head, suppressing his actions with overwhelming soul power.
Han Li's face remained calm, and with his current cultivation, using the Five Elements Illusory World Divine Ability was no longer as difficult as before. He waved his hand, and it was done.
Yangshan Sect Master's divine soul's power had also dropped to the Golden Immortal level, and the Nine Dragon Seal within him was unable to stop Han Li's soul search.
A stream of dim light penetrated into Yangshan Sect Master's mind, quickly breaking through the Nine Dragon Seal and entering his memories.
"The Fog Dragon Secret Realm, it was here all along...if I had known, you wouldn't have had to suffer," Han Li said, his eyebrows raised, a cold smile spreading across his face as he withdrew his hand.
Yangshan Sect Master's eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
Han Li waved his hand, releasing a burst of golden light that enveloped Yangshan Sect Master's body.
Yangshan Sect Master vanished into thin air, and Han Li's figure also disappeared in a flash.
...
Deep within the Fog Dragon Sect, a valley, three figures descended from the sky, landing in the valley. They were a tall, middle-aged man, a woman in blue robes, and a young man with the surname Ji.
At the end of the valley was an ordinary stone gate, and the three of them approached it, kneeling down.
The young man with the surname Ji took out a stick of incense, lit it, and a wisp of blue smoke floated out, slowly seeping into the stone gate.
Beyond the stone gate was a different world, where the ground was covered in a boundless ocean, with no bottom in sight. A blue sun hung in the sky, emitting blue light that illuminated the water's surface.
The water's surface suddenly erupted with countless blue mist, as if it was being evaporated by the sunlight. The sea's surface was turbulent, with massive waves and giant tails or claws occasionally rising up.
In a vast underwater cave, the space was enormous, with countless rugged rocks forming a stone forest.
Within the stone forest, numerous massive dragon skeletons lay quietly, some as large as 10,000 feet, while the smallest were still hundreds of feet long, densely packed and countless in number.
These dragon skeletons, even in death, still emitted an aura of pride and dominance, looking down upon all living creatures.
This was the Dragon's Grave, a place where dragons lay buried. Inside the stone cave, a white-haired old man sat cross-legged on a large blue stone, his eyes fixed on the front, his gaze flickering as if considering something.
After a while, Feng Qing Shui suddenly moved, his hand reaching out to the front of the void.
Instantly, a blue mist appeared before him, quickly condensing into a blue whirlpool.
"Pay respects to the elder," three voices came from within, belonging to the three Ji Clan children.
"What's the matter that brings you three to seek an audience?" Feng Qing Shui asked calmly.
"Elder, we shouldn't be disturbing your cultivation, but the sect leader suddenly disappeared from within the sect, seemingly taken by someone. From the scene, it's likely the Dao Ancestor's doing, and we're powerless to do anything, so we came to seek your help," the Ji Clan child said.
"Ah, such a thing has happened, tell me the details of what you saw," Feng Qing Shui's eyebrows moved slightly as he listened.
The Ji Clan child nodded and recounted the events, leaving out no details.
"Yang Shan's activation of the Four Qi Storm Array couldn't even avoid the calamity, and was taken away silently, it's likely the Dao Ancestor's doing," Feng Qing Shui said slowly.
He gazed downward, his eyes sinking. Yang Shan being taken away wasn't a big deal, but the problem was that he hadn't sensed anything.
Although he was within the Wudang Secret Realm, and had been preoccupied with his thoughts, he should have still sensed something if the Dao Ancestor had taken action.
"This matter, you don't need to worry about, I'll investigate..." Feng Qing Shui trailed off, his expression turning solemn.
"Don't bother investigating, your sect leader Yang Shan is in my hands!" a loud voice suddenly interrupted Feng Qing Shui's words.
The voice had barely faded when the Wudang Secret Realm began to shake violently.
A thick golden light descended from the sky, piercing through the sea and stone cave, landing not far from Feng Qing Shui and shattering the blue mist whirlpool.
The Ji Clan children's words of inquiry were cut short as they watched in shock.
Feng Qing Shui's face changed slightly, and he flew backward, a white mist erupting from his body and swirling around him.
His figure became indistinct, like a misty illusion.
The golden light dissipated, revealing a man in a blue robe.
Feng Qing Shui looked at the man, rummaging through his memories for information on the Dao Ancestor, but found nothing.
At their level of cultivation, whether or not someone had altered their appearance was something that could be seen through at a glance. The man before him was his true appearance.
But the man seemed familiar, as if he had seen him before.
Han Li didn't pay attention to Feng Qing Shui, his divine sense already spreading out.
The Wudang Secret Realm was not large, and his divine sense could encompass the entire area.
In the depths of the sea, a multitude of giant dragons swam, all of them pure and unadulterated dragon clans, with many having extraordinary cultivation. There were over a dozen at the Da Luo Realm.
And at the bottom of the sea, within the stone cave, there were countless dragon bones.
This Wudang Secret Realm could be said to be a dragon clan's lair.
Although the dragons were shocking, Han Li wasn't looking for them. His divine sense searched every inch of the secret realm, and soon his face sank.
"It's you!" a voice exclaimed from the front.
Feng Qing Shui's face revealed a look of realization, his eyes fixed on Han Li.
He finally remembered where he had seen Han Li before - many years ago, when he had been sent to the Gray Boundary Nine Underworld Domain to recruit Yin Cheng, a few strange children had intruded into the Nine Underworld City, one of whom was Han Li.
But back then, Han Li's cultivation was weak, and he had barely reached the Tai Yi Realm. It had only been a few years, and yet Han Li's cultivation had reached such a level, leaving Feng Qing Shui perplexed.
"Could it be that this person was intentionally hiding his strength back then? It's possible, since he and another demon disappeared so mysteriously, and I had thought it was a demon clan's powerful expert who had saved him. Now it seems, perhaps it was Han Li's doing," Feng Qing Shui thought to himself.
"Did you capture Wan'er?" Han Li looked at Feng Qing Shui, his eyes cold.
Before coming here, he had already found Feng Qing Shui's image through the Wheel of Reincarnation, and knew that he was the Dao Ancestor he had met in the Gray Boundary, so he wasn't surprised.
"You're talking about who, I don't know," Feng Qing Shui's expression changed, and he regained his composure. "You're still at the Da Luo Realm, but your aura has reached the Dao Ancestor's level. Why did you take our sect leader?"
Han Li sneered, his fingers weaving a seal as a golden light appeared before him, revealing Wan'er's image.
Feng Qing Shui's eyes flickered, and a faint smile appeared on his lips, but he didn't speak.
"You admit it, that's good. Hand her over, and I'll release your sect leader immediately. Otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite," Han Li said heavily.
"Ah, it's been many years since someone has dared to speak to me like this. That woman was indeed captured by me, but it was on the orders of the Heavenly Court. She's already been sent to the Heavenly Court," Feng Qing Shui said calmly.
Han Li had already suspected this, and upon hearing the words, his face turned pale.
"Why did the Heavenly Court capture her?" Han Li took a deep breath, suppressing the cold light in his eyes, and asked solemnly.
"I don't know, I was just following orders. As for the reasons behind it, those above didn't explain," Feng Qing Shui said, his expression strange, as if sizing Han Li up.
Since it's come to this, it's time for you to pay the price for your actions. Han Li's eyes gleamed with cold light, his clothes rustling without any wind. With a loud "Boom", he erupted with a burst of golden light, easily piercing through the cave above him once more. The powerful Time Law burst forth from the golden light.
"Time Law!" Feng Qing Shui's face revealed a shocked expression, as he rapidly retreated backwards, his hands sweeping out in a gesture.
The air in front of him began to hum, and countless blue light threads appeared, densely packed and flashing with terrifying blue lightning. It was as if a blue ocean had unfolded, rolling towards Han Li with overwhelming force.
Han Li let out a cold laugh, his body's golden light fluctuating wildly. In an instant, he transformed into a golden rainbow, disappearing with a few residual shadows, his speed beyond imagination.
Feng Qing Shui's body behind him rippled, and the golden rainbow reappeared, transforming back into Han Li's body.
The blue light threads all snapped, and Feng Qing Shui's body revealed a rift from head to toe.
Then, with a soft "Puff", Feng Qing Shui's body split into two halves, but no blood appeared.
Immediately, his two halves "Banged" open, exploding into two blue water vapors that shot out towards the distance, merging into one another.
The blue light flashed, and Feng Qing Shui's body reappeared, his face slightly pale.
But he merely took a deep breath, and his face returned to normal.
"Who are you, exactly? This kind of Time Law... you're a remnant of the True Words Sect!" Feng Qing Shui roared.
"You're very intelligent, but people who are too intelligent often don't live very long." Han Li spoke, his body's golden light surging once more, as he instantaneously opened his spiritual domain to envelop Feng Qing Shui.
Within the golden domain, the True Words Treasure Wheel flashed, transforming into a golden circular moon that rapidly spun, filling the entire spiritual domain with countless golden ripples.
Feng Qing Shui's entire body froze, as if he had been petrified.
Han Li's eyes turned cold, and he punched out.
Five Time Law forces surged forth, gathering together, but instead of forming the Five Elements Illusory Realm, they transformed into a golden fist, striking Feng Qing Shui with the force of a shooting star.
The five Time Law forces within the fist clashed intensely, yet didn't completely explode, releasing a wildly violent power that seemed unstoppable.
This was a divine ability that Han Li had recently created, after gaining a deeper understanding of the Time Law, which he called the "Great Five Elements Annihilation".
With a loud "Boom", Feng Qing Shui's body exploded, turning into a bloody rain.
Not only that, but a golden sun with a diameter of hundreds of millions of miles appeared, centered around Feng Qing Shui. The golden sun contained Time Law forces that rolled and killed everything.
Everything within the hundreds of millions of miles, including space, matter, and even time, was reduced to nothingness.
Feng Qing Shui's exploded flesh and blood were also consumed by the golden sun, becoming nothingness.
The explosive fist's power scattered, and the sea domain was turned upside down. The Misty Dragon Secret Realm's various locations revealed massive cracks, before collapsing with a loud crash.
The Misty Dragon Sect's upper airspace violently flashed, before shattering, as endless seawater appeared, covering the Misty Dragon Sect, and even half of the Tianhai Continent.
The blue fiery sun also appeared, still radiating blue light.
The dragons within the sea trembled, but didn't dare to fly out, hiding in the water instead.
Although these dragons were proud and looked down on any other tribe, they still had deep reverence for a Dao Ancestor-level existence.
The seawater poured down, threatening to engulf the entire continent.
The Misty Dragon Sect's countless disciples saw the sky's scene, their faces filled with terror, as they fell into chaos.
The three Ji-surnamed youths looked up at the sky, their faces also filled with shock.
The three of them hastily flew up, forming seals and casting spells, as their bodies radiated brilliant blue light, enveloping the Misty Dragon Sect, and holding back the seawater.
The residents of the Misty Dragon City, and even the entire Tianhai Continent, could only stand by and await their fate in the face of this catastrophic seawater.
Han Li's figure appeared above the Misty Dragon Sect, his brow furrowed as he took in the scene.
"Heaven and Earth's cycle, Yin and Yang's five elements, calm the waters!" Han Li raised his hand, pointing, as his voice boomed.
His voice grew louder with each word, until it transformed into a massive sound wave, echoing throughout the Dragon Abyss Divine Realm.
At this moment, his voice was cold and emotionless, completely devoid of feelings, as if it was the voice of the heavens.
The entire Dragon Abyss Divine Realm was instantly filled with endless blue light, as all the seawater, clouds, and water-attribute primal energies froze in place.
The Misty Dragon Secret Realm's pouring seawater also froze in mid-air, unmoving, as if it had solidified into a massive water sphere.
"Move!" Han Li's hands swept out.
The massive water sphere let out a deafening roar, as it horizontally flew towards the sea.
The three Ji-surnamed youths were caught off guard, their mouths spraying blood as they were enveloped by the water sphere.
The water sphere flew out of the Tianhai Continent, and into the sea, in the blink of an eye.
Han Li's hands, which had been forming a seal, dropped, and the blue light that filled the divine realm instantly dissipated, as everything returned to normal.
Rumbling sounds echoed... The massive water sphere hovering in the air crashed into the sea, producing a thunderous roar and stirring up countless towering waves.
The dragon clan members in the water quickly fled in all directions, their movements frantic and panicked, vanishing into the distance in an instant.
Han Li appeared on the surface of the water, his face expressionless, with no hint of joy or excitement. Instead, he wore a thoughtful and contemplative look.
Although he was confident in his time law, which had allowed him to effortlessly kill Feng Qingyu, he couldn't help but feel that something was off.
Feng Qingyu, after all, was a powerful being who had spent years mastering the water law, and was one of the strongest in the entire True Immortal Realm. Moreover, he was not a mere illusion or a divine avatar, but a flesh-and-blood being.
Han Li's eyes flashed, and his vast divine sense expanded, permeating the void.
At that moment, a massive explosion shook the skies above the Tianhai Continent, and a network of golden lightning bolts appeared in the distance.
Han Li turned his head, his body flashing with lightning, and he vanished in an instant.
A golden lightning sword appeared, and countless golden lightning balls shot out from it, striking the void in front of it.
Each lightning ball contained a powerful law that rivaled the previous sword array's attack, and its power was at least a hundred times greater.
The thunderous explosion shook the skies, and the void within a radius of tens of thousands of miles was shattered, reduced to nothingness.
A figure was flung out of the void, and it was Feng Qingyu. He stumbled, his face pale, and his breathing labored.
Han Li's figure reappeared, his voice cold and detached. "You actually managed to deceive me with your divine avatar. However, I have already set up a heavenly net, and you will not escape today!"
A massive golden spirit domain appeared, its power unlike anything that had come before. It twisted and distorted the void, causing the space to writhe and contort.
Han Li's hands formed a seal, and the spirit domain responded, producing a series of massive golden gates that connected to various immortal realms and lower planes.
The largest gate was the most magnificent, and it led to a boundless space filled with golden light – the heavenly time law that had appeared when Han Li had advanced to the late stage of the Mahayana.
Han Li's hands moved, and the gates shone brightly, as time laws from various realms and planes flowed into the spirit domain.
The time laws in those realms and planes became chaotic, and the spiritual energy of the heavens and earth fluctuated wildly. The winds howled, and the thunder boomed, as if the end of the world had arrived.
The time law in the Longyuan Immortal Realm was drawn towards the golden spirit domain, causing the entire realm to become turbulent and chaotic.
The gate connected to the heavenly time law also shone brightly, as a massive golden light descended, pouring into the spirit domain.
The golden spirit domain expanded, its power surging, and it released a boundless golden light that obscured the sun. The power continued to rise, pressing down on Feng Qingyu.
Feng Qingyu's face turned pale, and he let out a loud roar. A massive blue spirit domain appeared, filled with misty energy and strange, flickering lights that seemed to mesmerize and disorient.
The blue spirit domain produced a series of spatial gates, attempting to connect to various immortal realms and planes, and borrow their power.
However, at that moment, a massive golden lightning net appeared, covering the Tianhai Continent. The net was so large that it seemed to isolate the surrounding void.
Feng Qingyu's spatial gates were filled with chaotic energy, and only golden lightning bolts could be seen.
His face changed, and he knew that he was in a desperate situation.
The golden spirit domain descended, its power crushing, and Feng Qingyu's body stiffened, unable to move.
He roared, and his blue spirit domain responded, borrowing some of the water's primordial energy from the sea below.
The blue spirit domain shone brightly, and it clashed with the golden spirit domain.
The two colors intertwined, producing a massive explosion that shook the heavens and the earth.
This was a battle between laws, a clash of rules, and a struggle for the great dao.
However, the time law, as one of the three supreme laws of the True Immortal Realm, was the closest to the fundamental laws of the universe. How could the water law possibly resist it?
In an instant, the Longyuan Immortal Realm was thrown into chaos, and the skies seemed to collapse. The seas churned, and the earth cracked.
Massive spatial rifts appeared, stretching across the realm, and the seas poured into them. The edges of the realm were torn apart, and the smaller, fragmented realms were swallowed by the void, plummeting towards the lower planes.
Fortunately, the Longyuan Immortal Realm was mostly composed of endless oceans, and despite the chaos, there were few casualties.
The blue spirit domain was crushed by the golden spirit domain, and it shattered into countless pieces, its fragments exploding like eggs.
(Note: Due to the need to construct a detailed plot for the final arc of the story, I will be updating once a day from now on, to ensure a perfect conclusion for the story.)
Feng Qing Shui's body trembled violently, and his entire being was crushed by the released spiritual domain, causing his aura to plummet.
He clearly wouldn't give up easily, and under his support, the shattered blue spiritual domain continued to clash with the increasingly brilliant golden spiritual domain. However, it wasn't long before he discovered that in the collision between the blue and golden spiritual domains, the blue color was becoming increasingly scarce, while the golden color was becoming more abundant.
Finally, after the last remnants of blue were consumed by the gold, Feng Qing Shui let out a loud "Ah" as he spat out a large mouthful of blood, plummeting downwards towards the sea like a fallen giant.
Han Li's face was also somewhat pale, as maintaining a spiritual domain of this level for so long was no small burden, even for a cultivator at the peak of the Da Luo realm.
But at this moment, he had to win, and couldn't show even a hint of weakness.
Looking at Feng Qing Shui's rapid descent, Han Li clenched his fist and struck out fiercely.
Five brilliant golden lights shot out from his released golden spiritual domain, intersecting and condensing into a massive golden fist - the Da Wu Xing Mie Jue Fist.
The golden fist's surface flashed with golden light, and in an instant, it caught up to Feng Qing Shui, smashing downwards.
Feng Qing Shui saw this and spat out a mouthful of essence blood, his hands forming a difficult seal.
The seal and essence blood merged into one, fusing into the void.
A dazzling blue light shot out, and it was none other than the blue sun from the secret realm, which had transformed into a massive blue battle-axe over a hundred feet in size.
The battle-axe radiated countless blue lights, and emitted a powerful law that was far stronger than Feng Qing Shui's own, and even surpassed Han Li's Qing Zhu Feng Yun Sword.
"Second-grade immortal artifact!" Han Li's eyes narrowed, instantly recognizing that Feng Qing Shui had unleashed his trump card.
As Feng Qing Shui pointed with his finger, the blue battle-axe's surface flashed with blue light, transforming into a heavenly blue rainbow that instantly blocked the incoming golden fist.
A deafening crash echoed out!
The golden fist shattered, dispersing into countless golden lights.
The blue battle-axe's surface flashed with blue light, its momentum unstoppable as it pierced through the scattered golden lights, leaving a blue trail in the golden spiritual domain as it rapidly stabbed towards Han Li.
"You dare to contend with the Dao Ancestor's glory?" Feng Qing Shui's mouth was smeared with blood, but his eyes flashed with a hint of madness.
Han Li gazed at the incoming blue battle-axe, his expression calm and composed, which made Feng Qing Shui's heart skip a beat.
Just as the blue battle-axe was about to reach Han Li, his eyes suddenly flashed with golden light, and the entire golden spiritual domain trembled.
The blue battle-axe, which had been advancing with unstoppable momentum, suddenly stopped in its tracks.
In the next instant, under Feng Qing Shui's shocked gaze, the blue battle-axe's surface was covered in golden light, and it exploded into countless fragments.
"Damn it!" Feng Qing Shui's heart was filled with terror.
He flipped his right hand, revealing a blue token, which he crushed into pieces.
At the same time, he summoned his last ounce of strength, and his body radiated a massive amount of blue mist.
Feng Qing Shui's body trembled slightly, and in an instant, he transformed into hundreds of identical clones, all of which fled in different directions at incredible speeds.
Han Li sneered, his hands forming a seal.
A thunderous rumble echoed out!
The Thunder Net surrounding the Tian Hai Continent flashed with golden light, and countless golden lightning bolts shot out from all directions, encasing the clones within.
The golden lightning arced through the air, and in an instant, the clones exploded and disappeared, leaving only Feng Qing Shui's original body behind.
Moreover, his body was surrounded by a layer of golden lightning, forming a lightning cocoon that left him unable to move.
"In the past, the True Monarch didn't eradicate all of the Zhen Yan Sect, leaving behind remnants like you!" Feng Qing Shui's voice was hoarse with rage.
"Today, I'll send you to the ancient or modern era to report a message: if you don't release my Dao companion, Nan Gong Wan, I'll kill my way to the Heavenly Court!"
Han Li's voice fell, and he struck out with his fist once more.
The Da Wu Xing Mie Jue Fist's golden shadow reappeared, larger and more powerful than before, carrying an aura of destruction as it charged towards Feng Qing Shui.
Just as it was about to strike, the entire Long Yuan Xian Domain began to violently shake, and a terrifying power that surpassed Feng Qing Shui's by over ten times surged in, striking the golden Thunder Net.
The Thunder Net's golden light flashed with an unbearable load, distorting and warping.
A deafening crash echoed out!
The Thunder Net was torn apart, revealing a gap.
Almost simultaneously, the sea beneath Feng Qing Shui churned and foamed, creating a massive whirlpool that sucked him in, along with the surrounding lightning cocoon.
The golden fist struck empty air, sinking into the sea.
A deafening rumble echoed out!
A massive golden sun, hundreds of millions of miles in size, appeared, annihilating everything within its range.
Han Li's face was dark and foreboding, but he didn't care about the golden sun. Instead, he turned to look outside the Thunder Net. That terrifying massive power suddenly disappeared, as if it had hidden itself away, and Feng Qing's aura also vanished.
He let out a cold snort, his hands swiftly forming a seal.
The golden lightning net immediately collapsed, transforming into seventy-two green bamboo beehive swords, shooting out in different directions towards the surroundings.
The green bamboo beehive swords, now a third-grade immortal artifact, were incredibly fast, instantly flying to various locations in the immortal realm, hovering in mid-air above the different forces.
Han Li's hands moved like wheels, forming a seal, as the seventy-two green bamboo beehive swords simultaneously burst forth with golden lightning, radiating outward in a wave-like pattern, as if sensing something.
The next moment, a look of joy flashed across Han Li's face, and his body was enveloped in a flash of lightning, disappearing instantly.
At the edge of the Dragon Abyss Immortal Realm, a sea area had a green bamboo beehive sword hovering above it.
A flash of lightning appeared above the flying sword, and Han Li's figure materialized, with no time interval in between.
This was the new ability obtained by the green bamboo beehive sword after its spiritual awakening, allowing Han Li to instantly arrive at the location of the flying sword, regardless of the distance, through his connection with the sword.
His divine sense expanded instantly, and he raised his hand to tap the void.
The void around him flashed, and a time domain appeared, as if a golden giant beast was pouncing towards the sea area below.
The seawater below instantly evaporated, revealing a group of dark blue light enveloping Feng Qing, who was trapped by the time domain's power.
The dark blue light rotated in place, unable to move forward.
But at this moment, a massive blue glow burst forth from the nearby sea area, and that terrifying massive power fluctuation reappeared, as a pure blue spirit domain flew out from the nearby sea area, covering Feng Qing.
The blue spirit domain contained all sorts of water transformations, including waves, clouds, icebergs, and cold currents, as if this place was the source of all water, encompassing all water transformations in the universe.
The time domain almost simultaneously descended, and the two spirit domains collided.
The expected earth-shaking explosion did not occur, as Han Li's time domain seemed to collide with a soft wall.
The blue spirit domain deeply sank, but remained taut.
Han Li felt that the time domain's immense power was being completely absorbed by the blue spirit domain, like a massive ocean.
However, the blue spirit domain also seemed to be struggling, as numerous water lights violently shook, as if reaching its limit.
"Who is secretly interfering? Come out!" Han Li shouted, his hands forming a seal.
The time domain's golden light burst forth, and those golden gates reappeared, about to connect with the outside world, amplifying the spirit domain's power to its limit, ready to break through the blue spirit domain.
This blue spirit domain, although much stronger than Feng Qing's spirit domain, Han Li was confident he could break through it.
"Brother Han, please calm down, we have no intention of opposing you. South Palace Wan is here, and we will return her to you!" Just then, a voice came from within the blue spirit domain.
Before the voice had finished, a blue light shot out from the spirit domain, carrying a palace-dressed woman, South Palace Wan, who was placed at the intersection of the two spirit domains.
"Wan!"
Han Li's body shook, and a look of surprise appeared on his face, as he quickly stopped amplifying the time domain's power, to avoid harming South Palace Wan.
At the same time, he waved his hand, sending a golden light to envelop South Palace Wan, bringing her into the time domain.
Han Li used the spirit domain's power to examine South Palace Wan, confirming that it was indeed her, and not a transformed substitute, and his heart slightly relaxed.
However, South Palace Wan was currently unconscious, her eyes tightly closed, as if her divine soul had been sealed.
Han Li's finger touched her brow, and a surge of divine soul energy entered South Palace Wan's mind.
The seal on South Palace Wan's mind was a ordinary sealing technique, and could be easily broken.
However, with a powerful enemy present, it was not advisable to act rashly.
He waved his hand, bringing South Palace Wan into the flower branch space, and then retracted the time domain's power, shrinking its range to a hundred miles, but not dispelling it.
The opposing blue spirit domain also retracted its power, retreating a distance, and Han Li did not press forward.
"Ah, you must be Brother Han, who has inherited the True Word Sect's mantle, and has already mastered the time laws, congratulations, congratulations!" A blue-clad, blue-haired girl flew out from the blue spirit domain, her figure fluttering.
The girl had two round, black eyes, a small nose, and a small mouth, with her hair tied in many small braids, and a coquettish appearance.
Her blue clothing was simple and cool, revealing her white, jade-like arms and legs, and her feet were bare, with delicate blue rings on her wrists and ankles, which had small, exquisite bells that rang out.
However, the most striking feature was the two pink, dragon-like horns on her forehead, and her body seemed to be surrounded by a subtle, true spirit bloodline aura.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, but quickly relaxed.
His portrait had long been on the Heavenly Court's wanted list, but previously, his cultivation was weak, and he was not particularly noticeable, so Feng Qing had not recognized him.
This blue-haired girl, who had suddenly appeared, had called out his name, and seemed to have a significant background.
"Who are you?"
Han Li stared at the young girl, his eyes lingering on the dragon horn on her head for a moment before moving away, asking in a calm tone, his cold demeanor softened.
As he spoke, he made a hand seal.
The surrounding lightning flashed, and the numerous Qingtong Bee Cloud Swords distributed throughout the Longyuan Xian Domain flew back to him, entering his sleeves in a line.
"My name is Chen Ruyan, and I humbly occupy the position of the Water Origin Dao Ancestor. Han Dao friend, please don't be polite, just call me Ruyan." The blue-haired girl smiled.
Han Li heard this and, despite having some guesses about her identity, couldn't help but narrow his eyes slightly.
He didn't speak, only staring at her.
"Although I captured your Dao companion, it was also under orders. Moreover, I've already returned her to you, so Han Dao friend, please don't be so hostile towards me." Chen Ruyan's small mouth pouted, looking wronged.
"Are you also under the Heavenly Court's command?" Han Li's eyes flashed, asking.
"I haven't truly joined the Heavenly Court, but I occasionally help them with things. It's also out of helplessness... you know, the ancient or modern powers are too strong, and I don't dare offend them." Chen Ruyan smiled, answering with no hint of hostility.
"According to what Feng Qingwu said, wasn't Nan Wan'er already sent to the Heavenly Court? How could she be with you?" Han Li asked in a deep voice.
Chen Ruyan heard this and only smiled, not speaking.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed.
At this moment, a figure flew out of the blue spirit domain, and it was Feng Qingwu.
The wounds on his body had already disappeared, and his aura had mostly recovered.
"Ruyan, I'm sorry to trouble you." Feng Qingwu bowed to Chen Ruyan, his face filled with shame.
Han Li saw Feng Qingwu and his eyes turned cold.
He wasn't surprised by Feng Qingwu's attitude at the moment.
Chen Ruyan was the Water Origin Dao Ancestor, and Feng Qingwu was the Water Attribute Branch Law Dao Ancestor. The two had a natural subordinate relationship, with Feng Qingwu being Chen Ruyan's subordinate.
This subordinate relationship wasn't rare among the Dao Ancestors, and almost every Origin Dao Ancestor had a group of lower Dao Ancestors following them.
"Han Dao friend is extremely powerful, and I couldn't defeat him. You losing to him is only natural, so don't be so ashamed." Chen Ruyan said calmly, her tone changing from how she spoke to Han Li.
Feng Qingwu looked at Han Li with a complex expression, nodding.
"Han Dao friend, capturing your Dao companion was indeed done by Feng Qingwu's hand, but he was also under the Heavenly Court's orders. Please, considering I've already returned Nan Wan'er to you, don't make things difficult for him in the future. I and Feng Qingwu occasionally help the Heavenly Court with things, but we're not on the same path as Guo or Jin, and we don't intend to be enemies with the Wheel of Rebirth Temple." Chen Ruyan turned around and bowed to Han Li.
Han Li heard this and had a faint realization.
"So, Guo or Jin ordered these two to capture Nan Wan'er, but with the Wheel of Rebirth Temple's large-scale attack on the various Xian domains and the Heavenly Court's full-scale war, they couldn't see through the future situation. They didn't hand Nan Wan'er over to the Heavenly Court, instead leaving her in their hands, waiting to see which way the wind blows before acting. Earlier, Feng Qingwu lied about handing Nan Wan'er over to the Heavenly Court, probably to intentionally provoke me and test my strength. After seeing my strength, they became even more unwilling to offend the Wheel of Rebirth Temple, so they returned Nan Wan'er."
Han Li's mind turned rapidly, instantly analyzing the current situation and the other party's possible motives.
"Since Dao friend Chen said so, I'll spare you this time. Next time, if you dare to take action against someone by my side, you won't be so lucky." Han Li glanced at Feng Qingwu, saying.
He then made a hand seal, and the time domain disappeared. A series of golden lightning flashes appeared on his body.
A loud thunderclap sounded, and his figure vanished.
Chen Ruyan looked at the spot where Han Li had stood, a faint smile on her lips.
"Unexpectedly, the Wheel of Rebirth Temple has pulled in such a powerful expert. Adding to that, the mysterious and unpredictable Wheel of Rebirth Temple Master, who has never truly appeared, the outcome of the war with the Heavenly Court is even harder to predict."
"Ruyan, you returned Nan Wan'er to Han Li. When the Heavenly Court asks about this, how will we respond?" Feng Qingwu's face showed concern.
"No need to worry, just say you were about to send that person to the Heavenly Court when the Wheel of Rebirth Temple's people suddenly appeared and rescued Nan Wan'er. The Heavenly Court is currently at war with the Wheel of Rebirth Temple, and they wouldn't dare to do anything to us." Chen Ruyan shook her head, saying.
"Yes. Ruyan, about Han Li just now..." Feng Qingwu's face relaxed, but he seemed hesitant to speak.
"Just speak your mind." Chen Ruyan said.
"I approximately saw this person two thousand years ago in the Gray Realm, along with a few others. One of them, according to the information I just obtained, is a Demon Realm Prince. I suspect he has some connection to the Demon Realm." Feng Qingwu said.
"Oh, what happened? Please explain in detail." Chen Ruyan's eyebrows moved.
Feng Qingwu didn't dare to be slow, immediately recounting the events that had occurred in the Gray Realm. From the peak of the Golden Immortal to the current peak of the Da Luo, 2,000 years of time is absolutely impossible to cultivate, he must have hidden his true strength back then... As for the last time he and the Demon Realm Prince broke through the void and went to the Demon Realm, although it's not certain that he was secretly involved, but it's definitely closely related to him. This makes things complicated, could it be that the Reincarnation Hall and the Demon Realm had a connection early on? And that old ancestor Liu Qi's escape from the Gray Realm, could it also be the work of the Reincarnation Hall... Chen Ruyan's eyes narrowed, and the light in them flashed.
"The Demon Realm and the Reincarnation Hall have a relationship, isn't that already a fact? The Reincarnation Hall's mask can build a method for trading across space, it must have an extremely subtle spatial law power to assist it, in the current True Immortal Realm, only the Demon Realm's people can cultivate spatial laws to such a degree." Feng Qing Shui said.
"There's another hidden aspect to this, you don't know about it." Chen Ruyan shook her head slightly, and an unusual color flashed in her eyes.
Feng Qing Shui heard this and was slightly startled, his curiosity was piqued, but seeing Chen Ruyan's expression, he tactfully didn't ask further.
"Back then in the Gray Realm, if that old ancestor Liu Qi was also rescued by the Reincarnation Hall, it's possible that the Barbarian Realm has already formed an alliance with the Reincarnation Hall, this Reincarnation Hall is really formidable, it's omnipresent!" Feng Qing Shui said, changing the subject, his face revealing a hint of shock.
"You think so, if the Reincarnation Hall didn't have this kind of ability, how could it openly and secretly resist the Heavenly Court for so many years, and still stand firm?" Chen Ruyan said calmly.
Feng Qing Shui secretly clicked his tongue, and didn't say anything else.
"The mountain rain is coming, the wind is full of the tower, it seems that the True Immortal Realm is really going to stir up a shocking and earth-shaking calamity, only who knows if we can pass through it safely." Chen Ruyan sighed.
"Like smoke, you're thinking too much, we are the Dao Ancestors, as long as we don't get involved in the Heavenly Court and the Reincarnation Hall's struggle, we should be fine, right?" Feng Qing Shui said, not taking it seriously.
"Fine? If the great calamity comes, anyone can be drawn into it, for example, today, if I hadn't arrived in time, you would have probably already perished." Chen Ruyan said.
Feng Qing Shui's face froze, and he lowered his head.
"Forget it, it's useless to consider these things, let's just take it one step at a time." Chen Ruyan shook her head, and her figure flashed, disappearing instantly.
Feng Qing Shui stood in place for a moment, transforming into a blue light, and flew towards the Fog Dragon Sect.
The fragmented space in the Dragon Abyss Divine Realm had already recovered, and the chaotic heavenly and earthly energies were gradually calming down, the sky slowly clearing up.
At the same time, on a remote small island on the edge of the wilderness, a golden lightning flashed, and Han Li appeared, landing on the island.
He opened his divine sense to explore the surroundings, and didn't find anything unusual, forming a few layers of seals, and covering the entire island.
From the outside, the island seemed to have disappeared without a trace.
After doing this, he flipped his hand and took out two blue pills, swallowing them, and then took out two high-grade immortal stones, grasping them, and absorbing the immortal energy within to recover.
Just now, he had consecutively fought two Dao Ancestors, Han Li's energy was greatly depleted.
Those blue pills were obtained from the water-long Tian's storage magic tool, and belonged to the late Da Luo stage's recovery pills, the effect was quite good, and with the assistance of the two high-grade immortal stones.
Not long after, his energy had recovered by about half.
Han Li didn't continue to cultivate, and stood up, opening the flower branch space entrance, and entering it.
Nangong Wan's body was surrounded by a layer of white light, calmly floating in mid-air, and sleeping peacefully.
Not far away, on the ground, lay a person, it was the Yang Shan Sect Master, previously, after searching his soul, he had casually thrown him into the flower branch space.
Han Li waved his hand, and a golden light flashed, bringing the person before him, and carefully removing the remaining time law traces from his body.
Then, he raised his hand, and a golden lightning flashed, wrapping around the Yang Shan Sect Master, and sending him out of the flower branch space. However, the Yang Shan Sect Master's storage magic tool, Han Li didn't hesitate to take.
The golden lightning flashed, and the Yang Shan Sect Master's figure disappeared, unknown where he was sent.
He had originally planned to use the Yang Shan Sect Master, to exchange for some information about Nangong Wan.
Now that Nangong Wan had been found, the Yang Shan Sect Master was no longer needed, and it wasn't suitable to keep him by his side, he wasn't a bloodthirsty person, so it was better to send him away.
After doing this, Han Li brought Nangong Wan to the attic.
He took out a delicate tooth bed, and placed it there, carefully laying it down.
Han Li sat down beside it, calmly gazing at Nangong Wan's sleeping face, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
Since ascending to the True Immortal Realm, he had unknowingly thought about the person on the bed many times, previously, the two had met, but Nangong Wan hadn't recovered her memories, if what Jiao San said wasn't wrong, today the two could finally meet.
Han Li didn't look for too long, and took a deep breath, calming his emotions, pointing a finger at Nangong Wan's brow.
Nangong Wan's brow immediately floated with a blue pattern, forming a seal, but it wasn't complex.
Han Li's eyes condensed, and his finger's tip lit up, forming a sharp cone shape, lightly piercing the blue seal.
The seal immediately collapsed, flashing twice, and then quickly disappeared.
Nangong Wan's long eyelashes trembled twice, and slowly opened her eyes.
“Wan'er!”
Han Li called out softly, his body slightly leaning forward, his eyes filled with concern.
Nan Gong Wan's eyes still had a hint of confusion, as if she hadn't fully recovered.
Han Li saw this and raised his hand to press a few points, a beam of pure light shooting out and entering Nan Gong Wan's brow.
Nan Gong Wan's mind was suddenly filled with a cool sensation, her consciousness instantly restored.
She sat up abruptly, looking at Han Li in front of her, but her face was expressionless.
“Wan'er, what's wrong, it's me,” Han Li said, reaching out to grasp Nan Gong Wan's hand, but his heart sank, wondering if Jiao San had deceived him, and Nan Gong Wan hadn't recovered her memories from this life.
With a soft "pa" sound, Nan Gong Wan pushed Han Li's hand away.
“Who are you?” Nan Gong Wan's body moved, and she flew up from the bed, landing beside it, her face full of wariness.
“I'm Han Li, your husband,” Han Li said.
“How can you prove your identity?” Nan Gong Wan's gaze flickered, and she immediately returned to her icy demeanor.
Han Li heard this and felt a sense of relief, a smile spreading across his face.
Nan Gong Wan's memories seemed to have truly recovered.
“Wan'er, do you remember when we first met? It was during the Blood Trial, when you were practicing the Wheel of Rebirth, and you were picking herbs in the Blood Trial secret realm, pretending to be a Qi Refining disciple... that wasn't very glorious.” Han Li said with a smile.
Nan Gong Wan listened, her expression unchanged, but a hint of nostalgia flashed in her eyes, only to disappear.
“Later, we were trapped in a predicament, and fortunately, we worked together to defeat the ink dragon, and that's how we formed a bond... the second time we met was on the front lines of the battle against the demonic path, with outsiders present, you pretended not to recognize me...” Han Li paused, continuing to recount their shared experiences.
Although many years had passed, these memories remained vivid, as if they had happened just yesterday.
“...I later passed the Heavenly Tribulation, and we were separated, and I ascended to the True Immortal Realm, and that's how long we've been apart, I thought it would be impossible to reunite in this life.” Han Li's words trailed off as he finished recounting their experiences in the Spirit Realm.
Nan Gong Wan stood beside him, listening quietly, her eyes changing, but she remained calm.
“Wan'er, these are our shared memories, and aside from us, I believe no one else knows them.” Han Li said, his eyes locked onto Nan Gong Wan's, a hint of expectation in his gaze.
“I should have been in your hands, my cultivation is weak, and I couldn't see through your cultivation level, but it's definitely above mine, and searching my soul is a trivial matter, you know these things can't prove anything.” Nan Gong Wan shook her head.
“Wan'er, you're still so cautious, indeed, if I searched your soul, I could know these things, but what do you want me to do to prove my identity?” Han Li was taken aback for a moment, then chuckled, asking.
Nan Gong Wan's face revealed a thoughtful expression.
Han Li smiled, looking at Nan Gong Wan, his expression suddenly changing as he examined her eyes.
Nan Gong Wan's aura at this moment was only at the True Immortal Realm, and Han Li had been so caught up in their reunion that he hadn't noticed this earlier.
It seemed that her memories had recovered, but her cultivation, which had been boosted by the Six Paths Wheel of Rebirth, had disappeared.
“Wan'er, your past self was a Da Luo Realm cultivator, and now your cultivation has dropped to the True Immortal Realm, all because of the Six Paths Wheel of Rebirth. I've investigated, and it won't affect your future cultivation.” Han Li said, his brow furrowed.
“Six Paths Wheel of Rebirth... is that the mysterious artifact controlled by the Wheel of Rebirth's master? That person has a daughter, do you know her?” Nan Gong Wan's eyes sparkled as she asked.
“Wheel of Rebirth's master is called Jiao San, and her real name is Gan Jiuzhen, she's your daughter from your past life. What else do you want to ask, feel free to ask.” Han Li nodded, his expression calm.
“My daughter from my past life? What's going on... and you told me that the master looks... looks just like you?” Nan Gong Wan was taken aback, then asked without hesitation.
Han Li sighed inwardly, recounting the story of the Wheel of Rebirth's master and his own connection, as well as her attempt to use the Wheel of Rebirth to revive Nan Gong Wan's past self.
Nan Gong Wan's expression was initially tense, but after a moment of thought, she returned to her calm demeanor.
In the next moment, she asked a few more questions about the Underworld Realm, which Han Li answered accurately.
“Now you should believe me,” Han Li said, looking at Nan Gong Wan.
“Not necessarily, if you and they colluded to deceive me, it's not impossible.” Nan Gong Wan stubbornly shook her head.
Han Li felt a sense of helplessness, then suddenly thought of a solution.
He pressed a few points, and his body was surrounded by lightning, the 72 Qingtong Fengyun swords appearing, their lightning auras disappearing, revealing the true form of the swords.
“Wan'er, look, these Qingtong Fengyun swords are my original magic tool, you saw them before. Although I've refined them many times over the years, the natural aura of the Golden Bamboo remains.” Han Li said.
Nan Gong Wan stared blankly at the 72 golden swords, her lips moving slightly.
When she looked at Han Li again, her eyes finally changed.
“Also, I've refined this treasure many times, but the marks from back then are still visible.” Han Li said, holding up the Yuanhe Five Peaks.
When Nan Gong Wan's gaze fell on the Five Peaks, her body trembled slightly, her eyes flashing as she looked at Han Li again.
“Other magic tools, I've abandoned them over the years, but some of the cultivation methods and divine abilities I learned in the Spirit Realm, I can still use, such as the Chun Li Sword Array, the Qing Pan Sword Array, and the Nirvana Saint Body Transformation... I still remember which pose you dislike the most...” Han Li's mind was filled with ideas, and he began to recount various methods to prove his identity.
Before he finished speaking, a fragrant breeze swept in, and Nan Gong Wan threw herself into his arms, her arms tightly embracing him, as if using all her strength, her voice whispering:
“Enough, I believe you, you're really Han Li!” Since regaining her memories in the Underworld, Nangong Wan's strength had greatly decreased, and she was completely unfamiliar with the situation in the True Immortal Realm. The people around her were all incredibly strong, each one surpassing her by a thousand times, making her feel like she was walking on thin ice.
Finally finding Han Li today, she felt a sense of relief wash over her as she caught the familiar scent on his body. Nangong Wan tightly grasped Han Li's arm, her heart filled with a sense of security.
Han Li also wrapped his arms around Nangong Wan's delicate and fragile body, his heart overflowing with love and concern.
Ever since Nangong Wan appeared in the True Immortal Realm, she had been awakened to her past life memories by the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation. Han Li's heart had been filled with anger and helplessness, but he had endured it all, silently leaving her side.
Sometimes, separation was necessary for future reunions.
After learning that Nangong Wan had been captured by the Heavenly Court, Han Li's heart had been filled with anxiety, like being burned by fire.
To gain enough power to rescue Nangong Wan, he had suppressed his emotions and finally achieved a breakthrough in his cultivation.
Until today, Nangong Wan had returned to his side, and the weight on his heart had finally been lifted.
Han Li's eyebrows suddenly twitched, and his emotions underwent a drastic change. His heart was in turmoil, and his divine sense was surging. The Spiritual Refining Technique was operating frantically, causing his mind to feel like it was being turned upside down.
He quickly closed his eyes, guarding his mind, and tried to calm his heart.
Suddenly, he discovered that his Nascent Soul had undergone a subtle yet extraordinary change. This change was almost imperceptible, but it had brought about a profound impact on his cultivation.
His Spiritual Refining Technique, from the first layer to the second, and then to the third, had all been cultivated with the growth of his divine sense. However, this powerful energy had not been fully integrated into his mind, and it seemed to be in a state of chaos.
Although he could unify this energy through the Spiritual Refining Technique, it would immediately return to its chaotic state once he stopped.
But in that moment, this energy seemed to have found a common foundation.
It was as if his fragmented soul had finally found its home, and his Nascent Soul had returned to his body.
He felt a sense of completeness and unity with his Nascent Soul, as if he had been reborn.
Moreover, Han Li was delighted to find that his seventh-layer Spiritual Refining Technique was nearing perfection.
Nangong Wan sensed the change in Han Li's emotions and gently left his embrace.
"What's wrong, husband?" she asked.
"Nothing, I just felt a sense of joy when I saw you recover," Han Li replied, smiling, and wrapped his arms around Nangong Wan's delicate body once more.
Nangong Wan also tightened her grip on Han Li's arms.
The two of them stood there, embracing each other, and after a long time, they finally let go, smiling at each other as if they had returned to their past.
"Husband, I'm sorry for doubting you earlier and making you prove yourself in various ways," Nangong Wan said, her face filled with regret.
"It's nothing, you're always cautious, and it's only natural," Han Li replied, smiling, and put away the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword and the Yuhe Five Extremes Mountain.
"You've been in the True Immortal Realm for many years, what have you experienced? I've heard bits and pieces from Gan Jiuzhen and the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation, and it seems you've become quite renowned in the immortal realm," Nangong Wan asked, looking at Han Li.
"I haven't done anything remarkable, just been forced to flee from various people and experienced some things along the way," Han Li said, shaking his head.
"You've been cautious for half your life, but now that we're together again, do you still need to be so low-key?" Nangong Wan asked, her eyes sparkling with amusement. "Tell me, where do you rank in terms of strength among the immortals in the True Immortal Realm?"
"If I had to say, the strongest in the True Immortal Realm would be the Time Dao Ancestor, and the second strongest would be the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation... As for me, I'd say I'm around the top ten," Han Li replied, smiling.
"Ah, you're still the same Han Li who dominated the Spiritual Realm!" Nangong Wan exclaimed, her eyes shining with excitement. "Tell me everything, don't hide anything from me. I also have a gift for you."
Nangong Wan tossed a half-block of green jade pendant, which sparkled like water, with a slender figure etched onto its surface.
Han Li caught the pendant and was taken aback.
The figure on the pendant was none other than Ziling, and the pendant she had given him in the past had Nangong Wan's figure on it.
"Since we're both in the True Immortal Realm now, some things can be done," Nangong Wan said, smiling. "Don't worry about it, just tell me everything."
"Very well, I'll tell you," Han Li said, and began to recount his experiences in the True Immortal Realm, from his arrival in the North Cold Immortal Domain to his various adventures.
He glossed over some of the more unpleasant or shocking aspects of his journey, as well as his encounters with Ziling.
However, he did tell Nangong Wan about the Palm of Heaven Bottle, which had been his constant companion throughout his cultivation journey and his greatest reliance during his ascension to the True Immortal Realm.
Nangong Wan listened to Han Li's tale with wide eyes, her face filled with a mix of emotions. She was delighted by his bravery and worried about his safety, and her eyes sparkled with joy when she heard about his triumphs.
Han Li, who had long since abandoned his mortal heart, had always reserved a portion of his true self for Nangong Wan.
Only in her presence could he truly be himself.
“……I found out you were captured by Feng Qing Shui, so I rushed to the Dragon Abyss Realm and had a great battle with Feng Qing Shui and Chen Ru Yan, two great ancestors of the Dao. With the protection of heaven, I finally brought you back safely.” Han Li said, recounting the events up to this point.
“I had imagined countless times what kind of situation you would encounter after ascending to the heavens, but now it seems that it was not enough to prepare for the countless unexpected events. In this situation, ordinary people would have died countless times, but only you could turn danger into safety time and time again.” Nan Gong Wan's eyes reflected Han Li's image, and she let out a sigh, saying with a hint of admiration.
“Don't praise me, it's just a matter of luck and coincidence, and a bit of good fortune that allowed me to make it this far.” Han Li shook his head and smiled.
“There are also many powerful beauties who have helped you, right? I heard from Gan Jiu Zhen that Ti Hu and Jin Tong have both transformed into beautiful women, and there's also your beloved, Zi Ling.” Nan Gong Wan said with a hint of a smile.
“Wan'er, don't tease me, Ti Hu is someone I've known since the mortal realm, and she's been by my side through thick and thin. As for Jin Tong, she was originally a Gold-Devouring Immortal that I had cultivated, and I didn't expect her to have such a complicated past... As for Zi Ling, she had a past entanglement with me...” Han Li smiled wryly, explaining to Nan Gong Wan.
When he mentioned Zi Ling, his face turned slightly awkward, and he was about to say something, but Nan Gong Wan stopped him with her fingers.
“Husband, at this point, I wouldn't be jealous of these things. It's all just fate and coincidence, and the heavens have their own arrangements, just like our own past.” Nan Gong Wan shook her head and said softly.
“Wan'er, you've been talking about me all this time, but what about you? How have you been in the lower realm these past few years?” Han Li nodded silently, changing the subject and asking.
“These past few years in the lower realm have been relatively simple, not as exciting as your adventures, husband. After you ascended, I closed myself off in the Qing Yun Palace and cultivated diligently, relying on the resources you left behind and some fortunate encounters. I eventually reached the Great Ascension stage, and after preparing for a while, I attempted to transcend the heavenly tribulation to meet you in the True Immortal Realm.” Nan Gong Wan smoothed out her hair and said calmly.
“How was your heavenly tribulation?” Han Li's eyebrows twitched, asking.
“I originally thought that with my preparations, I could overcome the heavenly tribulation, but I underestimated its power... After withstanding several tribulations, I eventually exhausted my energy and was struck by the final tribulation, falling into endless darkness... In my final moments, I called out to the heavens, hoping you could hear my last words.” Nan Gong Wan said with a bitter smile.
Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he heard this, and he couldn't help but reach out to gently stroke Nan Gong Wan's cheek.
“I thought I was dead for sure, but I woke up in a dimly lit world, and my internal energy had transformed into immortal energy. The people around me were all stronger than Ma Liang, and they were all true immortals.” Nan Gong Wan placed her hand on Han Li's, saying.
“Dimly lit world? Could it be the Underworld?” Han Li's eyes flashed.
“Yes, it was the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation who saved me, but he quickly sealed my memories, and my consciousness fell into a deep slumber, only awakening recently.” Nan Gong Wan nodded, continuing.
“These past few years, I wasn't by your side, and you had to face all this alone. I'm sorry. But why did you leave the Wheel of Reincarnation later on?” Han Li held Nan Gong Wan's hand, asking.
“The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation treated me with respect, and even allowed me to do as I pleased, but my intuition told me to keep my distance from him, and I also wanted to see you, so I snuck away from that place. Now that I think about it, I've caused you trouble.” Nan Gong Wan lowered her head, feeling guilty.
“How could you cause trouble? It's just a temporary measure, and I wouldn't have been at ease if you had stayed in the Wheel of Reincarnation. If you hadn't escaped, we might not have been able to meet again.” Han Li smiled.
Nan Gong Wan smiled back, and her hands grasped Han Li's.
“Speaking of which, how is the situation in the Spirit Realm? What about the people in the Qing Yuan Palace? Are they all doing well?” Han Li asked.
“With the foundation you left behind, the human tribe is thriving, and the people in the Qing Yuan Palace are all cultivating smoothly. When I transcended the heavenly tribulation, Qi Ling Zi and Hai Da Shao had already reached the peak of the merged stage, and were only one step away from the Great Ascension stage. Bai Guo Er had an even better talent, and had already reached the Great Ascension stage. Bing Feng and Yin Yue had also reached the Great Ascension stage earlier than me, but they were still accumulating strength to overcome the heavenly tribulation.” Nan Gong Wan's eyes flashed with a hint of color, saying softly.
Han Li listened to Nan Gong Wan's words, and his mind flashed back to the past, remembering the events that had transpired with these people. He felt a mix of joy and nostalgia.
The past was vivid in his mind, but the heavens had separated them, and it was uncertain if they would ever meet again in this life. The path of cultivation was a lonely one, but with Nan Gong Wan by his side, he felt a sense of comfort.
“By the way, what about Yuan Yao? How is she doing?” Han Li asked hesitantly.
“Yuan Yao...” Nan Gong Wan's eyes dimmed, and she seemed to hesitate, unsure of how to continue. "What's wrong with her?" Han Li's heart skipped a beat as he asked.
"Yuanyao also successfully advanced to the Great Vehicle, inheriting the mantle of Qingyuanzi, and later had a strange encounter, making rapid progress in her cultivation, even surpassing me in crossing the Heavenly Tribulation. Unfortunately, the Heavenly Tribulation is unpredictable, and Yuanyao ultimately failed to cross it..." Nangong Wan's eyes dropped, and she spoke in a melancholic tone.
Han Li's body stiffened, and his mind flashed back to Yuanyao's image, his vision blurring slightly.
Even though he had grown strong enough to kill two corpses, his heart still ached with an indescribable sorrow upon hearing the news of his friend's passing.
"Husband, life and death are predetermined, don't be too sad. Yuanyao had a long talk with me before her tribulation, saying that she had lived a fulfilling life, and regardless of whether she succeeded or not, she had no regrets." Nangong Wan added.
"Wan'er, don't worry, I'm fine. I've seen too many lives and deaths over the years, but hearing about a friend's passing still brings me sorrow." Han Li forced a smile, saying.
"According to the Wheel of Reincarnation's master, the Six Paths Wheel can control the reincarnation of countless lives, and if we have the chance in the future, we might be able to use this treasure to find Yuanyao's reincarnation." Nangong Wan hesitated before speaking.
"Yuanyao died in the Heavenly Tribulation, her soul scattered to the heavens, and it's uncertain whether her spirit can be preserved. Even if we find her reincarnation, it would already be someone else. Do we want to do what the Wheel of Reincarnation's master did, forcing them to recall their past memories? That would be equivalent to erasing the Yuanyao of this life." Han Li shook his head.
Nangong Wan had personally experienced this, and her feelings ran deeper, so she didn't say anything further.
"If we have the chance in the future, I'd like to return to the Spirit Realm and pay my respects at her grave." Han Li gently wrapped his arm around Nangong Wan's shoulders, sighing.
Now that he had advanced to the peak of the Great Luo, he could feel the differences between the interfaces even more. With his current abilities, entering the Spirit Realm would cause a massive disturbance in the heavenly energies, likely leading to the collapse of the interface.
Even in the True Immortal Realm, only True Immortals and lower-ranking immortals could enter the lower interfaces.
Nangong Wan nodded.
"Speaking of opportunities, I never thought that you would obtain the Heavenly Vessel back in the Mortal Realm. No wonder your cultivation progressed so quickly in the Mortal and Spirit Realms. You kept it hidden so well, even from me." She gazed at Han Li with a hint of reproach, changing the subject.
"This matter is too important, and if it were to be revealed, it would attract countless killing intentions, so I didn't tell you back then. Please don't be angry, Wan'er." Han Li smiled faintly.
"Now that it's come to this, I wouldn't blame you for that. You did the right thing, as the existence of this treasure is too earth-shattering. The more people who know, the greater the risk. If the Heavenly Court finds out that you possess this treasure, they might send people to steal it again, wouldn't they?" Nangong Wan asked with concern.
"No need to worry, the Heavenly Court is currently at war with the Wheel of Reincarnation, and they're too busy to bother with us. Moreover, my strength has grown significantly, and I can handle anyone in the True Immortal Realm except for three people. Keeping the Heavenly Vessel safe is not a problem." Han Li said confidently.
"Husband, you say that, and I believe you, but my cultivation is still weak, and I'm afraid I won't be able to help you much. The Three Thousand Great Daos are truly unpredictable, and there are even things like traversing time and space." Nangong Wan sighed.
"If you're interested, I can take you to try it." Han Li flipped the Heavenly Vessel, smiling.
"No, every time you use the Heavenly Vessel, you have to exhaust all the Time Dao markings in your body, which is too dangerous." Nangong Wan immediately shook her head.
Han Li chuckled, as he could now communicate with the Heavenly Dao and use the Heavenly Vessel to traverse time and space with a much lower cost.
Nangong Wan's concern for him warmed his heart.
"Then we'll discuss this later," Han Li said.
"Husband, what are your plans now?" Nangong Wan asked.
"I was so focused on rescuing you that I haven't thought about what to do next. However, my battles with Feng Qing and Chen Rushan in the Dragon Abyss Realm must have attracted some attention, so it's best if we leave this place for now." Han Li thought for a moment before speaking.
Nangong Wan naturally wouldn't object to this.
A vast, unknown void.
The master of the Wheel of Reincarnation, dressed in a black robe and wearing a conical hat, stood at the edge of a floating cliff, with a small, ordinary-sized Void Mirror floating in front of him. The mirror's surface flickered with light, as if someone's shadow was moving within.
Upon closer inspection, it became apparent that the shadow in the mirror was none other than Han Li and Nangong Wan. The master of the Wheel of Reincarnation had been keeping a close eye on the situation.
Behind him, a group of seven or eight people stood, led by a figure wearing a black robe, with his face, neck, and arms wrapped in bandages. This was none other than Yuan Chongfeng, a cultivator of the Bu Tian Sect.
Yuan Chongfeng stepped forward, coming to stand behind the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation.
"Master, when Nangong Wan left the Underworld, I foresaw that she would be captured by the Heavenly Court. Why did you not intervene, and instead allowed her to be taken?"
"Nangong Wan's personality is similar to that of the Frost Goddess, and now that she has inherited many of the Frost Goddess's memories, her personality has become even more stubborn. She will not change her mind, and I can only keep her here by force," the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation replied casually.
"If that's the case, then we can still intervene when she is being pursued," Yuan Chongfeng said.
"The Heavenly Court will not hesitate to use any means necessary to achieve their goals. Today, Nangong Wan is being pursued because of me, and in the future, it is likely that she will be pursued because of Han Li. He cannot escape this fate," the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation said calmly.
"His conflict with the Heavenly Court is inevitable. The Heavenly Court will not tolerate anyone who opposes them, and will stop at nothing to eliminate them," Yuan Chongfeng said, after a moment's thought.
"Furthermore, I am also trying to deceive the Heavenly Court. They have been searching for me for millions of years, but have been unable to find me. Now, with this incident, I have finally 'lost my composure' and they think I am going to confront them head-on," the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"However, this plan is still a risk. If Nangong Wan is really taken to the Heavenly Court, things will become complicated," Yuan Chongfeng said, after a moment's silence.
"Feng Qing Shui is a fool, but his superior is not. The Bu Tian Sect knows that I am not someone to be trifled with, and they will not dare to provoke me. Therefore, they will not send Nangong Wan to the Heavenly Court, and will instead keep her in custody," the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation said calmly.
"Even so, if Nangong Wan is injured during the pursuit, it will be a disaster," Yuan Chongfeng said.
"You have already foreseen the outcome of this event. If something unexpected happens, will you not be responsible?" the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation asked, his eyes glinting with amusement.
Yuan Chongfeng's face turned pale, and he felt a chill run down his spine.
After a moment's silence, the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation laughed and said, "With me keeping an eye on things, there will be no unexpected events."
"Of course," Yuan Chongfeng replied, nodding his head.
The master of the Wheel of Reincarnation turned his gaze back to the mirror, where Han Li and Nangong Wan were still visible.
"Master, will this plan really work? Will Han Li be provoked into joining us in our fight against the Heavenly Court?" Yuan Chongfeng asked, his eyes fixed on Han Li.
"In this world, there is no one who understands Han Li better than I. The dragon has a reverse scale, and whoever touches it will die. Nangong Wan is Han Li's reverse scale, and now that his cultivation has increased, he will not back down. Ah..."
The master of the Wheel of Reincarnation's words were cut off, as he suddenly exclaimed, "Ah!"
The mirror in front of him suddenly shattered, as Han Li's eyes locked onto the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation, and a burst of light illuminated the area.
Everyone present, including Yuan Chongfeng, was shocked by this sudden turn of events.
"Master, what's going on?" Yuan Chongfeng asked, his voice trembling.
"It's nothing. He has discovered my surveillance... and has even erased the Wheel of Reincarnation's mark from Nangong Wan's body," the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation said, his voice calm and amused.
"Doesn't this mean that he will guess that this is all a ruse, and will not be provoked into action?" Yuan Chongfeng asked.
"Perhaps, but the outcome will be the same," the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation replied, his smile unwavering.
...
In a certain location in the Dragon Abyss, a vast and ancient forest stretched out as far as the eye could see.
Under a towering, hundred-meter-tall tree, Han Li and Nangong Wan stood facing each other.
"What's wrong?" Nangong Wan asked, her face pale.
Han Li did not immediately respond, but instead looked around cautiously, his eyes scanning the surroundings. Finally, his gaze came to rest on a strange, grayish-white rock in the distance.
The rock was unlike any other in the area, and Han Li's eyes narrowed as he stared at it. Only a gray-white winged moth was perched on the stone, its four wings fluttering gently, yet it didn't fly away.
"Hmph, first it was dry grass, then it was a fish, followed by a spiritual bird, and now it's a moth, following us all the way. Don't you find it annoying?" Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he let out a cold snort.
The next instant, a beam of crystal light shot out from his eyes, and the gray-white moth exploded into a cloud of ash.
Nangong Wan was taken aback, and her brow furrowed in surprise.
"Why did the moth have the fluctuations of the reincarnation law on its body?" Nangong Wan asked, puzzled.
"It's the method of the Reincarnation Palace Master," Han Li replied.
After speaking, he gazed intently at Nangong Wan, carefully examining her for a moment before lifting his hand to touch the back of her neck.
Nangong Wan didn't resist, and she leaned her head towards him.
Han Li's palm landed on the back of her neck, and a faint warmth emanated from his palm, accompanied by a soft golden glow.
Nangong Wan felt a slight burning sensation, but it only lasted for a moment before passing.
"Did he leave a mark on me?" Nangong Wan asked, her brow furrowed, after Han Li withdrew his hand.
"Like the moth just now, it's probably the Reincarnation Palace Master's method to protect you. If Feng Qingyu were to harm you, he should be able to intervene through these methods. However, now that I'm by your side, these methods are no longer necessary." Han Li smiled and said.
Nangong Wan's heart warmed upon hearing his words, and a gentle smile spread across her face.
"What's past is past; what's important is that we can be together," she said.
"Unfortunately, there are some people who don't want us to have a peaceful life," Han Li sighed.
"Let's leave this place, return to the Spiritual Realm, or the Mortal Realm, or even the Ancient Realm. As long as we leave this place of strife, it's fine," Nangong Wan said, her voice calm, as she grasped Han Li's hand.
"It's useless. Over the years, I've always thought I was living according to my own desires, and no matter how difficult things got, I was always following my own path. But the more I went on, the more I realized that the influence of the Heavenly Dao's fate is everywhere," Han Li said, his voice laced with a hint of bitterness, as he gently stroked Nangong Wan's hair.
"The Heavenly Dao's path is unpredictable, where is the fate? If there truly is fate, I should thank it for bringing you to my side," Nangong Wan said, shaking her head.
"This matter... is indeed worthy of thanks," Han Li said, his voice momentarily stuck, before he smiled.
Nangong Wan saw this and smiled as well, her eyes curving upwards.
"Now that I've reached the peak of the Great Luo Realm, I can increasingly feel the collision of the Great Dao between the Time Dao Ancestor and myself. I can vaguely see the flow of the River of Time, and the Time Dao Ancestor is like the deity controlling the river's flow. As for me, I'm like a thief trying to divert the river's flow," Han Li said slowly.
"If you can sense it, then he..." Nangong Wan's voice trailed off, her heart filled with a sense of foreboding.
"The Time Dao Ancestor has definitely sensed it as well. The Great Dao may seem to have countless paths, but the further you go, the more it converges into one. Those who are lucky will find an empty bridge, while those who are unlucky will find a narrow path, and I'm inevitable," Han Li said, his eyes narrowing.
Nangong Wan felt the force of Han Li's grip on her hand increase, and she knew that his mind was made up, so she didn't continue to persuade him.
"Since you've decided to face this head-on, I may not be able to help you, but I'll accompany you, standing by your side," Nangong Wan said calmly, her eyes filled with determination.
"No. The Heavenly Court is like a tiger's lair, full of deadly traps. I won't let you take such a risk," Han Li said, shaking his head.
"Listen to me... in Gan Ruxue's memories, I once fought against the Ancient Ones with him. Although we failed, I don't regret it. This time, I want to accompany you as well. If we lose, I'll see it through to the end with you; if we win, I want to witness that moment," Nangong Wan said, her hands grasping Han Li's arms, her expression solemn.
Han Li nodded slightly, looking at Nangong Wan's determined gaze, and his heart sighed. He couldn't bring himself to refuse her.
"After this, it seems like no matter where I put you, I won't be able to put my mind at ease," Han Li said.
"Perhaps the most dangerous place is the safest. If I'm by your side, you'll be able to truly put your mind at ease and fight with all your might," Nangong Wan said, smiling.
"If you insist on following me, once we enter the Middle Earth Immortal Realm, you must stay in the Flower Branch Space unless absolutely necessary," Han Li said, his expression serious.
"Alright, I promise," Nangong Wan said, nodding heavily.
Han Li's expression relaxed slightly, and he gazed at Nangong Wan's lovely face, a sense of detachment washing over him.
"What are you looking at?" Nangong Wan's ears turned slightly red, and she looked away, her voice barely above a whisper.
Han Li smiled and said, "You're still as I first saw you, making me think you're a heavenly being."
Nan Gong Wan said, "When I first met you, I didn't think you had such reverence for heavenly beings. That time with the Ink Dragon, you..."
Nan Gong Wan realized she had misspoken and quickly stopped talking. Her face turned red, and two red clouds appeared on her cheeks.
Han Li pulled her into his arms, a nostalgic look in his eyes, and said slowly, "Speaking of which, I should thank that Ink Dragon. If I hadn't mistaken its libido pouch for a dragon pill, you and I..."
"Quickly, don't say it..." Even though they were already dao companions, Nan Gong Wan still felt embarrassed. She raised a finger to Han Li's lips, stopping him from continuing.
The sunlight filtered through the trees, casting a warm glow on the two of them. Birds sang in the distance, and the mountain wind rustled through the leaves. Han Li didn't continue speaking, instead, he gently hugged Nan Gong Wan, enjoying the rare moment of peace.
...
Half a month passed.
The Absolute Mortal Realm, under the jurisdiction of the Nan Lin Immortal Domain, was the smallest and weakest of all the realms under the immortal domains. It was a place where ordinary mortals lived, and even those with spiritual roots were rare.
Due to the scarcity of spiritual energy, spiritual herbs and medicine were also rare, and cultivation resources were scarce. Even those who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage were rare, and those who had reached the Nascent Soul stage were like gods, standing at the pinnacle of this realm.
Therefore, this realm was still dominated by the secular world, with more emphasis on martial arts and temple politics.
As for the powerful immortal factions, they were like gods, only appearing in rumors and stories.
Therefore, it was rare to see cultivators fighting each other in this realm, as it was already difficult to cultivate, and their lifespan was limited.
But on this day, the first immortal sect in the northern region, the Hidden Mountain Sect, was attacked by a mortal enemy.
The mortal enemy was only a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, far inferior to the current sect master of the Hidden Mountain Sect, who had already reached the late stage of Foundation Establishment decades ago.
Logically, he shouldn't have dared to attack the sect.
However, the fact was that he not only attacked the sect but also used his bone flute to control a large number of poisonous insects, killing almost everyone in the sect.
If it were just ordinary poisonous insects, it wouldn't have been a problem. However, among the poisonous insects were many rare spiritual insects, including twenty-eight immature Golden Devouring Insects.
After the battle, only the sect master and a few severely injured elders remained, cornered by the mortal enemy at the ancestral hall of the sect's founder.
The sect master, a short, white-haired man with a childish appearance, had his right shoulder and arm devoured by the Golden Devouring Insects.
"It's just because of a mistake you made back then, causing you to fail in your breakthrough. Why do you have to go to such extremes?" the sect master asked, his face pale with anger.
The mortal enemy stopped playing his bone flute, and the poisonous insects temporarily stopped attacking.
"This realm's spiritual energy is limited, and it's not enough to support many Nascent Soul stage cultivators. You blocked my breakthrough, and I fear I'll never be able to break through again. You say this grudge, should it be avenged?" the mortal enemy coldly said.
"Even so, you've already destroyed my sect. Shouldn't you stop now?" the sect master pleaded.
"I'm not done yet. As long as you're alive, my revenge won't be complete." The mortal enemy continued, "I'll kill you, and then your sect will be truly destroyed."
The mortal enemy blew his bone flute again, and the poisonous insects surrounding the sect master and the elders began to move once more.
Just then, a faint tremor seemed to occur in the heavens, and everyone felt it for a moment. However, no one paid attention, as everything returned to normal immediately after.
The mortal enemy's control over the poisonous insects suddenly faltered, and the insects began to riot. The ordinary poisonous insects didn't react, but the spiritual insects, including the Golden Devouring Insects, broke free from the mortal enemy's control.
The mortal enemy was shocked and tried to regain control over the spiritual insects with all his might.
However, as he did so, the spiritual insects suddenly turned on him, led by the twenty-eight Golden Devouring Insects.
A blood-curdling scream echoed through the air, and the mortal enemy's body was torn apart, leaving only a bloody skeleton behind.
The survivors of the Hidden Mountain Sect were shocked and terrified, but they soon realized that the spiritual insects had no intention of attacking them. Instead, they flew away, and the poisonous insects dispersed.
The survivors looked at each other in confusion, unsure of what had just happened.
Meanwhile, at the top of a majestic mountain peak in the central region of the Absolute Mortal Realm, a spatial rift opened, and a group of spiritual insects of various shapes and sizes flew in from all directions.
The insects flew towards the rift, disappearing into the unknown. High above the mountains, countless spiritual insects flew towards the fissure, but almost all of them were torn apart by spatial forces, leaving only a few dozen Golden Devouring Insects unscathed.
...
In the Gaochang Immortal Realm, the Miao Huang Sect.
A low-lying mountain range hidden in the midst of a thousand-mile poisonous swamp, the entire mountain belly was almost hollowed out, with a maze of tunnels and hundreds of palaces inside.
Countless people with ant heads and human bodies, all wearing black armor, were busy rushing through the maze.
At this moment, in the deepest part of the mountain belly, a massive underground palace, a gigantic white ant queen lay on the ground. Her lower body was plump and snowy white, resembling a silkworm, while her upper body was identical to a human, with a stunningly beautiful face.
Just then, a faint tremor shook the heavens, and the ant queen's eyes snapped open, filled with an incredulous and joyful expression.
"Could it be... impossible, no, it must be... it must be..."
She exclaimed in a disjointed tone, her body flashing with a soft glow, transforming into a human form, becoming a young woman in a white dress, with an aura of the late-stage Mahayana realm.
"Summon the people..."
Her voice rang out, and soon seven or eight people rushed in, kneeling down.
"We have been waiting for this day, the great army is gathering, and we will emerge in full force..."
The ant queen declared, her voice filled with excitement.
"We obey your orders."
The eight people responded in unison, their faces filled with joy and excitement.
On this day, the Gaochang Immortal Realm witnessed the largest insect tide in history.
However, these spiritual insects, which seemed to have been coordinated to rise up together, did not attack the cities, but instead gathered towards the highest peak in the realm, the Zhuyuan Peak.
Someone went to investigate and discovered that a massive spatial fissure had appeared above the peak, with a width of over 10,000 meters.
...
In the Beihan Immortal Realm.
A snowy and icy landscape in the far north of the Minghan Continent, where the land was frozen by the ancient ice, and even other living beings were scarce.
A lone ice mountain stood tall, its body a crystal blue, and in the midst of the snowstorm, a massive ice block broke off, revealing a gigantic cocoon.
The cocoon suddenly cracked open, releasing a burst of dark blue light, and a chill emanated from it, freezing the surrounding snowstorm.
A white-haired man with two long antennae on his forehead emerged from the cocoon, his face gaunt, with sharp features, and his eyes shone with a cold, blue light.
He wore a blue leather armor, and four blue wings fluttered behind him, his aura was that of the peak Mahayana realm.
"King, are you finally returning?"
He muttered to himself, gazing at the sky, and then vanished into the snowstorm.
...
In the Zhongtu Immortal Realm, the Tianyuan Continent, the Tian Court.
A giant palace made of jade-like green stone, a muscular man with a short haircut, a face like a golden Buddha, and eyes that seemed to bore into the soul, stood before a throne, his muscles rippling beneath his skin.
Several Tian Court officials stood before him, all of whom were Mahayana-level experts, but they bowed their heads, their faces filled with a mix of reverence and fear.
The reason was that this man, Xuan Yuan Jie, was a Five Elements Origin Ancestor, one of the seven rulers of the Tian Court.
"Is what you said true? Even Tong Qiu was assassinated?"
Xuan Yuan Jie grasped the throne, his voice cold and stern.
The officials knelt down, explaining that the Wheel of Reincarnation had sent out eight assassins, who had killed several powerful experts, including Tong Qiu, who was a friend of Xuan Yuan Jie's.
The officials trembled, not daring to speak further.
"Have you found out which two of the Eight Reincarnated Ones were responsible?" Xuan Yuan Jie's eyes twitched slightly as he asked.
"It was Yan Zuo and Xuan Yu, they didn't even try to hide their identities, and they even destroyed the ancestral hall of the Tong Qiu True Person's sect, it seems they're not afraid of Heaven's pursuit and revenge." The person replied.
"Track down their whereabouts, those two must die, I want to take their divine souls to create a puppet." Xuan Yuan Jie opened his hand, and his voice carried a sense of authority.
The people below were about to respond, but they saw Xuan Yuan Jie's expression suddenly change, and their hearts followed suit, rising to their throats.
"Ah, ah, ah... I didn't think that after so many years, you'd actually be able to take this step again, this time I want to see if you still have a chance to escape?" Xuan Yuan Jie said, his voice filled with laughter.
The people didn't understand what was going on, and they didn't dare to speak up, they could only stand there silently.
"Lu Qing Shan, Zhao Yao, you two are in charge of investigating Yan Zuo and Xuan Yu, the rest of you follow me..." Xuan Yuan Jie suddenly shouted.
"Yes, sir!" The people replied in unison.
...
In the Dragon Abyss Heavenly Domain, on the Qing Yuan Continent.
A vast expanse of clear blue sky stretched out, meeting the endless blue waters below, reflecting each other's beauty.
Between the sky and the sea, two figures flashed by, leaving behind a long trail of golden light, causing a strong ripple in the space.
The two figures were a young man and woman, the man was tall and had a strong build, with a thick beard and a nose that wasn't too high, but he had a rugged look. The woman was wearing a blue palace dress, and she had a gentle and elegant appearance.
"Juan Er, we agreed that once we reach the Qing Yuan Continent, you'll head back to the Flower Branch Cave Heaven, and I'll enter the Tong Tian Tower alone, heading to the Middle Earth Heavenly Domain." The bearded man said to the woman.
This woman was none other than Nan Gong Juan, and the bearded man was of course Han Li.
"I know, I'm just a bit worried, you're using the Heaven's transmission array to go to the Middle Earth Heavenly Domain, won't you be discovered and cause a commotion?" Nan Gong Juan asked, her eyebrows furrowed.
"It's fine, I have the Bodhi Order in my hand, they'll just think I'm a noble guest from Heaven, they won't investigate further. Besides, they probably wouldn't think that I'd dare to do something like this." Han Li shook his head.
"You're right, I feel better now." Nan Gong Juan nodded.
As they spoke, they saw the black coastline of the Qing Yuan Continent in the distance, several thousand miles away.
Just then, a strange ripple suddenly appeared in front of them.
Han Li's mind moved, and he stopped, pulling Nan Gong Juan behind him, and gazing forward.
They saw a black cloud hovering above the coastline, with a mixture of strange noises and bug sounds coming from it.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he felt a strange sensation in his heart.
But after a moment, the black cloud had already flown several hundred miles closer, and its appearance became clearer, but it was a sight that made one's skin crawl.
They saw that within a radius of several hundred miles, there were countless spirit insects, with the larger ones being several hundred feet long, resembling giant stag beetles, and the smaller ones being only a few inches long, resembling worms.
If it was just a single species of insect, it wouldn't be strange, but this massive swarm of insects, with countless species mixed together, was a problem.
"This doesn't feel right..." Han Li said, his brow furrowed.
"It's an insect tide, the Spirit Realm has them too, but the scale is not this large... what do you think is off?" Nan Gong Juan asked.
"Insect tides usually occur when a single species of spirit insect gathers to perform a large-scale devouring and destructive action. But this insect tide has a mix of species, including those that are natural enemies. Like the Star Pattern Rhinoceros Beetle and the Flameless Moth, they should be fighting each other to the death, but here they're marching together without conflict, this is very strange." Han Li said, his voice filled with contemplation.
As he spoke, his expression suddenly changed, and he saw a giant golden insect, over a hundred feet long, emerge from the swarm, its body radiating powerful energy.
This insect was none other than a Devouring Gold Beetle, a spirit insect that had reached the peak of the Tai Yi Realm.
"Juan Er, don't move, wait for me." Han Li said, his brow furrowed.
Before Nan Gong Juan could respond, Han Li's figure flashed, and he disappeared from his original position.
The next moment, he reappeared in front of the insect tide, his body surrounded by a golden light, and a domain expanded, covering a radius of several hundred miles.
The insect tide was frozen in place, with some still glowing with spirit energy, and others still in mid-air, but they were all motionless, as if they had been petrified. Even the water below was momentarily frozen in place, with ripples on the surface condensing into a stillness.
Han Li's figure entered the swarm of insects, flashing through the dense crowd of spiritual insects to arrive in front of the Jin Tong Xian.
With one hand, he pointed to his own brow, and a crystal light shot out, piercing into Jin Tong Xian's skull, before disappearing without a trace.
Han Li closed his eyes for a moment, then suddenly raised an eyebrow, opening his eyes to say, "Such a big deal, and yet you didn't tell me, truly reckless..."
He then flashed back to Nan Gong Wan's side.
"What's going on?" Nan Gong Wan asked with concern.
"Looking at this situation, Jin Tong is probably going to break through to the next realm, and all these spiritual insects are here to escort her," Han Li said with a furrowed brow.
"Breaking through... is she already at the late stage of Da Luo?" Nan Gong Wan asked in surprise.
Han Li shook his head, saying, "It's not the late stage of Da Luo, she's going to re-merge her dao and become a Dao Ancestor."
"What...?" Nan Gong Wan's expression changed, finding it hard to believe.
"Jin Tong's devouring law is an innate ability, her cultivation is different from ordinary people, and she's originally a true body of a Dao Ancestor, so now she's just re-aggregating after generations of devouring, and doesn't need to sever her three corpses, and her speed can't be measured by ordinary standards," Han Li explained, looking at the frozen swarm of insects.
"This isn't a good thing, why do you look so worried?" Nan Gong Wan asked.
"You see this massive swarm of insects, it's probably not just an isolated incident in the Dragon Abyss Heavenly Domain, it's likely that similar scenes are playing out in many places in the heavenly domains. Making such a big commotion, it's hard to guarantee that the people of the Heavenly Court won't notice," Han Li said thoughtfully.
"If that's the case, then the risk is indeed not small, what do you plan to do?" Nan Gong Wan asked, also understanding the situation.
"I need to go help her, escort her through this process," Han Li said, his eyes firming up.
"It's only right that you should go, but do you know where she is now?" Nan Gong Wan asked.
"It's simple, just follow the swarm of insects," Han Li said, looking at the dense crowd of insects in the distance.
"You're still so quick-witted, and it's said that the scene of her breakthrough will be even more magnificent," Nan Gong Wan said with a hint of expectation.
"We shouldn't delay, let's go," Han Li said, taking Nan Gong Wan's hand and flashing onto the back of the Jin Tong Xian.
He then waved his hand to dispel the time domain, and the flow of time in the surrounding space immediately resumed, with the swarm of insects rushing past, flying towards the other end of the sea domain.
...
In a certain location in the extraterritorial space, a vast and profound void was filled with spatial storms, with occasional collisions between them, emitting bursts of brilliant light.
A massive spatial storm was hovering at the edge of a gigantic black cloud, which seemed to be alive, expanding and contracting, with clouds of gas churning inside, emitting beams of light that shot out in all directions.
This massive black cloud was the condensed form of the extraterritorial Heavenly Devil, and it was currently stuck to the spatial storm, unwilling to move forward.
In the endless void tens of millions of miles away, a massive golden beetle was suspended, its body radiating flames of golden light, with a powerful aura emanating from within.
Any extraterritorial meteorites that approached would be instantly annihilated by this aura, even if they were still tens of millions of miles away.
At the same time, the void around the golden beetle was filled with spatial rifts, like windows opening in a dark room.
These rifts were of varying sizes, with the smallest being tens of meters and the largest being tens of thousands of meters, and they corresponded to various regions of the heavenly domains.
In these spatial rifts, countless spiritual insects were pouring in, rushing towards the extraterritorial space.
However, the extraterritorial void was not like other places, with an extraordinary spatial pressure that was not to be underestimated, and most of the spiritual insects that passed through the rifts were instantly annihilated, turning to dust.
Despite this, countless spiritual insects continued to charge forward, undaunted by death, and some of them even managed to resist the spatial pressure, reaching the golden beetle's side, where they were protected by its golden light.
Among these insects, there were some with extraordinary abilities, who could withstand the spatial pressure and reach the golden beetle's side, where they were absorbed into its body.
As more and more insects entered the extraterritorial space, the swarm of insects surrounding the golden beetle grew larger, and they were now like a belt, encircling its body.
In all the spatial rifts, there was one rift that could be seen to contain a vast expanse of snow.
In the midst of the wind and snow, a white-haired man with two long, slender antennae on his forehead stood, his body almost merging with the snowy white surroundings.
At this moment, he was looking up at this side, his face showing no signs of emotion.
Suddenly, the man smiled, his body suddenly shooting up high, his hands parting in front of him, a faint white glow emerging from between them, directly piercing into the spatial rift.
Immediately, the faint white glow suddenly burst forth, actually tearing open the original several-meter-sized spatial rift, ripping it open to a hundred meters, the white-haired man's body flashing, and he passed through it, entering the extraterritorial space.
As he stepped into the extraterritorial void, a snowy white glow erupted from his body, directly shattering the spatial storm that was sweeping in, and his body flashed, coming to the front of the golden beetle, where he directly clasped his fists together and knelt down.
"I, Frost White, welcome your return, my king," the white-haired man said, his expression excited.
As soon as his words fell, a young woman in a white silk dress, accompanied by several hundred black-armored ant-headed men, stepped out from another rift.
Outside the rift, countless black-armored ant soldiers stood in a dense, orderly formation, guarding the area.
"Frost White, I thought the one who would arrive first would be Qing Feng, but it's actually you, this lazy good-for-nothing," the young woman said with a smile, seeing the white-haired man.
"Feng Zhong..." Frost White replied, looking back at her with a calm expression.
"Still alone, still with that cold, icy demeanor, still... oh, your cultivation has actually increased quite a bit?" the young woman, Feng Zhong, said with a hint of surprise.
In her memory, during the war between the Insect King and the Heavenly Court, most of the eight great generals under the king's throne had died, and among the three who survived, aside from Qing Feng, the one with the most severe injuries was Frost White.
"Back then, I was unable to help the king defeat the enemy, and I was lucky to have survived, how could I not have worked hard to cultivate? Unfortunately, I was still unable to reach the king's level," Frost White said.
"You can think like this, it's already very good," a voice as thin as a mosquito's buzzed from Frost White's shoulder.
Feng Zhong and Frost White were both startled, then relaxed.
A blue wasp, no larger than a finger, flew out from Frost White's shoulder, its body glowing with a faint blue light, and it transformed into a tall, middle-aged man wearing a soft, blue armor, landing in front of the two.
The man looked like a forty-year-old, with a head of long, wavy black hair scattered behind his head, his face tired, with a thick beard, looking like a fallen, drunken bum, with a sleepy expression.
However, his eyes shone with a brilliant light, especially the golden patterns on the outer rim of his pupils, which seemed to have a strange, captivating glow, making it hard to forget.
The black-armored ant soldiers behind Feng Zhong drew their weapons, preparing to surround him.
"Fall back," Feng Zhong raised a hand, stopping the ant soldiers.
"Qing Feng, it seems your concealment techniques have improved again, and we didn't even notice you. When did you arrive here?" Frost White asked, his brow furrowed.
"I received the king's summons, and I immediately came," Qing Feng replied, rubbing his face.
"Have you heard the king's orders?" Feng Zhong asked hastily.
"Not yet, since I arrived, the king hasn't spoken to me," Qing Feng shook his head, looking at the golden beetle.
As soon as his words fell, the golden beetle's body glowed brightly, a woman's virtual image flew out, hovering in mid-air, her eyes shining with a dense, golden light, emotionless, scanning the people in front of her.
The woman's face was quite young, still with a few hints of a girl's features, it was Jin Tong.
"I pay my respects to the Insect Ancestor," Qing Feng and the others were overjoyed, kneeling down to pay their respects.
"Today, this seat will attempt to return to the position of the Dao Ancestor, and I hope you will all protect me, and repel all invading enemies," Jin Tong's gaze swept over the three, her voice emotionless.
"We will not hesitate to die," the three replied in unison, their eyes shining with joyful light.
The woman's virtual image nodded, then retreated, merging back into the golden beetle's body.
In an instant, the golden beetle's body glowed even brighter, emitting a special, pulsating energy that shook the surroundings.
The spatial rifts around them began to shake, transmitting the energy outward.
The spirit insects that had come from the immortal realm became even more frenzied, rushing through the rifts, entering the extraterritorial space, and the golden insects that had been scattered about flew out, rushing towards the golden light. Among these Gold Devouring Insects, there were both immature larvae and Gold Devouring Immortals who had cultivated to the Taiyi Realm, but there were no more Gold Devouring Immortals of the Daluo level, as they had all merged with the Gold Boy.
"Xuanyuan Jie won't give up easily, we must also prepare ourselves." Qing Feng said after a moment of contemplation.
"This time, even if we're torn to pieces, we absolutely cannot let him threaten the King." Frostwhite's face turned cold as she spoke.
"I'll deploy the insects and set up a formation, you two pay attention to the spatial rifts and don't let the enemy sneak in." Antuo said slowly as she gazed around her surroundings.
"I'll drive away the Heavenly Demons that are lurking in the distance, and leave this place to you two." Qing Feng's gaze shifted, looking towards the distant Heavenly Demon cloud, and said.
As soon as he finished speaking, the exhausted expression on his face suddenly disappeared, and a flash of golden light appeared in his eyes. His entire body's aura disappeared in an instant.
Antuo and Frostwhite blinked, and Qing Feng's figure had vanished.
"He's... stronger than before." Antuo's brow furrowed as she spoke.
Among the three of them, she was the one who had been injured the lightest in the past, and now she was the one with the lowest cultivation level.
Frostwhite saw the guilt and disappointment in her eyes, and spoke to comfort her: "You're skilled at deploying formations, don't worry too much about other things, just do what you need to do."
Antuo nodded, and flew up, entering the front of the Gold Beetle. The Black Armor Ants behind her followed closely.
She gave orders to the ants, and they began to scatter and fly away, merging into the tide of insects surrounding the Gold Beetle.
Before long, the originally chaotic tide of insects began to separate and reorganize, like a disciplined army, and were arranged by Antuo to surround the Gold Boy.
As more and more spiritual insects joined, a massive spiritual insect formation began to take shape.
Frostwhite's gaze concentrated, watching the scene before her, and took a deep breath. A flash of blue light appeared, and a wave of icy white mist spread out, filling the surroundings.
Her divine sense also spread out with the mist, closely observing the situation within the spatial rifts.
As time passed, the tide of insects grew larger and larger, with countless insects that had withstood the pressure of the external space, gathering around the Gold Boy to protect their king.
Under Antuo's command, the tide of insects formed a massive formation, shaped like a giant scorpion, with its two claws, one snow-white and emitting a cold aura, and the other emerald green, burning with a dark green flame.
The scorpion's tail, which was raised high, had a curved hook-like stinger, which flashed with a sharp light.
The Gold Boy was now completely surrounded by golden light, and the beetle's body was no longer visible, only a massive golden light ball, like a precious jewel, was being protected by the scorpion's back.
Just then, a loud, drum-like sound came from the light ball, and a woman's figure appeared, standing on top of the ball. It was the Gold Boy.
She began to hum, and her hands opened, as if welcoming something. A golden whirlpool appeared in front of her, connecting to the golden light ball below.
The spatial rifts around them began to shake violently, and countless Gold Devouring Insects poured in, like a golden waterfall, entering the whirlpool.
The originally dark external space was now filled with a dazzling golden light, as if a sun had appeared, illuminating the surrounding space.
Antuo, standing on the scorpion's head, turned around, and saw the magnificent scene before her. Her face was filled with excitement, and her eyes were moist.
Frostwhite's figure appeared beside her, and said: "We've waited for this moment for endless years, and it's finally here."
Antuo looked at him, and then looked away, asking: "Where's Qing Feng? Hasn't he come back yet?"
"The external Heavenly Demons aren't easy to deal with, but he should be back soon." Frostwhite replied.
Antuo was about to say something, but her expression suddenly changed.
She turned her gaze, and was about to look at the largest spatial rift in front of her, when she saw that Frostwhite had already disappeared, and was rushing towards the rift.
But before Frostwhite could reach it, a dark shadow flashed, and a mountain peak, over a hundred meters high, emerged from the rift, appearing in the external space.
"Bad!"
Antuo's expression changed, and she flew up, but didn't rush towards the mountain peak. Instead, she commanded the scorpion to raise its claws, preparing for battle.
High above the sky.
Feng Bai's face was solemn, his hands formed a seal, and he slapped his palm downwards towards the mountain peak.
The void instantly condensed into a layer of frost, transforming into a giant white palm print that landed on the mountain peak.
A loud "boom" echoed, and the hundred-meter-tall mountain peak exploded, disintegrating into countless snowflakes-like white crystal powder that dispersed into the air.
However, after the white crystal powder settled, the rumbling sound in the void grew louder, and a pair of giant crystal green hands emerged from the massive spatial rift, grasping the edges of the rift and pulling it apart.
A terrifying thunderous sound echoed, and the spatial rift was torn open like a layer of black fabric, transforming into a spatial passageway tens of thousands of miles wide.
Immediately, a giant head with short hair and a face like gold emerged from the passageway, scanning the surroundings before laughing loudly, "Ahah, I've finally found you!"
As he spoke, his enormous body flashed with light and suddenly shrunk back.
Behind him, a massive mountain cliff emerged from the spatial rift, slowly protruding into the air.
"Xuan Yuan Jie!"
Feng Bai's brow furrowed, his expression turning increasingly unsightly as he watched the mountain cliff slowly emerge from the spatial passageway, revealing its full extent.
It was a landmass tens of thousands of miles wide, covered in dense rows of tens of thousands of Tian Ting cultivators, each wearing armor and wielding weapons, exuding a fierce aura.
At the forefront of the mountain cliff stood a bare-chested man, Xuan Yuan Jie.
"Ahah, Antiao, Feng Bai... I remember there was someone named Qing Feng, where is he? You've been hiding for so many years, finally emerging?" Xuan Yuan Jie laughed, his voice booming.
"Xuan Yuan Jie, don't be arrogant, when our king returns to the Daozu's throne, it will be your downfall!" Antiao's brow furrowed, his voice loud and clear.
"Ha! When she was the Daozu, she couldn't even defeat me, what can she do now? Today, I'll eradicate all of you remnants, and it'll be a gift for the Bodhi banquet!" Xuan Yuan Jie's eyes narrowed, sizing up the golden light ball that was Jin Tong.
Feng Bai saw this and didn't respond, his body flashing as he descended towards the mountain cliff like a shooting star.
A blue light enveloped him, and a fierce wind blew, as countless fine silk threads mixed with snowflakes shot towards the mountain cliff.
In an instant, a snowstorm descended, covering the mountain cliff, and countless silk threads pierced towards Xuan Yuan Jie.
Without needing Xuan Yuan Jie's orders, a robust man wearing silver armor and wielding dual guns emerged from behind him, advancing to meet the attack.
His eyes flashed with silver light, and a layer of light spiritual domain enveloped him, conjuring a giant silver mirror that shielded him from the attack.
The snowstorm crashed against the silver mirror, and a dazzling silver light erupted, reflecting the attack back towards Feng Bai.
Antiao's eyes widened in concern as Feng Bai's figure was engulfed by the snowstorm.
The robust man's name was Yin Wu Shuang, Xuan Yuan Jie's subordinate and a Da Luo cultivator who had mastered the silver attribute law. His abilities were not to be underestimated.
However, just as the silver mirror was about to shatter, a layer of frost appeared on its surface, and it exploded with a crisp sound.
The shattered mirror released a burst of crystal powder, and silk threads condensed into a snow-white crystal spear that pierced towards Yin Wu Shuang's throat.
Yin Wu Shuang's eyes widened in surprise, and he wielded his dual guns to block the attack.
The snow-white crystal spear seemed to come from nowhere, but as Yin Wu Shuang countered, a figure emerged from the void - Feng Bai.
His mouth was stained with blue blood, and his chest was pierced by the silver gun.
"You're just this capable, and you dare..." Yin Wu Shuang sneered, his voice dripping with contempt.
However, before he could finish speaking, he saw that the silver gun had pierced Feng Bai's body, but it had no effect, as his body had transformed into countless silk threads.
Yin Wu Shuang's expression changed, and his silver gun flashed with light, releasing a metallic liquid that splashed onto Feng Bai's body.
The liquid solidified, binding Feng Bai in place.
"Break"
Feng Bai was unfazed, his hands forming a seal as he whispered a single word.
In the next instant, countless snow-white crystal threads burst forth from Yin Wu Shuang's silver armor, tearing his body apart and shattering it into countless fragments. Shuangbai's body regained its freedom, and with a swift movement, the frost and snow outside his body surged violently, and a thousand-meter snow peak suddenly appeared within the spiritual realm, hurtling towards the mountain cliff.
As the snow peak fell, the snow on top of it collapsed, like a thousand soldiers charging into battle, engulfing Xuan Yuanjie.
Shuangbai was clear from the start that he was no match for Xuan Yuanjie. What he did was only to buy time for Jintong, and every moment he could delay Xuan Yuanjie was a moment gained.
On the other side, Yin Wushuang, who had just been torn apart, was reassembling himself into a pool of silver liquid.
"Trash," Xuan Yuanjie's companion, a blue-robed old man, muttered.
He took a step forward, and his sleeves unfolded, releasing a powerful gust of wind that attracted the snowstorm, drawing it into his sleeve.
In just a few breaths, the entire mountain peak was sucked into his sleeve, disappearing from view.
A loud rumbling sound shook the air!
On the giant scorpion's back, the golden orb suddenly shone brightly, and mysterious whirlpools began to appear on its surface, emitting a terrifying aura that threatened to devour the heavens.
Yin Wushuang's eyes lit up with excitement.
The heavenly cultivators on the cross-border continent felt the terrifying aura and were shocked, their faces filled with fear.
"We've reached this point, it's time to end it," Xuan Yuanjie said, his eyes locked onto the golden orb.
His voice had barely faded when a white light burst forth from the continent's center.
Shuangbai's figure had appeared silently, his hands slapping the ground, and his body transformed into a thousand threads of crystal, merging with the earth.
In an instant, a layer of frost spread out, encasing the entire continent in ice.
"We've succeeded..." Yin Wushuang exclaimed, his fist clenched.
But his joy was short-lived, as a sudden change occurred.
The earthy glow on the continent's surface began to fluctuate, and a powerful earth-attribute law burst forth, causing the rocks and soil to churn and surge like waves.
A flat area in the center of the continent suddenly rose into the air, and a giant hand made of rock grasped a white-haired man in blue armor, lifting him into the air.
"Shuangbai!" Yin Wushuang shouted.
The white-haired man was indeed Shuangbai, who was being held captive by the rock hand, his body bound by dark yellow chains imbued with earth-attribute law. The chains were as thick as a child's arm, but weighed as much as a mountain, rendering him immobile.
His own law force was also being suppressed, and the ice that had encased the continent began to melt.
"Leave it to us," a woman in a purple silk dress said, glancing at Yin Wushuang.
"Quick battle, quick decision," Xuan Yuanjie said, his expression unchanged.
"Understood," the three of them replied in unison, leading the heavenly cultivators in a charge like a tidal wave.
Yin Wushuang gazed at the distant heavenly demon cloud, his heart filled with anxiety. Xuan Yuanjie had taken control of Shuangbai, and Qingfeng was still trapped within the cloud.
"We'll fight to the end," Yin Wushuang said, his voice sharp.
The insects that formed the scorpion array began to stir, their bodies glowing with a fierce determination.
The insects outside the spatial rift, eager to join the battle, surged forward, disregarding the pressure of the external space.
The two armies clashed, their numbers surpassing the imagination, and the spatial rift was filled with the sound of war.
The insects, though numerous, were no match for the heavenly cultivators, who had a significant advantage in terms of level.
Yin Wushuang's two silver guns pierced through the air, killing tens of thousands of insects, while the blue-robed old man's sleeves absorbed millions more.
The woman in purple silk created a sea of flames, incinerating tens of millions of insects.
The three of them left the heavenly cultivators to fight the insects and charged towards the scorpion array, aiming to kill Jintong.
The battle raged on, with the outcome hanging in the balance.
Yi Zong had been waiting for a long time for the three people in purple clothes to make their move.
As soon as he saw them, their figures flashed and they fell onto the scorpion's head, which was part of the Heaven Scourge Great Array. A burst of light erupted from beneath them, and their slender bodies transformed into the body of an ant queen, merging with the giant scorpion. The spirits of all the insects within the Heaven Scourge Great Array also began to glow with a faint light, and a powerful aura that surpassed the Great Luo Peak emanated from them.
They were burning their own lives to provide the array with endless energy!
Yi Zong's eyes flashed with white light, and his original vitality was no longer visible. With a wave of his hand, the scorpion's claws on either side of him struck out simultaneously, with a white and cyan light bursting forth from the tips.
In an instant, a powerful icy aura spread out, instantly freezing the old man in blue robes who was charging towards him. On the other side, a wave of green flames erupted, clashing with the purple flames of the woman in purple clothes, sending sparks flying everywhere.
The green flames seemed to have a sticky quality, merging with the purple flames and quickly engulfing them. The flames then surged towards the woman in purple clothes.
The ice wall and sea of flames that had appeared were like two gates that had closed, protecting the Golden Boy inside.
Yin Wu Shuang, who was flying overhead, saw the high and proud tail spike of the golden hook and did not dare to charge forward.
It was clear that the power of the Heaven Scourge Great Array far exceeded their expectations.
Xuan Yuan Jie's eyebrows furrowed slightly as he watched the scene unfold.
He had not wanted to take action himself, as using the power of the laws would attract the attention of the Heavenly Dao. But if he waited too long, it would be too late to stop Qi Lin from returning to his position as the Dao Ancestor.
"Get out of the way," he shouted, taking a step forward and assuming a bowing stance. A yellow light condensed on his fist, forming a massive yellow whirlpool that seemed to be about to strike.
Just as he was about to attack, a figure suddenly appeared behind him, a middle-aged man in a soft blue armor, holding a dark green spiral spear that he thrust towards Xuan Yuan Jie's ear.
The man was Qing Feng, who had already cleared the area of the Heaven Demons. He had not dispersed the Heaven Demon Cloud in order to hide his movements, waiting for the perfect moment to launch a surprise attack.
The spiral spear in his hand was his treasured artifact, a rare three-star celestial artifact. If he could land a hit, it would be enough to injure Xuan Yuan Jie.
But just as he was about to strike, Xuan Yuan Jie suddenly smiled and the yellow whirlpool on his fist dissipated. Instead, a metallic glow appeared behind his ear.
Qing Feng realized he had been tricked and felt a surge of fear. His body folded in mid-air, and he retreated, no longer attacking Xuan Yuan Jie. He landed on the giant hand that held Frostwhite, his spear flashing with light as he struck down the law-sealing chains that bound him.
With a swift motion, Qing Feng pulled Frostwhite out of the giant hand and turned to face Xuan Yuan Jie, who was watching him with a hint of approval.
"Your concealment technique is quite good, even I didn't notice it at first," Xuan Yuan Jie said. "But you shouldn't have landed on this earth."
Qing Feng looked down at the ground and suddenly realized his mistake. With his current mastery of concealment techniques, he could hide from Xuan Yuan Jie's divine sense in the void, but as soon as he landed on the ground, Xuan Yuan Jie would discover him.
He had to settle for rescuing Frostwhite instead of killing Xuan Yuan Jie.
"I don't have time to deal with you now," Xuan Yuan Jie said, waving his hand. "Once I've finished killing your master, I can spare your lives and let you serve me."
The entire suspended continent shook violently, and the ground began to churn and boil, sending waves of yellow earth towards Qing Feng and Frostwhite.
As the earth waves approached, Qing Feng and Frostwhite felt their bodies slow down, and they were soon engulfed by the waves.
Xuan Yuan Jie did not bother to look back, focusing instead on the Heaven Scourge Great Array. He raised his fist, and a massive yellow whirlpool condensed on it, filled with the power of the laws.
A layer of yellow light appeared on his upper body, and the air around him began to distort and tremble.
"Ha!" Xuan Yuan Jie shouted, unleashing a powerful punch that sent the whirlpool surging forward.
A massive storm of yellow wind and earth erupted, sweeping towards the Golden Boy. The celestial warriors of the Heavenly Court retreated in all directions, but the insect army charged forward, eager to meet the storm head-on.
In an instant, millions of insects were annihilated by the storm.
Frostwhite and Qing Feng, trapped in the earth waves, watched in horror as the storm approached.
Yi Zong, facing the storm head-on, felt a chill run down his spine. He could only gamble with his life to meet the attack. Only hearing his mouth utter a long roar, the white light in his eyes grew stronger, and the power of the law on his body also began to burn, the insect tribe in the Scorpion Great Array was even more desperate, burning their own lives to the fullest.
The entire Scorpion Great Array finally released its full power at this moment, the entire array turned from a dark blue and black color to a snowy white and transparent color, the internal spirit insect silhouette had disappeared, leaving only a few bright lights.
The two claws on his feet, the cyan and white lights, also brightened to the extreme, the ice and green flames spread out tens of thousands of feet, forming two ice and fire oceans, simultaneously colliding with the yellow earth vortex.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
A series of intense explosion sounds, kept rolling in from the collision, different laws of power collided, instantly causing the space to distort, a black hole appeared in the middle.
All the ice and green flames were absorbed by the black hole, rushing in and disappearing.
The external space, which originally had little light, at this moment, almost all the light was absorbed by the black hole, the surroundings fell into darkness.
This lasted for tens of breaths, before the black hole slowly disappeared, the surrounding light slowly returning to normal.
The original Scorpion Annihilation Array had disappeared, all the millions of spirit insects that had been arranged, had turned into flying ash, only leaving behind the damaged half-body of the Ant Nuo, still floating in front of the Golden Beetle.
"Blocked, blocked..." Her mouth was bleeding, her expression was miserable, but her eyes had a hint of light.
However, before Ant Nuo could rejoice, the space in front of her suddenly shook violently, another giant yellow fist shadow broke through the air, about to smash down.
She floated calmly in the air, not dodging, they had risked their lives to block the Primeval Dao Ancestor's attack, if they couldn't protect the Insect Ancestor's path, they would rather fall together.
This huge difference in power was really too despairing...
Ant Nuo slowly closed her eyes, having escaped once, this time she didn't want to escape again.
The boundless earth attribute law power, had already rolled in, compressing the space, causing it to collapse layer by layer.
"No..." Qing Feng and Shuang Bai saw this scene, and both let out a unwilling roar.
However, just as they did, a sudden change occurred!
Only seeing Ant Nuo's head, a Taiyi-level Devouring Golden Immortal suddenly burst out of the space crack, with a tall, blue-robed man riding on its back.
The moment he appeared, he stepped on the Devouring Golden Immortal's back, his body agile, he leaped and landed in front of Ant Nuo, raising his hand to strike.
Only seeing a golden light shoot out, forming a giant golden treasure wheel suspended in mid-air, the world's Dao patterns shining brightly, releasing a rich, golden light, gathering into a giant light column, colliding with the yellow earth fist.
The two collided, but there was no loud noise, the fist was as if it had hit a bunch of cotton, without any damage, its speed slowed down.
"Zi la la..."
Accompanied by a sound of electric light flowing, the 72 Qing Bamboo Wasp Cloud Swords flew out, swirling around the golden light column, like 72 golden dragons, stabbing into the giant fist.
"Boom" a thunderous roar shook the sky!
Tens of thousands of golden lightning rays burst out, the yellow earth fist was instantly shattered, turning into countless fragments, dispersing.
"Who is..."
Ant Nuo felt the changes in the air, slowly opening her eyes, but only saw the back of a human male.
Just as she was wondering, she heard Xuan Yuan Jie's voice come from the other side of the continent:
"Who are you?"
"I am Han Li!" The human cultivator stood with his hands behind his back, loudly answering.
The tall, human male, was naturally Han Li, who had been riding the Taiyi Devouring Golden Immortal, chasing after him.
As soon as he finished speaking, the golden treasure wheel suddenly reversed, floating behind Han Li, the 72 Qing Bamboo Wasp Cloud Swords also turned into flowing lights, floating behind him, making his back look majestic, with an air of elegance.
"Han Li? I didn't expect it to be you! Good kid, you're quite bold, daring to appear in front of me!" Xuan Yuan Jie looked Han Li up and down, coldly saying.
It was clear that he already knew of Han Li's existence.
"You're Xuan Yuan Jie, right? It was you who caused the Golden Boy to fall from the Dao Ancestor's position, and he had to self-destruct his Dao Ancestor's body, scattering it throughout the vast immortal realm?" Han Li's face didn't change, not afraid, loudly asking back.
"Ah, you're quite knowledgeable, but what does it have to do with you?" Xuan Yuan Jie sneered, his eyes narrowing.
Here is the translation of the chapter:
“Jintong…… you're referring to Qulin, aren't you? What's your relationship with her?” Xuan Yuan Jie asked, somewhat surprised.
“She's my spirit pet,” Han Li replied calmly.
“Daring rebel, how dare you claim the Bug Ancestor as your spirit pet?” Yi Zhen's face turned red with rage, shouting out in rebuke.
“You should focus on recovering from your injuries. I can hold off Xuan Yuan Jie alone, but if the others attack together, I won't be able to intercept them all.” Han Li turned his body slightly, speaking in a calm tone.
Yi Zhen looked at Han Li's ordinary face, feeling a slight disappointment. After all, Han Li's back figure had been incredibly striking in the previous moment.
Han Li finished speaking and turned back, once again showing his back to Yi Zhen.
Yi Zhen gazed at Han Li's back, sensing the increasingly powerful aura emanating from him. His heart was shocked: “What kind of person is he, with such a strong temporal law fluctuation within him?”
“Enough, I'm also asking unnecessary questions. Since you've delivered yourself to my doorstep, I'll take you down as well, as a bonus for this trip.” Xuan Yuan Jie sneered, speaking in a slow and deliberate tone.
Han Li didn't respond, his palm waving as his aura surged again. A golden light screen expanded instantly, transforming into a massive temporal spirit domain that enveloped the surrounding area of several tens of thousands of miles.
The Heavenly Court cultivators, who had retreated to the sides, felt as if they were trapped in a quagmire, unable to move.
Except for Yin Wushuang and the other two, only a small portion of the cultivators could maintain their freedom of movement, albeit at a significantly slower pace.
“Allowing you to cultivate the power of temporal laws to this extent, what is the Ancient or the Present doing?” Xuan Yuan Jie's face remained calm, but his heart was filled with shock.
However, this only strengthened his determination to eliminate Han Li.
With a wave of his hand, the entire suspended continent charged towards Han Li like a warship.
Han Li saw this and suddenly pinched his sword fingers, causing the 72 Qingtong Huanyu swords to transform into sword lights that enveloped the rolling thunder and lightning, shooting towards Xuan Yuan Jie.
Xuan Yuan Jie's hands clasped together, and two yellow light screens appeared in front of him. All the flying swords, upon touching the yellow light, were easily deflected without even releasing their lightning energy.
“Just this level of ability, yet...” Xuan Yuan Jie's words were cut off as he saw Han Li's figure charging towards him with an extraordinary speed.
Xuan Yuan Jie's heart was filled with joy, thinking that Han Li was using brute force to resist his temporal law, which was equivalent to using an egg to strike a rock. If Han Li dared to use this foolish method to collide with him, he would have the opportunity to destroy him with a single blow.
However, Han Li was not a fool.
As they were about to collide, a lightning flash appeared on Han Li's body, and his figure vanished in an instant.
In the next moment, one of the Qingtong Huanyu swords that had been deflected by Xuan Yuan Jie flashed with electricity, and Han Li reappeared, standing on the flying sword.
“Too fast!” Xuan Yuan Jie turned around, his eyes flashing with a serious expression.
Han Li's sudden movement seemed to be related to the flying swords that contained the power of lightning laws, rather than the temporal law technique.
Han Li arrived at Xuan Yuan Jie's location on the suspended continent, his hands pointing together as he drew a golden light that contained the power of temporal laws. The light transformed into a massive wave that swept across half of the continent.
The raging yellow earth waves on the continent were covered by the temporal law power, and the dust and smoke dissipated, almost coming to a standstill. The two cultivators, Feng Bai and Qing Feng, who had been trapped, took advantage of the situation to break free and rise into the air.
“Leave this to me, go protect Qulin...” Han Li said, his back to the two cultivators.
Qing Feng and Feng Bai exchanged a glance, although they were still uneasy about Han Li's previous words. However, they had no choice but to acknowledge him and flew towards Jintong.
Yin Wushuang and the other two cultivators attacked Jintong, entangling themselves with Yi Zhen and the other two.
As for the Heavenly Court cultivators, only a few could resist the power of Han Li's temporal domain, and they remained trapped in their original positions.
“Thinking you're a Dao Ancestor just because you're a Da Luo? ” Xuan Yuan Jie let out a long laugh, his hand waving.
The continent beneath Han Li's feet lit up with a yellow glow, and a powerful attractive force emanated from it, holding his legs in place.
Xuan Yuan Jie then raised his hand, and a massive attractive force pulled the continent towards him.
“Rumble, rumble...”
A loud rumbling sound echoed from the depths of the void, and hundreds of meteorites of various sizes and shapes descended towards Han Li, fueled by a powerful force.
The friction generated by the meteorites ignited flames on their surfaces, creating a breathtaking spectacle of fire and stars.
However, these meteorites were enhanced by Xuan Yuan Jie's earth attribute laws, increasing their power by a hundredfold. Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and the Heavenly Executioner's Prison Seal technique circulated within his body, causing the 1,800 acupoints on his body to light up simultaneously. He suddenly raised his leg and pulled it out of the yellow glow on the ground.
Xuanyuan Jie saw this and furrowed his eyebrows, immediately forming a hand seal and clapping his hands together in front of him.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
As a result, the two sides of the floating continent rapidly churned, and the originally flat terrain suddenly bulged into two mountain peaks that clashed towards the center.
Han Li had just freed one leg, but was heavily sandwiched between the two mountain peaks.
A thunderous sound shook the sky!
The entire floating continent shook violently, and the two mountain peaks that had collided almost simultaneously collapsed and fell to one place.
"This is not good..." Yi Xiu looked at the battlefield, where smoke and dust rose, and sighed.
Although she didn't know the true relationship between Han Li and Jintong, she knew that Han Li was there to help her insect ancestor, and seeing him being suppressed by Xuanyuan Jie made her anxious.
Just as she was worrying, a terrifying spatial rift opened in the sky above the continent, and meteorites came crashing down, causing a series of explosions.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
The entire floating continent was almost submerged in the meteorite fire rain, and the intense explosions continued for dozens of breaths.
When the sound stopped, all the mountains and terrain on the continent were flattened by the powerful force, and the land was scarred and pockmarked.
Xuanyuan Jie glanced at the scene, satisfied with his own work, and turned to leave.
But just as he was about to go, his eyebrows suddenly furrowed, and he turned back.
He saw that on the ruined continent, the ground was shaking violently, and a majestic figure slowly rose from the charred earth. The three large True Spirit heads turned left and right, and the six arms shook, casting off the dust.
"Magic tribe's body refinement technique..." Xuanyuan Jie's eyes narrowed, saying.
"This stone isn't hard enough, try my fist instead." Han Li's three heads spoke in unison, saying.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Great Five Elements Fantasy World technique circulated within his body, and he took a step forward, forming a seemingly casual fist stance. His six arms all drew back, storing up energy.
At the same time, the power of the five attributes' time laws began to condense rapidly, and his body began to radiate five-colored light, which merged into one.
"This kid has actually cultivated the power of time laws to this extent?" Xuanyuan Jie's expression changed.
He also felt that Han Li's current move was extraordinary, and his heart couldn't help but become cautious. He immediately closed his eyes and formed a hand seal in front of him.
As his eyes closed, a yellow light began to spread from his body, extending into the void and disappearing.
Along with this, a strange aura began to emanate from his body.
Han Li, who was concentrating on launching an attack, was attracted to this aura and couldn't help but look at Xuanyuan Jie.
At this moment, Xuanyuan Jie seemed to be in a state of fusion with the void, giving Han Li a sense of confusion, as if he was both present and absent.
He was the body of the Dao Ancestor, and also the manifestation of the Great Dao.
"Is this the state of being after achieving the Great Dao?" Han Li's heart was slightly moved, thinking.
But this was not the time for sentiment, and his eyes suddenly narrowed. The power of the five time laws had already condensed, and his body began to radiate a black aura.
On his back, the light of the time laws' manifestation, the True Word Treasure Wheel, began to appear, distributing itself in a circular pattern and radiating a dazzling golden light.
"Break for me!"
Han Li's voice boomed, and the six arms' spiritual energy surged, casting out six massive fists that transformed into countless golden and black fist shadows, crashing towards the front.
The fist shadows flashed rapidly in the void, almost instantly appearing in front of Xuanyuan Jie.
At the critical moment, Xuanyuan Jie's tightly closed eyes suddenly opened, revealing a pair of eyes without pupils, only a yellow glow, which seemed empty but contained infinite power.
"The power of the Great Dao, can it be broken by your brute force?" Xuanyuan Jie's voice was low and calm.
He raised one hand, slowly pushing forward, and the void in front of him shook violently.
A vortex appeared in his palm, and a massive golden wall condensed, pushing forward with a loud rumbling sound.
Han Li unleashed his powerful Five Elemental Annihilation Fist, striking the golden wall condensed by Xuan Yuan Jie's palm with incredible force, causing it to explode instantly.
A deafening boom shook the air!
The massive fist shadows shattered, transforming into a series of powerful shockwaves that radiated outward in all directions.
The golden wall trembled, cracking open with numerous large fissures, but it didn't immediately collapse. Instead, a powerful counterattack force was generated, shooting back towards Han Li.
Han Li, having just finished using his Five Elemental Annihilation Fist, was unable to dodge the attack and was knocked flying backward.
Behind the wall, Xuan Yuan Jie was also struggling, his body frozen in place by the temporal law fluctuations unleashed by Han Li's fist. He was unable to move for a long time.
Just then, a sudden change occurred.
The seventy-two Qingtong Huixing swords, which had somehow moved to the rear, transformed into seventy-two jade-like, intricately carved children, each flying through the air without the need for control.
The sword spirits flew to the sword array's position, their bodies radiating golden light as they transformed back into massive flying swords, hovering in mid-air.
A low rumbling sound echoed through the air, accompanied by the appearance of a majestic, ten-thousand-meter-tall Heavenly Gate within the dark, boundless space.
The gate was surrounded by countless golden clouds, churning and boiling with an aura of majesty.
Although the gate remained closed, the sounds of thunderous rumbling and the intense, electric law fluctuations emanating from within were unmistakable.
"How is this possible? He's cultivating the power of temporal laws, yet his sword array contains such powerful electric law fluctuations?" Yin Wu Shuang exclaimed, shocked, as he fought against Frost White.
He had no idea that Han Li's seventy-two Qingtong Huixing swords had undergone the same rigorous training as Han Li himself, absorbing the law fluctuations from the Lei Kui's Eye, making them comparable to third-grade divine artifacts.
The combined power of seventy-two such swords was equivalent to the combined strength of seventy-two Da Luo realm cultivators, making their might unimaginable.
Han Li and the sword array were separated by a great distance, but their minds were connected.
As soon as a thought arose in Han Li's mind, the Heavenly Gate emitted a low rumbling sound and slowly opened.
Within the gate, a vast expanse of golden light was visible, with countless lightning waterfalls cascading down from above, accompanied by thousands of lightning dragons surging upward, each carrying a lightning pearl in their mouths, rushing towards the gate.
The sound of thunderous rumbling grew louder, and the space around the gate began to distort, creating numerous spatial rifts.
"Let's try this again, shall we?" Han Li suddenly stood up, his hands grasping downward.
The restrictive force within the gate disappeared, and the countless lightning dragons, now unbound, wildly surged out of the gate, charging towards Xuan Yuan Jie.
The entire domain was engulfed in a massive, electrifying storm, with the sound of thunderous rumbling growing louder.
"Protect the Bug Ancestor!" Qing Feng shouted.
Ants and Frost White flew backward, abandoning their fight against Yin Wu Shuang and the others, and positioned themselves in front of the Golden Child.
The golden whirlwind surrounding the Golden Child had disappeared, and the spatial rifts around her no longer had any Devouring Gold Insects flying into them. It was clear that all the Devouring Gold Insects scattered throughout the heavenly realm had returned to her body.
However, for some reason, her aura continued to expand, yet she was unable to break through the final barrier and restore her true form as the Devouring Law's Ancestor.
Yin Wu Shuang and the others, witnessing this, did not dare to continue fighting and retreated to a safe distance, avoiding the electrifying storm.
The Heavenly Court cultivators, still able to move, fled in all directions, while those who couldn't escape were quickly engulfed by the storm.
The sound of crackling electricity filled the air, and the entire space had transformed into a sea of lightning.
Thousands of lightning dragons swam through the space, surging towards Xuan Yuan Jie, each carrying a lightning pearl filled with the purest lightning essence.
"If I don't kill you today, you'll become a calamity no less than the Wheel of Reincarnation's master," Xuan Yuan Jie declared, his eyes flashing with a fierce light.
With a loud shout, he joined his hands together, forming a complex hand seal, and began to chant an incantation. Suddenly, a chant-like sound, similar to the ancient Buddhist chanting, floated in from an unknown location in the void, resonating with Xuan Yuan Jie's voice, and gradually reverberating like the Huang Zhong Da Lu.
The space within a hundred million miles seemed to freeze for a moment, and a deafening explosion suddenly swept through, echoing throughout the void.
Han Li's face changed, and his body was enveloped in a golden glow as he flew up into the air.
The floating continent beneath him exploded in a series of thunderous roars, and all the mountains, stones, and earth were reduced to flying ash. Only the earth attribute law contained within was condensed into a single entity, transforming into a yellow river of light.
Xuan Yuan Jie swung his fist, and the entire yellow river was drawn towards the massive storm of lightning.
A deafening boom shook the void!
The deep, dark void was suddenly illuminated, and countless lightning dragons burst forth, creating massive whirlpools that wildly swirled in all directions.
In the sky, whirlpools of purple, green, gold, and silver lightning churned the river, which contained the most refined earth attribute law, into a chaotic mess. Tens of thousands of feet long lightning whips lashed out in all directions, destroying the surrounding void.
The remaining Heavenly Court cultivators could no longer care about anything else and fled towards the void rifts leading to various immortal realms.
The aftermath of this attack was too powerful, and the void around Jin Tong's location was constantly shattering. Ants, Xuan, and three others combined their strength to support a spherical light screen, barely holding back the force, but it was on the verge of shattering.
Han Li pinched his sword fingers, activating the sword array's lightning evasion technique. A golden electric light flashed around him, and his figure vanished from his original location, reappearing beside a Qingtian Huanyun sword.
He swung his hands upwards, and the time law fluctuated around him. The True Word Bead, the Time Cleansing Vessel, the Illusory Hourglass, the Dongyi Divine Tree, and the Time Severing Torch flew out, each returning to its respective position.
In the void above, a golden moon and a vast array of crimson stars suddenly appeared, and the landscape below transformed into a world of mountains, rivers, and forests, as if transported to another realm.
As the Five Elements Illusory Realm enveloped the surrounding space, Ants, Xuan, and the others felt the pressure around them ease, but they dared not relax, continuing to support the light screen and protect Jin Tong.
"Ha! You've successfully enraged me, Han Li. Today, you shall see the true power of a Dao Ancestor!" Xuan Yuan Jie's voice boomed from the distance, rolling like thunder, unceasing.
"I await your demonstration," Han Li replied with a calm smile.
Ants gazed at Han Li from afar, seeing a hint of a smile on his face, and his respect for Han Li reached new heights.
In his eyes, Han Li's bravery in facing a Dao Ancestor with his Great Luo Realm cultivation was unimaginable. After all, the gap between each small realm within the Great Luo Realm was like a chasm, and the difference between a Great Luo Realm cultivator and a Dao Ancestor was like the difference between a firefly's glow and the radiance of the full moon.
Moreover, Xuan Yuan Jie was the one who had struck the Insect Ancestor, forcing it to transform into countless bodies to escape with its life.
Years had passed since then, and Xuan Yuan Jie's power had far surpassed his imagination.
"Indeed, there are people in this world who can remain calm in the face of danger, and even smile...," Ants thought, though he believed Han Li would surely die.
However, Han Li's palms were actually drenched in sweat at this moment.
He remained calm only to further enrage Xuan Yuan Jie, for he believed that only by provoking him could he truly defeat him.
But what Han Li hoped for even more was that Jin Tong would immediately ascend to the position of a Dao Ancestor.
The aftermath of the lightning storm and the yellow river's collision finally subsided, but the void rifts in the surrounding space persisted, refusing to disappear.
Xuan Yuan Jie strode forward, his footsteps causing the void to shudder, and a golden glow radiated from his body. The air was filled with an earsplitting boom.
Han Li's gaze locked onto Xuan Yuan Jie, his expression changing.
He noticed that Xuan Yuan Jie's eyes were devoid of any emotional color, and his pupils seemed empty, with two ancient, mysterious symbols hidden within.
Around him, layers of void fluctuations, invisible to the naked eye, rippled out with each step, spreading into the depths of the void, beyond Han Li's line of sight.
Han Li understood that these fluctuations contained the true essence of the earth, which had been hidden since the dawn of time.
In that moment, Xuan Yuan Jie seemed to be one with the earth and the heavens.
Suddenly, Xuan Yuan Jie stopped, and his lips opened, uttering two words that shook the void:
"Di mie." (Earth Extinguished)
The atmosphere in the void changed, and a powerful force of attraction gathered from all directions, pouring into Xuan Yuan Jie's body.
Xuan Yuan Jie's arms spread wide, and a golden light enveloped him, his aura no longer containing any human essence, resembling a primordial deity.
"The time has finally come..." Han Li said, his voice filled with excitement.
Han Li's voice fell, and with a single hand, he pinched a sword incantation, waving it towards his back.
Seventy-two sword spirits immediately flew out, surrounding Jin Tong and the three others, trapping them in the center.
"Zhilalala"
Immediately, a brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the surroundings, and a massive thunder array was activated, engulfing their figures in a sea of lightning, causing them to disappear.
Without any further worries, Han Li suddenly crouched down, sitting cross-legged in the void.
His hands pinched a spell incantation, and the Great Five Elements Illusory World technique within him began to operate at full force.
Above his head, a golden moon slowly rotated, radiating brilliant light in all directions.
The starlight transformed from the Broken Time and Flowing Fire also flickered with a dazzling light, like a starry sky.
The River of Time, transformed from the Time Purification Bottle, surged and flowed, swirling around him.
The majestic mountain range, condensed from the Illusory World Sand, undulated and stretched out, extending for miles, with the dense forest transformed from the Eastern Yu Divine Tree swaying wildly.
All of this formed a breathtaking scenery of stars, moon, mountains, and rivers, constantly flowing and transforming, shaking the heavens and stirring the universe!
Within Han Li's spiritual domain, time and space transformed at an incredible speed, as if the gates of the river had opened, increasing the speed by a hundredfold.
The earth-attribute law forces within the surrounding void began to surge into Xuan Yuan Jie's body at an incredible rate, a hundred times faster than before.
"Rumble rumble..."
A series of muffled sounds echoed from the void, and Han Li's divine sense stirred, looking down towards the void below.
He saw that the void was shaking violently, as seven or eight great continents from the Immortal Realm were breaking away, step by step, traversing the Qing Ming Realm, the Tian Feng Realm, and the Tian Wai Realm, flying towards this domain.
However, as the continents rose, when they entered the Qing Ming Realm, countless escaping lights flew away from them, fleeing from the continents. When they entered the Tian Feng Realm, there were fewer people escaping.
When they truly entered the Tian Wai Realm, the massive continents began to shatter, the land breaking apart, and they slowly dissipated into the heavens, leaving behind only a powerful earth-attribute law force, converging towards Xuan Yuan Jie's body.
As more and more law forces gathered on his body, Xuan Yuan Jie's aura became increasingly refined, and he became further and further away from humanity, closer and closer to the Dao.
Xuan Yuan Jie's expression remained calm, but his eyes began to tremble slightly, as if resisting the surging powers. However, every inch of the earth's origin force was intimately connected to his Great Dao, and he couldn't reject it.
"Not enough, I'll give you some more," Han Li said, his eyes flashing with a hint of madness.
As soon as his voice fell, the time law forces within him surged out, the Five Elements Illusory World's worldly Dao patterns shining brightly, as threads of time law forces disappeared into the void, transforming into pure law forces that merged with Xuan Yuan Jie's body.
Within the spiritual domain, the accelerated time, which had already increased by a hundredfold, was further accelerated, reaching a million years in an instant.
The earth origin forces that had surged into Han Li's spiritual domain were instantly absorbed by Xuan Yuan Jie.
Even the countless meteorites in the domain's void shattered, contributing their earth-attribute origin forces, frantically pouring into Xuan Yuan Jie's body.
Finally, a massive earth vortex, almost boundless, appeared behind Xuan Yuan Jie, representing the most fundamental earth Dao power in the world, overflowing like a warm spring, enveloping Xuan Yuan Jie's body.
"No..." Xuan Yuan Jie's eyes flashed with a glimmer of reason.
But it was too late, the heavenly Dao's invasion had already begun.
"Han Li, stop, stop..." Xuan Yuan Jie tried to struggle free, his voice pleading.
At this moment, Han Li was also suffering, his time law forces flowing out at an incredible speed, his body already feeling the effects of intense exhaustion.
However, he remained expressionless, unmoved by Xuan Yuan Jie's pleas, continuing to drive the Five Elements Illusory World at full force.
Han Li knew that, with the current situation, it was far from enough to allow Xuan Yuan Jie to be fully assimilated by the heavenly Dao.
Only by further accelerating time, exhausting his own time law forces, might he have a chance to complete the heavenly Dao's invasion.
"Han Li, you and the Time Dao Ancestor are destined to be enemies, you will be separated by life and death. I can help you, I can help you..." Xuan Yuan Jie, in this moment, finally felt despair.
"Jin Tong was harmed by you in his past life, do you think I would believe you?" Han Li said, his voice devoid of any emotional tone.
"No! I can swear a Dao oath, I will not betray..." Xuan Yuan Jie was on the verge of hysteria.
Han Li heard this, and his heart hesitated for a moment.
After all, if he could gain the assistance of a Five Elements origin Dao Ancestor, he would have more confidence in his ascension to the heavenly court.
However, he quickly abandoned this idea.
The reason was that he had no guarantee that he could control a origin Dao Ancestor with a mere oath.
His mind made up, he no longer spoke, continuing to frantically exhaust his own law forces, accelerating Xuan Yuan Jie's heavenly Dao invasion.
Time passed, and Xuan Yuan Jie saw Han Li's determination to make him die, his initial pleas gradually turning to curses and insults, and finally, when he realized Han Li was about to collapse, he began to threaten him.
"Han Li, you can't hold on, I may be half-assimilated by the heavenly Dao, but I won't be completely destroyed. Soon, I'll crush your bones, extinguish your primordial spirit, and refine your soul. I'll make you wish you were dead, hahaha..."
The entire domain echoed with Xuan Yuan Jie's almost maniacal laughter.
This laughter reached Han Li's ears, but it was already a dull, indistinct humming.
At this moment, Han Li had truly reached his limit, his vision blurry, his body almost completely drained of power, the Five Elements Illusory World on the verge of collapse.
"Do you want me to lend you some power?" a ethereal voice suddenly echoed within Han Li's nearly exhausted mind. Han Li was startled, and he hastily asked, "Who are you?"
"I... am you... you... are me..." the voice replied.
Han Li suddenly realized, "You're my self-corpse! Ever since I reached the peak of the Great Luo, I've been searching for you, and you've finally awakened in this state."
The self-corpse's response echoed in Han Li's mind, "Abandoning good and evil, as well as all seven emotions and six desires, you and I are the closest to each other. You are my true self, and I am your self."
Han Li sighed inwardly and asked, "Do you want to cause a rift between us now? If we separate, we'll both die instantly."
The self-corpse replied, "I said we're too similar, so your thoughts are my thoughts."
In the next instant, Han Li felt a warmth spread throughout his body, and the law energy that had dried up earlier suddenly surged back. The self-corpse had actually lent him its power.
However, the brief pause had given Xuan Yuan Jie an opportunity to catch his breath. Although Han Li had recovered half of his time law energy, he was still unable to continue.
Xuan Yuan Jie's eyes, which had been glowing with source symbols, suddenly darkened as he forcibly severed his connection with the Heavenly Dao.
At this moment, half of his body had merged into the void, and the remaining half was showing signs of petrification. This battle had indeed been extremely costly.
"Han Li..." Xuan Yuan Jie's voice was filled with hatred and anger as he let out a loud roar.
Before Han Li could respond, a golden light suddenly flashed from behind Xuan Yuan Jie at an unusual angle.
Within the golden light, the enormous true form of the Gold Devouring Bug, Jin Tong, suddenly appeared. A massive, blood-filled mouth opened, revealing a giant golden vortex inside, which emitted powerful law fluctuations.
Xuan Yuan Jie was shocked, and a yellow glow erupted from his body as he attempted to instantly move away.
However, Han Li had anticipated this and had already moved to his side. He raised his hand and struck Xuan Yuan Jie with a palm.
A burst of time law energy shot out from Han Li's palm, disrupting Xuan Yuan Jie's actions.
Xuan Yuan Jie had initially not feared Han Li's attack, but this brief interruption allowed Jin Tong's massive mouth to close in, swallowing Xuan Yuan Jie whole.
"No! I refuse to accept this..." Xuan Yuan Jie's voice grew fainter, as if he was being pulled into an endless void, until it was abruptly cut off when Jin Tong closed her mouth.
A rumbling sound echoed from within Jin Tong's abdomen, as if Xuan Yuan Jie was still struggling.
Jin Tong's body began to shrink rapidly, eventually returning to her female form.
Han Li looked at her and noticed that her appearance had changed significantly, losing her previous girlish aura. Her figure and demeanor had become more mature.
Her face was serene, with two vortex-like patterns swirling in her eyes. A transcendent aura began to emanate from her body.
"What's going on with your aura?" Han Li asked in confusion.
"It's not stable yet. I just need to meditate for a while, and my realm will stabilize," Jin Tong replied calmly.
Han Li said, "I had thought that advancing to the Dao Ancestor realm would be a grand and earth-shattering event, but it seems it's quite peaceful."
Jin Tong explained, "Normally, I should be absorbing the surrounding void right now, but since I swallowed Xuan Yuan Jie, a source Dao Ancestor, this power will be enough for me to digest for a while."
Han Li finally relaxed, feeling relieved.
Jin Tong said, "Thanks to you, I was able to succeed."
Han Li scolded, "You didn't tell me about your advancement to the Dao Ancestor realm. You're too reckless."
Just then, a group of people, including Yan Zhi, arrived from a distance. They were startled by Han Li's words, as no one had ever dared to speak to the Insect Ancestor like that before.
However, from Han Li's earlier actions, they had gathered that he and Jin Tong had a close relationship, so they didn't intervene. Instead, they sat down in the distance, meditating and adjusting their breathing.
Jin Tong's expression changed, and she pressed her hand against her abdomen. A golden light appeared on her palm.
"What's wrong?" Han Li asked urgently.
"It's just that Xuan Yuan Jie is resisting my digestive laws. As a Dao Ancestor, he's quite powerful," Jin Tong replied.
Han Li asked, "Is it serious? Do you need my help again?"
Jin Tong explained, "If we were outside, the outcome would be uncertain, but since he's now within my abdominal void, his defeat is inevitable. However, his earth source energy is somewhat troublesome."
Han Li glanced around and said, "This place is too exposed. You should suppress Xuan Yuan Jie's resistance, and then we'll leave and find a safe place for you to meditate. I'll protect you during that time."
Jin Tong nodded after a brief hesitation and began to suppress Xuan Yuan Jie's resistance.
Han Li turned to Yan Zhi and the others and said, "You should leave first. I'll take Jin Tong to a safe place to meditate."
The group nodded and departed, casting complex glances at Jin Tong as they left.
Han Li retrieved his treasures and sat down, taking out several pills and consuming them. He then closed his eyes and began to meditate.
In a certain location of the Heavenly Court, a golden palace floated in mid-air. The palace was surrounded by countless streams of air that shattered everything around it, making the area look desolate and chaotic, as if it was the scene of the primordial chaos before the creation of the world.
The golden palace, despite its vibrant color, did not exude an air of luxury, but rather a sense of ancient simplicity, resembling a Taoist temple. The palace gates were tightly closed, and the sounds of murmuring voices could be heard coming from within, making the palace tremble and causing the surrounding air to become even more turbulent.
At this moment, the sounds from within the palace suddenly stopped, and the gates opened silently, revealing a narrow slit. A figure emerged from the slit, and it was Guo Huo Jin.
Through the slit, one could see that the interior of the palace was a vast, endless golden space, with no visible floor, resembling the outer realm of the Nine Heavens. The space was filled with floating orbs the size of houses, emitting various colors of light, like the twinkling of countless stars.
The gates quickly closed, isolating everything within. Guo Huo Jin raised his hand, and a xuanhuang-colored scroll flew out from his sleeve, with two small golden dragons coiled at each end, looking delicate and extraordinary, like a treasure beyond compare.
Guo Huo Jin pointed at the scroll, and the two golden dragons suddenly came to life, biting down on the scroll and unrolling it. The scroll displayed a list of names, each with different colors and auras, some shining brightly, while others were dull.
At this moment, one of the names near the front turned gray, and it was Xuan Yuan Jie.
"Someone has actually killed Xuan Yuan Jie," Guo Huo Jin muttered to himself, and his eyes suddenly turned golden, shooting out a golden light that illuminated the name on the scroll.
Countless strands of xuanhuang energy flowed down from the scroll, disappearing into the void, and the gray name suddenly expanded, as if opening a spatial channel, rapidly extending outward.
In an instant, a vast region appeared, filled with floating meteorites and chaotic elemental flows, which was the outer realm of the domain.
Han Li and Jin Tong sat cross-legged within the region.
"Bug Ancestor? Has he returned already? That's good, it saves me the trouble of searching for him. Hmm, who is this person?" Guo Huo Jin looked at Jin Tong, then turned to Han Li, and his eyes widened slightly.
Within the outer realm, Han Li's expression suddenly changed, and he stood up, looking around.
The next moment, he shouted, and his hands flashed with golden light, releasing ten golden sword shadows that shot out in all directions.
The speed of the golden sword shadows was impossible to describe, as if they could transcend time and space, disappearing instantly.
Han Li's right arm extended in another direction, and a golden light shot out from his palm, enveloping Jin Tong.
But just as this happened, the flow of time in the surrounding space suddenly became chaotic, and a massive golden palm appeared in the sky, pressing down on Han Li and Jin Tong.
A burst of temporal energy exploded from the palm, and time seemed to freeze, but Han Li's transmission was too swift, and he managed to activate it before the temporal energy took effect.
A flash of lightning illuminated the area, and the two figures disappeared.
The golden palm crashed down, and the space where Han Li and Jin Tong had stood was instantly shattered.
A massive wave of golden energy erupted, sweeping outward in all directions, without making a sound.
Everything within a radius of millions of miles was instantly reduced to dust, without a sound.
In the desert near the Dragon Abyss, a bolt of lightning appeared, and a golden lightning sword broke through the air.
The sword was followed by the appearance of Han Li and Jin Tong.
"That was the temporal giant palm technique that killed the Miro Master back then. It seems that the Time Ancestor has taken notice of us," Han Li said, his eyes narrowing, and he took a deep breath.
Although he had anticipated this day would come, he couldn't help but feel a sense of tension, mixed with a hint of excitement.
"What was that?" Jin Tong asked, his face pale with shock.
"That was Guo Huo Jin. It seems that we killed Xuan Yuan Jie, and now he's after us," Han Li replied calmly.
Jin Tong's face changed color upon hearing this.
In front of the golden palace, Guo Huo Jin's expression was one of surprise.
"Very fast... almost as fast as Shi Kong Yu's instant movement." Guo Huo Jin praised, but didn't stop, his eyes flashing with golden light.
The scene on the xuanhuang scroll changed rapidly, and Han Li and Jin Tong's figures reappeared.
Guo Huo Jin formed a hand seal and slapped the air, and the desert sky above Han Li and Jin Tong shook, as a massive golden palm appeared once more.
Han Li looked around, his hands flashing with golden light, and the air around him was filled with the sound of thunder.
He had deliberately erased his aura during the transmission, and the distance was extremely far, almost spanning an entire realm, so even the Time Ancestor's divine consciousness couldn't detect them.
But to be safe, he decided to transmit again.
Just as he did, the air above him shook, and a massive golden palm appeared, its five fingers curled into a fist, and it pressed down on Han Li and Jin Tong. Golden light flashed like thunder, the massive palm descending with a speed that was noticeably faster than before.
"How can this be!" Han Li's eyes flickered with surprise, his hands immediately weaving a spell.
The two figures' bodies glowed with lightning, and along with the lightning sword on their heads, they vanished in an instant, narrowly avoiding the massive palm's slap.
In the Tianhe Xian Domain, near the Longyuan Xian Domain, a mountain range floated in the air, with a lightning sword hovering above it, spinning rapidly and emitting a series of sword hums.
Below the lightning sword, the air rippled, and Han Li and Jintong's figures appeared.
Han Li's face was grave, without a moment's hesitation, he activated the lightning sword transmission technique once again.
As they transmitted away, he swept his sleeve.
Over twenty green bamboo bee cloud swords shot out from his sleeve, disappearing into the nearby void.
At the edge of the Tianhe Xian Domain, the void flashed with lightning, and Han Li and Jintong's figures reappeared.
Han Li still didn't pause, once again activating the lightning sword transmission, and their figures vanished once more.
They transmitted over a dozen times, crossing multiple xian domains, until they arrived at a domain filled with rotting earth and miasma. Han Li finally stopped.
"Having transmitted so far, we should be safe now," Han Li thought to himself.
But as if mocking him, the sky flashed with golden light, and the golden massive palm descended once more, its speed far exceeding the previous two times, and emitting a deafening roar.
Han Li's face sank, immediately preparing to activate the lightning sword transmission once more.
"Hmm," a sound echoed, as countless golden lights seeped out from the surrounding void, transforming the surrounding void into a solid, unshakeable gold.
Han Li's connection to the lightning sword and the other swords was instantly severed.
Han Li's face finally changed color, but he didn't panic, his hands swiftly weaving a spell, conjuring numerous finger silhouettes.
A tidal wave of golden light surged out from his body, mixed with countless golden talismans, instantly forming a massive golden spirit domain.
The five treasures of the time laws – the True Speech Treasure Wheel, the Light Purification Bottle, the Mirage Sand Hourglass, the Dongyi Divine Tree, and the Time Severing Fire Torch – appeared within the golden light, surrounding his body and revolving rapidly.
Everything within the spirit domain became solid, forming a miniature world.
Han Li fully activated the time laws, barely completing everything before the golden massive palm descended.
The golden massive palm struck down, releasing countless golden ripples, and everything around it froze.
Only Han Li's spirit domain remained unaffected, the five treasures of the time laws rapidly rotating, the golden spirit domain growing even deeper, as if it were another world.
A deafening crash echoed through the air!
The golden massive palm heavily struck the golden spirit domain, causing it to violently shudder, and it was smashed down from the sky, crashing into the earth.
The land below cracked open, releasing massive fissures, and a large amount of magma erupted from the ground, causing the entire continent to collapse.
However, the spirit domain's miniature world appeared with massive fissures, but it stubbornly refused to collapse.
Han Li was also struck down along with the spirit domain, his body stumbling, and a mouthful of blood had already been spat out.
"His spirit domain withstood the Heavenly Emperor's Great Hand Seal, how unexpected," Guo or Jin's face flashed with surprise in the Heavenly Court.
He immediately weaved a spell, striking the air.
A golden, ancient clock-shaped pattern appeared on the palm's center, and it suddenly brightened, causing the massive palm to expand several times, tightly grasping Han Li's spirit domain, and squeezing it with all its might, as if trying to crush it.
The golden spirit domain creaked and groaned, the golden light flashing wildly, and the fissures within it rapidly expanded.
Han Li, despite spitting blood, seemed unharmed, but upon seeing this, he hastily activated the spirit domain with all his might.
A deafening crash echoed, as a massive golden heavenly gate appeared within the spirit domain.
In his previous battles with Feng Qing and Chen Ruyan, Han Li had been extremely cautious, but he had still accumulated a great deal of killing karma. This time, he didn't dare to open the heavenly gate, which connected to the various planes, and borrow the power of time.
As he thought this, a mysterious, unseen force transmitted to him, and the incantation of the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Realm Technique" flowed through his mind, clearer than ever before.
Han Li's heart flashed with understanding, and he weaved a spell.
The heavenly gate's surface rippled, and five golden lights appeared, each representing the five elements – metal, wood, water, fire, and earth – which were the five time laws of the "Great Five Elements Fantasy Realm Technique".
A muffled sound echoed, as the heavenly gate burst open.
A massive amount of golden light, containing the power of the Dao, surged out from the heavenly gate, pouring into the spirit domain.
This time, the power of the Dao that flowed out from the heavenly gate was even greater than before.
The fissures within the spirit domain immediately stopped, and no longer expanded.
Han Li's heart was filled with joy, and he waved his hands, causing the five golden lights to shoot out from the spirit domain, forming a massive, golden, auspicious cloud that covered the sky – the Undying Golden Cloud.
A gentle cry echoed from the side, as Jintong transformed into his true form, the Devouring Golden Immortal, and spat out a mouthful of golden light.
Tens of thousands of golden lights converged, forming a massive, golden light pillar that struck the golden massive palm.
Han Li and Jintong joined forces, and managed to resist the golden massive palm.
The golden light within the spirit domain no longer fluctuated, and it returned to calm, and as the heavenly gate's golden light poured in, the fissures within the spirit domain rapidly healed.
Han Li was urging his spiritual domain to move, thinking rapidly about how to escape.
Breaking through the time law's restraint surrounding him was not impossible, but the key was to figure out how Gu or Jin found his location, otherwise even if he managed to escape multiple times, it would be meaningless.
Because the pursuit from Gu or Jin would be endless.
Han Li's thoughts were racing, and he believed that he had not been directly tracked, and he was always careful, so he shouldn't have been caught by Gu or Jin.
Since that was the case, the problem shouldn't be with him.
Han Li looked at the Golden Boy beside him, and his mind suddenly flashed.
"I understand, Golden Boy, quickly expel the Xuan Yuan's law power from your body!" Han Li shouted to the Golden Boy.
The Golden Boy was taken aback, then suddenly realized, wanting to stop his attack, but looking at the golden giant palm in the sky, he showed a hint of hesitation.
"There's no need for you to intervene, I can handle it myself," Han Li shouted.
The Golden Boy nodded, stopping his attack.
Her body's light flickered, and she returned to her human form, sitting cross-legged, using all her strength to activate the Devouring Law, forcing the Xuan Yuan's law power out of her body.
Without the Golden Boy's help, Han Li's pressure suddenly increased, and his breathing became urgent.
He let out a low shout, and dozens of lightning sword shadows shot out from his body, landing in various parts of his spiritual domain.
In the midst of the thunderous roar, the lightning sword shadows instantly grew larger, transforming into dozens of lightning giant pillars, pushing against the golden giant palm, barely holding it back.
All of this seemed complicated, but in reality, it was done in the blink of an eye.
In the Heavenly Court, Gu or Jin saw this scene, and his eyebrows furrowed, just as he was about to act, the palace behind him suddenly shook.
Gu or Jin's face tensed, and he couldn't help but pay attention to the palace, waving his hands.
A series of golden lights appeared around the palace, rapidly intersecting and merging, forming a golden Taiji diagram that enveloped the palace.
The palace's tremors immediately began to subside.
In the spiritual domain below, Han Li took advantage of this brief moment of respite, and his face relaxed, turning to look at the Golden Boy beside him, but his eyebrows furrowed.
Although the Golden Boy had achieved the Dao Ancestor's realm, in terms of law power, Xuan Yuan, who had been in the Dao Ancestor's position for a long time, was still more powerful, and the speed of forcing out the law power was slow.
Han Li's hands formed a seal, and a series of golden lights shot out from his spiritual domain, landing on the ground near the Golden Boy, transforming into numerous golden patterns, forming a golden law array, similar to the Time Heaven's Great Array.
He then waved his sleeve, and the golden law array immediately activated, resonating with the surrounding spiritual domain, and the time flow speed within the array increased by nearly ten thousand times.
In the Heavenly Court, Gu or Jin continued to form seals and cast spells with one hand, suppressing the palace's turmoil, while his other hand pointed downwards, drawing a circle.
A deafening thunderclap echoed through the heavens, and a golden giant ring suddenly appeared near Han Li's spiritual domain, then contracted, tightly enclosing the golden spiritual domain.
A golden ring appeared at Han Li's waist, and he was also tightly bound.
A terrifying massive power seeped in, Han Li's shoulders sank, and his body felt as if it was being crushed by a giant mountain, becoming incredibly heavy, and his limbs were almost unable to move.
He looked up at the sky, and a flash of fire appeared in his eyes.
Was Gu or Jin trying to humiliate him, thinking that he wouldn't dare to counterattack?
Han Li's hands formed a seal, and a series of black patterns appeared on his body, rapidly spreading, covering his entire body in the blink of an eye.
A dark light burst forth from his body, and Han Li's body rapidly expanded, growing to a height of ten thousand feet, with twelve heads and thirty-six arms, transforming into a Heavenly Demon God.
A massive power erupted, impacting the golden ring.
But the golden ring, seemingly a divine ability, remained unmoving, and a powerful restrictive force emanated from it, attempting to limit the Heavenly Demon God's power.
The demon god let out a low roar, and the black patterns on its body suddenly hummed, becoming blindingly bright, and its eyes couldn't be looked at directly.
A massive power, combined with an extremely powerful time law, erupted, heavily impacting the golden ring.
The golden ring trembled, and a small gap appeared.
The thirty-six arms grasped the golden ring, and with a burst of power, the ring shattered, turning into countless golden lights that scattered.
The golden ring outside the spiritual domain also shattered, and the Heavenly Demon God regained its freedom, immediately leaping up and charging towards the golden giant palm.
The thirty-six arms glowed with golden light, and a series of golden patterns appeared, emitting a strong golden light, which harmonized with the surrounding black light, rather than conflicting with it.
The True Speech Treasure Wheel and other objects within the spiritual domain suddenly lit up, shooting out like lightning, and merged into the demon god's back, forming five golden patterns that surrounded it.
The demon god's thirty-six arms glowed with golden light, and a massive fist shot out, striking the golden giant palm.
A deafening sound echoed through the heavens, and thirty-six golden fist shadows shot out from the void, striking the golden giant palm with incredible speed.
Each of the thirty-six fist shadows contained the five time laws of the "Great Five Elements Fantasy World Seal", and they were all the "Great Five Elements Extinction Fist". BOOM!
Thirty-six golden suns appeared under the giant palm, then exploded.
The golden giant palm was immediately engulfed by the suns, and countless golden lights swept out, causing the entire sky to collapse like a paper mache.
The shockwave spread out, quickly sweeping across the entire Corrupted Earth Domain, causing the domain to turn upside down. Several large continents collapsed, sinking into the ground, and countless magma and mud shot up into the sky, engulfing everything.
The nearby space was also shattered, and the restrictive power of the void disappeared.
Han Li saw this and was about to use his Thunder Sword to teleport.
But the golden light that had exploded in mid-air suddenly split open, and a golden hand descended from the sky, grabbing down with lightning speed. It was the same golden giant palm, but its surface was much dimmer.
Han Li's face changed slightly, and he realized that his previous attack had been his full strength, yet the golden giant palm seemed unscathed.
Although he was shocked, his movements didn't slow down, and he was about to cast a spell to counterattack.
Just then, Jintong suddenly opened his eyes and spat out a yellowish-brown light, containing a pure and unimaginable earth law.
The yellowish-brown light flew out of Jintong's mouth and shot up into the sky, quickly dispersing and merging into the void.
The golden giant palm that had been grabbing towards Han Li suddenly stopped, hesitated for a moment, and then changed direction to grab towards the yellowish-brown light.
Han Li was slightly stunned, but he quickly reacted and used his Thunder Sword to teleport.
He and Jintong disappeared in a flash of lightning, reappearing in a lush green forest.
Han Li's divine sense expanded, and the feeling of being suppressed disappeared.
However, to be safe, he didn't stay there and teleported several more times before stopping.
"It seems that we've finally shaken off Guo or Jin's pursuit," Jintong said with a sigh.
Han Li's face was calm, and he also felt a sense of relief.
He had been provoked by Time Daozu earlier, and after a brief battle, he had realized the vast difference in strength between him and Guo or Jin. He was grateful to have escaped successfully.
"Master, I've just advanced to the Daozu stage, and my cultivation is not stable. I plan to find a place to close up and cultivate, and then settle the score with Guo or Jin. What about you?" Jintong asked Han Li.
"Jintong, since you've already advanced to the Daozu stage, let's not use the term 'master' anymore. We can call each other Dao friends," Han Li said with a wave of his hand.
Jintong was still a bit hesitant.
"We're at the level of cultivation where we can't be bothered with trivialities. Besides, when have I ever really treated you as a spirit pet?" Han Li said with a smile.
"Since you've said so, I won't be polite. But what are your plans, Han Dao friend?" Jintong asked with a smile.
"I also plan to find a place to close up," Han Li said after a moment of silence.
The self-corpse that had appeared earlier was still a hidden danger, and Time Daozu had already set his sights on him. He needed to quickly increase his strength.
"That's great, Han Dao friend. You have the Accelerated Space, and I can take advantage of it," Jintong said with a joyful expression.
"Alright," Han Li nodded.
"Now that I've advanced to the Daozu stage, my memories have mostly recovered. Your cultivation has reached the peak of the Great Luo stage, and if I'm not mistaken, you're planning to use this opportunity to break through to the half-step Daozu stage," Jintong said, looking at Han Li with a serious expression.
"Not bad, I do have that intention. Is there anything wrong with that?" Han Li asked.
"Although it will increase your strength, it will also make you a thorn in Guo or Jin's eye," Jintong said gravely.
"I've already been cultivating time laws, and Guo or Jin has been eyeing me for a long time. Even if I give up now, he won't let me off the hook," Han Li said with a wave of his hand.
"Indeed, that's Guo or Jin's style," Jintong said with a bitter smile.
"I bear the legacy of my master, and I want to revive the True Word Sect. I'll eventually have to fight Guo or Jin to the death. And now, the Wheel of Reincarnation has attracted the attention of the Heavenly Court and Guo or Jin, making it a great opportunity for me to accumulate power and break through," Han Li said with a smile.
Jintong saw that Han Li had made up his mind and didn't say anything else.
Han Li looked around, and his eyebrows rose.
He was currently in a domain with a vast desert landscape, and his divine sense couldn't cover the entire area. The terrain was mainly sandy, but the heavenly and earthly energies were very dense, especially the earth attribute energies.
There were many fortress-like cities built in the desert, each with its own unique features.
"It seems I've arrived at the Yellow Sand Domain," Han Li said to himself, his face filled with surprise.
The Yellow Sand Domain was one of the 500 middle domains of the True Immortal Realm, known for its endless yellow sand and unique landscape. It was also famous for producing many earth attribute materials.
However, Han Li's surprise wasn't because of the Yellow Sand Domain itself, but because of its location, which was close to the Black Earth Domain and not far from the North Cold Domain.
He had unknowingly arrived here after his previous escape.
Han Li's eyes scanned the area, and he soon found a suitable place to close up and cultivate.
"What's wrong with your expression, is there something wrong with this immortal realm?" Jin Tong looked at Han Li and asked in confusion.
"Nothing. If you want to close your eyes, it's not very safe in any immortal realm, so let's go to the outside realm instead." Han Li shook his head and didn't say anything more.
He waved his hand and sent a golden light enveloping the two of them, shooting them towards the sky. They quickly passed through the Tian Feng Realm and the Qing Ming Realm, arriving at the outside space.
Han Li didn't stop, flying towards the depths of the outside space for a long time before stopping.
He expanded his divine sense, quickly finding a safe place, and opened a cave on a massive meteorite, setting up a restriction.
All of this Han Li had already mastered, and he quickly finished, then opened the Flower Branch Space, and he and Jin Tong entered it.
"Husband, just now outside, the aura was fluctuating strongly, are you alright?" Nangong Wan saw Han Li appear and asked with concern.
She immediately saw Jin Tong behind him, her beautiful eyes sparkling, and a warm smile appeared on her face.
"You must be Jin Tong, right? Back when you hadn't transformed, we had met in the lower realm, who would have thought that you would become such a beautiful person?"
As she spoke, Nangong Wan stepped forward and grasped Jin Tong's hand.
"Master..." Jin Tong seemed a bit uncomfortable with Nangong Wan's familiarity, and his expression was a bit stiff.
"Don't call me Master, husband may be your master, but that doesn't concern me, and my cultivation is far below yours, so this title is unnecessary, just call me by my name." Nangong Wan smiled.
"Master Nangong." Jin Tong had already called Han Li "fellow Daoist", and hearing this, he didn't make any excuses, and directly changed his title, bowing.
Nangong Wan smiled and returned the bow.
"Husband, what happened just now outside?" Nangong Wan asked Han Li after greeting Jin Tong.
"It was just a bit of a conflict with someone, we fought twice, don't worry about it." Han Li waved his hand, speaking casually.
Jin Tong heard this and rolled his eyes.
It was indeed just two battles, but the opponents were a Primordial Dao Ancestor and Gu Huo, the strongest person in the world.
These two big shots in Han Li's words seemed to be somewhat insignificant.
Not long ago, they had been desperately trying to avoid Gu Huo's pursuit, almost falling.
Of course, she knew that Han Li was trying not to worry Nangong Wan.
"That's good." Nangong Wan's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, seeming to see something, but she didn't ask any more questions.
"Wan'er, we've found a place to close our eyes, and we'll be cultivating for a while..." Han Li told Nangong Wan about his plans.
"Perfect, I also want to see your mysterious space." Nangong Wan's eyes lit up, smiling.
Han Li saw this and immediately set up a formation, opening the Spirit Domain, and covering the Flower Branch Space. Then he activated the Light and Shadow Heavenly Array and the True Words Treasure Wheel.
The flow of time in the Flower Branch Space suddenly changed, speeding up by tens of millions of times.
Compared to before, his time law power had improved even more, and the time acceleration had become even faster.
"This is incredible! Time law is indeed one of the three supreme laws, today I've seen it!" Nangong Wan looked around, her face filled with wonder.
"This isn't something that ordinary time law can achieve... To sum it up, I've mastered time law, and in the entire True Immortal Realm, I'm not afraid to say that I'm second, and even the first one may not be able to match me." Han Li chuckled, joking with Nangong Wan for the first time in a long time.
Jin Tong saw Han Li, who was usually serious, joking around, and his face revealed a hint of surprise.
"You're not serious, you're not afraid of being laughed at." Nangong Wan glanced at Han Li.
"Han fellow Daoist, Nangong fellow Daoist, you can talk slowly, I'll go find a place to close my eyes." Jin Tong quickly bid farewell, flying towards the depths of the Flower Branch Space.
Han Li laughed, waving his hand, and brought Nangong Wan into the pavilion.
"Husband, is your closed eyes cultivation very important?" Nangong Wan asked.
"I must put in my full effort." Han Li nodded seriously.
"You focus on cultivating, don't worry about me." Nangong Wan smiled.
Han Li nodded, taking out a storage artifact and handing it to Nangong Wan.
"Wan'er, I don't know how long my closed eyes cultivation will take, there are some medicinal pills, immortal stones, and other cultivation resources inside, you can use this time to cultivate."
Nangong Wan didn't decline, taking the storage artifact, knowing that this was the only way to truly put her mind at ease.
After reminding Han Li not to be too impatient, she quickly left the pavilion.
Han Li watched Nangong Wan leave, then stood up, setting up a formation in the pavilion that required the Splitting Corpse Technique. The Earthly Corpse was also taken out and placed inside the formation.
Next, he carefully set up layers of restrictions around the pavilion, preventing his power from erupting and causing unnecessary shockwaves when he made his breakthrough.
After finishing all of this, he sat down, closed his eyes, and calmed his mind.
...
In front of the unnamed palace in the Heavenly Court.
Gu Huo sat in a wheelchair, holding a brownish-yellow orb.
The orb's surface had a faint yellow glow flowing around it, and it was clear that it was no ordinary object, emitting a powerful earth law.
Looking at the orb, he had a hint of a smile on his face.
However, his joyful expression quickly froze, and he closed his eyes, seeming to sense something. Here is the translated text:
A moment later, Gu Huo Jin opened his eyes, his eyebrows furrowed.
"In such a short time, they've vanished without a trace. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so cautious earlier, after all, we've reached the final step. It's not necessary to be so concerned..." Gu Huo Jin muttered to himself.
...
Inside the Flower Branch Space.
After three days and three nights of meditation and adjustment, Han Li's body and mind were in their best state.
He stood up and checked the arrangements once again, then closed his eyes and entered the spiritual realm.
"Ah, you've finally found time to visit me." Another Han Li, dressed in the same blue robes, looked at him calmly and smiled.
This person had the same aura as Han Li, without the ferocity of the evil corpse or the benevolence of the good corpse. His expression was calm and peaceful.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, sensing that this time the difficulty of severing the corpse would be much greater than before.
He walked up to the blue-robed Han Li and sat down cross-legged.
"Have you come to sever me?" the blue-robed Han Li asked with a faint smile, as if discussing something unrelated to himself.
As he spoke, he pointed a finger, and a stone table appeared between them, with two cups of clear tea on it.
"That's right," Han Li replied, picking up a cup and taking a sip.
"Ah, then do you understand what a self-corpses is and how to sever it?" the blue-robed Han Li asked, not showing any anger.
Han Li fell silent.
In fact, he knew very little about severing self-corpses, and his understanding of what a self-corpses was was not as clear as his understanding of evil corpses or good corpses.
Earlier, he had tried to obtain some information about self-corpses through the Wheel of Reincarnation mask, but the results were minimal. Most of the information was vague and did not involve the actual process of severing.
After all, severing a self-corpses was the final step in the Great Luo realm's three corpses, and only those who had reached the Dao Ancestor realm or were peak Great Luo realm cultivators could understand the process.
Such people, even if they had recorded their experiences and methods, would not easily pass them down to others.
"A self-corpses is oneself, and to sever it, one must sever one's own self," the blue-robed Han Li said, seeming to see through Han Li's thoughts.
"You're actually telling me this, which is quite unexpected," Han Li said, his eyes flashing.
"This is something you'll naturally understand when you reach that step, and there's no need to hide it. Besides, even if you know this, it's still extremely difficult to sever me," the blue-robed Han Li said with a smile.
"You're quite confident," Han Li said, his eyes narrowing.
"Then I'll ask you, are you willing to kill your own companions to sever me? For example, the Gold Child outside?" the blue-robed Han Li asked.
"Why would I need to kill my friends to sever a self-corpses?" Han Li asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Or kill your own wife?" the blue-robed Han Li asked, ignoring Han Li's question.
Han Li's face darkened, and he didn't respond.
"Or kill your own parents?" the blue-robed Han Li continued.
"I think it's better to kill you," Han Li suddenly said, his fist flying towards the blue-robed Han Li.
A giant golden fist, the size of a mountain, appeared in front of the blue-robed Han Li, striking down fiercely.
The blue-robed Han Li shook his head and sighed, his sleeve fluttering as he extended a white hand, his fingers shining with golden light.
With a loud crash, the hand grasped the golden fist, stopping it from moving.
Han Li saw this and immediately struck out with his other hand.
At the same time, golden light erupted from his body, and the Time Domain appeared, covering the blue-robed Han Li.
The blue-robed Han Li's body also shone with golden light, and a Time Domain appeared around him.
Han Li's other fist struck the blue-robed Han Li's domain, but it was like hitting a stone wall, with no effect.
The two domains clashed, their power evenly matched, and they remained locked in a stalemate.
"You and I have the same cultivation and divine abilities, so why waste our energy? To sever me, you should first understand what a self-corpses is," the blue-robed Han Li said with a faint smile.
Han Li ignored the blue-robed Han Li's words and pointed a finger.
Dozens of lightning sword lights shot out, changing and transforming into thousands of golden lights and countless lightning bolts, striking towards the blue-robed Han Li.
The blue-robed Han Li's eyebrows furrowed, and he made a hand seal, summoning hundreds of golden lightning sword lights to counterattack.
The two of them clashed in the spiritual realm, their power evenly matched, as the blue-robed Han Li had said.
In the blink of an eye, ten days passed.
The two of them were exhausted, gasping for breath, and unable to continue fighting, so they stopped.
Han Li let out a low hum, his body disappearing from the spiritual realm.
His consciousness returned to his physical body, his spirit feeling extremely fatigued.
The struggle with the self-corpses in the spiritual realm was mostly a contest of spiritual energy, which put a huge burden on the spirit.
Han Li's face changed, and he finally let out a sigh, closing his eyes once again.
Ten days later, Han Li reappeared in the Spiritual Realm.
"Friend Han, you've come again today, are you looking for another fight?" The blue-robed Han Li, with his eyes shining brightly, stood up and smiled.
"Indeed, but before that, I have something to ask you." Han Li said slowly.
"What is it that you want to ask? Go ahead and speak." The blue-robed Han Li replied, his hands clasped behind his back.
"You said last time that to sever the self, one must kill friends, wives, and parents. What did you mean by that?" Han Li's eyes narrowed, staring intently at his opponent.
"Ah, that's something you'll have to figure out for yourself." The blue-robed Han Li chuckled, shaking his head, clearly knowing the answer but not willing to share it.
Han Li fell silent for a moment, then suddenly charged forward, unleashing a powerful punch.
A massive golden fist shadow appeared, carrying a destructive force that threatened to annihilate everything.
The blue-robed Han Li's face remained unchanged, his body radiating a brilliant golden light. With a swift movement, a massive palm shadow appeared, resembling a wave crashing against the shore.
The golden fist shadow struck the layered palm shadows, breaking through hundreds of them, but its power was greatly diminished, and it was ultimately shattered by the blue-robed Han Li's single palm strike.
Just then, a flash of lightning appeared behind him, and Han Li's figure suddenly materialized, his fists striking like the wind.
Two massive Five Elements Annihilation Fists descended, their speed faster than before, instantly reaching the blue-robed Han Li's head.
However, the blue-robed Han Li's body rapidly spun, releasing a multitude of golden lights that formed a whirlwind-like barrier around him.
The two massive fists struck the barrier, but they were repelled, flying back out.
The golden barrier trembled violently, then disappeared.
"Haha, I understand now. You're trying to refine your control over the laws through our battles, aren't you? Your cultivation has progressed too quickly, and your control over the immense power within you is insufficient. If you want to contend with the ancients or the moderns, you must make up for this deficiency. Fighting me is indeed a good way to do so." The blue-robed Han Li's figure floated backward, laughing.
Han Li's eyes flashed, but he didn't respond.
The blue-robed Han Li's words were indeed one of Han Li's goals.
However, he had another purpose: to gather information about the self through his interactions with the blue-robed Han Li.
As long as they maintained close proximity, Han Li could discern something from his opponent, regardless of how tight-lipped he was.
Han Li's thoughts turned, and he charged forward once more, his fists and palms moving in tandem, unleashing a flurry of attacks.
The blue-robed Han Li's hands danced, his body radiating golden lights that transformed into various shapes, deflecting Han Li's attacks.
"Just be careful, for if I seize the opportunity, I'll annihilate you here, and this body will be mine. As for the name 'Han Li,' it won't change, for I am you, and you are me." The blue-robed Han Li smiled, his eyes gleaming with a profound, unsettling depth.
"You can try." Han Li said, charging forward once more.
The two continued to fight, their battle raging on for days, until they were both exhausted, and only then did they stop.
Days passed, and Han Li, having recovered, entered the Spiritual Realm once more, engaging in a fierce battle with the blue-robed Han Li.
This cycle of fighting and stopping continued, with time passing in the blink of an eye, until ten thousand years had elapsed.
In the Spiritual Realm, two blurry golden figures clashed, their movements lightning-fast, leaving behind a trail of afterimages.
Punches, palm strikes, sword energies, and dark lights filled the air, colliding and intersecting in a blur of speed and power.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion shook the Spiritual Realm, and the two figures retreated, revealing Han Li and the blue-robed Han Li.
Han Li's body radiated a frantic golden light, and he unleashed a single, powerful punch.
A multitude of golden fist shadows erupted from his body, not just from his fists, but from his entire being.
Each fist shadow was a massive Five Elements Annihilation Fist, varying in size and length, intertwining to form a colossal net that enveloped the Spiritual Realm.
The overwhelming power and law energy permeated the space, making it impossible to avoid.
The blue-robed Han Li stood still, not dodging, his sleeves fluttering as he extended a finger, shouting: "Annihilation!"
A massive, earth-shaking roar filled the Spiritual Realm, and the surroundings turned a dark, grayish hue.
An absolute, boundless power emerged, colliding with the countless fist shadows.
A thunderous explosion shook the Spiritual Realm, and the fist shadows shattered, restoring the space to its original color.
Han Li and the blue-robed Han Li stumbled backward, their bodies trembling, still evenly matched.
Han Li's expression turned somber, as if he had lost interest, and he didn't continue the fight. "What, aren't you going to continue fighting?" The blue-robed Han Li also didn't take the initiative to attack.
"I won't have much hope of winning if we keep fighting, I'll take my leave for today." Han Li waved his hand, and his body flashed, disappearing from sight.
After over 10,000 years of fighting, the relationship between the two had undergone a subtle change.
In reality, the two were almost identical in terms of their cultivation and strength, and even their personalities were similar. Now, after so many years of fighting, they had developed a sense of being both enemies and friends.
The blue-robed Han Li watched as Han Li left, then turned around and flew towards the depths of his spiritual realm.
Han Li's consciousness returned to his body, and he felt a slight fatigue, so he closed his eyes and took a moment to regulate his breathing.
After recovering, he didn't enter his spiritual realm again. These years of fighting with his "self" had allowed him to grasp the limits of his control over time, and continuing to fight wouldn't bring any further progress.
Furthermore, during this time, he had also gained a deeper understanding of his own "self" from his "self".
As he pondered, Han Li flipped his hand, and a book appeared in his hand.
The book was completely black, seemingly made from some kind of beast skin, and was very old, giving off a feeling of having been washed by countless years of time.
This was something he had obtained by chance through the Wheel of Reincarnation, a rare book said to be written by a descendant of a Dao Ancestor, recording some of the Dao Ancestor's strange and unusual experiences.
The part that interested him the most was the section about the Dao Ancestor's final severing of his own "self".
Although it was only a few pages long, with only a few hundred words, it had made him think deeply, and he had gained some insights from it that he had never considered before.
For example, the Dao Ancestor had spent nearly a thousand years searching for the true meaning of "self" before severing his own "self", even going so far as to return to his original sect's ruins, where he had sat in meditation for a hundred days.
In Han Li's view, this was perhaps the Dao Ancestor's way of trying to find his original aspiration for cultivating the Dao, in order to help him discover and sever his own "self". It was somewhat similar to hiding in the mortal world, and had a certain unique charm to it.
Jin Tong had also had some exchanges with him over the past 10,000 years, but Jin Tong hadn't severed his own "self" in this life, so his help was limited.
Han Li quickly flipped through the black book, "slamming" it shut, and stood up, seemingly having made some kind of decision. He left the attic, and went outside.
Nangong Wan had also built an attic outside, where she was sitting in meditation.
After 10,000 years of bitter cultivation, combined with the rich resources Han Li had given her, and the abundant heavenly energy in the Flower Petal Space, Nangong Wan's cultivation had reached the peak of the True Immortal realm, and she was only one step away from becoming a Gold Immortal.
Han Li nodded slightly, and sent a transmission.
Nangong Wan immediately stopped her cultivation, and came outside.
"Husband, have you finished your cultivation? Have you made any progress?"
"Not yet, the gains have been limited, I'm thinking of going out for a walk. Will you come with me?" Han Li said, taking Nangong Wan's hand.
"Okay, I've never traveled the world since I ascended to the True Immortal realm." Nangong Wan smiled.
"I'll be leaving the Flower Petal Space, and the accelerated space will disappear. Will you come with me, Gold Immortal?" Han Li asked, turning to Jin Tong's closed-off area.
"I won't be a bother, you two go on your trip." Jin Tong's voice came from afar.
Han Li didn't force the issue, and dispersed the spiritual realm, bringing Nangong Wan to the outside of the Tianwai Space.
Nangong Wan had never seen such a scene before, and her face was filled with surprise.
Han Li waved his hand, and a beam of golden light appeared, lifting Nangong Wan's body. As he flew forward, he explained the situation to her.
After flying for half a month, he descended downwards, and soon arrived on the ground.
This was a black sea, with waves crashing against the shore, and very little spiritual energy.
In the distance, a small island could be seen, with many residents, and a bustling atmosphere. However, the entire island was surrounded by a powerful seal, which seemed to be sealing off the island.
"This scenery is quite unique, but I wonder what place this is?" Nangong Wan asked curiously.
"This is the Black Wind Sea, and that island is called the Wumeng Island. I came here the second time I ascended to the True Immortal realm." Han Li looked at the sea and the island, a nostalgic expression on his face.
Han Li had previously told Nangong Wan about the Black Wind Island, and she carefully examined the scene before her, trying to match it with what she had heard before.
Han Li moved, and landed on the sea surface near the island, walking on the waves. He looked around, seemingly searching for something.
Nangong Wan saw Han Li's actions, and didn't disturb him.
Han Li walked around the island for a while, before returning to the air.
"Let's go."
Han Li didn't say anything else, and brought Nangong Wan to a certain direction.
He flew slowly, seemingly thinking about something as he flew. Occasionally, he would tell Nangong Wan about his experiences in the places they passed through.
After a few days, they arrived at a large island, which was the Black Wind Island.
Nangong Wan didn't wait for Han Li to explain, and had already recognized the place from the signs on the Black Wind City.
"Is this the Black Wind City, the city that connects to the outside world, where you stayed in the past?" Nangong Wan asked, her eyes sparkling with laughter.
Han Li looked at the Black Wind City in front of him, feeling a sense of nostalgia. "Yes, it's been many years since I've returned, and it seems that not much has changed here."
After the Reincarnation Hall invaded the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, the daily life of the city seemed to have been unaffected.
In fact, looking back, the Reincarnation Hall had been secretly developing in the True Immortal Realm for many years, gradually becoming a powerful force that could rival the Heavenly Court. Its relationships with various factions were complex, but for ordinary low- to mid-level cultivators, as well as mortals, it didn't seem to have any significant impact.
If even these people could feel it, it would mean that this force was preparing to emerge from the shadows.
As he thought about it, he brought Nangong Wan into the city, strolling along the streets and gazing at the surroundings. His eyes sparkled with interest.
"Husband, what are you looking at?" Nangong Wan asked curiously.
"I'm currently facing the critical juncture of decapitating the corpse, and I need to focus on my cultivation. I plan to revisit the places I walked through after ascending to the True Immortal Realm, recalling my past experiences and using them to temper my mind," Han Li explained.
Nangong Wan's current cultivation level was insufficient, and she didn't fully understand Han Li's words. However, she trusted him and nodded without saying anything.
Han Li spent two days in Black Wind City with Nangong Wan, recounting his past experiences and associating them with the scenery. Nangong Wan listened with great interest.
After leaving Black Wind City, they crossed the Desolate Wind and arrived at the outskirts of the vast wilderness, continuing to follow Han Li's past trail.
Half a year later, they passed through the ancient land of the Candlesnake Dao.
This place was also where Han Li had formally entered the True Immortal Realm, and he had spent a long time cultivating here. It could be considered his second hometown in the immortal realm.
What surprised him was that the Candlesnake Dao, which had once been renowned in the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, was now deserted, with few people inside, and the disciples were dwindling. There were also signs of battles in various places, and it was no longer as prosperous as it once was.
Han Li used his divine sense to investigate and soon discovered the reason.
The Northern Cold Immortal Domain was a small domain, but the Candlesnake Dao had originally been one of the three major cultivation forces within it, with a relatively deep foundation. However, due to the incident with Baili Yan, the Heavenly Court had attacked, and later, the Ming Han Immortal Palace had suffered heavy losses. The Candlesnake Dao's power had been severely damaged, and it had begun to decline.
Of course, the Cang Liu Palace and the Fu Ling Sect had also been affected in this battle.
Later, when the Gray Boundary invaded the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, the three sects had responded poorly and suffered another heavy blow, resulting in their current downfall.
Han Li sighed inwardly, using his stealth technique to bring Nangong Wan into the Candlesnake Dao. They arrived at the Red Cloud Peak, where he had once resided.
The place had not changed much since his departure, and it seemed to have been abandoned, with no one else living there.
Han Li sat down at the peak, recalling his past experiences in the Candlesnake Dao. He remembered his determination to comprehend the Time Laws, his eagerness to find the Crab Daoist, and his anxiety and fear of the pursuing soldiers.
He stored these emotions in his heart, repeatedly recalling them. The memories from back then became increasingly clear.
His past self was like a mirror, reflecting his true self.
Han Li continued to recall his past experiences, gradually gaining a deeper understanding of his own heart and slowly comprehending what it meant to be himself.
Nangong Wan did not disturb Han Li, silently sitting beside him.
They sat there for half a month, and on the day the sun set, Han Li finally stood up, a faint smile on his lips.
Nangong Wan looked at Han Li, a hint of surprise in her eyes.
Han Li's expression and demeanor seemed to have changed, but she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
"It seems that husband's words about cultivating the heart are true, and the cultivation of the Mahayana Realm is indeed profound," Nangong Wan thought to herself.
"Let's go," Han Li said calmly, waving his sleeve and releasing a burst of golden light that enveloped the two of them, breaking through the air and flying away.
...
The Yuanhuang City, located on the outskirts of the Northern Cold Immortal Domain, was like a giant beast lying in wait, blocking everything outside.
Outside the city was a vast desert, with sand dunes stretching as far as the eye could see, a boundless expanse of yellow sand that seemed to stretch on forever.
Han Li and Nangong Wan sat in the void, gazing at the city below and the distant desert.
...
In the wilderness between the Northern Cold Immortal Domain and the Black Mountain Immortal Domain, two figures flew by, their speed varying between slow and fast. They seemed to be appreciating the scenery below.
...
The Floating Cloud Mountain Range in the Black Mountain Immortal Domain, the Wild Crane Valley.
The Black Mountain Immortal Domain was adjacent to the Northern Cold Immortal Domain and had been heavily affected by the Gray Boundary's invasion.
The Wild Crane Valley was now desolate, with no one living there. Mo Wu Xue and Yu Zi Qi, who had chosen to stay behind, were also nowhere to be found.
Han Li and Nangong Wan sat on the stone platform where they had often gathered in the past, sipping fine wine.
...
The Black Earth Immortal Domain, the Illusory Smoke Marsh.
Han Li and Nangong Wan walked through the marsh, surrounded by swirling white mist. However, the mist seemed to be ordinary water vapor, and as soon as it touched them, it automatically parted to either side.
Han Li's eyes sparkled with interest as he gazed at the scenery. Here is the translated text:
"This is the entrance to the True Speech Sect's ruins, but where's the hallucinatory smoke?" Nangong Wan said.
"That kind of fog only appears at specific times." Han Li said.
His appearance was unchanged from the past, but the aura he emitted had undergone a great transformation, and his expression revealed a sharp, cutting sensation, as if he could sever everything.
A pressure that couldn't be described or explained emanated from Han Li, and all living creatures within a hundred miles around him hid in the swamp, trembling with fear.
"Husband, do you think we can still enter the True Speech Sect's ruins? I'm still very curious about it." Nangong Wan said.
"The True Speech Sect's ruins have been devoured by a spatial rift, and it's probably been completely destroyed. It's unlikely we'll be able to see it again." Han Li shook his head.
"Then where are we going next? Are we going to continue to the Gray Realm? But now that the True Speech Sect's ruins have disappeared, how can we get to the Gray Realm?" Nangong Wan said.
"We're not going to the Gray Realm." Han Li shook his head.
In the past, they had been able to go to the Gray Realm because the Gray Realm had opened a spatial passage connecting it to their location. Now, the passage had been destroyed, and the Gray Realm was in a very distant realm, different from the Demon Realm. Even with Han Li's current cultivation, it wouldn't be easy to get there.
Not only the Gray Realm, but the Demon Realm was also off-limits.
After the defeat of the Crab Daoist, the Demon Realm had fallen into the hands of the Demon Lord. If Han Li were to go there now, he would likely get into big trouble if the Demon Lord were to discover him.
Han Li's expression turned contemplative, and he thought about whether he should try to cut off his own corpse. After these days of reflection and refinement, he had gained a deeper understanding of himself, and he was confident that he could cut off his own corpse.
Just then, a flash of light appeared on the horizon, flying towards them.
Han Li glanced at it, but didn't find it strange.
The Illusory Smoke Swamp was rich in spiritual energy and produced many rare treasures. When the hallucinatory smoke wasn't present, many cultivators would enter the swamp to search for treasures. Han Li had already encountered many people on the road.
Han Li didn't want to meet outsiders, lest it disrupt his contemplative state, and he was about to leave with Nangong Wan.
But then his eyes flashed, and he revealed a surprised expression. He waved his hand, and a beam of golden light shot out, carrying Nangong Wan towards the flash of light.
The cultivator inside the flash of light saw Han Li's majestic aura approaching and was startled, stopping in mid-air. He revealed himself to be an old man in white robes.
The golden light flashed, and Han Li and Nangong Wan appeared.
"Li, is that you!" the old man exclaimed, his face filled with surprise.
"Hello, Hu Yan Daoist, it's been a long time! I didn't expect to meet you again here." Han Li smiled.
This old man was none other than Hu Yan Daoist.
"I also didn't expect to meet you here. Your cultivation has made great progress, I can barely sense it. What realm have you reached?" Hu Yan Daoist asked, sizing Han Li up.
"Over the years, I've experienced many things, and my cultivation has improved somewhat. But Hu Yan Daoist, your cultivation seems to have declined. Have you encountered any problems in your cultivation?" Han Li asked.
Hu Yan Daoist's current cultivation had fallen to the True Immortal Realm, and only mid-stage at that.
"Ha ha, power and wealth are just fleeting clouds, and cultivation is just dust. It's all just trivial matters." Hu Yan Daoist laughed, seemingly unconcerned about his declined cultivation.
"Ah, Hu Yan Daoist, you're still as carefree as ever. I'm inferior to you, and I admire you." Han Li's heart stirred, and he smiled.
Hu Yan Daoist's words were similar to the insights Han Li had gained from his contemplation, and they seemed to be on an even higher level.
"What carefree? I'm just drunk all the time, and my brain is rotten. I don't care about anything." Hu Yan Daoist laughed and scolded himself.
Nangong Wan saw the two of them laughing and chatting, and although she smiled, she was inwardly shocked.
The Han Li she remembered was always very formal and rarely joked with people.
And it was clear that the two of them had a very good relationship.
"Ah, look at me, I'm so caught up in talking to you that I forgot to ask, who is this immortal maiden?" Hu Yan Daoist asked, looking at Nangong Wan and then at Han Li with a meaningful gaze.
"This is Wan'er, my Dao companion. Wan'er, this is Hu Yan Daoist, who helped me a lot in the past." Han Li introduced them.
"Ah, so you're Hu Yan Daoist. I've heard a lot about you. I'm Nangong Wan, and my husband has told me about your kindness to him." Nangong Wan bowed slightly.
"Immortal Maiden Nangong, it's a pleasure to meet you." Hu Yan Daoist winked at Han Li and bowed to Nangong Wan.
"Ah, Hu Yan Daoist, it's been a long time. Shall we find a place to drink some wine together?" Han Li asked with a smile.
"Why find a place? If you two don't mind, why don't you come to my humble abode and stay for a while?" Hu Yan Daoist smiled.
"Sounds good! Let's go to your place and have a cup of wine. I hope your winemaking skills haven't declined over the years." Han Li agreed readily, and Hu Yan Daoist was overjoyed.
"Ha ha, my winemaking skills are still improving every day! Let's go!"
Hu Yan Daoist led them out of the Illusory Smoke Swamp, and they flew towards a mountain range in the distance.
The mountain range that appeared before Han Li and the others was vast and undulating, with numerous towering peaks that pierced the clouds. However, the surrounding spiritual energy was not particularly dense, and as a result, there were not many fierce beasts or demonic creatures. The area seemed somewhat barren and lacking in vitality.
Places like this, with nothing of value to be found, were naturally not often visited by cultivators.
As soon as Huo Yan entered the mountain range, he seemed to relax greatly, occasionally breaking into a loud and cheerful poem, or pointing out some interesting sights to Han Li and the others.
Han Li was initially uninterested, but seeing Nan Gong Wan listening intently and occasionally interjecting with her own discoveries, Huo Yan was overjoyed.
Han Li then focused his attention on Huo Yan's current state, and found that it was quite pleasant. He occasionally offered his own insights, which, due to their different perspectives, sparked a discussion between Huo Yan and Nan Gong Wan.
The three of them chatted and laughed as they wandered through the mountains, eventually stopping at a secluded peak.
In reality, Han Li had sensed that this peak was unusual even from a distance.
It wasn't that the peak was vastly different from the surrounding mountains, but rather that it was protected by a series of ingenious restrictions. It was likely that cultivators below the Taiyi realm would not be able to discover them, let alone break through.
Huo Yan produced a white token and lightly waved it, releasing a beam of white light that vanished into the void at the foot of the mountain.
The void rippled slightly, and a white fissure appeared, revealing a hazy white interior that was impossible to discern.
"Please, follow me," Huo Yan said, leading the two into the white fissure.
Han Li felt the scenery around him change dramatically, and suddenly found himself in a secluded and picturesque valley.
The valley was home to several elegant bamboo buildings, surrounded by a bamboo forest and a clear stream that flowed into a pond. The atmosphere was serene and peaceful, with numerous immortal birds and beasts living in the forest and by the stream.
On the other side of the valley, there were several fields and gardens filled with rare and exotic flowers. Two figures were busy tending to the plants.
"Ah!"
As Han Li and the others approached, the two figures looked up and began to walk towards them.
One of them was Yun Ni, and the other was a stunningly beautiful girl.
Han Li was familiar with the girl, who was none other than Bai Su Xian.
It had been many years since they last met, and Yun Ni and Bai Su Xian had both made significant progress in their cultivation. Yun Ni had reached the late stage of the Golden Immortal realm, while Bai Su Xian had actually reached the Golden Immortal realm as well, with an aura that was both mysterious and impressive.
"I wondered who it could be," Yun Ni said with a smile, approaching Han Li. "For years, I've been expecting your return, and every time I drink wine, I think of you."
"Yun Ni, it's been a long time," Han Li replied, bowing slightly.
"Senior Li, I've never forgotten the great kindness you showed me when you took me to the Zhu Long Dao," Bai Su Xian said, her eyes shining with gratitude. "Please accept my respects."
Han Li smiled and raised his hand, and Bai Su Xian's body was lifted by an invisible force, standing up without her noticing.
She was taken aback, and then glanced at Han Li twice, before smiling at Nan Gong Wan and seeming to wonder how she had managed to attach herself to Li Fei Yu.
Yun Ni's eyes, however, flashed with shock, as he realized that Han Li was able to lift a Golden Immortal with such ease, a feat that even a typical Taiyi realm cultivator could not accomplish.
Han Li then introduced Nan Gong Wan to Yun Ni and Bai Su Xian, and they exchanged greetings before entering one of the bamboo buildings.
The interior was spacious and elegantly decorated, with a view of the entire valley that was breathtakingly beautiful.
As they sat down, Han Li asked Huo Yan why they had chosen to live in this place.
Huo Yan sighed and began to explain. "We originally lived in a secluded area of the North Cold Immortal Domain, but a large group of gray immortals suddenly invaded, causing chaos in the immortal realm. Our home was affected, and we were forced to flee. Unfortunately, our friend Feng Yi was killed, and we had to go through a lot of trouble to eventually end up in the Black Soil Immortal Domain."
Yun Ni and Bai Su Xian's expressions turned somber as they listened to Huo Yan's words.
Han Li also sighed inwardly, thinking about the turmoil in the immortal realm. Many immortal domains had been affected, making the already treacherous path of cultivation even more difficult. Those with weak cultivation were often at risk of being killed, and their years of effort could be reduced to nothing.
As the official authority of the immortal realm, the Heavenly Court was still preparing for the so-called Bodhi Banquet, and the various immortal domains were also actively planning for the event. It seemed that they were not particularly concerned with the fate of smaller, less important domains. Perhaps in the eyes of the great powers in the Da Luo Realm, and even some of the Dao Ancestors, the low-ranking cultivators in the True Immortal Realm are like ants, their lives and deaths are of no consequence.
"We arrived at the Hei Tu Xian Domain and heard that the Huan Yan Swamp was once the site of the True Speech Sect's ruins. After the Heavenly Court destroyed it thousands of years ago, the place was abandoned, and we decided to settle here. You can see that the environment is not bad, right?" Hu Yan Dao Ren continued.
"The winding path leads to a secluded valley, with mountain light and pond shadows, it's a true paradise on earth." Han Li nodded, looking back at Nan Gong Wan, who was also looking at him with a hint of expectation in her eyes, but it was fleeting.
Han Li sighed inwardly, quietly extending a hand to gently pat Nan Gong Wan's palm.
He knew that Nan Gong Wan had endured hardships to reach the True Immortal Realm from the Ling Realm, and although she had the same desire for immortality, a large part of her reason was to be with him.
Nan Gong Wan didn't say it out loud, but Han Li, as someone who had gone through similar experiences, knew that she had a deep-seated weariness.
Who would have thought that after cultivating in the mortal realm and the Ling Realm, and finally achieving true immortality, it was only the beginning of another, even more difficult and longer path?
Even more so, one that seemed endless...
But this woman had always been strong-willed and able to see the big picture, knowing that Han Li's current situation left him no choice but to move forward, and that he couldn't stay by her side for long.
During their recent travels, Han Li had felt Nan Gong Wan's deep affection for him, and her treasured moments with him.
Whenever he thought about it, he felt a warm sensation in his heart.
Nan Gong Wan seemed to sense the emotions in Han Li's eyes, and nodded slightly, her gaze filled with determination.
The two exchanged a glance, which lasted only a breath, but conveyed more than a thousand words.
Hu Yan Dao Ren then asked Han Li about his experiences over the years. Since they had been avoiding the world and living in seclusion, they hadn't seen the news about the Heavenly Court pursuing Han Li.
Han Li didn't want to involve them in his affairs, so he only said that he had been cultivating in the Hei Shan Xian Domain, and didn't mention anything else. He said that he had come to the Huan Yan Swamp to explore the True Speech Sect's ruins.
"Hu Yan Dao Ren, you mentioned earlier that the Heavenly Court destroyed the True Speech Sect's ruins thousands of years ago. What exactly happened?" Han Li asked.
"Ah, it's a story I gathered from the nearby sects. Apparently, several groups of people came, including the Heavenly Court, and searched the True Speech Sect's ruins inside and out. They seemed to be looking for something. In the end, they destroyed the place, including the spirit vein." Bai Su Yuan spoke up, having been quietly listening until now.
"It's indeed typical of the Heavenly Court's actions... Let's not discuss this further. Hu Yan Dao Ren, why has your cultivation declined so much?" Han Li changed the subject, asking about Hu Yan Dao Ren's cultivation.
Yun Ni's expression changed, but she didn't speak.
Bai Su Yuan, who was sitting beside her, lowered her head.
"It's nothing. When I first arrived at the Hei Tu Xian Domain, I encountered an enemy who was evenly matched with me. We fought, and I injured him, but he also wounded me, which led to my cultivation decline." Hu Yan Dao Ren smiled, seemingly unconcerned about his cultivation decline.
"I see." Han Li nodded, knowing that Hu Yan Dao Ren's casual words hid some unspoken secrets, but he didn't press the issue.
"Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's focus on the main topic. Li, I've gathered some spiritual materials from the Hei Tu Xian Domain and brewed some good wine. Let's taste it together." Hu Yan Dao Ren stood up, smiling.
"Ah, Hu Yan, times have changed, and people have changed. Why do you still use the old nickname to address Li?" Yun Ni felt uneasy, seeing Hu Yan Dao Ren call Han Li "little Li", and quickly intervened.
"It's just a nickname, Li. If you can't see through it, you wouldn't have achieved your current level in such a short time." Hu Yan Dao Ren laughed.
"Ha ha, Hu Yan Dao Ren is right! Today, we're all old friends, and we should only talk about the wind and the moon, and drink to our hearts' content. Why bother with cultivation ranks?" Han Li laughed.
Yun Ni looked surprised, but quickly relaxed, a hint of a smile on her face. Bai Su Yuan's gaze shifted between Hu Yan Dao Ren and Han Li, her expression more relaxed, but her eyes showed even more respect for Han Li.
Hu Yan Dao Ren then invited Yun Ni and Bai Su Yuan to accompany Nan Gong Wan to explore the valley, while he took Han Li to a secluded area with a small pavilion.
The pavilion looked unassuming, but inside, it was filled with an astonishing array of wine jugs, wine jars, and wine cups, even more impressive than before.
Hu Yan Dao Ren became like a different person, enthusiastically introducing Han Li to his latest wine collection, and the various wine-making techniques he had learned.
For Han Li, it was as if the Hu Yan Dao Ren of old had returned, the one who wielded his sword and laughed at the world, and who had a deep love for wine.
Han Li finally felt that the Hu Yan Dao Ren he had known was back, and he couldn't help but smile.
"Haha, it seems that Huyan Daoist's harvest over the years is indeed not small, and he can enjoy these fine wines and jade dew every day, earning him the title of 'Wine Immortal'." Han Li said with a smile.
"Ah, I have collected many fine wines, but unfortunately, I have no one to share them with. Today, you young one has arrived, and I can finally drink to my heart's content." Huyan Daoist laughed.
"Of course, I'll accompany you." Han Li naturally wouldn't refuse.
The two sat down at the table, and Huyan Daoist took out the fine wines he had collected over the years. As they chatted about their experiences, they drank freely.
Soon, both of them were somewhat intoxicated.
Han Li mentioned the scene he had witnessed at the Candle Dragon Dao a while back.
Huyan Daoist had stayed at the Candle Dragon Dao for a longer time than Han Li, and his emotions were more deeply rooted. Upon hearing Han Li's words, he was shocked and couldn't help but sigh.
"Once this great calamity passes, Huyan Daoist, if you have the heart, you can return to the Northern Cold Immortal Domain and revive the Candle Dragon Dao. Don't worry about resources, I can lend you a hand." Han Li said, seeing the look on Huyan Daoist's face.
His "True Word Transformation Scripture" had come from the Candle Dragon Dao, and he had a few ties to the place.
With his current cultivation and wealth, reviving the Candle Dragon Dao was a trivial matter. A while back, when he was at the Candle Dragon Dao, he had focused on cultivating and hadn't had time to attend to this matter.
"Haha, you young one has a big mouth, it seems you really have some abilities. However, the rise and fall of all things are governed by their natural order, and the same applies to the prosperity and decline of sects. One shouldn't interfere, and we'll see about it in the future." Huyan Daoist looked at Han Li in surprise, then smiled faintly and raised his cup to drink.
"Huyan Daoist's personality is still the same, but his actions have changed greatly since the past." Han Li's eyebrows twitched, and he said thoughtfully.
"After experiencing so many things, especially the great decline in my power, I've come to realize that many things are just fleeting clouds. Grudges and favors are all just clouds. It's pointless to think too much about them, and it's better to just enjoy the wine and sing." Huyan Daoist laughed.
"Grudges and favors are all just clouds... all just clouds..." Han Li muttered.
"Now, I am no longer the same person I was in the past. As for the future, I don't know what it holds, and I don't want to know. I've long since stopped being attached to my future self. As the saying goes, 'Today, I have wine, today, I am drunk'!" Huyan Daoist shook his head, swaying back and forth, and poured himself another cup.
"That's right, it's not just grudges and favors, but also friendships, love, suffering, and joy. They're all just the mind's attachment to the past, present, and future. In reality, they're not worth worrying about, and it's not worth dwelling on." Han Li's eyes flashed with insight, and he muttered to himself.
Huyan Daoist looked at Han Li with an empty wine cup, his gaze strange and puzzled.
"Similarly, the flesh is born from the essence of the father and the blood of the mother. From the moment one embarks on the path of cultivation, one absorbs the energy of heaven and earth, and the flesh and blood of the body are constantly changing. Even at my current level, I am changing every moment." Han Li said, his eyes slowly brightening.
"Since we shouldn't be attached to the flesh and consciousness, I am not I, you are not you, and he is not he. We are all just illusions, just fleeting clouds. However, these illusions are not nonexistent, just like how I am here drinking with you now, everything has its cause and follows its natural order..." Han Li continued.
Huyan Daoist shook his head, not paying attention to Han Li, and drank three more cups of wine on his own.
"Thank you, Huyan Daoist." Han Li stood up suddenly, bowing to Huyan Daoist.
"Hey, young one, what are you doing?" Huyan Daoist saw this and also stood up quickly.
"Huyan Daoist's words just now resolved a knot in my cultivation." Han Li didn't explain further.
Huyan Daoist listened to Han Li's words, and he didn't say much, just laughing loudly.
The two of them didn't discuss cultivation anymore, and they drank and reminisced about the past, chatting about the vast expanse of the immortal path.
Those fine wines were all infused with spiritual energy, and many of them contained boundless immortal energy. With Huyan Daoist's current cultivation level, he naturally became drunk quickly.
Han Li helped Huyan Daoist to bed, and his divine sense scanned Huyan Daoist's body, his brow furrowed in concern. Then, he pushed the door open and walked out.
The sky was already completely dark, with a bright, white moon hanging in the air like a silver plate, casting a large patch of silver light.
The valley was quiet, with the pavilion next door already dark and still. Nangong Wan and Yun Nie seemed to have both retired for the night.
Han Li hadn't seen such a peaceful night in a long time, and he couldn't help but stroll around the valley, enjoying the rare tranquility.
"Senior Li." A voice came from in front of him, and a white-clad figure emerged from the bamboo forest nearby. It was Bai Suxian.
She was wearing a white long dress, and her beauty was even more striking.
"Suxian, why are you still not resting at this late hour?" Han Li asked.
"Senior Li, with your profound cultivation, you should have already seen Huyan Daoist's current condition, right?" Bai Suxian asked after a moment of silence.
"Huyan Daoist's body has suffered severe damage to his primordial energy, and it doesn't seem to be due to injury. This situation, I've seen before in some cultivation techniques."
"You're right, Senior Li. Huyan Daoist's cultivation has indeed declined greatly, but it's not because of an injury. It's all because of me." Bai Suxian said softly.
Han Li didn't show any surprise, standing quietly and waiting for her to continue.
"Huyan Daoist did indeed fight with someone and was injured, but it didn't affect his foundation. Originally, he would have recovered after a period of cultivation. However, I was seeking revenge for my master's death at the time, and I didn't prepare properly before attempting to break through to the Golden Immortal realm. As a result, my meridians were severely damaged, and I almost lost my life. Huyan Daoist, in order to save me, disregarded his own injuries and used his primordial energy to help me suppress the damage. Later, he even helped me break through, but he himself ended up with a severely damaged body and a decline in his cultivation." Bai Suxian said sorrowfully.
"I see," Han Li sighed.
Bai Suxian took a step forward and knelt down in front of Han Li.
"Huyan Daoist's condition requires a Taoyi realm expert to treat, and Senior Li, you have already reached the Taoyi realm. I beg of you, please lend a hand and help him. I am willing to become your servant or maid to repay your kindness." Bai Suxian's eyes were filled with tears, and her voice was trembling.
Han Li's eyebrows twitched, and he waved his sleeve.
Bai Suxian's body was lifted by a gentle force, and she stood up.
"I am an old acquaintance of Huyan Daoist, and he just helped me with a big favor. You don't need to ask, I will help him recover." Han Li said calmly.
He took out a white jade bottle and handed it to Bai Suxian. Bai Su'yan was both startled and delighted, nervously receiving the medicine bottle, a refreshing and fragrant aroma wafting out through the bottle wall.
Her spirit was greatly lifted, and the immortal energy within her body began to stir, her heart filled with joy once again.
"There are ten pills of Xianzhi Zengyuan Dan inside the bottle, which can best make up for the loss of your original energy. Let Huayan Daoist take one pill every ten days, and within two months, his energy will be restored. As for his cultivation, as long as he diligently practices, he will quickly recover to his original state," Han Li said.
"Thank you, Elder Lian," Bai Su'yan was overjoyed, bowing again to thank him.
"You can go, I quite like the moonlight here, I'd like to take a look," Han Li said calmly, waving his hand, and then continued walking forward.
Bai Su'yan hesitated for a moment, bowed to Han Li's back, and retreated.
Han Li strolled through the valley, soon arriving at a small pavilion deep in a bamboo forest.
A woman in white stood there, it was Nangong Wan.
But at this moment, she was surrounded by an invisible wave of water, making her figure seem vague and indistinct.
"Husband, I was going to repay you for your kindness, why are you treating me so coldly?" Nangong Wan said with a smile that was not quite a smile.
"That bottle of Xianzhi Zengyuan Dan can cure Huayan Daoist's injuries, and that's already repaying him. Let's go, the cause and effect here have already been resolved, and this is no longer a place for us to stay," Han Li said with a smile, shaking his head, and taking Nangong Wan's hand.
A flash of lightning, and the two of them disappeared from the valley.
The next moment, they appeared in mid-air.
"Where are we going next?" Nangong Wan asked, her face seeming to relax.
"The Heavenly Domain," Han Li's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he took Nangong Wan with him as they soared into the sky.
Soon, they arrived at the Heavenly Domain, and found a safe place to set up a simple cave.
He then took Nangong Wan into the Flower Branch Space.
"Husband, are you going to continue your previous cultivation?" Nangong Wan looked at Han Li.
Han Li nodded lightly.
"Husband's cultivation, I'm afraid I can't help with, but I believe that my husband will definitely succeed," Nangong Wan said with a slight bow.
"Your trust, my dear, is the greatest support for me," Han Li hugged Nangong Wan, and lightly kissed her forehead, then turned and entered the attic where he had previously gone into seclusion.
The restrictions on the attic floor were still in place, operating normally.
Han Li sat down cross-legged within the restrictions, calming his heart and mind.
A day and night passed, and his heart was completely calm, and he once again entered the spiritual realm.
The cyan-robed Han Li sat as before, looking up at him.
He examined Han Li up and down, his expression becoming solemn.
"Heh heh, your heart has made great progress, it seems that you've come this time to truly start the Corpse Severing," the cyan-robed Han Li said.
"Not bad," Han Li didn't waste any words, his body flashing with a burst of golden light, instantly forming a spiritual domain that enveloped him.
Unexpectedly, the cyan-robed Han Li didn't dodge, allowing Han Li's spiritual domain to envelop him.
Han Li's eyes flickered slightly, and he cast a spell, his brow shining with a bright light.
The cyan-robed Han Li's surroundings began to move, and countless crystal chains shot out, binding him tightly.
The cyan-robed Han Li was not worried about his situation, and even had a smile on his face.
Everything around Han Li disappeared, including the spiritual realm and the cyan-robed Han Li, leaving only endless darkness.
"An illusion?" Han Li looked around, immediately activating the Refining Spirit Technique, his brow shining with a brilliant light.
A series of powerful spiritual fluctuations shot out, transforming into giant spiritual swords that slashed at the surrounding space.
But the black space only rippled slightly, and the spiritual swords were swallowed up without causing any waves.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he was inwardly shocked.
Over the years, his continuous battles with his own corpse had allowed his Refining Spirit Technique to advance, and it had almost reached the seventh layer of the Great Perfection, his spiritual power was incredibly strong, and even if a Dao Ancestor who cultivated illusion techniques were to set up an illusion space, he could still shake it.
At this moment, the scenery around him changed, and the black space disappeared, revealing a blood pool.
The blood pool was filled with thick, viscous blood, emitting a nauseating stench.
"Roar!" Five ghostly creatures with green faces and sharp teeth jumped out of the blood pool, charging towards Han Li.
These ghostly creatures were extremely ferocious, their bodies covered in blood-red blisters, constantly spewing out foul-smelling blood, their snake-like eyes filled with a blood-red glow, their sides covered in seven or eight arms, each arm ending in a different type of sharp claw, each one ugly and ferocious, making one's hair stand on end.
These five ghostly creatures seemed to have gathered all the ferocity and ugliness in the world, their expressions even more ferocious, as if they wanted to devour people and drink their blood.
()
Han Li gazed at the five ghostly creatures before him, his face expressionless. His body crackled with lightning as he shot out five bamboo swords, which transformed into five beams of golden light in mid-air, slicing towards the ghostly creatures.
However, the ghostly creatures' bodies suddenly turned into illusions, and the golden light pierced through them without causing any harm.
The ghostly creatures moved with incredible speed, arriving before Han Li in an instant. They grasped his body and bit down, causing blood to splatter everywhere.
Han Li's body glowed with golden light as he prepared to unleash his spiritual domain, but his face suddenly changed, and a faint smile appeared. The golden light extinguished, and he stood still, his eyes closed.
The ghostly creatures bit down on his body, causing intense pain to penetrate his soul. Yet, he remained still, his face expressionless, as if he felt no pain.
The ghostly creatures tore at his body, ripping off chunks of flesh and devouring them with excitement. In an instant, Han Li's body was reduced to a skeleton, but his eyes still shone with vitality.
The ghostly creatures grasped his skeletal body, ready to rip it apart.
"Fierce ghosts are but illusions, I am not myself, what fear, what worry?" Han Li opened his eyes, gazing forward calmly, as a faint, shimmering light emanated from his body.
The light enveloped the ghostly creatures, causing them to disintegrate into ashes. The blood pool beneath them vanished, and Han Li returned to the black space.
His body had returned to normal, and the previous events seemed like a dream. But before he could catch his breath, the surroundings changed again.
He appeared in a world filled with pink hues, surrounded by numerous beautiful women, including young girls and mature women. They danced and sang around him, their movements seductive and alluring.
But Han Li remained expressionless, ignoring the women.
Suddenly, a gentle breeze blew, and a girl appeared behind him, embracing him. It was Bai Su Xian.
"Senior Han, I've long admired you, but you've never made a move, fearing it would be unbecoming of your seniority," Bai Su Xian said, her voice melodious and charming.
Another girl, Yu Meng Han, approached, her eyes shining with flirtation.
"Senior Han, I've worked tirelessly to cultivate, and my goal is to find you..."
The breeze carried the scent of perfume, and two more girls appeared, Yuan Yao and Yan Li.
"Senior Han, Yan Li has long harbored feelings for you, you can't disappoint her," Yuan Yao said, her body pressed against Han Li's arm.
Yan Li's face turned red, but she also wrapped her arms around Han Li.
The women's faces changed, transforming into those of the female cultivators Han Li had met before. They surrounded him, their movements seductive and alluring.
"Beautiful women are but fleeting clouds, I am not myself, what attachment, what entanglement?" Han Li's expression remained unchanged, his eyes flashing with a piercing light.
The women transformed into skeletons, which shattered into pieces, and the pink world disappeared, returning to the black space.
But the surroundings changed again, and Han Li appeared in a grand hall, seated on a throne, surrounded by figures from the Wheel of Reincarnation, including Li Yuan Ji, Yue Mian, and others.
They kneeled before him, their faces filled with reverence.
"We pay our respects to the Supreme One, congratulations on achieving the Great Dao, and ascending to the throne. From now on, the heavens and the world will bow to your authority," they said in unison.
Han Li's expression remained indifferent.
"Bring them in!" a burly guard shouted.
A group of people, including Qi Mo Zi, Shi Po Kong, and Yin Cheng, were led in, their bodies bound by golden chains and locks. They were followed by Guo Huo Jin, who looked disheveled and weak.
These people had lost their former glory, and the golden chains seemed to suppress their powers, rendering them ordinary humans.
A giant of a man, wielding a shining guillotine, appeared behind them.
"Behead them!"
The guillotine flashed, and the prisoners were beheaded, their severed heads rolling on the ground.
Han Li remained unmoved.
"Supreme One, why do you still not smile? Is there still someone you wish to kill? Please, tell us, and we will capture them for you," the burly guard asked, half-kneeling before Han Li.
"Power and authority are but illusions, I am not myself, what attachment, what confusion?" Han Li replied calmly.
The surroundings shattered, and everything disappeared, returning to the black space. Han Li's face remained unchanged, but his mental state had shifted imperceptibly.
Although he had just passed through three layers of the Illusory Realm, cutting off three types of delusions, his mind and spirit felt somewhat exhausted, but it also gave him a sense of unprecedented ease.
Just then, the surrounding scenery changed again, and he found himself in a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, with countless bodies piled up on the ground.
The people who had died were all wearing the attire of the Wheel of Rebirth Hall and the Barbarian Domain, and many of them he had seen before, all lying dead here.
The master of the Wheel of Rebirth Hall, Gan Jiuzhen, and the leaders of the Barbarian Domain, Yue Mian, Bai Ze, and others, were all here, lying silently with looks of terror and unwillingness on their faces.
The air was filled with a nauseating stench of blood and rot, making it impossible to distinguish reality from illusion.
"Han Li!" a cold voice shouted from the front, and a figure appeared before him, it was Guo Huai.
"Look, this is the outcome of opposing me!" Guo Huai sneered.
He raised his hand, and several figures appeared in front of him, all bound and tied up. They were Nan Gong Wan, Zi Ling, Jin Tong, Ti Hun, Liu Le'er, Shi Chuan Kong, and finally, two more people, who were his parents from the mortal world.
Han Li looked at this scene, his face twitching slightly, before quickly regaining his composure.
"I have investigated clearly, these are all people who are important to you, so immediately submit to me, swear to acknowledge me as your superior, or else they will die one by one in front of you!" Guo Huai sneered.
Han Li remained unmoved, standing silently.
"Good, you're not disappointing, since you're the only one besides me who has mastered the Time Law to the peak. Then, you'll watch as I... " Guo Huai sneered, pointing his finger.
A golden light shot out, transforming into a golden blade that pierced through Shi Chuan Kong's chest, cutting him in two.
Han Li's expression wavered for a moment, before disappearing.
"Ha ha, good!" Guo Huai laughed, pointing his finger again.
Two golden lights shot out, piercing through Jin Tong and Ti Hun's bodies, and they also fell to the ground.
Han Li's face flushed with a layer of blood, but it quickly receded.
"Unexpectedly, friends are not worth mentioning in your eyes, what about familial love? This little girl Liu Le'er, it's said you treated her like your own sister, will you watch her die here?" Guo Huai sneered, pointing his finger.
A golden light shot out, piercing through Liu Le'er's body.
Han Li let out a "wa" sound, spitting out a small mouthful of blood, his body swaying before stabilizing.
"Next are your two dao companions, and your parents, who should I kill first? Why not let you choose? This time, I'll give you the choice, you say who to kill first, and I'll kill them first, leaving the one you cherish the most to the end. How's that?" Guo Huai laughed.
Han Li stood there, his face blood-red, his breathing heavy, no longer calm, but still gritting his teeth, not speaking.
"Truly disappointing, since you won't choose, I'll choose for you. Killing one by one is too troublesome, it's better to just kill them all at once." Guo Huai looked at the four people, his hand glowing with golden light, about to shoot out.
"Stop!" Han Li suddenly shouted.
Guo Huai stopped, a radiant smile on his face.
"Finally understood? Good, quickly kneel down and acknowledge me as your superior, I can spare their lives." Guo Huai looked at Han Li, laughing loudly.
Han Li slowly stepped forward, his face blood-red, seemingly on fire, his forehead sweating, finally stopping in front of Guo Huai.
"Kneel down!" Guo Huai shouted.
Han Li slowly knelt down.
"Ha ha... " Guo Huai laughed, extremely pleased, his hand grasping, as five black lights appeared above Han Li's head, piercing towards his body.
"Clang" - the black lights collided with Han Li's body, unable to penetrate at all.
Han Li looked up, his face pale as jade, his eyes shining like bright moonlight.
"You... " Guo Huai's face changed, before he could react, a crystalline light appeared before him, striking down.
"Rip" - Guo Huai's body was torn apart, dissipating into nothingness.
"Father, mother, Wan'er, Zi Ling, I'm sorry to let you be used by this villain." Han Li stood up, looking at his parents, Nan Gong Wan, and Zi Ling, speaking before waving his sleeve.
The entire blood-colored space shattered, and the four people's silhouettes disappeared.
Han Li returned to the black space, his body swaying, his face revealing fatigue.
After half a lifetime of cultivation, he was cold and detached from the world, but in reality, he valued emotions and relationships heavily. Some people were even his bottom line, and cutting them off was much more difficult than other delusions.
"Emotions and relationships, gathering and dispersing, I am not I, you are not you, he is not he, emotions are natural, without regret, without resentment."
He thought this in his heart, as the surroundings changed again, and he found himself in a foul-smelling swamp.
His body had transformed into a rotting corpse, covered in maggots and flies, his white bones exposed, emitting a pungent stench.
Han Li faced the scene before him, his brow furrowing slightly as he closed his eyes and calmed his mind.
A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes and murmured, "The body's flesh, a false union, a body formed by chance, everything is without form."
With a "splat" sound, the surroundings shattered once more, returning to the black space.
Before he could rest, the scenery around him changed again, and new illusions appeared.
Various illusions swarmed in, each one directly targeting Han Li's heart.
He relied on his great determination and great willpower to cut through the illusions one by one, experiencing countless tests, although his mind grew firmer, his spirit was not invincible, and he was already exhausted to the point of collapse, his vision blurring.
He swung his heart sword, cutting through another illusion, and returned to the dark space, but did not escape.
At this moment, Han Li's spirit was dazed, and he was unable to continue fighting.
"A person's actions in the world, infinite calculations, thoughts arise from the heart, the heart is not calm, the thoughts are not clear. In your current state, you are unable to break through this barrier." A voice suddenly sounded, and it was the blue-robed Han Li.
"Infinite calculations..." Han Li's body swayed slightly, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.
"Give up, why must you struggle forward? Sometimes, letting go is the wise choice, just like that ancient cultivator, who gave up on the path of cultivation, and now lives a carefree life, put it down, put it down..." The blue-robed Han Li's voice turned gentle, echoing in his ears, tempting his heart.
Han Li's eyes grew increasingly dim, his consciousness slowly relaxing, as if an extremely tired person had found a soft bed, and was about to fall into a deep sleep.
Just as he was about to succumb, a spark of electricity flashed through his mind, and his remaining willpower suddenly awakened, suppressing his fatigue.
"Good technique, to strike when my spirit is most exhausted, if my mind was slightly less firm, I would have already failed, cut!" Han Li's eyes suddenly brightened, and he raised his hand, swinging it through the air.
With a "splat" sound, a formless sword sliced through the air, and the blue-robed Han Li's voice was cut off.
The black space around him shattered with a loud crash.
Han Li's vision blurred, and he found himself in the flower branch space.
"Finally..." he let out a long breath.
Just as he did, a loud "boom" sounded.
A vast and gentle power poured into Han Li's divine soul, sweeping away his exhaustion.
Not just his divine soul, Han Li felt that his entire body was extremely comfortable, as if he had finally achieved his goal after enduring countless hardships.
This sense of accomplishment, this great joy, was truly indescribable.
The power continued to flow into him, and Han Li's strength grew greater and greater, seemingly without end.
His body became light and airy, floating upwards, and he soon reached a very high place.
At this moment, it seemed as though the entire True Immortal Realm was beneath his feet, the Demon Realm, the Gray Realm, and the Nether Realm, all the same.
Han Li felt that he had transcended everything, becoming an all-powerful existence, his body continuing to float upwards, as if he was about to ascend to another world.
"Not good!" he suddenly woke up, suppressing the feeling of ascension.
Han Li's vision changed, and he found himself back in the flower branch space.
This time, the flower branch space was real.
"Originally, the final test was the attachment to power! How formidable, I almost sank into it. No wonder, cultivators like us have always pursued great power, even saints cannot escape!" Han Li thought, feeling a bit frightened.
However, his spirit was now perfect, without any gaps, and he raised his hand.
"Come out!"
A ball of blue light flew out of his body, merging with the Earthly Spirit's avatar that he had placed here earlier.
The flower branch space above suddenly turned golden, and the Heavenly Gate reappeared.
A loud crash sounded, and countless golden lights poured out of the gate, containing the mysteries of the Time Laws, and flowed into Han Li's body.
The heaven and earth energy within a radius of several tens of thousands of miles around Han Li's seclusion spot surged and gathered, and then flowed into his body along with the golden light from the Heavenly Gate.
Han Li's final divine orifice opened, and all 1800 divine orifices lit up.
His body radiated a dazzling golden light, forming a brilliant golden light ring that enveloped his body.
A series of powerful energy fluctuations emerged from the golden light, growing stronger and stronger.
Not just energy fluctuations, but also a series of powerful divine sense fluctuations emerged from the golden light, bursting out in all directions.
Han Li's cultivation had finally reached a breakthrough, and his Refining the Soul technique had reached the seventh layer, finally achieving perfection.
...
In the flower branch space, the Golden Child suddenly woke up, her body flashing and disappearing.
The next moment, her figure reappeared in the deepest part of the flower branch space, holding someone in her hand, who was none other than Nan Gong Wan.
A white light pillar shot out of the pavilion, soaring into the sky.
The light pillar emitted a series of powerful divine sense fluctuations, like a tidal wave.
The Golden Child's brow glowed with golden light, forming a golden crystal clear light screen that enveloped the two.
A series of powerful divine sense fluctuations swept in, and the golden light screen immediately fluctuated violently.
"Has husband successfully broken through?" Nan Gong Wan asked, her face filled with joy.
The Golden Child's eyes sparkled, and she replied, "This is indeed the case, but we must be careful, the fluctuations are too powerful, we must not let them affect us." No, it seems that not only has his cultivation broken through, but his Refining Spirit Technique has also reached completion. Who would have thought that just the residual energy would be so powerful?" Jin Tong said, his hands moving swiftly as he maintained the light screen in front of him.
Outside the secluded area, the sky was filled with a brilliant, flashing golden light that engulfed everything.
Although the golden light was dazzling, it couldn't block a white light column from emerging from within. The column pierced through the void, disappearing without a trace.
In the Underworld's Wheel of Reincarnation Department, a white light column suddenly appeared in front of the Six Paths Wheel of Reincarnation, pouring into the wheel.
The Six Paths Wheel of Reincarnation began to shake violently, emitting a burst of dark energy. Within the energy, countless images seemed to be pouring into the white light column.
"What's going on?" A figure appeared in front of the Six Paths Wheel of Reincarnation. It was Gan Jiuzhen, who looked at the scene before him with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.
The white light column didn't last long, disappearing quickly into the void. The Six Paths Wheel of Reincarnation returned to its normal state.
"This situation is similar to what the Department Head once described as the seventh layer of the Refining Spirit Technique being completed. Who could it be? Could it be Han Li?" Gan Jiuzhen's eyes lit up, and he turned to leave, planning to contact the Department Head and report the incident.
...
Inside the Flower Petal Space, Jin Tong struggled to maintain the golden light screen in front of her.
Her spiritual energy was relatively weak, but the divine sense fluctuations emanating from Han Li's secluded area were growing stronger by the second. She was on the verge of collapsing.
Just as she was about to give up, the white light column inside the secluded area suddenly flashed and disappeared.
Jin Tong let out a sigh of relief, dispersing the light screen in front of her.
The white light column may have disappeared, but the golden light in the sky remained, pouring down in torrents.
Jin Tong felt the power of the Great Dao's laws within the golden light, and her eyes widened in shock.
When she had advanced to the Dao Ancestor stage, she had received the blessing of the Heavenly Dao, but compared to Han Li's current state, she was far inferior.
Han Li's strength would likely reach unprecedented heights after this breakthrough.
Time passed slowly, and after a long while, the golden light in the sky finally dissipated.
Inside the secluded area, the golden light on Han Li's body also gradually faded, revealing his true form.
He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze cold and emotionless, as if he had become a manifestation of the Heavenly Dao.
A mighty aura burst forth from his body, crushing everything in its vicinity, reducing it to nothingness.
The Earth Spirit's manifestation revealed a terrified expression, as golden light surged around his body, forming a golden light sphere that enveloped him.
The aura reached him, and the golden light sphere began to violently fluctuate, shattering and disappearing in an instant.
The secluded area was reduced to nothingness, and the entire structure disappeared into thin air.
The massive aura continued to spread, destroying everything in its path, leaving behind a trail of nothingness. The Flower Petal Space was on the verge of collapse, with cracks spreading throughout its surface.
"Han Li!" Jin Tong's face changed, and she cried out in alarm, her body glowing with golden light as she poured her energy into the Flower Petal Space to stabilize it.
Han Li's body shook, and his eyes regained their vitality, no longer empty.
He looked at the state of the Flower Petal Space and moved his mind, causing the aura to dissipate and slowly recede.
Jin Tong let out a sigh of relief, dispersing the golden light around her.
The Earth Spirit's manifestation reappeared, its golden light sphere disappearing.
"I didn't expect you to discard your attachments so quickly, cutting off your sense of self. I... lost." The Earth Spirit looked at Han Li, a hint of a sigh in its voice.
"As you said, thoughts arise from the heart, and the heart must be calm for thoughts to be clear. I am not myself, I have no self, no attachments, no thoughts. If thoughts do not exist, then I am free from all phenomena." Han Li looked at the Earth Spirit, his eyes flickering with a hint of movement, his voice calm.
Unlike the Evil Corpse and the Benevolent Corpse, the Self Corpse before him was something he couldn't fully comprehend, despite having successfully severed it.
"What do you plan to do with me? I was born from you, and you can't completely eliminate me." The Earth Spirit asked.
"You are far more unpredictable than the Evil Corpse and the Benevolent Corpse. Leaving you by my side would be too great a risk. I'm sorry, I won't take that chance." Han Li's voice was detached. "You're not even comparable to the current me."
The Earth Spirit shook its head, laughing wryly.
Han Li didn't respond, instead flipping his hand.
The Palm Heaven Bottle appeared in his hand, and he activated it, causing the bottle to expand and spin rapidly.
A dark green light shot out of the bottle, piercing the void.
The void split open, revealing a crystal wall.
Han Li activated the crystal wall, and a vortex appeared, filled with flashing lights of various colors.
"A time-space tunnel? You want to exile me to the turbulent flow of time and space? That's perfect." The Earth Spirit's eyes gleamed.
"I won't tolerate any mistakes in what I plan to do next. You can go in peace." Han Li waved his hand, and a golden light enveloped the Earth Spirit, sending it into the crystal wall's vortex.
The Earth Spirit didn't resist, disappearing into the vortex without a sound.
Han Li waved his hand, and the crystal wall disappeared, the Palm Heaven Bottle returning to its original size and falling into his hand. He looked up, his gaze fixed on the void ahead.
Nan Gong Wan and Jin Tong flew over, landing in front of Han Li.
"Sorry, I made you worry." Han Li smiled.
"No need to apologize, as long as you're successful." Nan Gong Wan shook her head.
"Han Li, what's our next move?" Jin Tong asked.
Han Li didn't respond, his gaze fixed on the void above.
The Continent of Qitian, the Supplementing Heaven Sect.
On the Dragon Ascending Peak, the clouds were dense and obscured the mountain peak.
On the black stone altar at the peak, a swirling vortex of black fog churned and rolled, as if it had an endless attractive force.
In the center of the vortex, a withered old skull with a twisted face floated, unsupported and unattached, its hair on the front of its forehead had fallen out, and its sparse white hair on the back was disheveled and unkempt. It was motionless, like a sculpture.
After an unknown period of time, the skull's eyelids, which had been slightly closed, suddenly trembled and opened, revealing two pupils, one black and one white, the white one seemingly blind.
The old skull's eyebrows struggled to rise, and its one remaining eye gazed upwards.
A long, leafy branch of a peach tree stretched out from above, and a dense, spiral cloud of fog descended from the sky, brushing against the branch as it landed on the ground below the altar.
As the fog dispersed, a middle-aged man with a face like jade and a long, thin beard appeared, still wearing a wide, white robe and sitting in a wheelchair that seemed to be carved from white jade.
"Gu Daoist friend, I've already divined the fate, why have you come again?" The old skull spoke in a hoarse voice.
The man in the wheelchair was none other than the Time Dao Ancestor, Gu Huo Jin.
"The Bodhi Banquet is about to begin, and I'm feeling a bit uneasy, I need to divine the fate again." Gu Huo Jin adjusted the golden tassels on his waist and spoke slowly.
"I am one with the Heavenly Dao, and I'm only separated from it by this one fate. If I divine it, I'll be consumed by the Heavenly Dao, and what you promised me will be meaningless." Chen Po spoke in a calm and measured tone.
"This matter doesn't just concern you and me, if we succeed, it will be equivalent to raising the Heavenly Dao by three feet, and it will no longer oppress those of us who stand at the pinnacle. Don't you fear that you'll lose this fate and miss the opportunity?" Gu Huo Jin asked calmly.
Chen Po's face contorted in thought, and his eyes flashed with hesitation.
"This fate involves too many Dao Ancestors and Heavenly Dao energies, it's already beyond the realm of the Heavenly Fate. I can only divine half of it, and what result comes of it will depend on the will of Heaven." Chen Po said after a moment.
"Very well." Gu Huo Jin nodded without hesitation.
Chen Po didn't say anything else, and his mouth began to chant in a low voice.
Without the aid of his hands to form the seals, the time it took was twice as long as before, and the light in his one remaining eye slowly brightened, shooting out a beam of light that pierced the void.
After a long time, the light suddenly retracted, and the void returned to normal.
The vortex of fog behind Chen Po's old skull suddenly began to churn violently, and black crystal threads extended from it, crawling up his face like insects, covering his remaining eye and half of his face.
In an instant, his half-face was shrouded in darkness, and his one remaining eye was extinguished, leaving only a blind, half-face and a half-skull.
"How is it?" Gu Huo Jin asked, his brow furrowed slightly.
"The half-fate is unobstructed, but there is a change at the turning point... it's an anomaly." Chen Po's remaining half-face spoke in a faint, wavering voice.
"Anomaly?" Gu Huo Jin's eyes narrowed slightly.
Chen Po didn't speak, and the hair on the back of his head began to dance in the wind, which blew past the ancient peach tree, carrying hundreds of delicate flower petals down from its branches.
The petals fell to the ground, forming a large, shadowy figure with a rippling, watery light, and a faint, residual energy of the Time Dao.
Gu Huo Jin's wheelchair slowly moved forward, stopping beside the flower petal shadow.
"Korean Li." He spoke softly, his eyes fixed on the shadow.
"The Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation is also subject to the Heavenly Fate, this anomaly at the Bodhi Banquet... it's just this one person." Chen Po's voice was hoarse and faint, echoing through the void.
"Hmph, since you've divined it, it's no longer an anomaly. I'll take care of it myself, and it will be a trivial matter." Gu Huo Jin leaned back in his wheelchair, a hint of a smile on his face.
In his eyes, Han Li had already reached the pinnacle of the Time Dao, and was only a step away from him. As for the exploration of the Dao, Han Li was far beyond him, and their struggle was hardly worth mentioning.
"Very good, then it's settled..." Chen Po spoke slowly.
Gu Huo Jin waved his hand, dispersing the flower petal shadow, and a cloud of fog began to gather beneath him.
Just as he was about to leave, his expression suddenly changed, and a faint smile appeared on his face.
"The Heavenly Court has a noble guest, it seems I'll have to return and receive them. The matter of eliminating this anomaly will have to be entrusted to someone else." Gu Huo Jin spoke, his eyes gleaming with a hint of amusement.
"The anomaly is best handled by you personally." Chen Po cautioned.
"A single Ten Directions, Ten Thousand Immortals Array, will it be enough?" The mystery of the past and present was left with only one question, and the figure had already risen into the air, disappearing into the clouds.
Chen Poun, the elder, let out a soft sigh and habitually closed his blind eyes.
The ancient peach tree, over 4,000 years old, gently swayed, and petals fell like rain.
...
In the Eastern Heaven of the Middle Earth, on the Eastern Victory Continent.
A vast ocean stretched out, with countless islands of varying sizes scattered across it, like stars in the sky. Not far from the eastern coast of the Eastern Victory Continent, two islands stood out, each with a white jade pillar tens of thousands of feet high, adorned with intricate carvings of auspicious clouds that rose into the sky.
Through the blue sky and the thick, white clouds, a three-tiered pavilion with a flying eave could be seen, with a massive, crimson banner hanging from the center, inscribed with the words "Ying Tian Men" in gold, seal script.
This was the Eastern Heaven Gate of the Middle Earth.
At this moment, the majestic Eastern Heaven Gate was surrounded by nearly a million soldiers, all clad in gold and silver armor.
Behind these soldiers, every hundred miles or so, stood a giant, tens of thousands of feet tall, with a bare upper body, holding a massive, heavenly axe. Each of them gazed out with fierce eyes.
Far away, in the void, and on the islands below, stood tens of thousands of soldiers, armed with various weapons.
However, unlike the heavenly army, these soldiers' armor was not uniform, appearing somewhat disorganized.
On the surface of the ocean, beyond the soldiers, stood numerous, diverse, and bizarre creatures, their bodies swaying with the waves. In the depths of the ocean, beneath them, massive shadows could be seen, slowly moving.
Behind the army of soldiers, a fleet of spirit ships, of varying sizes and shapes, floated on the surface of the water, their hulls inscribed with complex, glowing symbols that continuously absorbed the spiritual energy of the surroundings, accumulating power.
At the center of the fleet, a massive, dark red spirit ship stood out, with a three-tiered palace built upon it. The palace's courtyard was packed with people.
The leader of these people was a tall, black-robed man, wearing a combat cap, none other than the Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation.
"Master..."
The people behind him simultaneously bowed, as if sending him off.
"Everything will proceed according to plan." The Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation turned his head and instructed.
"Yes." Everyone responded in unison.
The Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation then ignored the crowd and flew towards the Eastern Heaven Gate, his body surrounded by a brilliant light.
The heavenly army guarding the Eastern Heaven Gate saw him approaching and immediately became agitated, drawing their arms, as if facing a great enemy.
However, the Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation did not intend to force his way through, instead stopping in mid-air.
The heavenly generals looked at each other, unsure of what he planned to do.
"Isn't it that Guo or Jin invited me to a banquet? I've arrived, and this is how you welcome me?" The Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation asked with a smile.
His voice was not loud, but it carried an inexplicable, piercing power, like the sound of a great bell resonating within the hearts of every heavenly soldier, causing their souls to tremble.
However, the Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation did not intend to harm the army with this method, but rather to ensure that his words reached the ears of those who needed to hear them.
In the central mountains of the Eastern Victory Continent, a small, white, Taoist temple was hidden amidst a dense forest.
Inside the temple's three-story library, a middle-aged man, dressed in a black and white Taoist robe, was studying a blue, leather-bound book, his brow furrowed in concentration.
The man's face was thin, with a clear, bright gaze, a straight nose, and thin lips. He had a long, white beard, and his appearance was not particularly handsome, but he had a certain, dignified air about him.
As he read, he would occasionally stroke his beard, and when he came across something interesting, he would nod his head repeatedly.
"Such an encounter, I never thought... Unfortunately, these worldly people's understanding of the Tao is so simplistic, they think that by stumbling upon ancient texts, they can gain mastery over the Tao. They believe that by entering deep mountains, they can find magical artifacts, and by exploring deep valleys, they can meet enlightened beings. In the end, it's all just... wishful thinking."
The thin man put down the book, and the pages automatically closed, revealing the title, "The Mortal's Path to Immortality," written by a worldly scholar named "Wang Yu." It was not a sacred text, but rather a work of fiction based on popular legends.
Just then, the thin man's brow furrowed, and he said to himself, "He's arrived..."
(To all my fellow Taoist friends, happy Chinese New Year, and may the Year of the Rat bring you great fortune!)
Here is the translation of the chapter:
As the thin Daoist's voice fell, he took a step forward, and his figure vanished in an instant. The next moment, he reappeared outside the East Heaven Gate.
The many soldiers and generals of the Heavenly Court saw him appear, and their minds were immediately at ease.
"Welcome, Qingqiu Old Ancestor..." the army shouted in unison, their voices like a tidal wave, shaking the heavens.
Who would have thought that the unassuming Daoist temple was actually the Heavenly Suppressing Tower of the East Victory Continent, and that the thin Daoist was one of the Dao Ancestors who guarded this place?
"Ah, noble guests have arrived, and I have failed to welcome you from afar. I am truly sorry..." Qingqiu True Person said, not using the usual Daoist etiquette, but instead bowing with his fists.
"No need for such formalities, I am just an evil guest," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said with a smile.
"It's just that, according to our previous estimates, we thought that the Lord would attack the South Heaven Gate, or at the very least, the West Heaven Gate. We didn't expect you to come from my East Heaven Gate," Qingqiu True Person said with an embarrassed expression.
"Don't be puzzled, Qingqiu Dao friend," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said. "If I were to launch a direct attack on the Heavenly Court, it would be better to attack from those two places. But since I am coming as a guest, even an evil one, I must have the appearance of a guest. It's better to enter from your place."
"Ha ha, it's a good thing I made some preparations earlier. The carriage is already waiting, Lord. Shall we go to the banquet?" Qingqiu True Person said with a smile.
"Thank you," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
Qingqiu True Person was about to lead the way, but suddenly stopped and turned around to ask, "Lord, don't you need to bring some attendants?"
"Since I am attending the banquet alone, I am sufficient," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said with a smile.
"Lord, you are truly a wonderful person. If it weren't for our different positions, I would have liked to invite you to drink a cup with me and make some small talk," Qingqiu True Person said with a laugh.
"I welcome Dao friends like you to my Wheel of Rebirth Palace, and I am not averse to you coming to drink and discuss matters," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said seriously.
"If this time, at the Bodhi banquet, your palace can make a mountain-and-sea oath with the Heavenly Court, and we can put an end to our conflicts, I will definitely come to your palace to visit. I hope you won't be displeased," Qingqiu True Person said with a smile.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth did not respond.
The two of them arrived at the magnificent Gate of Heaven, and Qingqiu True Person waved his hand to dispel the powerful seals that had been set up. The seals were immediately lifted, and the two of them entered the gate.
Inside the gate, a magnificent carriage was floating in the air, with eight dragon-headed horses pulling it. The carriage was adorned with gold and jewels, and the horses' eyes shone brightly, their hooves burning with flames.
"Eight Dragon Carriage, this is a high-ranking vehicle," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
"This is not just a high-ranking vehicle, I wouldn't have had such treatment if I weren't accompanying you, Lord. Today, I am basking in your glory," Qingqiu True Person said.
The two of them boarded the carriage, and only then did they discover that the carriage was much larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside.
Qingqiu True Person let out a soft whistle, and the eight dragon-headed horses began to gallop, heading towards the Heavenly Palace Continent.
The flames under their hooves surged, and the carriage disappeared into the distance, leaving behind a trail of fire.
Inside the carriage, only the two of them sat facing each other.
"To be honest, I am a bit puzzled," Qingqiu True Person said. "You have deployed your troops outside the Heavenly Gate, but you are attending the banquet alone. Are you planning to fight or make peace?"
"Guess, Qingqiu Dao friend," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said with a smile.
"Lord, if you say so, then we can't talk about it anymore," Qingqiu True Person said with a sigh.
"Qingqiu Dao friend, where is the main venue of the Bodhi banquet?" the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth asked.
Qingqiu True Person hesitated for a moment before answering, "The main venue is in the Heavenly Palace Continent, as usual. But this time, there are too many people, and we have added several sub-venues on other continents. My East Victory Continent also has one. After I send you to the Heavenly Palace Continent, I will have to return to host the banquet on my own. It's a lot of work."
"So, the entire Middle Realm is the venue for the Bodhi banquet..."
...
Several days later, in the Dragon Abyss Realm, on the Qingyuan Continent.
A vast expanse of sea stretched out, with dark clouds covering the sky, pressing down on the sea surface. The wind howled, and the waves crashed against the shore.
A golden light flashed across the sea, and a magnificent spirit boat appeared, with symbols shining brightly on its surface. The boat was surrounded by a dense aura of spiritual energy.
... At the front of the Spirit Ship stood a young man dressed in a long, cyan robe, his physique tall and majestic, his features ordinary, but his eyes gleaming with an inner light, his entire body radiating an inexplicable aura.
This was none other than Han Li, who had already completed his third Corpse Severing.
According to normal cultivation, once one completes three Corpse Severings, they should begin to merge with the Dao, step by step completing the process of merging with the Dao, ultimately achieving the position of Dao Ancestor.
However, Han Li's cultivation of the Time Law was already a solitary path, and with the Time Dao Ancestor already standing on this path, it blocked his way forward.
Thus, Han Li's current situation was somewhat awkward, he could feel the connection between himself and the River of Time, which represented the flow of time, growing stronger, but he couldn't feel the sensation of merging with the Heavenly Dao.
Behind him stood two women who looked like celestial beings, naturally, they were Nangong Wan and Jintong.
"Since I've already been rescued, why is he still going to the Heavenly Court?" Nangong Wan's brow furrowed, her expression strange.
Han Li knew she was referring to the Master of the Wheel of Reincarnation, and replied:
" Gan Jiuzhen only sent this message over, without revealing anything else, it's likely his intention."
"You mean, he deliberately didn't let you know his plans?" Nangong Wan asked, her puzzlement growing.
"I'm just guessing... the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Heavenly Court have been at odds for years, with each side having their own informants, I shouldn't follow the Wheel of Reincarnation's actions, it's better for me to act on my own." Han Li hesitated for a moment before speaking.
Nangong Wan listened and roughly understood Han Li's meaning, nodding her head.
"Jintong, you really don't need to follow me, now that Xuan Yuan Jie is dead, your revenge is already fulfilled. This journey is uncertain, it's not necessary to get involved again." Han Li's gaze passed over Nangong Wan, falling on Jintong's figure, as he spoke.
"The year Xuan Yuan Jie destroyed my clan was a decision made by the Heavenly Court as a whole, killing him alone doesn't count as avenging my clan." Jintong's face was expressionless, her voice calm.
In reality, she was willing to follow Han Li because she wanted to repay a debt of gratitude.
However, now that she had regained her Dao Ancestor position, her strength was extraordinary, so Han Li didn't worry about her safety, and instead, she was a great help to him, so he didn't try to persuade her further.
Han Li nodded noncommittally, not speaking further.
In the blink of an eye, the Spirit Ship had flown over several tens of thousands of miles, finally leaving behind the dark, cloudy sea region, the sky in front of them suddenly brightening, the sea and sky regaining their azure color.
Han Li's eyes gazed into the distance, seeing a pair of seagulls flying down from above, his expression suddenly changing.
"Bad...!" he instinctively pulled Nangong Wan behind him, shouting.
As soon as his words fell, the sea region in front of them suddenly changed!
The originally clear sky suddenly turned dark, a massive silver light column descended from the heavens, striking the sea surface in an instant, directly causing a massive tsunami.
Immediately after, four figures suddenly shot out from the silver light, landing in the four directions, surrounding Han Li and the others.
Among them, the one in the east was a tall, purple-robed woman, her features exquisite, but her expression icy, holding a silver mirror the size of a palm, with a black symbol glowing on its surface.
Opposite her in the west was a black-armored, bearded man, his physique sturdy, his face ferocious, his eyes flashing with a faint yellow light, his mouth bearing two protruding fangs, looking unlike a human, his hand also holding a silver mirror, its shape identical to the purple-robed woman's.
The ones who landed in the south and north were an old woman with white hair and a stooped back, and a white-haired man who looked like a child.
The old woman's face was quite ugly, with wrinkles and scars, her eyes, however, were clear.
The white-haired man, although looking like a child, had eyes that were deep and profound, like a well, as if one glance would draw you in, and then you would fall into endless darkness.
These two people also held silver mirrors, identical to the first two.
What was even more shocking was that the auras of these four people were all at the Dao Ancestor level.
"You first return to the Flower Branch Cave Heaven." Han Li waved his hand, opening the silver light door, saying.
"Be careful..." Nangong Wan's expression was complex, warning him before stepping into the cave heaven.
Jintong's face didn't show any fear, her eyes coldly scanning the four people, as she spoke to Han Li:
"Four Dao Ancestors acting together, such a big commotion, do you think they're after you, or after me?"
"Now isn't the time for jokes, their mirrors have something strange, we need to get out of here quickly." Han Li's voice was dry, his smile forced.
"Then let's break their mirrors..."
Jintong's words hadn't finished when her figure suddenly disappeared without warning.
The next moment, in front of the bearded man in black armor, a dazzling golden light exploded, Jintong's figure emerging from it.
She didn't say a word, her hands probing forward, a golden vortex appearing, emitting a devouring force.
...
The burly man with the long beard seemed to have anticipated Jin Tong's sudden approach, and had already taken a step back. He didn't engage with Jin Tong, instead continuing to chant and manipulate the magic seals in his hand.
The other three people moved in tandem, their actions almost seamless. Han Li sensed that something was off and called out to Jin Tong, who flashed with golden light as the Time Domain opened up.
However, the domain had only just opened when the surrounding sea was enveloped in a brilliant silver glow. A massive magical array, seemingly conjured from the depths of the ocean, shot up a beam of light that illuminated the sky.
In an instant, a strange spatial distortion emanated from the sea floor, enveloping the surrounding heaven and earth. Han Li's expression changed, and he grabbed Jin Tong, who had just flown back. The two of them were surrounded by a flash of golden lightning, and their figures vanished from their original location.
However, they reappeared a short distance away, still above the sea. Han Li's brow furrowed, and he said, "The space has been sealed off; the Thunder Array technique cannot escape."
Jin Tong smiled nonchalantly and said, "No matter, we'll just break through it."
As soon as she spoke, a blinding silver light erupted from the four directions. Han Li looked around and saw that the four women in purple robes were holding silver mirrors that shone with intense light. The mirrors emitted a thick, silver beam that merged with the original beam of light, creating a dazzling display of silver light and shadow.
The light and shadow coalesced into a patchwork of silver screens that overlapped and merged, obscuring the sky. The next instant, the screens merged with the sea floor array, creating a blinding flash of silver light that transformed the surrounding area into a desolate wasteland.
Han Li and Jin Tong didn't have time to react before the surroundings began to change. The clear sky turned dark, and the void seemed to be torn apart, revealing a dark, inky blackness beneath.
The two of them were surrounded by an endless darkness, with only their own auras providing any light. Jin Tong wondered, "Is this an illusion?"
Han Li's eyes flashed with a deep, purple light, and he said slowly, "It's not an illusion, but a profound spatial secret art. We're no longer in the Dragon Abyss Immortal Realm..."
He only realized now why his divine sense hadn't detected the array earlier. It was because the array hadn't been there initially; it was only summoned by the four women when they appeared.
Jin Tong furrowed her brow and said, "It's strange that there's only our auras within a hundred million miles. They're making such a big fuss just to trap us here? This place may have its spiritual energy sealed off, but it won't affect us too much."
Han Li shook his head and said, "You'll understand if you expand your divine sense. This is a prison, and they're trying to trap us here."
Jin Tong did as he said, and her expression changed. Indeed, outside the void, a strange spatial force had formed a massive spatial barrier, isolating them from the outside world.
Jin Tong pondered for a moment before saying, "They're surrounding us without attacking, trapping us here. Could it be to prevent us from going to the Heavenly Court?"
Han Li smiled and said, "The Bodhi banquet should have started by now. For them to send four Daotian to deal with us, it's likely that's their intention. As a mere Da Luo realm cultivator, I'm surprised they're taking me so seriously."
Jin Tong snorted and said, "You've already defeated three corpses, and two of the Daotian, including Xuan Yuan Jie, one of the Seven Heavenly Kings. You think this attention is unexpected? I'm not surprised at all; I think they're being too careless."
Han Li chuckled and rubbed his nose, feeling a sense of wistfulness. Indeed, with his current cultivation and aura, even if the Time Daotian himself came to kill him, it wouldn't be surprising.
Jin Tong cracked her knuckles and said, "If this place can really trap us, that would be the surprise."
Han Li looked into the distance and said slowly, "Let's focus on breaking through this spatial barrier first." Jin Tong nodded, and a flash of golden light burst forth from his body as he suddenly retreated into the distance.
After a few breaths, a massive golden light burst forth in the dark void tens of thousands of miles away, and a gigantic golden beetle suddenly appeared, colliding with something unknown and emitting a deafening boom.
Immediately after, a silver glow surged forth in the void, and a massive barrier imbued with powerful spatial laws emerged, its surface rippling with silver waves that spread out in all directions, seemingly endless.
Jin Tong's first attack was unsuccessful, and his golden light surged again, condensing into a spiral-shaped beam of light that shot forth towards the barrier.
"Boom..."
Another deafening boom shook the air, and Jin Tong's massive body was sent flying back, but the silver barrier remained unscathed.
Just as Jin Tong was about to try again, Han Li intervened.
"This place has a strange spatial energy, and the barrier outside seems to be connected to even more powerful forces. Brute force may not be enough to break through, so let's calm down and look for any weaknesses first." Han Li advised.
Jin Tong's golden light dimmed, and he returned to his human form.
The two of them discussed their plan and separated, carefully examining the barrier from different directions.
...
Outside the spatial barrier, a dark and desolate void stretched out, similar to the void outside the realm.
The four Dao Ancestors who had previously clashed with Han Li and Jin Tong were now floating outside the barrier, their expressions grave as they gazed intently at the situation inside.
It was strange, but the barrier seemed to be transparent from the outside, allowing them to see everything inside.
"Zi Shan, do you think they have any chance of breaking through this 'Ten Directions, Ten Thousand Immortals Array'?" the bearded man, Dong Li Hu, asked.
"You've said it yourself, this is the Ten Directions, Ten Thousand Immortals Array. Even if the four of us were trapped inside, we might not be able to break through. At least... not without a thousand years of effort." the tall, purple-robed woman, Zi Shan, replied.
"Dong Li Hu, do you think they have the ability to break through?" the ugly old woman, Zhu Yan, asked.
"Zhu Yan, you're underestimating them. One of them is a Devouring Law Dao Ancestor, and the other is a Time Law Great Luo Peak cultivator. They're not to be underestimated, even if they're not as powerful as the seven Heavenly Kings." Dong Li Hu replied calmly.
"This Ten Directions, Ten Thousand Immortals Array is no ordinary formation. It's a massive barrier that gathers the power of ten realms, with each realm guarded by tens of Great Luo cultivators, hundreds of Tai Yi Jade Immortals, and thousands of Golden Immortals. If they can break through this, what face will we have left to return to the Heavenly Court?" Zhu Yan sneered.
As she spoke, her gaze drifted towards the distant void, where ten massive "heavenly gates" seemed to be opening on the dark sky.
Through these gates, one could see the interiors of ten different realms, each with its own unique landscape. Some were situated on mountain peaks, others on island shores, and others in ancient forests...
On these mountains and islands, massive formations had been built, each with a gigantic stone pillar at its center, adorned with intricate symbols.
The Great Luo, Tai Yi, and Golden Immortal cultivators that Zhu Yan had mentioned were all seated around these pillars, their hands weaving intricate patterns as they chanted incantations to maintain the formations.
Beneath them, silver light waves rose from the ground, layer by layer, and condensed into the central pillar.
These ten realms, hidden from view, were experiencing a rapid depletion of spiritual energy, causing forests to wither and rivers to dry up.
This array, supported by the power of ten realms and tens of thousands of cultivators, was truly unparalleled.
Han Li and Jin Tong would never have imagined that they would be facing such a massive, ancient formation, not to mention the four Dao Ancestors watching from the outside.
Just then, the silent, white-haired man with a childlike face spoke up in a high-pitched voice.
"Zhu Yan, you mentioned returning to the Heavenly Court to report... didn't we receive orders to trap him here and then join forces to kill him?"
"Ah, Meng Yuan, you're saying that so lightly... didn't you hear about the previous incident where Xuan Yuan Jie was killed? He was a Five Elements Origin Dao Ancestor, and his power was above ours." Zhu Yan's face creased with concern.
"I've already heard about that from the people who escaped. Han Li won due to the help of the Devouring Golden Immortal, and Xuan Yuan Jie... was a bit too confident." Meng Yuan replied, hesitating for a moment.
"Do you know that Feng Qing Shui almost died at his hands earlier, and there was no Devouring Golden Immortal to help him?" Zhu Yan's eyes flashed with a hint of mockery.
Dong Li Hu said, "What Zhu Yan said is correct. If I had any doubts before, now that I've seen these two, I can sense the fluctuations in their aura, and I know they're not easy to deal with. Moreover, we are all Daozu, and we are bound by the Heavenly Dao. If we were to engage in a life-or-death struggle, it would be a loss for us in the end."
Meng Yuan hesitated, "This matter was entrusted to us by the Supreme, and if we don't take action, it would be a dereliction of duty..."
Zhu Yan smiled and said, "Meng Yuan, if you're really worried about it, why don't you take the initiative to enter the fray first? We won't stand by and watch, and we'll take the opportunity to test your extraordinary abilities. What do you say?"
Meng Yuan's eyes narrowed, and he felt a surge of anger in his heart.
Purple Xuan interrupted, "Enough, now that we've trapped these two, as long as they can't cause trouble in the Heavenly Court, there's no need to take any further action. We'll just have to wait for the Bodhi Banquet to end, and the Supreme will make a decision then."
Among the four, Purple Xuan was clearly the leader, and after she spoke, the others fell silent.
Meng Yuan, who looked like a child, secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He wasn't really eager to fight Han Li to the death, and he had only said those words to have an excuse in case he was blamed later.
After all, it was the others who didn't want to fight.
"Who would have thought that we'd be stuck here, watching the Bodhi Banquet from afar? It seems we won't be able to taste the flavor of the Bodhi fruit..." The old woman sighed, her voice filled with regret.
The others also sighed, and their resentment towards Han Li grew.
...
In the Zhongtu Xianyu, outside the Heavenly Gate of the South, a massive spirit ship hovered in the air, its flags fluttering in the wind. A giant banner stood at the center, bearing the words "Lunhui Hall" in large letters.
The spirit ship and the surrounding void were filled with people, most of whom wore the uniform of the Lunhui Hall and wore masks of various colors. They were all arrayed in a state of high alert.
On the deck of the leading spirit ship, seven or eight figures stood in a row, six of whom wore black masks. Only the two in the center revealed their true faces.
One of them was a young man with silver hair, who was not very tall but had a muscular build. His face was covered with a black cloth, revealing only his mouth and nose, and his eyes shone with a fierce killing intent.
Behind him, he wore two green war knives, their blades long and narrow, without scabbards. The knives seemed to be alive, emitting a faint green mist that swirled around them.
Next to him stood a young man with dark skin, who was as tall as a iron tower. He was none other than Wu Yang.
"Tan Lang, has the Hall Master entered the Heavenly Court yet?" Wu Yang asked, his brow furrowed with concern.
"He's already entered through the Eastern Heavenly Gate. In a few hours, the Bodhi Banquet will begin," the silver-haired young man replied slowly, his voice like a low growl.
"How are Yan Zhi and Xuan Yu doing?" Wu Yang asked, his heart filled with unease.
"You're too anxious... relax, it's they who should be anxious..." Tan Lang raised his hand, pointing to the distant Heavenly Gate.
Wu Yang followed his gaze, and saw the Heavenly Gate behind which a massive transmission array was located. The array was currently in operation, with powerful spatial ripples emanating from it.
That was the site of the great transmission array that connected the Zhongtu Xianyu to other Xianyu, and it was currently bustling with activity. Many of the top experts from the various Xianyu were gathering there, including Daozu and Daluo cultivators.
"My Cold Green Knives are getting impatient, waiting to taste the blood of our enemies..." Tan Lang's voice was like a low chuckle, and his face twisted into a cruel smile.
His black cloth-covered face revealed a shocking scar that ran from his ear to his mouth.
...
Apart from the Northern Heavenly Gate, the Lunhui Hall had also deployed its forces outside the Eastern and Western Heavenly Gates, facing off against the Heavenly Court in a stalemate that had lasted for some time.
Although both sides had made provocative moves, neither had launched a full-scale attack, and they seemed to be exercising restraint.
Among the three Heavenly Gates, the Northern Heavenly Gate was the most lively, with all the transmission arrays operating at full capacity, constantly transporting cultivators from the various Xianyu to the Bodhi Banquet.
The nine great continents of the Zhongtu Xianyu were all decorated with lanterns and streamers, filled with a festive atmosphere.
The various sects and clans that were rooted in the Zhongtu Xianyu, although they may not have had the qualifications to attend the Bodhi Banquet, still felt a sense of pride and joy. They held their own grand ceremonies during the banquet, and the clans from other Xianyu that were friendly with them also came to visit, sharing in the excitement of the Bodhi Banquet.
Moreover, the great merchant clans and treasure-hunting sects were taking advantage of the opportunity to hold their own treasure exhibitions, gathering all sorts of precious treasures from the various Xianyu and attracting countless cultivators and rogue cultivators.
However, these festivities were merely a sideshow, and the true focus of attention was still the official venues set up on the nine great continents of the Zhongtu Xianyu. That was where the most powerful and prestigious figures of the True Immortal Realm had gathered. The central region of the Tian Palace Continent was a vast basin, where many important offices of the Heavenly Court were located. The main venue of the Bodhi Banquet was situated in the midst of the vast cloud sea above this region.
From the bottom of the basin, one could see the cloud sea stretching out in every direction, with a kaleidoscope of colors and a misty aura that seemed to shift and change with the wind. On occasion, one could even catch a glimpse of divine horses and celestial maidens dancing in the clouds.
In fact, there was a massive floating island suspended above the cloud sea, known as the Yaochi Paradise, which was the dwelling place of the Seven Rulers of the Heavens. This island was said to be the residence of the Time Emperor, both past and present.
The Yaochi Paradise was surrounded by a ring of mountains, where the air was filled with spiritual energy and the sound of gentle waterfalls. The waterfalls cascaded down the mountainside, creating a misty veil that seemed to shimmer and shine like a thousand pearls.
At the foot of the waterfalls, a group of nine-colored divine deer grazed peacefully, their eyes calm and serene. In the nearby forest, the sound of birdsong echoed through the trees, and one could catch a glimpse of celestial apes playing in the branches.
Above the forest, a flock of vermilion-crowned cranes flew by, their cries echoing through the air like the music of the heavens. The atmosphere was one of natural beauty and tranquility.
Higher up in the sky, a multitude of colorful lights converged on the Yaochi Paradise, like a rainbow gathering at the center of the universe. Among these lights, one could see phoenix chariots and dragon carriages racing by, as well as a group of celestial beings in elegant attire, flying through the air with ease.
As one approached the center of the Yaochi Paradise, the spiritual energy grew thicker, and the air was filled with the fragrance of celestial flowers. Even the dew that collected on the leaves of the trees seemed to be imbued with the essence of the divine.
Every morning and evening, a group of celestial children and maidens would gather in the Yaochi Paradise to collect the dew and use it to brew a divine elixir.
At the heart of the Yaochi Paradise was a crystal-clear lake, its surface smooth and unbroken like a mirror. The lake was surrounded by a ring of mountains, and its shape resembled a folded fan. This was the Qingming Lake, a place of great beauty and tranquility.
Behind the Qingming Lake stood an ancient locust tree, its trunk twisted and gnarled with age. The tree was said to be thousands of years old, and its branches seemed to stretch up to the heavens like a canopy.
Beneath the locust tree stood a small, two-story pavilion, which was said to be the former residence of the Time Emperor. The pavilion was simple and unadorned, but it seemed to radiate a sense of peace and tranquility.
Outside the Qingming Lake, a massive, semicircular plaza had been constructed. The plaza was paved with white spirit jade, and a series of narrow canals had been dug to channel the water from the lake into the plaza. The canals divided the plaza into a series of long, narrow sections, each one surrounded by a low wall.
On each of these sections, a large, purple jade table had been placed, surrounded by a multitude of celestial fruits and delicacies. The tables were arranged in a dense, maze-like pattern, and the air was filled with the fragrance of incense and the sound of celestial music.
At regular intervals, a group of celestial maidens would dance on a raised platform, their movements elegant and refined. The atmosphere was one of joy and celebration, and the guests who had gathered for the Bodhi Banquet seemed to be in high spirits.
At the center of the plaza, a group of seven purple jade tables stood empty, awaiting the arrival of the honored guests. Nearby, a group of elderly celestial beings sat in silence, their eyes closed in meditation.
These elderly beings were the leaders of the various celestial sects, and they were said to possess great wisdom and power. They were surrounded by a group of young, celestial disciples, who seemed to be bursting with curiosity and excitement.
One of the elderly beings, a white-haired old woman, sat with her eyes closed, her body swaying gently back and forth. She seemed to be in a state of deep meditation, but her eyes were actually fixed on a young woman who sat behind her.
The young woman, a celestial maiden with skin as white as snow and hair as black as the night, seemed to be in a state of deep sleep. Her body swayed gently back and forth, and her eyes were closed in a peaceful expression.
But as she swayed forward, her body suddenly emitted a burst of purple light, and a series of tiny, purple snakes seemed to emerge from her body. The old woman's eyes snapped open, and she reached out to touch the young woman's forehead.
The young woman's eyes fluttered open, and she looked up at the old woman with a confused expression. "Master," she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
The old woman smiled and said, "Dream Cold, I told you not to practice the Five Thunder True Scripture while you were still learning the Great Dream Spring and Autumn. If you're not careful, you'll end up hurting yourself."
The young woman, whose name was Yu Menghan, looked up at the old woman with a sheepish expression. She had been practicing the Five Thunder True Scripture, a powerful and ancient text, but she had not been careful enough, and her body had begun to emit the purple light.
The old woman, who was the leader of the Mengtan Sect, looked at Yu Menghan with a mixture of concern and amusement. She had taken Yu Menghan as her disciple many years ago, and she had taught her the secrets of the Great Dream Spring and Autumn.
Yu Menghan heard the words and her expression changed, surprised and asked, "Disciple... just now, you used the Thunder Technique in your dream again?"
The old woman sighed and said, "Ai, you're really making things difficult for me...". The old woman had a fond expression in her eyes.
Although the old woman had founded the Meng Tan Sect over a million years ago, she had never been able to find a disciple who could truly inherit her teachings. She had discovered Yu Menghan by chance, guided by a dream, and had taken her in as her disciple.
The old woman had spent her long life cultivating to the peak of the Great Luo Realm, and had always hoped to break through the final barrier and become the Ancestor of the Dream Path. However, she had never been able to achieve this, and now felt that her hopes were slim.
But Yu Menghan's appearance had given the old woman another option, and she had placed all her hopes on her.
Yu Menghan indeed had a great aptitude for cultivating this path, and as long as she was willing to work hard and cultivate, with the old woman's guidance, she would have a great future ahead of her.
However, the old woman was somewhat annoyed that Yu Menghan seemed to be deeply entangled with the past, and the "Five Thunder True Classics" had been put aside, and she was secretly cultivating this technique while cultivating the supreme path that the old woman had passed down to her.
"Alright, the Bodhi Banquet is about to begin, don't sleep anymore, and later when you receive the Bodhi Fruit, you must treasure it, it's a great opportunity for the Great Dao." The old woman couldn't scold Yu Menghan, so she said.
"Master, do I have a share of the fruit?" Yu Menghan asked excitedly.
"You don't, none of the attendants have a share, only those who have been formally invited by the Heavenly Court and those who hold the Bodhi Command have this great opportunity. But since I'm the one eating the fruit, I'll give you a taste." The old woman smiled.
"No, no, if it's Master's fruit, I won't eat it." Yu Menghan shook her head repeatedly.
"Stupid girl, you don't know how precious the Bodhi Fruit is, even those Taiyi Great Luo cultivators, and those Dao Ancestors, all cherish it. Of course, the fruit has different levels, and the Heavenly Court will distinguish them based on cultivation level and relationship with the Heavenly Court." The old woman pointed to Yu Menghan's brow and smiled.
"Master's fruit..." Yu Menghan asked half a sentence, then felt it wasn't suitable and stopped.
"Mine is naturally the highest level of fruit, so when I receive it, you mustn't rush to eat it. I'll seal it with a technique, and when we return to the Meng Tan Sect, I'll gradually divide it and give it to you to eat, so you can absorb the fruit's medicinal properties without harming your body." The old woman smiled contentedly.
"Meng Po, you're really generous, the Bodhi Fruit was condensed by the Heavenly Court's secret technique, and it took a long time to refine it, you're just giving it to your disciple like that?" A deep voice spoke up from the side.
The old woman didn't even need to turn her head to scold, "Mind your own business, old thing, it's my fruit, I can give it to whoever I want!"
Yu Menghan couldn't help but turn her head to look, and saw a tall, gray-robed old man, with a face that wasn't particularly remarkable, but his aura was impressive.
However, his worn-out gray robes stood out in contrast to the others' luxurious clothing.
"Ha ha, the Bodhi Fruit can help those who haven't achieved the Dao to gain insight, and for those who have achieved the Dao, it can slow down the erosion of the Heavenly Dao..." The old man said with a smile.
"Meng Po, shut up, you old dog, don't meddle in other people's business." The old woman turned her head and scolded.
The gray-robed old man, whose Dao name was Cangwu, immediately shrank his neck and stopped speaking.
"Master, is what he said true?" Yu Menghan asked, her heart shaken.
Since following Meng Po, Yu Menghan's horizons had expanded, and she had learned about many secrets of the True Immortal Realm. When she heard Cangwu's words, she realized that the Bodhi Fruit was even more precious than she had imagined.
"Of course, it's true, otherwise, a Dao Ancestor like Cangwu wouldn't be so submissive to the Heavenly Court, it's not just because of the pressure, but also because of the benefits." The old woman transmitted her voice to Yu Menghan.
Yu Menghan heard the voice in her heart and made up her mind, no matter what, she wouldn't eat the Bodhi Fruit.
"Thank you, senior, for pointing this out." Yu Menghan transmitted her voice, knowing that Cangwu had intentionally revealed this, probably hoping that the old woman would eat the fruit herself.
Cangwu heard this and smiled, "Meng Po, you have good fortune, you've really taken in a good disciple..."
He said, and then his eyes flashed with a hint of sadness, and he walked to a nearby table, sat down, and closed his eyes, with a calm and serene expression.
Yu Menghan looked at the lively scene around her, and her heart felt a pang of sadness, and suddenly, Han Li's image appeared in her mind.
She didn't know where he was now...
...
In the unknown realm, the Ten Directions Great Array.
Han Li stood suspended in the dark void, and in front of him, 72 sword spirits were flying around, forming a powerful sword array.
As the golden light flashed, the 72 spirits appeared, each transforming into a golden flying sword, with their sword auras intersecting and condensing into a golden heavenly gate. The Heaven's Gate that appeared before them was vastly different from the one that Han Li's Heaven's Gate Sword Array had transformed into. The current Heaven's Gate seemed weak and illusory, as if it were a mere shadow. However, the power of the lightning laws it contained was real and potent.
Even from outside the array's boundaries, the group couldn't help but gasp in amazement.
"How can this be? He's clearly cultivating the power of time laws, yet his Heaven's Gate contains such pure and domineering lightning laws?" The ugly old woman, Zhu Yan, asked in a strange tone.
The others exchanged glances, equally perplexed, but no one could provide an answer.
"His Heaven's Gate is truly extraordinary, perhaps it's a primordial divine artifact that has seized the heavens' creation?" Dong Li Hu speculated.
As they spoke, the illusory Heaven's Gate within the Ten Directions Array suddenly opened, revealing a sea of golden light that churned and foamed. Thousands of golden dragons emerged, swimming towards the edge of the boundary.
A deafening roar shook the heavens as the golden dragons, infused with the power of lightning laws, collided with the boundary. The impact was like a series of explosions, sending shockwaves through the air.
The boundary's internal energy fluctuated wildly, as a violent force, accompanied by golden lightning, ricocheted back and forth, causing the air to vibrate.
Han Li dodged the shockwaves, his brow furrowed in surprise.
What kind of array could seal off an entire space, preventing even the transmission of shockwaves? He wondered.
Meanwhile, in another part of the array, Jin Tong was punching the boundary with his golden fist, creating a series of explosions that echoed through the void.
The other ten domains connected to the Ten Directions Array were also affected, with mountains shaking, volcanoes erupting, and oceans churning with unprecedented ferocity. The domains were exerting their collective power to suppress Han Li and Jin Tong.
The cultivators stationed at the array's nodes were also affected, with some struggling to maintain their footing. The Taiyi Jade Immortals were particularly strained, their auras turbulent and unstable.
As for the Golden Immortals, many were unable to withstand the pressure, and some even collapsed, bleeding from their seven orifices.
However, the array remained stable, with new cultivators replacing those who faltered.
The four observers outside the array checked on the cultivators' condition and breathed a sigh of relief.
"If it's just this level of power, we can control it. Give them ten days or half a month, and they won't be able to do anything," Meng Yuan said, a hint of a smile on his face.
"We can't be complacent, we need to carefully monitor the situation and fill any gaps immediately," Zi Shu cautioned.
"Understood," Dong Li Hu replied, followed by the others.
Inside the array, Han Li had withdrawn his sword spirit, Tongzi, and stood in mid-air, his brow furrowed in thought.
Just then, a golden light flew towards him, and Jin Tong's figure emerged from it.
"This array is too strange, I couldn't break through it with my power," Jin Tong said, arms crossed, looking somewhat frustrated.
"The heavens and earth are completely sealed off here, my Heaven's Gate Sword Array can't communicate with the heavens, and I can only use a portion of its power. I also can't break through this boundary," Han Li explained.
"Why don't we stop attacking the boundary and try something else? You and I can exchange a blow, and see if the resulting power can tear open the void. If it can, we can use the opening to escape into the outside space," Jin Tong suggested, a spark of inspiration in her eyes.
Han Li considered her proposal and thought it was worth a try.
The two of them quickly took up positions, creating a distance of tens of thousands of miles between them. One of them punched, and the other swung their sword, colliding in a flash of lightning.
The resulting shockwave was even more powerful than before, causing the space to shudder and the void to erupt with explosions. The impact reverberated throughout the array, taking a long time to dissipate.
Jin Tong dodged the residual energy and approached Han Li.
The two of them exchanged a glance, both disappointed. Their previous attack, although powerful, had not achieved its intended goal of tearing open the void.
Perhaps it's because we didn't use our full strength, so our power isn't enough?" Jin Tong said, unwilling to give up.
"If we really went all out, even if we had a chance to break through the space, we'd both be injured, and it wouldn't be easy to deal with the consequences," Han Li said, shaking his head.
"This broken formation is really something, not even a single weakness can be found, it's like a tiger eating the sky, with no way to get a grip," Jin Tong said, scratching his head in frustration.
"Ah, a tiger eating the sky..." Han Li's eyes lit up as he heard this, and he clapped his hands.
Jin Tong's eyes flashed with doubt, but he quickly came to his senses: "You're saying, with my devouring law, I should devour this entire void, and pull the boundary in with it?"
"That's right. This great formation is built on this void, it's closely connected to it, so if you devour the void, the formation will definitely be affected, and it won't be hard to break through," Han Li said, nodding.
"With my devouring law at full strength, devouring the void isn't a problem, but it's best if I'm not interrupted, or else I'll be invaded by the heavenly way again and again," Jin Tong said.
"Don't worry, you just focus on devouring the void, I'll make sure you're not disturbed," Han Li said, his eyes scanning the surroundings casually.
As soon as he finished speaking, Jin Tong shot off like a bullet, heading towards the corner of the great formation.
As he flew, his body suddenly erupted with golden light, and the true form of the devouring insect appeared, its mouth open wide as it bit into the void, and a golden vortex began to spin inside its mouth.
The void in that moment seemed to collapse, like a hollowed-out cave, and Jin Tong's body sank into it.
Han Li's eyes lit up with a smile as he watched.
Outside the great formation, the group of people including Zi Shu looked grave, their faces filled with hesitation.
"This time's biggest mistake was letting that just-recovered Dao ancestor, the devouring immortal..." Meng Yuan sighed.
"What's the point of talking about it?" Zhu Yan scolded.
"Zi Shu, what do you say, should we attack or not?" Dong Li Hu asked, looking at the purple-robed woman.
As soon as he spoke, Zhu Yan and the others turned to look at her, waiting for her decision.
"If we really let them escape, we'll have to face the consequences of the supreme," Zi Shu said, taking a deep breath.
Dong Li Hu nodded, and with a wave of his hand, the light screen in front of him rippled, like waves on the surface of a pond, and he stepped forward, entering the great formation.
Meng Yuan's eyes were cast downward, looking at the void beneath his feet, as if he didn't plan on entering immediately.
"Dealing with those two, even if we four join forces, we're not guaranteed to win, I'm saying this upfront, if anyone is still hesitant and doesn't put in their full effort, even if we manage to survive, we'll have to face the consequences," Zi Shu's voice suddenly turned cold.
Zhu Yan glanced at Meng Yuan, her eyes filled with disdain, and she followed Dong Li Hu into the great formation.
Zi Shu and Meng Yuan also entered the great formation, one after the other.
Han Li, who was far away, sensed the changes in the void, and laughed coldly: "Finally willing to show up? Then let's give it a try."
As soon as he finished speaking, his sleeves puffed out, and golden light flashed inside, like a stormy sea, and the sound of thunder rumbled on.
...
In the Heavenly Palace continent.
Outside the Jade Pool, the light of the void continued to shine, and batches of immortals entered the meeting hall, guided by the heavenly palace's maids, and took their seats.
Although the atmosphere in the hall was solemn, with heavenly music playing and immortals dancing, the mood was still somewhat somber.
Aside from a few familiar immortals, who were chatting quietly, most of the people were sitting silently on their mats, either meditating or admiring the beauty of the immortals, waiting for the host to arrive.
Near the center of the hall, the seats were occupied by immortals from the heavenly palace and the major sects, who had a close relationship with the heavenly palace, and usually had disciples serving in the heavenly palace.
The two great Luo ancestors from the Tong Fa Sect and the Chang Huo Mountain were sitting separately, but communicating with each other through their minds.
"Suigu, did you have a smooth journey here?" one of the ancestors asked.
"It was okay... but I heard that many of the immortals who came to the meeting were ambushed and fell along the way, including that friend of ours, Pu Liang..." the other ancestor replied, his heart filled with fear.
"Did you see the formation outside the three heavenly gates? This time, the Wheel of Reincarnation is going to make a big move, and challenge the heavenly palace," the first ancestor said.
"The master of the Wheel of Reincarnation is indeed a formidable person, but this time, he's being a bit too reckless, choosing to attack the heavenly palace at this time, it's either going to be a brilliant move or a foolish one..." the second ancestor said, but then stopped himself, feeling that he had misspoken, and smiled awkwardly.
"The heavenly palace is probably also furious, and this time, they want to use the power of the immortals gathered here to destroy the Wheel of Reincarnation in one fell swoop, we're just pawns in their game, after all," the first ancestor said.
"We're just trying to survive, it's not easy to cultivate... let's just focus on protecting ourselves," the second ancestor said.
"Speaking of which, the battle between the supreme and the master of the Wheel of Reincarnation is a rare sight, and I'm actually looking forward to it," the first ancestor said, his eyebrows rising in a smile.
Just as he finished speaking, a commotion broke out at the back of the hall.
The two ancestors turned to look, and their eyes widened in shock. In the center of the hall, a black and white robed Daoist was leading a tall, black-clad man with a veil covering his face, walking towards the front of the hall. The man's face was completely obscured, and his presence was shrouded in mystery.
"Who is this person, with such an arrogant attitude, that he needs to be greeted by Qingqiu True Person?" someone asked.
"I don't dare to show my true face, but judging by his attire, could it be...?"
"Could it be that person?"
"It's impossible! How dare he come, and alone at that? Does he not fear for his life?"
"Hehe, if it's really him, why should he be afraid? I've heard that Zuixuan Xuanjie has already fallen and disappeared, and it's likely that this person is responsible..."
"Wow, this is going to be a lively gathering!"
"He's been secretly competing with the Heavenly Court for years, and it's clear that he's not afraid of anyone..."
As the two men walked, the whispers and gasps of the onlookers continued, with some people standing up, their faces filled with anger or shock. Lin Lin, the Daoist, looked pale and silent, his eyes fixed on the mysterious man.
"Lu... Lu Hui, the master of the Wheel of Rebirth..." Su Valley's expression changed, and he muttered to himself.
The man in the black robe seemed to be unaware of the commotion around him, and he continued to follow Qingqiu True Person, his eyes fixed on the path ahead.
"Lu Hui, you dare to come here?" a loud voice suddenly boomed from the front of the hall.
Yu Menghan's expression changed, and she looked at the man with the veil, wondering why he was so bold.
Cangwu True Person, who was standing next to her, was also looking at the man with a serious expression.
Qingqiu True Person, who was leading the way, felt a surge of pressure, and his forehead began to sweat.
Lu Hui, the master of the Wheel of Rebirth, seemed to be unaware of the tension around him, and he continued to walk forward, his eyes fixed on the path ahead.
It turned out that Cangwu True Person had a deep grudge against Lu Hui, who had killed his only son and destroyed the entire Candle Heaven Palace. Cangwu True Person had been seeking revenge ever since, and his face was now twisted with anger.
Lu Hui glanced at Cangwu True Person, and his expression remained calm. "Who are you?" he asked.
Cangwu True Person's body began to tremble, and his face turned red with rage. "You... you dare to ask who I am?" he shouted.
Dream Mother, who was standing next to Yu Menghan, quickly intervened, trying to calm Cangwu True Person down.
But Cangwu True Person was beyond reason, and he took a step forward, his body radiating a powerful aura. The entire hall was shaken by his presence.
Qingqiu True Person quickly stepped forward, trying to mediate the situation. "Cangwu True Person, please do not cause trouble here. Lu Hui is a guest of the Zuixuan, and you must not harm him."
Cangwu True Person's eyes were blazing with anger, and he gritted his teeth. "Get out of my way..."
Just as it seemed like Cangwu True Person was about to attack Lu Hui, a powerful voice boomed from the sky, echoing throughout the hall.
The voice was like thunder, and it seemed to come from the heavens themselves. The onlookers were shocked, and they looked up at the sky in awe.
Cangwu True Person's body froze, and he slowly turned around, his eyes fixed on the figure in the sky.
Behind him, a group of figures emerged from the clouds, their presence radiating an aura of power and authority.
The figure in the center was a middle-aged man with a face like jade, his eyes and eyebrows finely chiseled. He was seated in a white wheelchair, and his body was draped in a long, white robe. A golden sash was tied around his waist, and a nine-dragon jade pendant hung from his neck.
He was the Time Daozu, Guo or Jin.
To his left stood a red-robed old woman, her hair a fiery red, her face etched with wrinkles. She was holding a staff, and her eyes seemed to burn with an inner fire.
She was the Fire Attribute Daozu, Chi Rong.
The atmosphere in the hall was electric, and the onlookers were holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen next.
On the right side of the ancient or modern, a lovely girl with a blue short skirt stood, forming a stark contrast with the red-clad old woman on the left. She was not only dressed in a cool and refreshing outfit, but also had a sweet smile on her face, captivating everyone's heart at first sight.
On her head, two delicate dragon horns grew, and her long black hair was transformed into numerous small braids. Her round eyes were full of spirit, and her arms and ankles were adorned with exquisite blue circular rings, which were also decorated with small bells.
Such a dressing style and appearance should have been that of a harmless and lovely girl, but in reality, this girl was actually Chen Ruyan, the Water Attribute Primeval Origin Ancestor who had cultivated the Water Attribute Law to its extreme, one of the Seven Lords of the Heavenly Court.
She and Chi Rong, on the other hand, were like fire and water, with a strong sense of opposition and conflict. It was not a matter of friction between two different paths, but rather a natural aversion between two different paths, which would lead to confrontation as soon as they met.
The girl did not look at Chi Rong, and Chi Rong did not look at the girl, as if they were mutually exclusive, like water and fire.
On the other side of Chi Rong, there was a short, thin old man with a pale complexion. Today, he was not wearing his usual coarse linen clothes, but instead wore a purple and gold Daoist robe, which was adorned with strange and dazzling threads. It was clear that this was a Daoist robe of the highest quality.
The old man's shoulders were still slightly hunched, but his eyes were bright and piercing, and he was none other than Li Yuanji, the Master of the Nine Yuan Observatory.
On the other side, Chen Ruyan was accompanied by a tall, dark figure clad in a black robe, which even covered his face, revealing only a pair of deep, purple eyes that seemed to contain countless stars and twinkling lights. This person was named Yin Ming, one of the most mysterious and unknown of the Seven Lords of the Heavenly Court.
While Chen Poyuan had long since disappeared from the world, his reputation still lingered, and even the highest-ranking cultivators of the Heavenly Court did not know much about him.
In reality, Chen Poyuan had been crippled by the Heavenly Dao, and Xuan Yuan Jie had been killed by Han Li and Jin Tong. The Seven Lords of the Heavenly Court, apart from these five, were no longer present.
The past Bodhi Banquet, except for the occasional appearance of the ancient or modern, the other Seven Lords of the Heavenly Court rarely appeared. Especially the black-robed man, who had suddenly appeared with five others, was already a rare sight.
As these people appeared, almost all the cultivators present stood up to pay their respects.
The direct disciples of the Heavenly Court were even more eager to call out: "Greetings, Your Excellency!"
The ancient or modern smiled and nodded, saying: "Cangwu Dao friend, today the host is a guest, so don't spoil the ceremony."
His words were not warning, but rather a gentle reminder.
However, after this seemingly light remark, Cangwu Zhenjun indeed retracted his hand and returned to his seat, his expression even more worn and tired.
The host of the Wheel of Reincarnation looked at the ancient or modern and the others, his eyes calm and his expression serene.
Qing Qiu Zhenren let out a sigh of relief and led him forward, coming to the front row of seats where Cangwu Zhenjun and the other Dao ancestors were sitting.
"Host, this is the seat arranged for you, please take a seat," Qing Qiu Zhenren said.
The host of the Wheel of Reincarnation glanced at the seat, laughed loudly, and stepped over the table, coming to the middle seat between the two rows of seats.
He suddenly curved his fingers and grasped one of the seven tables, pulling it back with a burst of energy.
The table and the cushion behind it were swept away, landing in front of the host of the Wheel of Reincarnation.
"Since the person is not here, why leave the seat empty? Isn't it a bit inauspicious?" the host of the Wheel of Reincarnation laughed and said.
After speaking, the host of the Wheel of Reincarnation sat down, picked up a jug of celestial wine from the table, poured it into a cup, and gently swirled it.
The entire hall was in an uproar at this sight.
Qing Qiu Zhenren's cold sweat, which had just been repressed, began to flow again.
However, in his heart, he was somewhat impressed by the host of the Wheel of Reincarnation, who could still display such a domineering attitude in this environment. It was likely that no one else could do this.
But despite his admiration, he had to persuade the host, saying: "Host, this is not reasonable."
The host of the Wheel of Reincarnation ignored him, downing the wine in one gulp.
"No need to worry, it's just a small matter," the ancient or modern said with a smile.
Since the Dao ancestors had spoken, the others naturally did not have any further opinions. Qing Qiu Zhenren bid farewell and left the hall, returning to the Eastern Victory Continent.
The ancient or modern and the others took their seats, but not next to each other.
As the leader of the Seven Lords of the Heavenly Court, the ancient or modern naturally sat in the central position, and his table was slightly higher than the others.
Next to him on the left was the black-robed Dao ancestor, Yin Ming, while the right side was empty, where Chen Poyuan should have been sitting.
Further to the left, next to Yin Ming's seat, was the girl Dao ancestor, Chen Ruyan, and on her left, the seat was empty, and even the table had been moved away by the host of the Wheel of Reincarnation, where Xuan Yuan Jie should have been sitting.
On the right side, next to Chen Poyuan's empty seat, was Chi Rong, and next to him was the Master of the Nine Yuan Observatory.
After these people sat down, the cultivators who had stood up to pay their respects finally took their seats, and the entire hall began to play celestial music, and the atmosphere gradually became more relaxed.
At this time, a figure surrounded by layers of dense white cloud energy appeared in front of everyone. When the clouds dissipated, a tall figure emerged, dressed in a sky-blue long robe with snow-white cloud patterns embroidered on it. This was none other than Bai Yun Dao Zu, the one responsible for overseeing the operation of the Heavenly Court.
"Today is the Bodhi Banquet, and I cordially invite all guests to come and share in the blessings of the immortals. I hope you will all enjoy yourselves," Bai Yun Dao Zu said, first bowing to Gu Yu and others, then turning to the rest of the crowd with a loud laugh.
As soon as his words fell, a seven-colored cloud mist suddenly appeared above the crowd's heads, with dozens of fairy maidens dressed in rainbow-colored robes and feathered clothes, dancing and swaying to the music. The beauty was breathtaking.
The crowd watched in rapt attention, temporarily relaxing and enjoying the immortal brew and spiritual fruits.
...
Deep within the endless void, a massive silver mountain peak floated in the air, towering above the void. The mountain peak was formed from a crystal-clear silver mineral, each piece emitting spatial law fluctuations. If someone with knowledge were to see this, they would immediately recognize it as the legendary Void Crystal Stone, containing the power of spatial laws.
The spatial law fluctuations from the mountain peak converged to form a powerful and unmatched spatial law fluctuation, as if it could shake the entire void.
The chaotic void around the mountain peak became calm and peaceful, flowing smoothly past the mountain.
At the base of the mountain, a massive black tortoise was visible, its enormous body supporting the silver mountain peak on its back. The tortoise's four limbs moved slowly, carrying the silver mountain peak through the void.
On the mountain peak, numerous small caves were distributed, each containing a network of tunnels and passageways that stretched far and wide, as if the mountain peak had been hollowed out. Each tunnel had stone rooms built along its length, with countless rooms throughout the mountain peak.
The stone rooms were connected by thick silver threads, forming a complex network that linked the entire mountain peak. Some of the silver threads extended into the void, disappearing into the distance.
The silver threads pulsed with energy, as if transmitting something. Each stone room contained several transmission arrays, different from ordinary transmission arrays, which were used to transmit objects.
The arrays hummed with energy, occasionally spewing out various objects. The people from the Wheel of Rebirth Temple stood guard beside the arrays, transmitting the objects to other arrays or handing them over to nearby puppets.
The puppets received the objects and quickly delivered them to other parts of the mountain peak. The silver mountain peak seemed like a vast and bustling country, with a complex yet orderly operation.
At the peak of the mountain, a grand hall stood. Inside the hall, four enormous furnaces were placed, each over a hundred feet tall, almost reaching the ceiling. The furnaces were identical in style but differed in color: blue, green, red, and black.
The furnaces were surrounded by dozens of cultivators, most of whom wore masks from the Wheel of Rebirth Temple. Some wore purple robes, the attire of the Night Sun Kingdom.
The cultivators were constantly manipulating the furnaces, adding rare materials to the flames. The furnaces slowly rotated, emitting a low rumbling sound.
The blue furnace suddenly shook, and a blue glow shot out. A tall, masked man from the Wheel of Rebirth Temple caught the glow and revealed a blue rabbit-shaped mask.
The man examined the mask, nodded, and walked to a side hall. Inside, three stone pedestals stood, each with a cultivator seated on it, holding a white jade board with flashing text.
The three cultivators were busy browsing the text and manipulating the jade boards. The leftmost cultivator was a middle-aged man in gray robes, with a thin face and sunken eyes, looking somewhat gloomy.
The central cultivator was an old man in purple robes, likely from the Night Sun Kingdom. He had a slightly hunched back, sparse hair, and wrinkled skin, but his spirit was vigorous.
The rightmost cultivator was a white-robed woman with pale skin and beautiful features, but her expression was cold and detached.
The three cultivators had enormous auras, having reached the Mahayana realm. The old man in purple robes had the highest cultivation, having reached the peak of the Mahayana middle period, only one step away from the Mahayana late period.
The three individuals stopped handling the jade boards in their hands, raised their eyes to look over, and their gazes fell upon the blue mask. At the same time, they formed a hand seal and pointed.
A gray light, a silver light, and a white light shot out from their fingertips, entering the blue mask.
The silver light contained countless silver symbols that jumped and danced, causing the surrounding space to distort and twist with each movement.
The gray light, however, did not produce any ripples or fluctuations, as if it were a void-like substance.
The white light pulsed and changed into various forms, creating a dazzling display that left one's eyes blurred.
The tall, robust man from the Reincarnation Hall bowed deeply, not daring to look at the three individuals as they cast their spells. He lowered his head and waited.
These three individuals held high positions within the Reincarnation Hall, and the masks they created possessed the three great divine abilities of remote transaction, concealment, and shape-shifting. The blue mask floated up, hovering in mid-air, and three-colored spirit patterns emerged on its surface - silver, gray, and white.
The patterns slowly spread across the mask, covering its entire surface.
The three individuals stopped casting their spells, and the blue mask shot up into the air, flying swiftly and emitting a clear, crisp humming noise, as if it were a blue spirit bird.
The man from the Reincarnation Hall waved his hand, sending out a white light that enveloped the mask and pulled it back to his hand.
The three-colored spirit patterns on the mask quickly disappeared, leaving behind a newly refreshed mask that radiated a vibrant, dynamic glow.
"Thank you, esteemed sirs!" The man from the Reincarnation Hall bowed respectfully to the three individuals, then put the mask away and left.
The three individuals continued to handle the jade boards, working diligently.
Before long, the door to the side hall was pushed open once more, and another person from the Reincarnation Hall entered, holding a green mask and requesting that the three individuals cast their spells.
The three individuals repeated the process, inscribing spirit patterns onto the mask.
The green mask took slightly longer to inscribe than the blue mask.
After completing the green mask, a red mask was brought in, and the three individuals continued to cast their spells, inscribing spirit patterns onto mask after mask. Only after completing over a hundred masks did they finally have a brief respite.
The characters on the jade boards ceased to jump out, and the three individuals temporarily stopped working.
The middle-aged man in gray and the white-robed woman both looked tired, while the purple-robed old man remained serene and composed.
"Stone's cultivation has become increasingly profound, and it seems that it won't be long before he reaches the peak of the Great Luo middle stage. Who knows, perhaps he'll even advance to the Great Luo late stage in the future," the middle-aged man in gray said with a hint of admiration.
The purple-robed old man chuckled and replied, "Lu's concealment technique has become increasingly mysterious, and the masks we've created have improved significantly. As for advancing to the Great Luo late stage, I wouldn't dare to have such wild ambitions."
The middle-aged man in gray shook his head and said, "My concealment technique is just a minor art, and it can't compare to Stone's spatial technique or White's shape-shifting technique."
The white-robed woman snorted and said, "The Hall Master is currently engaged in a battle with the Heavenly Court, and he's entrusted us with handling the rear. We can't afford to make any mistakes, so you two should focus on your work and avoid idle chatter."
The middle-aged man in gray smiled awkwardly.
However, the purple-robed old man's expression turned stern, seemingly displeased with the white-robed woman's words.
"White Feather, Stone may be working in our Reincarnation Hall, but he's not one of us. You shouldn't be rude to him," a white-robed youth said as he emerged from the depths of the side hall.
The youth's features were exceptionally handsome, but his expression was tinged with a deep sadness, as if he had experienced countless heartbreaks.
"Huangfu Domain Master!" The middle-aged man in gray immediately stood up and bowed, followed by the white-robed woman.
"It's all right, I know I was wrong," the white-robed woman said, offering an apology to the purple-robed old man.
The purple-robed old man also stood up, waved his hand, and then bowed slightly to the white-robed youth.
The white-robed youth was none other than Huangfu Yu, the Domain Master of the Reincarnation Hall's Jin Nan Domain, who had appeared in the Gray Realm.
"You three don't need to be so formal," Huangfu Yu said with a smile. "You've all been working tirelessly to create masks and handle the Reincarnation Hall's affairs. It's been a difficult task."
The three individuals stood up, and the middle-aged man in gray said, "We're willing to guard this place, so we don't feel any hardship. Huangfu Domain Master, how is the war between our Reincarnation Hall and the Heavenly Court going?"
Huangfu Yu replied, "The situation is still unclear, but as long as we work together, with the Hall Master's divine ability, we should be able to defeat the Heavenly Court."
The three individuals nodded in agreement, and Huangfu Yu smiled, seemingly pleased.
He then turned to the purple-robed old man and said, "I'll speak with you later, Stone." Huangfu Yu said, "Stone Daoist, I hope you can help me with the trade between my Reincarnation Hall and Guangyuan Zhai. After all, Guangyuan Zhai is slightly better than my Reincarnation Hall in terms of trading ability. As for the expenses, I will compensate you after the war is over."
The old man in purple robes nodded in agreement. "It's only natural to do my part."
Huangfu Yu smiled slightly and said, "With your assurance, I can feel at ease."
He gave a few more instructions and turned to leave the side hall.
A moment later, Huangfu Yu's figure appeared at the peak of Jufeng Mountain, looking up at the sky as if gazing at something.
...
At the Bodhi banquet.
After a round of music and dance, everyone's excitement began to build up, for they were about to achieve their main goal for coming here.
"The wine has been poured three times, and the beauty has been appreciated seven times. I think everyone is getting impatient. This Bodhi banquet will follow the old tradition and distribute Bodhi fruits to everyone. However, this time, there's a slight difference..."
White Cloud Daoist's words were not finished, and the crowd couldn't help but wonder, "Could it be that this year's Bodhi fruit requires some kind of exchange or condition to obtain?"
The venue was filled with whispers and murmurs.
"Everyone, please be patient. The Supreme Master's dao is supreme, and his heart is benevolent. He has vowed to help all living beings enter nirvana and attain enlightenment. The Bodhi banquet is meant to help all living beings attain enlightenment on their own. This is the Supreme Master's highest dao realm. Therefore, this time, the Bodhi fruit will be distributed widely, and everyone who attends, regardless of whether they are guests or junior disciples, will receive a Bodhi fruit to help them attain enlightenment earlier."
The crowd heard this and first let out a sigh of relief, then burst into cheers and applause.
"Thank you, Supreme Master, for your generous gift..."
"Thank you, Supreme Master!"
The host, Guo or Jin, smiled and nodded slightly.
The master of the Reincarnation Hall watched this scene with a hint of a smile on his face, but he didn't say a word.
A moment later, eight giant immortal birds appeared in the sky, each carrying an eight-treasured square box in their mouths. They flew in different directions, leaving behind a trail of light.
These eight boxes contained the Bodhi fruits to be distributed to the other sub-venues.
After the Bodhi fruits were sent away, the main venue began to distribute the fruits to each of the attending cultivators, including the master of the Reincarnation Hall.
He picked up the Bodhi fruit in front of him and examined it carefully, only to find that it was a bright red fruit resembling a plum, unlike the pill he had imagined.
The fruit's bright red color was not like the color of red silk, but rather, it was translucent and glowing, like a small red lantern, emitting a fragrant aroma that was intoxicating.
The master of the Reincarnation Hall looked at the Bodhi fruits in front of Guo or Jin and the others, and found that they were all the same, likely the highest grade.
The crowd was excited, and those in the first row, including the Daoist ancestors and the great Luo cultivators, were able to maintain their composure, but the rest of the people were overjoyed and couldn't contain themselves.
They carefully held the Bodhi fruits, as if they were holding their own hearts, and their eyes were fixed on the fruits.
However, the Supreme Master had not spoken yet, so no one dared to consume the Bodhi fruit privately.
"Everyone, please don't be restrained. The Bodhi fruit has been distributed, and it's meant to be shared and enjoyed together." Guo or Jin said with a warm smile.
He picked up the Bodhi fruit in front of him and put it in his mouth, taking a bite. The light and fragrance spread out.
The crowd saw this and followed suit, carefully putting the Bodhi fruits into their mouths.
The entire venue was filled with light and fragrance.
The white-haired old woman, Meng Po, held the Bodhi fruit in front of her and took a bite, but instead of swallowing it, she discreetly put it away.
Behind her, Yu Menghan did the same, putting the Bodhi fruit away without consuming it. She thought to herself, "If I ever meet him again, I'll give him this Bodhi fruit as a gift."
The master of the Reincarnation Hall picked up the Bodhi fruit and examined it carefully, then snickered and crushed it in his hand, turning it into a stream of light that he absorbed into his sleeve.
The Time Daoist saw this and raised an eyebrow, but didn't show any displeasure.
After everyone had consumed the Bodhi fruit, the sound of bells echoed through the venue, and the sound of heavenly music filled the air.
The surface of the Jingming Lake rippled, and the giant ancient tree behind it began to sway gently. The leaves flew off, scattering throughout the venue, and their green color gradually faded, turning into crystal-like leaves.
Many of the cultivators in the venue seemed to have a sudden realization, and they sat down, closed their eyes, and began to meditate.
At that moment, the light of the Bodhi Fruit had not yet dissipated, but the brilliant lights on the bodies of many cultivators had already begun to flicker and shine.
The entire hall was plunged into an atmosphere that was difficult to describe.
"Hehe, it seems that there are indeed those who can break through..." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth gazed at a young man sitting in a position that was quite far back.
The young man, who had followed his family's elderly ancestor to this place, had unexpectedly obtained a Bodhi Fruit. His body was now radiating a bright blue light, and his aura was rapidly increasing. His cultivation had broken through the middle stage of the Golden Immortal realm and entered the later stage.
Just as the commotion was dying down, another voice rang out, and it was discovered that seven or eight people had broken through their cultivation realms one after another.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth casually swept his gaze across the room and found that most of the cultivators who had broken through were below the Taiyi realm. After all, the higher one's cultivation, the more difficult it was to break through.
However, from the faces of the Taiyi cultivators, it could be seen that they were also filled with excitement. It was clear that they had received a great benefit, and although they had not broken through, they would certainly have fewer hidden dangers in their future cultivation.
Although the Bodhi Fruits consumed by the Daluo cultivators were generally of a higher grade, they were limited by their own high cultivation realms. If they had any bottlenecks, they would be major obstacles on their cultivation path, and it would be difficult to achieve immediate results.
However, there were also many benefits to be gained. The Daluo cultivators were often calm and composed, and even if they had gained a great deal, they would not easily reveal their emotions.
This continued for a long time, and the commotion in the hall gradually subsided.
"This banquet has allowed us to see all the fellow cultivators seize the opportunity, and it's a wonderful sight. It's not in vain that the Heavenly Court has put its heart into this." Guo Jin smiled and looked around at the crowd.
"It's all thanks to the Heavenly Venerable's kindness in bestowing the Bodhi Fruit upon us. We are grateful and offer our thanks to the Heavenly Venerable." A young man wearing a white robe, who had just broken through a realm, stood up and bowed deeply towards the Heavenly Venerable.
The other cultivators who had received the Bodhi Fruit, as well as many of the Daluo cultivators, also stood up and thanked the Heavenly Court.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth looked at this scene, and a smile appeared in his eyes. He muttered to himself, "The Heavenly Court is indeed extraordinary. A single Bodhi Fruit can attract so many followers. It's truly enviable..."
His voice was not loud, and he did not intentionally use his magic to amplify it. However, the cultivators present were all of high cultivation, and many of them were already paying attention to him. Therefore, as soon as he spoke, all eyes turned to him.
Except for a few people who looked indifferent, most of the cultivators looked displeased, frowning or showing anger.
"Hmph! The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth has always been opposed to the Heavenly Court and has disrupted the natural order. He has created chaos in the True Immortal realm. How dare he speak so boldly in front of the Heavenly Venerable?" An old man with a white beard stood up, his face red with rage.
The other cultivators followed his lead, criticizing the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth for his actions.
The hall was suddenly filled with the sound of chattering, like a flock of birds, and it was quite chaotic.
Guo Jin, however, did not show any anger. He continued to smile and raised his hand to calm the crowd, and soon the hall returned to silence.
"Everyone, please do not be like this. The old grievances between the Heavenly Court and the Wheel of Rebirth have been entangled for countless years. It's difficult to say who was right or wrong in the past. The reason we invited the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth to this banquet was not to engage in verbal sparring, but to seek a way to put an end to the conflict." Guo Jin spoke, his voice calm and gentle.
The cultivators nodded in agreement, praising Guo Jin for his wisdom and fairness. They felt that he was indeed the master of the Heavenly Court, and his words were a reflection of his noble character.
"Ha! A way to put an end to the conflict? I'm afraid that in this world, there is no one else who can speak such words with a straight face. It's truly a wonder to behold." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth laughed loudly.
"Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth, are you questioning my sincerity? I have already shown my goodwill by allowing you to enter this hall safely, without sending troops to suppress the rebellious forces of the Wheel of Rebirth outside the Heavenly Gate. If you are willing to put an end to the conflict and stop the fighting, we can become friends and put the past behind us." Guo Jin raised an eyebrow, his voice calm and measured.
When the cultivators heard this, their faces changed, and many of them showed a flash of anger in their eyes.
"Heavenly Venerable, do you want to make friends with such a treacherous person? Do you want to forget the grievances between us and the Wheel of Rebirth? What about the loyal ministers and heroes who were killed by the Wheel of Rebirth for the sake of the Heavenly Court? How can we just forget about them?" Cangwu Zhenjun stood up, his voice filled with indignation.
"Cangwu, the cycle of revenge and hatred will never end. How can we put an end to it? In the past, the Heavenly Court has lost many people, and the Wheel of Rebirth has also suffered greatly. If we don't put an end to this cycle of hatred, who knows how many more loyal ministers and heroes will die in the future?" Guo Jin looked at him deeply, his voice filled with emotion.
"Haha... I see. Since the Heavenly Court doesn't want to seek revenge, I, Cangwu, will take care of it myself after I leave this place." Cangwu Zhenjun's face was filled with a sad smile, and he laughed loudly.
"It seems that the Heavenly Court is not entirely composed of useless yes-men. There are still some with backbone." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth looked at him with a hint of admiration in his eyes.
"Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth, the Heavenly Court's sincerity is already evident. Are you truly unwilling to accept our offer of reconciliation?" Guo Jin frowned, his voice laced with a hint of disappointment.
"Reconciliation? Haha... I have a proposal. Please, Guo Jin, take a look at my true face, and then decide whether to reconcile or not." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth laughed maniacally, and with a wave of his hand, he removed the hat that had been covering his face. The face of the young man was quite ordinary, not matching the guesses of the crowd, which had ranged from a refined and elegant appearance to a cruel and ugly one.
The body of the Time Ancestor trembled slightly, and a look of incredulity flashed in his eyes.
The other Ancestors present also changed color, with the Master of the Nine Yuan Observatory, Li Yuanji, being the most shocked.
"Han Li?" Li Yuanji's body leaned forward slightly, and he couldn't help but call out the name.
The name was no longer unfamiliar to most of the people present.
At first, it was only mentioned sporadically, sometimes involving people from the Heavenly Court, sometimes involving the demonic and magical tribes, and sometimes seeming to come from rumors from the Heavenly Court's inspectors.
However, it was the incident where Han Li single-handedly killed his way into the Golden Origin Heavenly Palace, completely disregarding the Heavenly Court's authority, that really drew the attention of the entire Heavenly Court.
Later, the name Han Li was again mentioned as the one who defeated the Ancestor Feng Qingshui.
As for his subsequent killing of the Seventh King, Xuan Yuanjie, it was not widely known due to the timing of the Bodhi Banquet, and even those who heard the rumors did not necessarily believe them.
Even if Han Li's experiences were extraordinary, it was still unbelievable that a Mahayana cultivator could kill one of the Seventh Kings.
"How could it be? The Master of the Reincarnation Palace is actually that Han Li?"
"He's actually Han Li? He looks very ordinary..."
"This... doesn't make sense, the timing seems off..." A Mahayana cultivator who had interacted with the Reincarnation Palace for many years muttered.
"Han Li, isn't he a Time Law cultivator? What's going on here?"
"Could it be that the Seventh King Xuan Yuanjie was really killed by the Reincarnation Palace?"
...
The entire gathering at the Jade Pool was in an uproar, with various guesses and speculations about the Master of the Reincarnation Palace and Han Li. The discussions were even more heated than before.
Combining past rumors and the influence of the Reincarnation Palace, the many top cultivators present were all confused by the name "Han Li", and it was the name that was mentioned the most in their conversations.
Yu Menghan, who was sitting behind Meng Po, was shocked to the core. When she saw the face of the Master of the Reincarnation Palace, she almost stood up, but was fortunately held back by her master.
"Girl, don't move," Meng Po transmitted secretly.
Yu Menghan didn't know why she had suddenly lost her composure, but she suspected it had something to do with the 《Five Thunder True Mantra》.
However, she quickly calmed down and carefully examined the Master of the Reincarnation Palace, muttering to herself:
"It's not him..."
Her voice was weak and barely audible, and no one noticed.
"No wonder Old Ancestor Chen Gong asked so many questions, but the results were all unclear. It turns out that the cycle of cause and effect had already been disrupted. No wonder, no wonder..." Guo Heng seemed to have finally understood the mysteries of the past, and let out a sigh of relief.
"Looks like you've figured it out, Guo friend," the Master of the Reincarnation Palace raised an eyebrow and asked.
"Perhaps I wasn't clear before, but now that I've understood the mysteries of the Heavenly Divination, combined with what I've seen and heard, I have a rough idea. So, you're Han Li, and Han Li is also you?" Guo Heng nodded and said something that few people could understand.
"You once said 'the Great Way is solitary, how can it be coveted?' and tried to kill me, causing me to lose my Dao companion, and forcing me to flee in desperation. I only managed to survive by chance, and then I crossed through time and space to become the Master of the Reincarnation Palace. Do you think this grudge can be erased with a smile?" The Master of the Reincarnation Palace didn't respond to Guo Heng, but instead changed the subject.
The Time Law? Crossing through time and space? The more the crowd listened, the more confused they became, and the more shocked they felt.
Only Li Yuanji's expression changed, his brow furrowing before he shook his head, as if he had guessed something.
He knew that it was impossible for one person to cultivate two different Supreme Laws. This Master of the Reincarnation Palace, who was skilled in the Reincarnation Law, was the same person as Han Li, who cultivated the Time Law, and yet was not the same person.
So, who was the one who had originally transmitted the Law to him?
Here is the translated text:
“After all, it's still a struggle for the Great Way... But it's also similar to the entanglements of the past life. The Palace Master has now turned to comprehend the cycle of reincarnation, and should be more aware that such struggles are unavoidable. And now, the connections between us are not many, and the struggle for the Great Way has already ceased. Why not put down our grudges? I can help you reach the pinnacle of the cycle of reincarnation, and rank among the Seven Lords. How about it?” Gu Huo Jin sighed and said.
“For you, it's just a matter of the past, and even the memories don't exist. But for me, it's a real and painful experience, branded into my bones, and even scraping my bones won't erase it. Moreover, the grievances between the Heavenly Court and the Cycle Palace have already involved countless people, and it's not just between you and me. This karma is impossible to cut off.” The Palace Master shook his head and said.
“Then, according to the Palace Master's intentions, what do you plan to do?” Gu Huo Jin seemed to have expected the Palace Master's response, and asked slowly.
“Only when we make a decisive move, and one side completely disappears from this world, can we achieve true peace.” The Palace Master's eyes locked onto Gu Huo Jin, and he spoke in a measured tone.
“Although we have been struggling with each other, I have always considered you a friend. Because your methods have often surprised me, I have always regarded you as a fellow traveler. Now, it seems I was wrong. Your understanding is still too shallow.” Gu Huo Jin's face showed a hint of disappointment, and he spoke slowly.
The Palace Master simply gazed at Gu Huo Jin, without speaking, as if waiting for him to continue.
“Your dao companion's death, our struggle for the Great Way, even the countless lives and deaths of the Heavenly Court and the Cycle Palace's cultivators, are all just trivial matters under the Heavenly Way. Haven't you thought about what's above the Heavenly Way, something higher than the Heavenly Way?” Gu Huo Jin's sleeves fluttered, and his clothes rustled, as he revealed an air of confidence.
His words were spoken with great momentum, and anyone who heard them would feel a sense of reverence.
“Contending with the Heavenly Way? As the Master of the Time Law, and the leader of the Seven Lords, you have already reached the pinnacle of the world's cultivators. Are you still not satisfied?” The Palace Master smiled, and spoke in a calm tone.
“You don't understand me, which is not surprising, since you are not a true Dao Ancestor. You can't feel the suffocating pressure of the Heavenly Way, that feeling of wanting to punch through it.” Gu Huo Jin pondered for a moment, and then clenched his fist.
The people present were all taken aback, and it was clear that they had never seen Gu Huo Jin speak like this before. Today's Gu Huo Jin seemed different, very different.
“Is the strong one without limits? Haha... You've finally revealed your ambition? Unfortunately, I won't be able to see you contend with the Heavenly Way, and you won't be able to see it either.” The Palace Master suddenly burst out laughing.
As soon as he finished speaking, a sudden change occurred!
The void around the Jade Pool suddenly shook violently, and countless chaotic silver waves appeared, stirring the void like boiling water.
The entire Jade Pool was already surrounded by the powerful seals of the Heavenly Court's Dao Ancestors. At this moment, the various seals and lights containing powerful energy emerged, and clashed fiercely with the silver waves.
The silver waves' energy was extremely powerful, and the Jade Pool's seals were at a disadvantage.
A series of thunderous powers surged into the Jade Pool, and the guests on the periphery were directly blown away. Some cultivators with weak cultivation were severely injured, and their cries of pain filled the air.
At this moment, white clouds flashed on either side of the Jade Pool, and a large amount of white cloud energy appeared, blocking the silver waves.
The turbulent silver waves were suddenly stopped, and the powerful energy surged into the cloud energy, but it was like a mud cow entering the sea, without any effect.
A white shadow flashed above the Jade Pool, and the White Cloud Dao Ancestor appeared.
The injured cultivators narrowly escaped death, and hastily flew towards the central area of the Jade Pool. The scene was chaotic.
By the side of the Clear and Bright Lake, Li Yuanji and the other Dao Ancestors saw the scene, and their expressions changed. They all looked at Gu Huo Jin and the Palace Master.
Gu Huo Jin sat on the high platform, his expression unchanged, as if he was not interested in the scene before him.
The Palace Master also remained silent, as if the events around him were of no concern to him.
Seeing this scene, Li Yuanji and the Chi Rong Dao Ancestor exchanged a glance, and it was clear that they were thinking deeply.
Chen Ruoyan's lips curled into a faint smile.
The Yinming Dao Ancestor closed his eyes, as if he was in a state of meditation, without any reaction.
The other Dao Ancestors looked at Gu Huo Jin's face, and their expressions were different. Some looked puzzled, some furrowed their brows, some observed, and some retreated quietly.
The White Cloud Dao Ancestor's gaze flashed, and his hands moved without hesitation. He pointed with his finger.
Countless white clouds emerged from the void, and covered the silver waves on either side.
The various seals in the nearby void also burst forth with light, and combined with the White Cloud Dao Ancestor's summoned cloud energy, they fiercely suppressed the silver waves.
But the silver waves' energy suddenly surged, and two powerful forces burst forth, sharp and piercing.
“Hiss!” The White Cloud Dao Ancestor's body shook violently, as if he had been struck by lightning. He retreated over a dozen steps before stabilizing his body.
In front of everyone, the White Cloud Dao Ancestor's face turned purple with anger, and he prepared to make another move. The two sides of the Jade Pool flashed with silver light once again, and the void directly split open, revealing two spatial channels that floated out, dark and bottomless.
Countless figures flew out of the spatial channels, landing on both sides of the Jade Pool, their numbers unknown, a dense and oppressive crowd, with banners fluttering in the wind.
The people on the left side of the Jade Pool were all dressed in purple-black robes, emitting a rolling aura of demonic energy, and were the army of the Demon Domain.
The leader was a middle-aged man with a refined and elegant appearance, but with a stern and awe-inspiring expression, and was none other than the Demon Master, Shi Kong Yu.
Shi Kong Yu was wearing a set of purple armor covered in black patterns, with a blood-red cloak fluttering behind him, emitting an endless aura of power.
He was flanked by four people.
On the left were a pair of men and women, the man with a head of dry, yellowish hair and a body that was as thin as a skeleton, giving off an aura of evil and malevolence.
The woman was beautiful, with a slender waist and full hips, every movement she made exuding an aura of seduction and evil, as if she was a blooming flower of evil, making people feel both fearful and attracted.
On Shi Kong Yu's right stood two people, one of whom was a white-robed woman, tall and imposing, with a body that was extremely fat, her eyes reduced to a slit by the fat on her face, and her neck filled with layers of fat, making her look like a mountain of flesh.
The other person was a young man in yellow robes, who looked only in his twenties, with a black sword at his waist, and an ordinary appearance, but with eyes that were extremely dull and lifeless, without any sparkle.
If one had to describe his eyes with a single word, it would be "death".
The four people's auras were all unfathomable, and they were all clearly Dao Ancestors.
Behind them stood dozens of people, all of whom were at the level of the Great Luo, with auras that were deep and profound.
The Third Prince, Shi Po Kong, and the Fifth Princess, Shi Jing Yan, were among them, both of whom had reached the level of the Great Luo, but were still at the early stage.
Next to them stood another young man in imperial robes, who had a handsome face and a full beard, with an aura that was extremely powerful, and had reached the level of the Great Luo.
Behind them was the army of the Demon Domain, all of whom were at the level of the Golden Immortal or higher, and were clearly the elite of the Demon Domain.
On the other side of the Jade Pool, the people's auras were wild and untamed, and were the True Spirits of the various tribes of the Savage Realm.
The three people standing at the front were the Bai Ze, Yue Mian, and a middle-aged man with a shaved head, who had a smiling expression on his face.
The middle-aged man was wearing a set of ancient bronze armor, with no spiritual patterns or designs, and looked like a ordinary suit of armor, but when worn by him, it gave off an aura of dominance and power, that was not inferior to the Bai Ze and Yue Mian.
Behind them stood dozens of people at the level of the Great Luo, including the leaders of the other tribes of the Savage Realm, and the likes of Li Qi Ma, Xiao Bai, and Liu Le Er.
The army of the Savage Realm, was also the elite of the various tribes, and had all come out to surround the Jade Pool.
...
At the same time.
In the unknown realm, the Ten Directions and Hundred Sages' Great Array.
Han Li's sleeves fluttered, and a golden light burst forth from his sleeves, as 72 bamboo swords flew out, like two golden dragons charging forward, shooting straight at the four figures that had just appeared.
The golden lightning that struck the void caused it to shake and tremble, and the ripples of the lightning were thousands of feet wide.
The four people, with one of them standing at the front, were in a state of rapid movement, like a tiger, and blocked the way for the others, their hands clasped together, and then suddenly thrust forward.
Their clasped hands were like a sharp sword, splitting the void on either side, and a golden light burst forth, revealing a giant mountain peak that was thousands of feet tall, although it was not a real mountain, it had a majestic aura.
A golden mountain peak suddenly appeared, and the two golden dragons struck it, but were unable to pierce through, and instead carved out two large holes on either side of the mountain, and slid to the sides.
The golden dragons, after failing to strike, flew into the distance, and dispersed, turning into 72 sword spirits, each wrapped in golden electric threads, floating in the void.
The sword spirits, each with their arms crossed, looked at the four people, seemingly not in a hurry to attack, or to set up a formation.
"Four Dao Ancestors arriving at the same time, Han Li is deeply honored." Han Li stepped forward, his hands behind his back, and his feet treading the void.
Baiyun Daozu's face instantly lost its color as he saw the sudden appearance of the two tribes of demons and monsters. He was about to rush out, but his body froze in place.
At that moment, two figures flashed into existence with a "whoosh" sound.
One of them was a middle-aged man in his 40s, dressed in white, with a head full of white hair and a few inches of white beard. He exuded an icy aura, and his expression was cold and detached, giving the impression that he was a block of ice.
The other person was a short, elderly man, less than five feet tall, with a face like cinnabar and a nose like a burning flame. He had a warm and friendly smile.
Both of them had an aura that was deep and unfathomable, and they stood shoulder to shoulder with Baiyun Daozu, blocking the way of Guo Huo and the others.
"Demons! And the True Spirit of the Barbarian Realm! How did they end up here?"
The people in the Jade Pool were shocked, and their first thought was that something was amiss. They quickly got up and gathered around Guo Huo and the others.
Cangwu True Lord waved his hand, releasing a red light that enveloped Mengpo and the others, and then flew down to stand beside the Heavenly Court's Daozus.
A green shadow flashed, and another group of people appeared beside Cangwu True Lord, led by a robust man with green hair and a green beard. His cultivation level was unfathomable, and he was also a Daozu.
"Wind Dao friend," Cangwu True Lord said, nodding at the robust man.
"Qingwu Dao friend," the robust man replied, smiling.
The situation at the Bodhi banquet had changed dramatically, and the atmosphere was tense. The two Daozus, who had not been close friends before, stood together instinctively.
Just then, a red-robed old man flew over and landed beside Cangwu True Lord and the robust man.
The old man had a bald head, a thin and dry face, and a sinister aura. His eyes were bright and sharp, like two knives, and he was also a Daozu.
"Wind Dao friend, Qingwu Dao friend, I, Zhen, have come to pay my respects. The situation is a bit chaotic, so I'll take a break here. You won't mind, will you?" the old man said with a smile.
"Ah, Zhen Dao friend, you're welcome to stay. We're glad to have you," Cangwu True Lord and the robust man said in unison, exchanging a glance.
This red-robed old man was named Zhen Shi Yin, a veteran Daozu who had been hiding in a small xian domain for a long time. He was eccentric and had not founded a sect or passed down his dao. However, his strength was formidable, and he had left behind many legends in the xian domains.
With Zhen Shi Yin joining them, their strength increased significantly, and they were more confident of getting through the current crisis.
Among the guests at the Bodhi banquet, most of the Daozus had not come in person, but had sent their junior disciples instead. The only Daozus present were Cangwu True Lord and his two companions.
Therefore, when they saw the three of them standing together, many cultivators gathered around them.
...
Han Li's mouth curled into a faint smile, and he looked completely at ease, without any sign of panic or anxiety.
This scene was observed by the four people from the Purple Bamboo Alliance, who felt a sense of unease in their hearts. They couldn't understand why they felt intimidated by someone who was not even a Daozu.
Earlier, when they were outside, they had put aside their differences and worked together to defeat their enemies. Now, they were facing Han Li, and their strategy was to surround him.
The leader, Purple Bamboo, nodded at Dong Li Hu and Zhu Yan, who immediately moved to the left and right, forming a simple encirclement around Han Li. Only Meng Yuan remained in the back, hidden behind Purple Bamboo.
Han Li's eyes flickered, and he began to think.
From the way Dong Li Hu had blocked his sword, it seemed that he was cultivating the Earth Attribute Law, specifically the Mountain Law, which emphasized strength and defense. It wouldn't be easy to defeat him in one blow.
As for Zhu Yan and the ugly old woman, they were probably cultivating the Fire Attribute Law, which emphasized powerful attacks. The person hiding behind them must be the one with the killing move.
Han Li's thoughts were interrupted by a sudden explosion of purple flames, which shot towards him like a tidal wave.
" Purple flames... Fire Attribute Law," Han Li thought, his body quickly retreating.
At the same time, a giant golden wheel appeared behind him, spinning rapidly and releasing golden light that enveloped the surrounding space.
The purple flames that were chasing him were slowed down by the golden light, and Han Li was able to shake them off.
However, the flames and the golden light clashed, producing a series of ear-piercing explosions. The golden light, which contained the power of the Time Law, was being rapidly consumed.
Just then, a figure emerged from the purple flames, wielding a purple sword and stabbing towards Han Li's heart. Han Li had long been prepared for this, and the fist he had been holding in his waist suddenly shot out, striking the opponent's sword tip.
"Boom!"
A massive force exploded out, and countless purple flames burst forth, scattering in all directions like a peacock's plumage.
Before Han Li could retract his fist, a flash of golden light appeared above his head, and a gigantic mountain peak descended from the sky, pressing down on him.
The golden mountain peak was surrounded by a thick layer of yellow clouds, emitting a powerful earth-attribute law aura. As it fell, it seemed to compress the entire void, causing it to sink downward.
Han Li looked up and saw that the mountain peak was inscribed with four giant ancient characters: "Xiong Zhen Wu Yue".
He swiftly turned his other hand and struck out with a palm, unleashing a massive golden light that shot upwards and collided with the mountain peak.
The mountain peak's descent was momentarily halted, and the four characters "Xiong Zhen Wu Yue" suddenly sank downward, revealing a massive palm print.
However, the mountain peak merely paused for a moment before continuing its descent, crashing down on Han Li once more.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and he raised a palm to resist the mountain peak's force, using his single arm to hold it back.
Just as he was stabilizing the mountain peak, a loud shout echoed from above, and a golden light descended from the sky, landing outside the mountain peak.
The golden light coalesced into the figure of Dong Li Hu, who radiated an aura of immense power, as if he were a golden-armored deity.
Dong Li Hu opened his hand, and with a few swift strokes, he drew three characters in the air: "Shou Yang Shan".
The characters seemed to be written in a flowing script, but they were actually more like talismans, each stroke connected to the next, creating a sense of dynamic movement.
As he finished writing, a miniature mountain peak appeared in his palm, alongside another tiny mountain peak.
Suddenly, a massive golden light descended from the sky, and an enormous mountain peak, twice the size of the previous one, crashed down on top of the smaller peak.
"Boom boom boom..."
A massive shockwave rippled out, creating a circle of golden light that spread in all directions.
Han Li, who was standing beneath the mountain peak, stumbled backward, his arm bending as he tried to retreat.
As he attempted to withdraw his other arm, the purple flames on the sword in his hand surged, forcing him to strike out with his fist once more.
Han Li was now facing off against two powerful Dao Ancestors, using a single fist and palm to resist their attacks.
At the same time, the highest peak in the Huang Shan continent, the "Wu Yue Feng", was experiencing a massive earthquake, causing the peak to crumble.
As the Dao Ancestor of the mountain's law, Dong Li Hu could connect with the earth's veins anywhere in the realm, moving any mountain or peak he desired.
However, within the Ten Sides Million Immortals Great Array, he was still affected by the array's power, albeit to a lesser extent than Han Li. Though he couldn't directly summon the true form of the mountain, he could still call upon its true intent, which was equally powerful.
Seeing Han Li's single arm still holding back the mountain peak, Dong Li Hu mobilized his law power once more, writing the characters "Shen Yuan Feng" in his palm.
As he finished writing, a tiny mountain peak appeared, which then grew into a massive golden peak that crashed down on the previous mountain peak.
The massive force was too great for Han Li to resist, and he was forced to use his shoulder to support the three mountain peaks.
Despite his small stature, Han Li's smile never wavered.
His head tilted slightly, and his gaze turned to the ugly old woman who had yet to make a move. She was standing in the void, her hands forming a strange seal, her body radiating a flickering light.
For some reason, Han Li felt a sense of wariness towards this person, second only to the hidden figure in the background.
Han Li's waist was almost bent under the pressure of the three mountain peaks, and Zhu Yan suddenly smiled, her body flashing with a burst of light, and she disappeared from her original position, rushing towards Jintong.
These people seemed to have planned their move from the start, their goal was to interrupt Jintong's absorption of the void.
As Zhu Yan's figure suddenly appeared behind Jintong, Han Li's expression turned cold and he said:
"Don't think about it!"
In the next instant, a golden light appeared out of thin air, a mountain range with a winding path descended from the sky, and it seemed to have fallen directly from the air, Zhu Yan didn't even have a chance to dodge, and was directly pressed down.
Her figure was buried under the mountain range, and a burst of sand with a strong temporal law force immediately surged from all directions, wrapping her entire body.
Zhu Yan's body flashed with light, seemingly trying to struggle free from the restraint of the sand, but it had no effect, the surrounding golden sand was like quicksand, slowly trapping her.
It seemed that there were also fine roots spreading from all directions, layer by layer, wrapping around her body.
"This is bad..." Zi Shu whispered, her figure retreating backwards.
The dark sky above suddenly lit up with fire, a wave of fire rain poured down, piercing the void and falling towards the ground.
At the same time, a beast-like roar echoed.
Han Li, who had been crushed under the mountain peaks, suddenly burst out with a surge of light, his body expanding a hundred times, transforming into a three-headed, six-armed demon, and with one palm, he overturned the three great mountains on his head.
He released a powerful aura that was difficult to describe, and it directly forced Dong Li Hu to retreat.
Han Li stood in mid-air, his gaze turned, and finally saw the white-haired man who had been blocked by Zi Shu earlier, the man was sitting cross-legged in the void, with a white light circle floating beneath him.
The light circle contained dense talismans and star patterns, and a strange, ancient law force was fluctuating within, Han Li had never felt this kind of power before, it didn't belong to the five elements, nor was it related to the soul.
"You think you have the ability to do this, but it's just like this." Han Li said, looking down at the three of them.
Zi Shu's expression didn't change, she turned her head slightly and asked Meng Yuan: "Have you been delayed for so long, are you ready?"
Meng Yuan slowly opened his eyes, his pupils reflecting the light of countless stars, and he smiled: "I'm ready..."
...
The changes at the Bodhi banquet finally made the expressions of Li Yuanji and the other seven heavenly gods turn serious.
Gu Huaijin remained calm, still sitting in his wheelchair.
"Shi Kong Yu, the heavenly court and your demon domain have already signed a treaty, not to invade each other, you're bringing people to my heavenly court, do you want to restart the war?" Bai Yun Dao Zu asked, his voice stern.
"In the past, your heavenly court invaded our demon domain, killing many of our clan members, today we're here to avenge that blood feud." Mo Zhu said slowly.
The demon domain's army behind him shouted in unison, their eyes turning red with anger.
The barbarian tribes and the heavenly court had a deep-seated hatred, and it didn't need to be said that the barbarian tribes were filled with hatred, looking at the cultivators in the Jade Pool, if not for Bai Ze's strict orders, the barbarian tribes would have already attacked.
Bai Yun Dao Zu looked at the dark army surrounding him, his heart shocked.
The heavenly court was currently under his control, and the specific affairs of the Bodhi banquet, as well as the deployment of the heavenly court's troops, were all arranged by him.
The Jade Pool was located deep within the heavenly court, and the heavenly court had set up countless layers of restrictions over the years, forming a copper wall and iron fortress, with many Dao Zu and Da Luo existences stationed around it, he thought he was safe, but the demon domain and the barbarian true spirits had somehow managed to sneak in.
Bai Yun Dao Zu's face turned ugly, he glanced at the gathering of true immortals, his eyes flashing.
Although the number of people who came to the Bodhi banquet was much smaller than the demon domain and the barbarian true spirits, these people were all top-notch existences from the true immortal realm, with extraordinary strength.
There were over a hundred Da Luo realm cultivators, and three Dao Zu existences, including Cang Wu True Lord.
In terms of high-end combat power, they still had the upper hand.
With this thought, Bai Yun Dao Zu's anxious heart relaxed slightly, and he turned to look at Gu Huaijin, waiting for his instructions.
Gu Huaijin didn't respond to Mo Zhu and Bai Ze, instead, he turned to look at the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth, just as he was about to say something, he suddenly waved his right hand, and a golden giant palm appeared in the void, grabbing downwards.
A figure stumbled out of the void, and was thrown downwards, it was the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth.
The other Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth, who was sitting on the platform, shook his body, and his figure dissipated.
The golden giant palm didn't stop, its surface flashing with golden light, and it grabbed downwards again.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's face turned cold, a dark red glow flashed on his body, and he stabilized his body, punching upwards.
"Boom!" The sound of the collision echoed. A dark red six-pointed wheel appeared above his head, rapidly spinning and emitting a massive attractive force, causing the minds of all people inside and outside the Jade Pool to violently tremble, as if being sucked away by the wheel.
Before he could react, the golden giant palm descended, and the two collided with a deafening crash, sending shockwaves through the air.
A brilliant flash of gold and red light illuminated the surroundings, but just as it seemed about to expand, four figures suddenly appeared beside the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth.
It was Li Yuanji, Chi Rong, Bai Yun Daozu, and the dwarf elder, who emitted a brilliant four-colored light that instantly formed a dense, four-colored shield, enveloping the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth and the exploding golden and red light.
The shield seemed impenetrable, with countless four-colored talismans dancing within, yet without any conflict.
This appeared to be a collaborative divine ability, with the shield exerting a powerful, suffocating force that made it difficult for the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth to move.
The golden and red light was also suppressed, trapped within the shield and soon dispersing, merging with the four-colored talismans.
A series of rapid changes left everyone stunned, and the Demon Lord, White Ze, and others reacted by unleashing their own divine abilities.
Guo or Jin's gaze shifted, and he glanced at Chen Ruyan and the hidden Ming Daozu, his eyes flickering with a hint of surprise.
Chen Ruyan's eyebrows furrowed, and she vanished, reappearing beside White Ze and the others.
She was accompanied by a middle-aged man in a snowy-white robe, as icy as a block of ice.
"Three noble True Spirit Kings of the Barbarian Realm, I do not wish to fight you, please do not force me," Chen Ruyan said calmly.
As she spoke, a blue glow enveloped her body, and in its depths, a ancient, blue stone door became visible, radiating an endless, desolate aura, as if it had existed since the dawn of time.
Within the door, waves surged and receded, and at first glance, it seemed ordinary, but upon closer inspection, the door appeared boundless, encompassing the entire world, with countless waves crashing down, threatening to crush everything in their path.
"Is this the Gate of the Ten Thousand Waters?" White Ze, Yue Mian, and the bald giant's faces changed, and they halted their advance.
Meanwhile, the Demon Lord's shadow flickered, and the hidden Ming Daozu appeared, standing alone before the Demon Realm's cultivators.
The Demon Lord's eyes flashed, and he halted his movement.
However, the obese woman in white beside him did not stop, sneering as she conjured a massive black wolf-toothed club, which she swung with a mighty roar.
The black club grew, transforming into a colossal black shadow that struck the hidden Ming Daozu with the force of a mountain.
The Demon Lord's face changed, but he did not intervene.
The hidden Ming Daozu did not dodge, and the black club struck him with a deafening crash.
His body exploded, but instead of blood, a massive cloud of black smoke erupted.
"What sorcery is this?" the obese woman exclaimed, her eyes widening in surprise, before she let out a blood-curdling scream, as if trapped in a nightmare.
She wildly swung her black club, conjuring a maelstrom of black wind that threatened to disperse the smoke.
However, just as she did, her eyes turned glassy, and her face contorted in terror, as if she had fallen prey to some illusion.
The three Demon Realm cultivators who had been about to attack halted, their faces pale.
The Demon Lord's expression turned grim, and he swept his sleeve.
The space around the obese woman rippled, and countless waves appeared, as if the air had turned to water.
The black club's shadows struck the waves, only to become trapped within.
The obese woman struggled to free herself, but the waves spread, engulfing her body up to her waist.
The Demon Lord appeared beside her, his finger touching her brow.
The obese woman's face returned to normal, and she thanked the Demon Lord, still panting.
It seemed that her brief madness had exhausted her greatly.
The Demon Lord's expression remained calm as he waved his hand, restoring the space to normal.
The obese woman turned to face the hidden Ming Daozu, who reappeared, standing as still as before, as if he had never moved.
The obese woman's eyes widened in shock, and she took a step back, her face pale.
This is a higher-level heavenly magic law than the Heart Magic Law! Are you the Heavenly Demon Ancestor from back then? The Demon Master stared at the Hiding Brightness Ancestor, speaking one word at a time.
The Hiding Brightness Ancestor didn't respond, standing quietly and blocking the path.
"What... Heavenly Demon Ancestor!" The white-robed fat woman's face changed upon hearing this.
The other three Demon Ancestors were also shocked, but the other Demon tribe members were bewildered.
The True Immortal Realm's people in the Jade Pool heard the Demon Master's words and were mostly confused, except for the three Ancestors of the Cangwu True Immortal, and a few individuals who had lived for extremely long periods of time, who changed their expressions and looked at the Hiding Brightness Ancestor in shock.
Dream Maiden was one of them.
"Master, who is the Heavenly Demon Ancestor? Everyone seems to be afraid of him." Yu Menghan noticed the eerie atmosphere and asked quietly.
"The Heavenly Demon Ancestor is a long-lived Ancestor from ancient times, with a lifespan that far exceeds that of the Supreme Ancient or the present. The Heavenly Demon magic law is mysterious and unpredictable... It's said that every time he closes his eyes, his soul wanders outside the heavens, and his thoughts and intentions become countless, seeping into various realms to search for suitable cultivators, and through infecting their hearts, he gains law enhancements... This is what many lower realm cultivators call the 'Domain Outside Heavenly Demon'." Dream Maiden looked at Yu Menghan and transmitted her voice, seemingly afraid of being overheard.
"Originally, the Domain Outside Heavenly Demon was created by this person!" Yu Menghan was shocked.
The Domain Outside Heavenly Demon was a heart disease for all cultivators who reached the Great Vehicle stage, with a certain probability of occurring every time their cultivation advanced, due to the Heavenly Demon's invasion, and countless people had fallen.
"Of course, this is just a rumor, and it's not necessarily true. However, the Heavenly Demon magic law is extremely terrifying, able to easily invade a cultivator's body, driving them mad, and then devouring their seven emotions' power to supplement his own strength. This person was a true great demon head in the past, who destroyed thousands of lower realm spaces and even destroyed several True Immortal Realm domains to devour the seven emotions' power. The Heavenly Court's master was enraged and dispatched over a dozen Ancestors to hunt him down, and he then disappeared, never to be seen again. Who would have thought he was still alive?" Dream Maiden's eyes flashed with a hint of fear.
"That's not necessarily true, maybe the Heavenly Demon Ancestor from back then is already dead, and this person is someone else who cultivated the Heavenly Demon magic law to the Ancestor realm." Yu Menghan wasn't intimidated by Dream Maiden's words and speculated.
"There's also that possibility, but regardless of whether this person is the Heavenly Demon Ancestor or not, they are extremely dangerous, and we should keep our distance." Dream Maiden said.
...
Inside the Ten Directions Immortal Array, Han Li looked at Meng Yuan, his brow slightly furrowed.
At this moment, Meng Yuan's entire body was surrounded by a white glow, and his originally white and unblemished skin suddenly began to wither and shrink, with wooden-like patterns appearing on his body.
At the same time, his outer clothing transformed into a bundle of withered grass in the span of a few breaths.
The originally childlike white-robed man had transformed into a straw man made of wood and withered grass in the blink of an eye.
Han Li's gaze swept over the straw man, and his heart felt a strange sensation.
"What kind of magic law is this..." Han Li thought to himself.
"The ancient divine people of legend, who could hold the heavenly constitution in their mouths and make prophecies with a single word, I wonder if they can compare to my cursed magic law?" Meng Yuan, now a straw man, suddenly spoke, his voice somewhat ethereal.
As soon as he finished speaking, a ball of blood light appeared in his left palm.
Almost simultaneously, Han Li felt a sharp pain in the palms of his three left arms.
He looked down and saw that the three palms had been simultaneously pierced, with blood flowing out.
Han Li tried to circulate his immortal energy to repair the wound, but the injury didn't heal, and the blood flowed out even faster.
"Don't be in a hurry, the show has just begun, enjoy it." Meng Yuan's ethereal voice echoed again.
Han Li's eyebrow suddenly twitched, and his three left arms suddenly appeared with three large holes, with blood flowing out uncontrollably.
From the moment the first wound appeared, Han Li had been secretly circulating his Refine Spirit Technique, using his divine sense to search for any hidden attack methods, but he found nothing.
"Could it be that he can really curse someone to death with just a curse?" Han Li wondered.
"Next, where should I go? The shoulders, perhaps..." Meng Yuan's voice echoed again.
Han Li heard the voice and immediately used his starlight energy to transform his body, with a dazzling white light appearing on his shoulders, like a layer of armor protecting his left and right shoulders.
However, it was completely useless, and his left shoulder suddenly burst open with a blood hole.
Han Li's face slightly sank, and his body flashed with light as he restored his human form.
"This method of yours is indeed unusual, I thought my physical body was strong enough, but I didn't expect it to be so fragile. Can you explain it to me?" Han Li looked at the straw man and asked.
"I can... but only after you die. I'll tell you everything then. Next, I'll go to the lower abdomen, it will be even more painful than before, Han friend, try to endure it, haha..." Meng Yuan said, followed by a maniacal laugh.
Immediately, Han Li's lower abdomen suddenly felt a sharp pain, and a hole the size of a child's arm appeared, with blood flowing out and wetting his clothes.
Han Li's face turned slightly pale, and he stumbled backward two steps. Han Li tried to lift his heavily injured left arm, but found that it was as heavy as a lead weight, sinking down with a great deal of weight.
"Brother Han, don't pretend to be so weak, this little injury won't make you pale and unstable. But don't worry, there are still many methods left, you can slowly enjoy it." Meng Yuan's voice rang out, with a hint of ridicule.
"Brother is mistaken, it's just a small trick to attract attention." Han Li smiled and said, his right arm hidden in his sleeve suddenly made a swift motion.
"Whoosh, whoosh", two sounds of breaking air suddenly rang out.
Two golden sword lights, without making any electric sound, quietly shot out towards the straw man's head and back, the angle was very tricky, and the speed was extremely fast.
Only to see the straw man's front and back, Zi Shu and Dong Li Hu two figures suddenly flashed by, each blocking the flying swords.
"Indeed, seeing me receive such a heavy injury, you didn't continue to attack me, just to protect you. It seems that once your curse technique is activated, your body can't move. But I'm curious, why didn't you cast it outside the array, wouldn't that be foolproof?" Han Li said slowly.
"The Ten Directions Great Array can isolate the heavens and earth, the curse technique outside the array would also be isolated, if not, how could this great array trap you?" Meng Yuan answered directly.
"I see." Han Li nodded, his eyes suddenly filled with a fierce killing intent.
The seventy-two qing bamboo hornet swords suspended around Meng Yuan's three people suddenly flashed with sword light, and simultaneously shot out towards the three people.
Zi Shu and Dong Li Hu, one in front and one behind, protected Meng Yuan in the center, one person opened a golden light screen, and the other person isolated a purple flame light screen, combining into a huge spherical light screen, protecting the three people.
The seventy-two qing bamboo hornet swords continuously hummed, transforming into countless intersecting lightning sword shadows, surrounding the spherical light screen, unceasingly chopping at it, but unable to break through.
"Meng Yuan, don't say any more nonsense, hurry up and kill him." Dong Li Hu's eyebrows showed a hint of anger, scolding.
"You try it yourself..." Meng Yuan, who had transformed into a straw man, cursed in his heart, but didn't hesitate to cast his spell.
The next instant, Han Li felt a burning sensation in his chest, a wave of intense pain, and another mouthful of blood, which had pierced through his heart meridian.
After this attack, Han Li's forehead gradually began to sweat, he discovered that his left half of his body was becoming numb, not the numbness from excessive blood loss, but a feeling of his flesh and bones being sealed by a curse, making it impossible for his spiritual energy and star energy to circulate.
As if... his body was slowly turning into a straw man.
"This is not good..." Han Li muttered to himself, his mind stirring slightly.
The seventy-two qing bamboo hornet swords suddenly stopped their continuous attack, transforming back into the child-like form, after a brief flight, a majestic lightning gate appeared in the sky.
"Meng Yuan, hurry up, he seems to have realized something's wrong." Zi Shu urged.
"Don't rush, just one more needle into the dantian, and he'll be helpless, waiting to be captured..."
Meng Yuan could only silently curse, this curse technique was one of the most contrary to the heavenly way, usually difficult to cast, and if not careful, it would be more easily affected by the heavenly way.
As he spoke, the straw man's body, below the small abdomen, a transparent long needle, invisible to the naked eye, was slowly piercing into the dantian.
At the same time, Han Li also sensed a faint pain in his dantian.
"Rumble rumble..."
Just then, the heavenly sword array set up by the sword spirit child, the gate suddenly opened, a giant lightning sword, condensed from hundreds of golden dragons, shot down towards Meng Yuan.
Dong Li Hu looked up, his eyes suddenly changed, seeing that the sword light was heading straight for the gap between him and Zi Shu's light screen.
"This won't be able to block..."
He shouted, and directly withdrew his defensive light screen, flying up to meet the attack, one hand clenched, and a virtual image of several mountain peaks appeared in his palm, smashing towards the golden sword light.
The power of this punch was the combined strength of several famous mountains, its terror was unimaginable.
"Rumble" a loud sound!
The punch hit the golden sword light, but the sword light didn't slow down, directly dispersing it.
Dong Li Hu's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, and he suddenly shouted: "Not good..."
The sword array just now was just a feint, not intending to clash head-on, and the two had just made contact before dispersing, so Dong Li Hu's punch had actually hit nothing.
Zi Shu also sensed that something was wrong, and hurried to intercept the scattered sword light, but it was too late.
One of the qing bamboo hornet swords had already flown close to Meng Yuan's side, hidden in the sword light.
And at this moment, the transparent long needle in the straw man's dantian was only an inch away from being completely inserted...
Here is the translated text:
“Zhilalala……”
A burst of dazzling electric light flashed on the Qingtian Cloud Sword, and Han Li, who was originally tens of thousands of miles away, suddenly appeared in an instant, grasping the sword without hesitation, and swept it across.
“Hsss……”
A soft sound echoed, and the straw man's head flew high into the air, with a large amount of dark golden blood spraying out.
Han Li's body flashed rapidly, and he caught the head in mid-air, with a flash of electric light in his hand, transforming into a golden electric cage, enveloping it completely.
Dong Li Hu and Zi Shu wanted to rescue him again, but it was too late.
Han Li sneered and looked at the head in his hand, which had already returned to its original appearance, but was covered in blood, looking extremely pitiful.
The headless corpse on the other side was no longer in the shape of a straw man, with four blood holes on its left arm and chest, in the same position as Han Li's wounds.
“Meng Yuan fellow, isn't it? Your curse law is indeed not easy to use, and it's actually a wound-for-wound exchange. No wonder you could silently severely injure me, but didn't dare to directly shatter my heart vein or blow my head apart.” Han Li laughed.
As he spoke, his wounds began to heal, and eventually fully recovered.
The head Han Li was holding, however, couldn't laugh at all.
“Wound-for-wound, fellow, you underestimated my curse law. If I had a bit more time, it would be a life-for-life exchange. But since I've lost, I have nothing to say.” Meng Yuan's expression was still calm, but his heart was seething with anger.
Just a step away from victory... it was all because of Dong Li Hu's foolishness.
“Your law is indeed strange, and if it were an ordinary day, I might have spared your life to study it. But today, I really can't afford to let you off, so I'll just send you on your way.” Han Li sneered.
Regarding this strange curse law, he was indeed curious, but in the current situation, if he left Meng Yuan alive, who knows what kind of trouble he might cause? He didn't want to take that risk.
“Han Li, I curse you……” Meng Yuan began to curse loudly.
“I don't mind.” Han Li replied calmly.
……
Just as the Demon Lord and others were being blocked by the Hidden Ming Dao Zu and Chen Ruoyan, the Wheel of Rebirth Hall Master did not surrender.
His body flashed with a dark red light, and his fists were clenched and pushed outwards.
A powerful Wheel of Rebirth law burst forth, fiercely attacking the surrounding light shield.
The four-color light shield shook violently, and Li Yuanji's body also shook violently.
Gu Huojin saw this and, with a calm expression, pinched a seal with one hand.
The golden giant palm struck down again, directly merging with the four-color light shield.
A palm-print symbol appeared on the top of the light shield, and the four-color light shield immediately added a new color, its power increasing greatly, becoming thicker by several times.
This joint confinement technique, known as the Thirty-Three Heaven Locking Array, was an ancient and mysterious technique of the Heavenly Court, requiring the presence of a Dao Zu to activate. It could combine different law forces to form a confinement space.
Moreover, the more law forces combined, the greater the power of the Thirty-Three Heaven Locking Array. Legend had it that this technique could combine thirty-three different laws, with enough power to lock down the entire True Immortal Realm.
However, the more laws combined, the greater the difficulty. Gu Huojin had taught this technique to some of the Dao Zu serving the Heavenly Court, and most of them could only use it with four people working together.
The palm-print symbol on the light shield flashed, and a golden wave pattern spread out from it, rippling within the light shield.
The Wheel of Rebirth Hall Master was completely unable to move, and even the dark red light around him had stopped.
Li Yuanji and the others, however, did not relax, continuing to exert their full strength.
The five-law fusion of the Thirty-Three Heaven Locking Array far exceeded their control.
Gu Huojin's right hand grasped at the air, and a golden light shot out, entering the light shield and the Wheel of Rebirth Hall Master's body. It quickly flew out again.
The golden light contained a silver talisman, which flew out and landed in Gu Huojin's hand.
The talisman was covered in intricate silver patterns, with a complex and mysterious space law force emanating from it. In the center, a ancient-style "Ding" character was written.
The Demon Lord, watching from a distance, revealed a hint of surprise in his eyes.
“Space fixation talisman, no wonder Shi Kong Yu was able to break through my Heavenly Court's heavy restrictions and directly open a space channel here. You came to participate in the Bodhi feast, and your true intention was this. But unfortunately, you overestimated your strength, coming to my Heavenly Court alone, and now you won't be able to leave alive.” Gu Huojin looked at the Wheel of Rebirth Hall Master and said calmly.
The Wheel of Rebirth Hall Master was being suppressed by the four Dao Zu, unable to speak, and naturally couldn't respond to Gu Huojin's question.
“Thank you, four of you, for bringing him down. Seal him away.” Gu Huojin crushed the talisman and waved his hand at Li Yuanji and the others.
Li Yuanji acknowledged, and the four of them, along with the five-color light shield, flew away.
The nearby Heavenly Court personnel erupted in excited cheers, as the Wheel of Rebirth Hall Master was the Heavenly Court's greatest enemy, and they had finally captured him after countless years of pursuit.
With him in hand, the Wheel of Rebirth Hall was no longer a concern.
And the Demon Domain and the Barbarian True Spirit, who had clearly been working together with the Wheel of Rebirth Hall Master, would suffer a great blow to their morale.
The three Celestial True Lords, watching from the side, shook their heads in unison. Cang Wu Zhen Jun's eyes flickered as he thought to himself, "Although it's to bring the spatial locator to Yao Chi, it's not right to come alone. Whether it's ancient or modern, it's not good to be with someone like Guo Jin. It seems that the rumors about the Lord of the Revival Hall are exaggerated, and it's not that impressive after all."
At this moment, the Lord of the Revival Hall was captured, and it seemed that the Heavenly Court had the upper hand in this battle. Perhaps it was time to take sides.
The other two people's eyes also flickered, seemingly considering the same thing.
Those who could attend the Bodhi banquet in Yao Chi were all people who had lived for countless tens of thousands of years, and many people in Yao Chi were thinking the same as Cang Wu Zhen Jun, looking at the Heavenly Court's people with more and more gazes.
Guo Jin, who was sensitive to the changes in the atmosphere of Yao Chi, smiled slightly and turned to look at the Demon Lord and others, about to say something.
But suddenly, a sudden change occurred!
Two loud explosions sounded, followed by two mournful cries, and a massive wave of energy surged forward, causing Guo Jin's body to stumble.
He quickly stabilized his body and turned around, his pupils shrinking to a pinpoint.
A huge black claw, the size of a house, appeared in front of him, with five long, scythe-like nails flashing with dark light, as if they could pierce through everything, and stabbed towards Guo Jin's head.
The claw was surrounded by a dark aura, emitting an evil and malevolent energy, as if it was a resentment that had been buried in the depths of the underworld for thousands of years, finally emerging to kill everyone in the world and drag them down to the underworld.
Behind the claw, the Lord of the Revival Hall, who was supposed to be imprisoned, had somehow escaped.
Further behind, the White Cloud Dao Zu and the dwarf old man were cut in half, lying in a pool of blood, although they had not fallen, they had temporarily lost their ability to move.
Li Yuanji and Chi Rong's figures had disappeared without a trace.
Guo Jin's eyebrows furrowed, and he waved his sleeve.
His long robe was also a magical artifact, and the sleeve puffed up in the wind, instantly transforming into a layer of golden light, blocking in front of him.
A strange sound echoed, and the golden light screen shook violently, the black claw piercing into the light screen for nearly half the distance, before finally stopping.
At this moment, a red flame burst forth from behind Guo Jin, striking his back.
The flame was surrounded by a fierce, crimson fire, with countless red lines forming a pattern, emitting a terrifying, high-temperature energy that melted the surrounding air.
The red light enveloped everything, turning the surroundings into a sea of fire.
A loud explosion sounded, and the Yao Chi area was instantly engulfed in flames.
Behind the red flame, Chi Rong's figure flashed out.
At the same time, Guo Jin's surroundings suddenly produced a "hiss" sound, and countless golden light threads appeared, each containing a powerful golden law fluctuation.
The surrounding sea of fire was instantly cut off, and the high temperature in the air was also cut off, the Yao Chi area's unbearable heat disappearing instantly.
The golden light threads shot down, stabbing towards Guo Jin.
Among the countless golden lights, Li Yuanji's figure also appeared.
Guo Jin's face sank, but before he could react, the red flame and the golden light threads simultaneously struck his body, engulfing him.
"Supreme!" The fallen White Cloud Dao Zu and the dwarf old man exclaimed.
The several Dao Zu who were blocking the Demon Domain and the Savage Ancient Spirit were also shocked, but everything happened too quickly, they couldn't react in time.
"What's going on, Li Yuanji and Chi Rong have defected to the Lord of the Revival Hall!" Cang Wu Zhen Jun and the others were shocked, their eyes wide with disbelief.
The flames and golden light enveloped Guo Jin's body.
But the expected earth-shattering explosion didn't occur, the red flame and golden light threads suddenly stopped, the surrounding air, the flashing lights, and the flames, all froze in place. Everything seemed extremely strange.
The Lord of the Revival Hall looked at the scene before him, his face changing, and he quickly retreated.
Li Yuanji and Chi Rong also flew back, seemingly avoiding something.
In the next moment, a blue light appeared in the air, and a massive, icy law fluctuation descended from the sky, the Yao Chi area's heat instantly disappearing, and the air was frozen.
The Lord of the Revival Hall and the other two were enveloped by the icy law fluctuation, their bodies momentarily frozen.
A figure appeared in the air, and the Snow-robed man who had worked with Chen Ruyan to resist the Savage Ancient Spirit appeared, his sleeve waving.
The blue light in the sky flashed, and countless blue ice cones condensed, shooting down with a piercing sound, striking the three people.
Each ice cone emitted a powerful, icy law fluctuation, and the air was filled with ice crystals, instantly freezing everything.
The sound of the ice cones echoed, and hundreds of law fluctuations shot down, striking the Lord of the Revival Hall and the other two.
The nearby Heavenly Court's hundred or so Da Luo existences finally seized the opportunity to attack the three people.
The Lord of the Revival Hall snorted, and without entangling with them, his body flashed and disappeared, reappearing above the Demon Domain's army.
Li Yuanji and Chi Rong saw the Lord of the Revival Hall leave, and they didn't stay behind, flying towards the Lord of the Revival Hall.
Chapter:
“Traitor! Don't run!” The man in white robes flashed a hint of hatred in his eyes and was about to chase after him.
The officials of the Heavenly Court also saw this scene and were about to follow.
White Cloud Daozu and the old dwarf were also filled with hatred, using their seals to heal their wounds, and were about to pursue them.
“Stop right there.” Gu Huo Jin's voice came from the red flame, the golden threads, and the depths of the crimson fire.
The man in white robes and the others immediately stopped.
A wave of golden smoke rolled out from the depths of the red flame, spreading out in all directions, with countless golden symbols dancing within.
The black claws, the red flame, the golden threads, and the golden smoke collided, and they all rapidly decayed, turning into dust and disappearing, leaving only a wave of golden smoke.
The people nearby retreated, avoiding the golden smoke, fearing that they would be tainted by even a single speck.
The golden smoke suddenly gathered and disappeared, revealing Gu Huo Jin's figure, his clothes still intact and unbroken.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?" White Cloud Daozu and the old dwarf forced themselves to reassemble their bodies and flew over.
"This is just a trivial matter, how could I be injured?" Gu Huo Jin replied calmly.
White Cloud Daozu heard this and flashed a hint of excitement in his eyes.
Lunhui Dianzhu, Li Yuanjiu, and Chi Rong were all incredibly powerful, each one capable of ranking among the top ten in the world, yet when they joined forces, Gu Huo Jin remained unscathed, his clothes still intact.
Gu Huo Jin made a hand seal.
Two golden lights shot out from his fingertips, entering White Cloud Daozu and the old dwarf's bodies.
The two of them were instantly enveloped in a golden light, their bodies' severed limbs twisting and reforming, restoring them to their original state.
Not only were their bodies restored, but White Cloud Daozu and the old dwarf's auras also returned to normal, as if they had not been through a fierce battle.
"Time Reversal Divine Ability!" Lunhui Dianzhu, who was watching from a distance, furrowed his brow.
"Thank you, Your Majesty." White Cloud Daozu and the old dwarf moved their bodies, their faces filled with joy, and bowed to Gu Huo Jin in gratitude.
Gu Huo Jin waved his hand, his gaze not on the two of them, but on Li Yuanjiu and Chi Rong.
"Li Yuanjiu, Chi Rong, the Heavenly Court has always treated you with kindness, allowing you to rank among the Seven Lords, and even promising to lead you beyond the constraints of the Heavenly Way. Why have you betrayed me and joined forces with the Lunhui Dianzhu?"
White Cloud Daozu also looked at Li Yuanjiu and Chi Rong, questioning them.
The other people in the Yaochi also looked at Li Yuanjiu and Chi Rong, their faces filled with doubt.
However, the three Cangwu True Lords were shocked, their bodies trembling slightly, their eyes flashing with surprise.
Earlier, during the conversation between Lunhui Dianzhu and Gu Huo Jin, they had mentioned surpassing the Heavenly Way, and they had thought that Gu Huo Jin was just speaking to counter Lunhui Dianzhu.
But now, hearing White Cloud Daozu's words, they realized that Gu Huo Jin was actually working on this, and seemed to have already made progress.
As Daozu, they were most concerned about resisting the Heavenly Way's erosion, and if there was a way to surpass it, they would do anything to know.
"It seems that White Cloud Dao friend has not noticed anything, but be careful, don't be fooled by Gu Huo Jin's words." Li Yuanjiu smiled calmly.
"How dare you, you're slandering the Emperor!" White Cloud Daozu was taken aback, then quickly became angry again.
"Is it slander? You'll find out soon enough." Li Yuanjiu chuckled, retreating behind Lunhui Dianzhu.
Chi Rong also retreated, allowing Lunhui Dianzhu to stand at the front.
"Gentlemen of the True Immortal Realm, I have come to the Bodhi banquet not to cause trouble, but to tell you something." Lunhui Dianzhu began to speak, his voice carrying far and wide.
Gu Huo Jin's brow furrowed slightly, but quickly relaxed.
"This matter has been planned by Gu Huo Jin for a long time, so long that some people may not have even started their cultivation journey yet. Gu Huo Jin's plan is enormous, violating the norms of humanity, and he is the greatest villain of our time, deserving of punishment!" Lunhui Dianzhu pointed at Gu Huo Jin, his eyes wide with anger.
"How dare you!"
"You're the one who's a traitor, how dare you speak such evil words? You're the one who deserves to be punished!"
The people of the Heavenly Court were outraged.
"Are you here to spout nonsense? You say I'm the greatest villain, but what evidence do you have?" Gu Huo Jin remained calm, smiling.
"You're quite bold, aren't you? You're the one who's speaking evil words, and you're the one who deserves to be punished!" This matter is long and complex, and if we want to start from the beginning, we need to go back to a very ancient era. I'm sure all of you fellow practitioners know that once a cultivator has fully mastered a law, they can reach the realm of the Dao Ancestor, and although they can borrow the power of the Heavenly Dao, they also face the risk of being devoured by the Heavenly Dao. This is the underlying fear of all Dao Ancestors.
Throughout the ages, various Dao Ancestors have sought to find a way to escape this fate. Some have tried to cultivate the secret art of firming their minds to resist the Heavenly Dao, while others have attempted to refine special immortal artifacts to resist the Heavenly Dao's erosion. There have also been those who have tried to mimic the Earth Immortal, guiding the power of faith into their bodies. Unfortunately, these methods have all had little effect.
However, during the nineteenth generation of the Heavenly Court, during the reign of the previous Supreme Ruler, the situation changed. The nineteenth generation Supreme Ruler was a heaven-defying genius who entered the Dao through arrays, not only mastering the law of time to the realm of the Dao Ancestor, but also creating an unparalleled divine ability that fused different attributes of the law into one, shaking the various realms.
The nearby cultivators looked at each other in shock, intimidated by Gu Yunjin's aura, and dared not express their surprise openly, instead whispering to each other in secret.
Fusing different attributes of the law is extremely difficult, and can only be achieved through the constant grinding and hard work of two cultivators. It is unbelievable that someone has created a divine ability that can fuse laws through arrays.
Gu Yunjin's eyes flickered with a strange light as he listened to the Wheel of Rebirth's words.
"Perhaps you are all unfamiliar with this name," the Wheel of Rebirth said with a smile, "but Gu Yunjin, and the various Dao Ancestors of the Heavenly Court, should know this name. Gu Daosheng, the nineteenth generation Supreme Ruler, was a master of arrays, and his divine ability was unparalleled in the world."
The cultivators in the audience looked at each other in surprise, their faces filled with a mixture of emotions.
"Gu Daosheng...?" The name echoed in the minds of the cultivators, and they couldn't help but wonder if there was a connection between Gu Daosheng and Gu Yunjin.
White Cloud Dao Ancestor looked at Gu Yunjin, his eyes cold and detached. "Enough of this nonsense. You've brought people from the Demon Realm and the Barbarian Realm to our Heavenly Court, and you've even turned against Li Yuanji and Chi Rong. If you want to go to war with us, then let's do it. Why waste our time with idle chatter?"
However, his words were equivalent to acknowledging the Wheel of Rebirth's statement, and the cultivators in the audience looked at each other with a mixture of emotions.
"Since this is a true story, why not tell us more?" the Wheel of Rebirth said with a smile. "Are you afraid that we'll discover your secrets?"
The cultivators in the audience looked at each other, their faces filled with a mixture of emotions, and they couldn't help but wonder if the Wheel of Rebirth's words were true.
Originally, some of the cultivators had planned to side with the Heavenly Court, but they had now changed their minds.
White Cloud Dao Ancestor's face was stern, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.
As for Gu Yunjin, he remained calm and detached, as if he didn't care about the Wheel of Rebirth's words.
"Supreme Ruler, I don't know what he wants to say, but I think we should stop him from spreading his lies. We have the advantage in numbers, and with your divine ability, I think we have at least a 70% chance of winning. As for the cultivators from the various realms, even if they don't help us, they won't dare to side with the Wheel of Rebirth."
The dwarf elder's words were laced with anxiety, and he couldn't help but feel a sense of urgency.
"Let him speak," Gu Yunjin said calmly. "What else do you want to say, Wheel of Rebirth?"
White Cloud Dao Ancestor and the dwarf elder looked at each other, their faces filled with a mixture of emotions, and they knew that they had no choice but to let the Wheel of Rebirth continue.
"Very well, I'll continue," the Wheel of Rebirth said with a smile. "Gu Daosheng discovered that using multiple laws simultaneously could resist the Heavenly Dao, and so he created the 'Dao God Seal' divine ability, which could delay the Heavenly Dao's erosion. The Bodhi Dao Fruit that you Dao Ancestors use to delay the Heavenly Dao's erosion is actually imbued with the power of the Dao God Seal."
The cultivators in the audience looked at each other in surprise, and they finally understood the truth about the Bodhi Dao Fruit.
The Cangwu True Lord looked at the Wheel of Rebirth with a mixture of emotions, his heart filled with a sense of complexity.
He had previously thought that the Wheel of Rebirth was reckless and impulsive, but now he realized that the Wheel of Rebirth had actually been planning this all along, and had even gathered information that he had never heard of before.
In comparison, he was just a frog at the bottom of a well.
He had originally wanted to take revenge, but now he felt a sense of despair and hopelessness.
"Since you know so much, you must have prepared well," Gu Yunjin said calmly.
"Gu Daosheng's 'Dao God Seal' is just a small divine ability," the Wheel of Rebirth said with a smile. "What he truly devoted his life to was the 'Three Thousand Dao God Great Array'. Gu Yunjin, you wouldn't know about this, would you? After all, you were the one who helped him complete this great array, back when you were still a self-cultivator."
The Wheel of Rebirth's words were like a bombshell, and the cultivators in the audience looked at Gu Yunjin in shock and disbelief.
White Cloud Dao Ancestor and the dwarf elder also looked at Gu Yunjin, their faces filled with a mixture of emotions.
"What...?" The audience erupted into chaos, and the cultivators looked at each other in shock and confusion.
The atmosphere in the hall was heavy with tension as Guo Jin heard the words, a flicker of surprise flashing across his face before he quickly regained his composure and remained silent.
The crowd in the hall erupted into a commotion once again, as they couldn't fathom why Guo Jin hadn't retorted.
"Lü Huan, you just mentioned the Three Thousand Dao God Array, what kind of array is that?" a voice asked, belonging to the red-robed old man, Zhen Shi Yin, who stood beside the Cang Wu True Lord.
The crowd's eyes immediately turned to Zhen Shi Yin, who dared to speak out against the Lü Huan.
The Cang Wu True Lord and the Feng surname Dao Ancestor exchanged a glance, their eyes flashing with surprise.
"It's an array that can destroy the heavens and the earth, yet also open the heavens and create a new world," Lü Huan explained slowly, his eyes fixed on Zhen Shi Yin.
"Destroy the heavens and the earth? Open the heavens and create a new world? Lü Huan, can you explain it more clearly?" Zhen Shi Yin asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"If I'm not mistaken, the Three Thousand Dao God Array is an array that can simultaneously operate the three thousand laws of the world, an array that can recreate the primordial chaos, destroying everything in the world and allowing it to return to its original state. The person who activates the array can, with the power of the array, break free from the constraints of the heavens and control the source of all laws, the primordial chaos, and become an existence beyond the heavens, creating a new world and becoming its master," Lü Huan continued.
The hall fell silent, the only sound being the quiet breathing of the crowd, as they listened to Lü Huan's words in shock.
The White Cloud Dao Ancestor and the other Dao Ancestors of the Heavenly Court were also shocked, but they quickly regained their composure.
Guo Jin's expression remained calm and unruffled.
Zhen Shi Yin's face changed, and he took a while to calm down.
However, he suddenly jolted, as if remembering something, and turned to Guo Jin, asking, "Your Excellency, you and Lü Huan mentioned wanting to break through the heavens, could it be that you're planning to use the Three Thousand Dao God Array?"
The crowd turned to look at Guo Jin, their faces filled with curiosity.
Most of them were cultivators from the various immortal realms, who had come to attend the Bodhi Banquet.
"There's only one way to break through the heavens, and that's by using the Three Thousand Dao God Array," Lü Huan said, before Guo Jin could respond.
"Is what you said true?" Guo Jin didn't respond, but Zhen Shi Yin's eyes locked onto Lü Huan, asking again.
"To activate the Three Thousand Dao God Array, two conditions must be met. The first is that a massive amount of yuan qi is required, which is why the Heavenly Court has been frantically searching for spiritual materials from the various immortal realms," Lü Huan explained.
"What's the second condition?" Zhen Shi Yin asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Of course, it's necessary to gather as many of the three thousand great dao as possible. The Heavenly Court has been secretly working on this, and the prisoners captured by the Xianyu will eventually... I'm sure everyone knows what will happen to them. Furthermore, the Heavenly Court has never stopped collecting treasures that contain special laws, and the purpose of this is obvious," Lü Huan continued.
The crowd's expressions changed, and they slowly became calm, seemingly believing Lü Huan's words, their gazes at the Heavenly Court cultivators filled with a mix of emotions.
"This is utter nonsense! What Three Thousand Dao God Array, destroying the heavens and the earth? It's all just empty words! The Heavenly Court extracts the prisoners' laws, one reason is to punish them, the other is to use those laws to refine some immortal artifacts. As for the materials containing special laws, they're just used to refine some special treasures to defend against the Lü Huan. Fellow cultivators, this is just Lü Huan's scheme to divide us, don't be deceived!" the White Cloud Dao Ancestor exclaimed, seeing the situation was not in their favor.
"Yes, Lü Huan has always been secretly stirring up trouble, causing chaos in the various regions, and now he's come to deceive us with his words!" the dwarf old man and the others chimed in.
"White Cloud Dao Ancestor, I've long suspected why the Heavenly Court is extracting the prisoners' laws, and I've secretly investigated. From what I know, those extracted laws aren't being sent to the Heavenly Court's Hundred Refinements Peak to refine immortal artifacts, but are being sent somewhere else," Zhen Shi Yin said.
The White Cloud Dao Ancestor turned to him, a cold glint in his eyes.
"White Cloud Dao Ancestor, the situation has come to this, and I'm afraid I can no longer believe in the Heavenly Court. I, Zhen Shi Yin, have no intention of getting involved in your internal conflicts, you can do as you please," Zhen Shi Yin said, bowing slightly towards the Heavenly Court cultivators, before turning to leave.
The crowd watched as Zhen Shi Yin flew out of the hall, and soon, others followed him, leaving the hall.
The Cang Wu True Lord and the Feng surname Dao Ancestor exchanged a glance, before they too flew out of the hall.
In the blink of an eye, more than half of the cultivators had left the hall.
The remaining people were sparse, less than a third of the original number.
"You...!" the White Cloud Dao Ancestor's face turned red with anger, but he didn't dare to stop the others from leaving, as he couldn't read Guo Jin's expression.
Chen Ruyan's eyes flashed, but she didn't leave.
The Yin Ming Dao Ancestor also didn't leave, standing still, blocking the demonic army.
The number of cultivators in the hall was originally small, and now that more than half had left, the difference between them and the demonic army was even more pronounced.
"Hehe, Lü Huan, you're impressive. With just a few words, you've managed to divide the enemy's forces," the demonic lord said, transmitting his voice to Lü Huan.
"Lü Huan, you're being too modest. It's just that Guo Jin has been acting against the natural order, losing the support of the people, and that's why my words had any effect," Lü Huan replied, transmitting his voice back. "Mansion Master, the rest will be handled by us." The Demon Master transmitted his voice, then raised his hand and waved it forward.
Rumbling sounds echoed through the air as the Demon Domain's army advanced, their footsteps synchronized and shaking the heavens.
The barbarian domain's army also moved forward, shrinking the encirclement.
As the massive footsteps reverberated, an endless tide of pressure surged forth from the army, pressing towards the Heavenly Court's people within the Jade Pool.
...
As Han Li's palm emitted a burst of lightning, a loud "sizzling" sound erupted, and wisps of cyan smoke instantly burst forth from the top of Meng Yuan's skull and his seven apertures.
Regardless of Meng Yuan's final curse, whether it was an angry imprecation or a mystical incantation, Han Li had no interest in listening to it.
A moment later, Meng Yuan's aura completely dissipated, and Zishan and Dongli Hu exchanged a glance, their expressions growing increasingly solemn.
Han Li lifted the head that had been blasted by the Divine Lightning, still somewhat uneasy, and a silver glow flashed across his palm. A small silver flame figure suddenly darted into the skull.
"You can have your whole corpse back..." Han Li casually tossed the head back onto Meng Yuan's corpse.
A loud "whoosh" sound erupted, and the corpse immediately ignited with a fierce silver flame.
"Next, it's your turn." Han Li looked at Dongli Hu and Zishan, speaking slowly.
"No choice, we can only resort to a fierce assault. If we still can't win later, don't worry about me, just burn everything within the Ten Directions' Array to ashes." Dongli Hu sighed, saying.
Zishan nodded silently after a moment.
Dongli Hu's eyes flashed with crystalline light, and his hands waved in the air, causing intense fluctuations in the laws of the universe to ripple out from his body. Behind him, the illusory images of towering mountains suddenly appeared.
"Han Li, dare you receive my Mountain-Crushing Fist?" Dongli Hu thundered.
"What's there to be afraid of?"
Han Li laughed, then tossed aside the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword in his hand, allowing it to transform into a sword spirit child that flew to the side.
The next moment, he darted out, a golden spiritual realm instantly unfolding to envelop Dongli Hu.
Han Li's body shone with golden light, and countless golden ripples undulated through the spiritual realm, causing Dongli Hu to feel as if he had sunk into a quagmire, every step forward hindered by immense resistance.
Yet, he still shouted, his fist clenched and striking towards Han Li.
As his arm thrust forward, the mountain peak illusions behind him began to dissipate, transforming into streams of light that entered his arm and then his fist, causing half of his arm and his entire fist to radiate dazzling golden light.
At the same time, within the True Immortal Realm, numerous mountain peaks within several immortal domains suddenly exploded, their spiritual energy exhausted, their roots severed, and their peaks shattered without warning.
This fist's power was backed by the might of a hundred mountains.
Han Li watched this scene, his eyes not shocked but delighted, and a sense of excitement even arose in his heart.
"Come on..."
He shouted, and the True Speech Treasure Wheel and the other five temporal artifacts on his body emitted a burst of light, which flew into his body and caused his fist to condense a force of Five Elements Annihilation.
Han Li's eyes gleamed with intensity, and he struck out with his fist.
A deafening "boom" resounded!
Five formidable temporal laws converged, forming a massive golden fist that clashed with Dongli Hu's mountainous fist, the two forces colliding in a spectacular explosion.
In an instant, a ferocious and terrifying power swept towards the surroundings, directly compressing the space around them, causing the air to ripple and creating tiny, fleeting spatial rifts.
Unfortunately, those rifts were too small and only lasted for a moment before disappearing.
The massive explosion propelled Han Li and Dongli Hu backward, retreating tens of thousands of miles. Han Li's foot stepped on the void, and he emitted a loud "boom" as he charged forward once more.
"How is this possible?" Dongli Hu's heart tightened, his fist still trembling.
Just by comparing strength, he had lost to Han Li.
But just as he thought this, a sudden, piercing whistling sound echoed through the air.
A figure leapt out from behind Dongli Hu, holding a bow in one hand and a string in the other, with an arrow condensed from purple flames. With a swift motion, the arrow transformed into a purple glow, shooting towards Han Li at an unimaginable speed.
Han Li's True Speech Treasure Wheel spun rapidly, and he swept his hands in front of him, conjuring a series of temporal law ripples that resembled a shield.
However, the purple flame arrow pierced through the void, entering the temporal law ripples without hindrance, and shot straight towards Han Li's heart!
Facing the purple flame arrow shot towards his heart, Han Li's two fists wrapped in Starlight Force crossed in front of him, attempting to block the arrow.
However, the arrow was like a phantom, directly piercing through his arm and lodging itself in his chest.
But, in the instant the arrow entered his chest, it transformed from a virtual to a real flame, erupting into a fierce purple fire that wildly burned.
A wave of intense heat and pain washed over Han Li, making him feel unbearable, and his entire body was enveloped by the massive shockwave from the arrow, sending him flying backward.
"What's going on...?" Han Li thought in surprise.
This purple flame was too strange, able to transform between reality and illusion, and upon entering his body, it started burning intensely, making him feel as if his entire spiritual energy was being sealed, leaving him struggling to get up from the ground.
"Take advantage of the purple flame sealing his body and kill him immediately!" Zishan shouted.
But there was no need for her to order, as Donglitu had already taken the initiative to leap into the air and charge towards Han Li.
His body was surrounded by a bright yellow glow, and behind him, a virtual image of a Mountain-moving Giant appeared, filled with the dense and rich essence of the Mountain's Law.
The giant's hands were in a holding-the-heavens gesture, and on its palms, the legendary "Tai Mountain" was being held, imbuing Han Li with the true power of a thousand kilograms, striking him with a "Tai Mountain Pressure".
If this blow were to land, even Han Li's physical body would be unable to withstand it.
But just as it was about to hit, a sudden change occurred.
Han Li, who had been struggling to get up, suddenly had a silver flame erupt from his chest, and the Small Flame Bird Phoenix had taken the purple flame arrow for him.
Although the Small Flame Bird Phoenix was a magnificent being, it was still far inferior to the Dao Ancestor, and it had suffered severe injuries from blocking the purple flame arrow. But it still managed to hold on, accompanying Han Li in this act, before returning to his body to recover.
Han Li apologized to the Small Flame Bird Phoenix and slapped the ground, propelling himself upward.
His entire body's True Spiritual Blood Vessels and Heaven's Fury Prison Gates were activated, and a dazzling purple-black glow erupted from his body, as he grew a multitude of purple-black scales, and his body expanded to over a hundred times its original size, transforming into a hundred-meter-tall purple-black giant.
The purple-black giant's head was surrounded by a flashing purple-black glow, and it had twelve heads, each with a different expression, ranging from anger to joy to indifference.
At the same time, the giant's back began to emit a series of "popping" sounds, as twenty-four arms emerged from its back, each with a different hand gesture, from clenched fists to claw-like fingers to fingers pressed together like a sword.
The giant's eyes locked onto its target, and a burst of purple-black energy exploded from its body, surging towards the surroundings and forcing Donglitu to momentarily halt his descent.
"What is this thing...?" Zishan thought in shock, as she followed Donglitu's lead and retreated.
Donglitu had no choice but to accelerate his descent, charging towards Han Li with a crushing force.
Han Li let out a mighty roar, and his twenty-four arms began to move in unison, striking towards the sky, creating a flurry of punches that shook the air, and a series of explosive sounds that echoed through the void.
The space around them was severely distorted, as a massive shockwave erupted, forcing Zishan to retreat.
One punch, a hundred punches, a thousand punches, ten thousand punches...
In the span of a few breaths, Han Li's twenty-four arms moved like a windmill, creating a whirlwind of punches that sent Donglitu flying into the air, unable to fall.
A moment later, a crisp sound echoed through the air.
Donglitu's Mountain-moving Giant image, and the mountain peak condensed from the essence of the Mountain's Law, simultaneously cracked and shattered.
Han Li's fist intent was at an all-time high, as he charged forward, unleashing a flurry of punches that sent Donglitu flying.
The sky and earth seemed to be filled with the sound of Han Li's punches.
Donglitu's body was continuously battered, and his spiritual energy was completely dispersed, his bones shattered, and his body reduced to a mess, like a pile of mud.
Only then did Han Li stop his punches, standing in mid-air.
His twelve heads, each with a different expression, were now unified in their gaze, radiating a fierce and pure killing intent.
"Refreshing..." It was as if a long-suppressed anger had finally been released.
He turned his gaze towards Zishan, who was the only one left.
Zishan's body stiffened, and she involuntarily took a step back.
Her eyes glanced at Donglitu, who had been completely defeated, and she felt a surge of retreat.
But just as she was about to turn around, a strange glint appeared in her eyes, and she gazed past Han Li, towards the mountain range behind him.
Han Li's expression changed, and his massive body turned towards the mountain range.
The mountain range, which had been lush and green, now had a significant portion of its trees withered and yellow, as if someone had absorbed their energy, leaving them dead.
Han Li's spiritual energy swept through the area, but he didn't detect any unusual energy.
"Something's off..." He suddenly realized why he couldn't sense the old woman's aura, which was suppressed under the mountain range.
……
At this moment, the atmosphere in the Jade Pool became increasingly tense.
Facing the growing threat of the demon and evil clans, the faces of the White Cloud Daozu and others turned slightly pale.
The departure of the Cangwu True Lord and others, the betrayal of Li Yuanjiu and Chi Rong, and the current numerical disadvantage of the Heavenly Court, all made it clear that the situation was unfavorable.
Even many of the cultivators, especially those above the Great Luo Realm, had left, and those who remained were uncertain, their eyes flashing with hesitation, clearly unwilling to truly take action for the Heavenly Court.
"Supreme Lord, the current situation is unfavorable for us, the enemy is well-prepared and comes with ill intent," White Cloud Daozu asked in a transmission.
"No matter," Guo Hen said calmly.
White Cloud Daozu and others saw this and were reassured.
After all, Guo Hen had been able to control the Heavenly Court and govern the entire True Immortal Realm for so many years, which already explained many things.
Since he said it was no matter, it was clear that he had a plan to counter the situation.
"Palace Master is indeed a mastermind, Guo Hen admires him greatly. Without even lifting a finger, he has already dissolved half of the Heavenly Court's strength," Guo Hen said, looking at the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation.
"As the saying goes, 'those who lose the way have few helpers', you should pay the price for your actions," the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation sneered, waving his sleeve.
A long, dark red light beam shot out, several tens of meters thick, and crashed towards the Heavenly Court cultivators like a tidal wave.
Guo Hen pinched his fingers together, and a fine golden light shot out, colliding with the massive dark red light beam.
With a soft "hiss", the massive dark red light beam was extinguished, like ice meeting fire.
The fine golden light also became extremely dim, flickering twice before disappearing.
Seeing the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation take action, the Demon Lord and Bai Ze also immediately ordered their troops to attack, and the demonic and barbarian armies charged towards the Heavenly Court like two massive floods.
"Engage!" Although their strength was currently inferior, White Cloud Daozu and others immediately ordered their troops to engage in battle.
The two sides clashed, and in an instant, the previously calm Jade Pool was filled with flying artifacts, countless colorful lights intersecting, and numerous spiritual domains appearing, overlapping, and colliding.
The sound of the explosion shook the heavens, and the Jade Pool's interior and exterior were instantly shattered, turning into nothingness.
The void mirror-like surface of the Jade Pool shattered, turning into countless space fragments, and the turbulent space currents surged out, but the space fragments and currents were also shattered by the intense collisions.
The surrounding area turned into a gray, desolate void, barely able to withstand the countless intense collisions.
The entire Heavenly Palace continent, from the heavens to the depths of the earth, shook violently.
Fortunately, the Heavenly Palace continent was enormous, and the Heavenly Court had been operating here for countless years, making the continent extremely solid, and it did not shatter.
Those who had left earlier saw this scene and hastily flew further away, leaving the range of the battle's impact, before stopping.
At this moment, the Daozu of both sides also took action.
On the demonic side, apart from the Demon Lord, the remaining four Daozu transformed into four streams of light and charged forward.
On the barbarian side, Bai Ze and the other two also shot out like lightning.
Li Yuanjiu and Chi Rong, however, stood still beside the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation, staring fixedly at Guo Hen, without moving.
"The demonic side will be handled by you, Chen Ruo Yan and Yin Ming Daozu, can you do it?" Guo Hen asked, looking at Chen Ruo Yan and Yin Ming Daozu.
His tone was calm, but carried a hint of sternness.
"I, as one of the Seven Lords of the Heavenly Court, will naturally take action to help the Heavenly Court. However, the enemy is numerous, and the Demon Lord has not yet moved, I fear that we two may not be able to hold out for long. I hope that the Supreme Lord will make a decision soon," Chen Ruo Yan said, her eyes flashing.
"Good," Guo Hen said calmly.
Chen Ruo Yan's eyebrows moved slightly, and she transformed into a blue light, charging towards the four demonic Daozu.
She raised her hand, and a magnificent blue light wheel shot out, spinning rapidly.
With a "plop", the blue light wheel twisted and burst into 81 dragon-shaped blue lights.
These 81 dragon-shaped blue lights were complete with heads and feet, scales, and postures, resembling 81 true dragons, each emitting a terrifying water law fluctuation, and their mouths let out a shocking dragon roar.
The blue light flashed, and the 81 blue dragons intersected, forming a blue array that enveloped the four demonic Daozu.
Yin Ming Daozu's hands vibrated, and countless black shadows appeared around him.
These black shadows seemed neither real nor illusory, and could move according to his will, transforming into various objects in his mind, like the most unpredictable existence in the world.
The countless black shadows shot out, also charging towards the four demonic Daozu.
The Heavenly Demon's magical laws were mysterious and unpredictable, exceling at deluding the minds of others. It was best to have me and Brother Jin handle this, while you, He Lan, and Turtle Spirit Dao Friend deal with Chen Ruyan. The desiccated corpse-like man from the Demon Realm's four ancestors spoke to the demonic and charming woman and the white-robed, plump woman.
Chen Ruyan was renowned for being the most beautiful and strongest woman in the Heavenly Court. Today, I'll finally get to experience her prowess. The demonic and charming woman gazed at Chen Ruyan, her eyes flashing with a fierce light, and waved her hand.
Hundreds of purple-black light rays shot out from her body, each one rapidly expanding into massive, tree-like purple-black vines. The tips of the vines burst forth with enormous, house-sized purple-black flowers that seemed breathtakingly beautiful.
However, the petals of these flowers were covered in sharp, thorn-like protrusions, and they seemed to be writhing like living creatures, causing one's skin to crawl.
The demonic and charming woman pointed forward, and hundreds of purple-black demon flowers shot out, bursting forth like a demonic python and charging towards Chen Ruyan's Blue Dragon Array.
The moment they made contact, a deafening explosion shook the heavens, and blue and purple lights clashed, sending shockwaves through the gray, misty void.
The white-robed, plump woman gazed at Yin Ming Dao Zu, her eyes flashing with a hint of resentment, but she also understood that she was no match for his Heavenly Demon magical laws.
She let out a cold snort, and her plump body rolled on the ground, instantly conjuring a massive, hundred-mile-wide black storm. Countless black wind columns shot out from the storm, dancing and waving towards all directions.
Accompanied by a low, rumbling roar, a massive, black, obese beast emerged from the black storm. The beast had the head of a lion, nine blood-red eyes, and a body resembling a lizard, with two enormous, fleshy wings sprouting from its back, lined with razor-sharp claws and surrounded by black energy currents.
The black beast flapped its wings, causing the black storm to surge forward, charging towards Chen Ruyan and crashing into the Blue Dragon Array, unleashing a series of deafening explosions.
The four of them flew extremely high, almost reaching the boundary of the heavenly realm, and did not affect the armies below.
The desiccated corpse-like man and the yellow-robed man, who was filled with an aura of death, also flew out, charging towards Yin Ming Dao Zu.
The desiccated corpse-like man muttered to himself, his body rapidly expanding to a size of ten thousand feet, and his withered, corpse-like body began to transform. His skin turned a dry, yellowish color, and his bones became visible, resembling a zombie's corpse.
Countless, liquid-like yellow energy currents surged out from his body, emitting a putrid stench that seemed to be a mixture of rotting flesh and death, making one's stomach churn.
The desiccated corpse-like man grasped at the air with his hands, and ten dry, yellow claws shot out from his palms, tearing apart the surrounding black demonic shadows.
The desiccated corpse-like man didn't seem to be under the control of the Heavenly Demon, and his body merely swayed slightly before stabilizing, continuing to charge towards Yin Ming Dao Zu.
However, the yellow-robed man was even faster, drawing out his long sword in a flash. The sword's blade was a grayish-white color, and he stabbed it forward.
Yin Ming Dao Zu's body seemed to shift, and a thousand-foot-long, grayish-white sword ray suddenly appeared, stabbing towards his head.
The sword's energy was incredibly ferocious, and it seemed to be imbued with an aura of death, causing the surrounding air to distort and turn gray.
Yin Ming Dao Zu's brow furrowed, seemingly wary of the sword's energy, and his body moved, creating a six-pointed star array beneath his feet.
His body flashed, and he vanished from his original position, only to reappear simultaneously at the six points of the star array.
The six bodies were identical in both aura and appearance, making it impossible to distinguish which one was the real Yin Ming Dao Zu.
The yellow-robed man's empty eyes flickered, and he immediately regained his composure, his wrist trembling.
The grayish-white sword ray split into six, each one stabbing towards the six Yin Ming Dao Zus.
The six Yin Ming Dao Zus simultaneously formed a seal, and the surrounding air was filled with the sound of billions of ghostly wails. A series of black portals appeared, and countless demonic creatures from the outer realms emerged, engulfing the yellow-robed man and his companion.
Each demonic creature emitted a powerful aura, and there were even some that had reached the Great Luo Realm. The two sides clashed, and the battle raged on.
On the other side, White Cloud Dao Zu, the dwarf elder, and the Snowy Robe Man also flew out, charging towards the three Great Dao Zu of the Barbaric Realm.
The sky was filled with a kaleidoscope of colors as the six of them clashed, and the outcome was unclear. The only thing that could be heard was the sound of explosions and the clash of energies.
The Heavenly Court's Dao Zu were able to withstand the attacks of the Demon Realm and the Barbaric Realm, but the difference in strength between their disciples was enormous.
The Heavenly Court's disciples were quickly overwhelmed, and they were forced to gather together, forming defensive arrays to barely hold their ground.
In this state, the Heavenly Court's disciples were in a precarious position, unable to counterattack. If there was no turning point, they would be slowly worn down and annihilated. In an instant, countless attacks rained down, and the defensive barrier formed by the Heaven's Court cultivators grew increasingly dim, their hopes growing weaker.
"It seems that the Wheel of Rebirth's side has the upper hand in this battle. But I wonder if the Wheel of Rebirth's Master can truly defeat Guo or Jin?" said Cang Wu Zhen Jun and the others, observing the situation from a distance, speaking in hushed tones.
"If we let Guo or Jin escape, the True Immortal Realm will likely fall into chaos," said Feng Xing Dao Zu, nodding in agreement.
"Since that's the case, we might as well lend the Wheel of Rebirth's Master a hand and capture Guo or Jin. Not only will we ensure the True Immortal Realm's peace, but we'll also gain a good opportunity for the future. According to rumors, the Wheel of Rebirth's Master is a decent person, or else the demonic and devilish tribes wouldn't cooperate with him," said Zhen Shi Yin, waving his hand to create a soundproof barrier around the three of them, then speaking in a low tone.
Feng Xing Da Han heard this and his eyes flashed with interest, but he didn't show any reaction, looking at Cang Wu Zhen Jun instead.
"Zhen Dao friend, when did you become the Wheel of Rebirth's spokesperson?" Cang Wu Zhen Jun asked, a hint of a smile on his face.
"Spokesperson? Cang Wu Dao friend, what are you talking about?" Zhen Shi Yin asked, taken aback, then shook his head and smiled.
"Earlier, at the Yaochi, you openly and secretly assisted the Wheel of Rebirth's Master, urging us to leave Yaochi. Anyone with eyes can see that! As far as I know, you recently received a large amount of celestial yuan stones and used them to buy a thousand-mile-long spirit vein in the Da Tian Yin immortal realm, planning to establish a sect there. If I'm not mistaken, those celestial yuan stones were given to you by the Wheel of Rebirth, right?" Cang Wu Zhen Jun asked, his voice measured.
Zhen Shi Yin's brow furrowed upon hearing this.
Feng Xing Dao Zu looked at Zhen Shi Yin with a hint of surprise.
"It's not just you, Zhen Dao friend. Many of the sects that chose to leave Yaochi have been secretly bought over by the Wheel of Rebirth," Cang Wu Zhen Jun continued.
"Is that so?" Feng Xing Dao Zu asked, surprised again.
"Hmph, if not for the Wheel of Rebirth's Master's wealth, how could he have convinced so many people to leave Yaochi?" Cang Wu Zhen Jun sneered.
"Wanting to buy over so many people, the required wealth is immeasurable. I estimate that the Wheel of Rebirth has poured all their accumulated wealth into this. What boldness!" Feng Xing Dao Zu exclaimed, impressed.
"Since you two know already, I, Zhen, won't hide it anymore. Cang Wu Dao friend, what you said is correct. The Wheel of Rebirth's Master did contact me earlier and asked me to persuade you two to help. He promised that if you two assist him, he'll give you the same reward as me," Zhen Shi Yin said, looking at Feng Xing Dao Zu with a smile.
"Rarely does the Wheel of Rebirth's Master hold me, Feng, in such high regard. Meanwhile, Guo or Jin is planning to destroy the world. Even if it's for the sake of the world, I know who to help. I'll do it!" Feng Xing Dao Zu said, his eyes flashing with determination.
"Wind Dao friend, you're a just and righteous person. Now that Heaven's Court is in danger, our combined efforts will surely succeed!" Zhen Shi Yin exclaimed, nodding vigorously.
Cang Wu Zhen Jun stood to the side, his expression unreadable.
"Cang Wu Dao friend, I know you have a grudge against the Wheel of Rebirth's Master, but now is not the time to seek revenge. If we let Guo or Jin escape, the world will likely face destruction. There's also something you might not know: the Wheel of Rebirth's Master has mastered the Wheel of Rebirth's law and possesses a six-path Wheel of Rebirth disk, which can control the reincarnation of the outside world. He promised that if you, Cang Wu Dao friend, help him, he'll use the six-path Wheel of Rebirth disk to reincarnate your fallen disciple and have them rejoin your sect," Zhen Shi Yin said to Cang Wu Zhen Jun.
"Is this true?" Cang Wu Zhen Jun asked, his body trembling with excitement.
"With the Wheel of Rebirth's Master's status, would he deceive you on such a matter? However, the Wheel of Rebirth's Master said that your disciple will not retain their memories from their past life, but their cultivation foundation will remain. You'll need to spend some time cultivating them again," Zhen Shi Yin explained.
"That's not a problem, as long as their cultivation foundation remains," Cang Wu Zhen Jun said, his expression relaxing.
"Since the Wheel of Rebirth's Master has spoken, I'm not a person who doesn't understand the situation. Very well, I agree to help," Cang Wu Zhen Jun said, nodding after a moment of contemplation.
Zhen Shi Yin's eyes lit up with joy upon seeing Cang Wu Zhen Jun agree.
The three of them gathered together, discussing how to take action.
...
Just as Han Li was wondering why the ugly old woman's aura had suddenly disappeared, a sudden change occurred!
A point of blue light appeared in the withered Dong Yi divine tree forest, and the blue light rapidly grew brighter. A small tree sprouted from the light, growing rapidly, and then, in a blurry moment, it grew four limbs and transformed into a slender, beautiful young woman.
The woman's body was surrounded by a strong, blue light that emanated a powerful wood-attribute law aura.
Han Li's eyes widened as he realized that the woman's aura was identical to the ugly old woman's.
What was going on?
The woman's body was still surrounded by the blue light, and her features were still indistinct, but her aura was unmistakable.
Han Li, my old body's cycle of life and death is unpredictable, and the last life-and-death battle was hundreds of millions of years ago. The transformation from prosperity to decline has also taken hundreds of millions of years. Today, I can use these two divine trees to transform from decline to prosperity, and it is your fate to face this great calamity. Die!" Zhu Yan, who had suddenly transformed into a young woman, laughed loudly.
As soon as she finished speaking, she waved her hand, and the black long hair that had spread out behind her suddenly burst forth like a dense vine, transforming into a black tide that covered the sky and earth, swallowing her small figure in an instant.
Han Li's eyes swept across the area, and he saw that the void within a radius of tens of thousands of miles was quickly occupied by the black hair.
He raised his hand, and the seventy-two Qingtong Fengyun Swords flew to his front, forming a massive circular sword array in the void.
"Go!"
Han Li's low voice was heard, and the seventy-two Qingtong Fengyun Swords suddenly let out a loud whistling sound, spinning at high speed in the void like a windmill.
In an instant, electrical currents shot out, like countless lightning whips striking the heavens, and countless sharp sword energies condensed into substance, shooting out in all directions, instantly crushing the surging black hair.
On the other side, Zisu saw this scene and didn't immediately come to help. Instead, she turned around and pulled up the heavily injured Dongli Tiger, and with a flash of her body, she sent him out of the large array.
Han Li controlled the sword array, charging towards Zhu Yan, and his path was unobstructed.
However, after advancing for several thousand miles, Han Li suddenly discovered that the black hair he had cut off behind him was floating in mid-air, surrounding him from all sides.
"Han Li, try my move!" A loud voice suddenly rang out.
The scattered black hair in the air suddenly flashed with light, and it automatically connected with each other, coiling towards the center like a massive black whirlpool, pulling Han Li's power into it.
The Qingtong Fengyun Swords' sword array was also instantly destroyed, and all the sword blades were tightly wrapped by the black hair, struggling and trembling violently.
Han Li himself was in the center of the whirlpool, with his hands, feet, and waist all wrapped by the black hair, and his surroundings were also compressed by the thick black hair, his bones creaking loudly, making it difficult for him to break free.
At the same time, a mysterious law fluctuation flowed into Han Li's body, following the surging black hair.
Han Li felt as if a layer of continuous water waves was constantly washing over his body.
Under this wave-like power, he didn't feel any pain, but every time the wave washed over him, Han Li felt as if something in his body was slowly flowing away.
He looked down at his arm, and his skin had become dry and wrinkled, as if he had instantly aged from a young man to an old man.
"This isn't an illusion, how is this possible?" Han Li was shocked.
This kind of technique that accelerated the flow of time, making one's lifespan rapidly decline, Han Li also knew, but it was through the power of time laws to accelerate the opponent's lifespan decline. Zhu Yan shouldn't have this kind of divine power.
Moreover, he had already become a nearly immortal existence, so how could he have aged so much in just a few dozen breaths?
After a moment of thought, Han Li gradually calmed down.
He quietly operated the Xianling power within his body, and the withered skin on his arm instantly lit up with a blue glow, restoring it to its original state.
But in an instant, the skin on his arm withered again, and it could only be restored after the Xianling power replenished it.
In this way, the wave-like power and Han Li's Xianling power fell into a tug-of-war, acting on Han Li's body, causing his skin to change back and forth between withering and flourishing like the leaves of a tree in spring and autumn.
Moreover, with this change repeating, Han Li could sense that the power was slowly penetrating through his skin, seeping into his bones. If this continued, his body would eventually be corroded.
"Since you're using a fake time flow, I'll give you a real one." Han Li sneered.
As soon as he finished speaking, his spiritual domain suddenly contracted, covering only a radius of ten thousand miles, and the Zhenyan Baolun and other time law objects returned to his spiritual domain, transforming into the sun, moon, stars, and mountains, creating a five-element fantasy world.
Within the five-element fantasy world, the flow of time suddenly accelerated a thousandfold, and Zhu Yan's cycle of life and death also accelerated a thousandfold. Han Li's skin changes also accelerated a thousandfold.
However, he had already prepared for this, and he quickly operated the Tianxia Zhenjin Gong, covering his body with a layer of starlight-like True Extreme membrane.
In this way, Zhu Yan's cycle of life and death had a much slower effect on him.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Han Li's eyes turned towards the distant sky.
The Golden Child's true body was shining brightly in the dark sky, and the surrounding void was rippling with intense spatial waves, and the void had already collapsed by half, although it was still unstable.
Han Li's heart was filled with joy, and his eyes returned to Zhu Yan, who was hidden behind the dense black hair.
The latter's face was tense, and it was clear that she wasn't easy either.
After about a quarter of an hour, Han Li was still struggling to break free from Zhu Yan's restraints, but the black hair that had spread out had clearly retracted, and many places had turned silver-white, as if they had been sprinkled with frost. Han Li saw the situation and a hint of a smile appeared on his lips.
The rate at which the Zhu Yan's withering law affected him was far slower than the rate at which the Heavenly Dao was eroding her, so he only needed to wait until she could no longer hold on, and then he would counterattack.
As he thought about this, the dao patterns on the True Speech Treasure Wheel and other law incarnations began to shine brightly, accelerating time by a hundredfold.
Zhu Yan was also feeling quite anxious at this moment, originally thinking that she could use her own law to wither Han Li's physical body, but he not only had a physique far beyond her imagination, but also caused her own law's power to be consumed at an alarming rate.
As Han Li's time law power continued to increase, Zhu Yan's long black hair suddenly turned white, more than half of it.
She felt a sense of unease in her heart, and no longer dared to hesitate, her long hair suddenly shrinking, releasing Han Li, and retreating like a tide.
"You want to leave?" Han Li sneered, grabbing Zhu Yan's hair with one hand.
A silver light flashed in his palm, and a silver flame erupted, spreading out over tens of thousands of miles, burning towards Zhu Yan.
But just as this was happening, a figure suddenly appeared, landing on Zhu Yan's black hair.
It was Zi Shu, who pressed his hands down, and purple flames erupted from his palms, instantly suppressing the silver flames, and pushing the fire back towards Han Li.
After forcing Han Li back, Zi Shu turned to Zhu Yan and said, "I'll take care of this, you go and stop the Jin Jin insect, it's almost too late..."
"You're already too late," Han Li laughed loudly.
He pointed with one hand, and the 72 Sword Spirit Infants flew out, rushing towards the Golden Child.
As the flying swords shot out, a loud rumbling sound was heard, and the Heavenly Thunder temporarily ceased its power, but the ancient sword energy within began to surge, bursting out in a riot of colors.
"Stop it!" Zi Shu shouted.
Zhu Yan's long hair immediately sprawled out, chasing after the Qing Zhu Sword.
Han Li saw this, and with a wave of his hand, the broken time and space fire that had transformed into stars in the sky began to fall like a meteor shower, creating massive waves wherever they passed.
The waves passed, and a layer of time law power enveloped Zhu Yan and Zi Shu, making them feel like they had been trapped in a river of frozen time.
Immediately, a real river of time flowed in, like a jade ribbon, encircling them, and solidifying the time restriction.
Han Li saw this, and with another wave of his hand, the full moon descended from the sky, hanging above the two of them, releasing a golden light.
Having learned from his previous mistake, he did not use the mountain range and the Dong Yi divine wood forest this time.
Han Li had just trapped the two of them when he heard a loud noise coming from afar.
"Boom..."
He quickly looked up, and saw that the Qing Zhu Sword had struck down a sword, and then transformed back into a Sword Spirit Infant, flying back towards him.
On the other side, the void in front of the Golden Child had opened up, revealing a massive mouth, over a thousand feet long, and although it was also pitch black, one could faintly sense that there was a thread of wind seeping through.
The Ten Directions Great Array had finally been torn open. Han Li's heart was filled with joy, and he retreated, intending to go and examine the opening, but suddenly felt a powerful aura behind him, which was growing stronger by the second.
He turned around, and saw that in the time restriction he had created, a purple light was shining brightly, and growing more intense, like a purple sun.
Han Li's brow furrowed, worried that the True Speech Treasure Wheel and other objects would be damaged, and he quickly withdrew the restriction.
At the same time, he hastily flew backwards.
...
Above the Yaochi, the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation, the Demon Lord, Li Yuan Ji, and Chi Rong surrounded Guo or Jin, who was trapped in the middle.
"Guo or Jin, I have been planning for countless years, and it is all for this battle today, surrender now!" The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation looked at Guo or Jin, his eyes flashing with a hint of blood red, and said.
"Lord, are you sure you have already won?" Guo or Jin was surrounded by the four of them, but he was not afraid, and calmly replied.
"Given the current situation, do you still have any means to turn the tables? Your powerful subordinates are scattered throughout the Middle Realm, and I have already sealed off all the transmission arrays in the Heavenly Court, so if you are counting on someone to return to reinforce, I advise you to give up that thought." The Demon Lord glanced at the Heavenly Court cultivators, who were almost unable to hold on, and sneered.
These cultivators were not particularly strong in front of the Daozu or the Da Luo realm cultivators, but they were the foundation of the Heavenly Court's control over the various realms, and if they were all destroyed today, the Heavenly Court would be severely weakened.
Here is the translated text:
Gu Huo Jin smiled faintly, his hands suddenly moving swiftly to form a complex pattern on his forehead, which resembled a formation array.
The pattern was formed by nine different colored runes, radiating nine different colors of light, each containing a different law of power.
The nine colors of light intertwined, the nine different laws of power not only did not conflict, but also subtly merged.
The nine colors of light contained a very peculiar aura, somewhat similar to the power of the Heavenly Way, but also different.
With a loud "boom", the dazzling nine colors of light burst forth from Gu Huo Jin's body, expanding in all directions.
Gu Huo Jin's movements were too fast, and the Wheel of Reincarnation's master and others wanted to stop him, but it was too late.
The nine colors of light swept over the four people, and they hastily used their magic to defend themselves, but the nine colors of light simply passed over them, seemingly without any intention of attacking them.
"What did you do?" the Demon Master's face turned stern.
As he spoke, his body emitted a burst of silver light, and he was about to take action.
The Wheel of Reincarnation's master's eyebrows furrowed, and his body's dark red light flashed.
At this moment, two slightly painful cries came from the side, from Li Yuan Yu and Chi Rong.
The two of them now had nine-colored patterns on their foreheads, and a thread of nine-colored light was spreading rapidly across their bodies.
In the blink of an eye, their bodies were covered in nine-colored light.
Their hands moved swiftly to form hand seals, and their bodies emitted a burst of golden light and crimson flames, rising and falling with the nine colors of light.
The nine colors of light seemed to be trying to control the laws of power within their bodies, but Li Yuan Yu and Chi Rong were, after all, Dao Ancestors, with profound cultivation and not controlled.
However, as they struggled, they lost control of the laws of power, and their divine abilities were greatly reduced.
At this moment, two golden shadows flashed before them, and two golden giant palms appeared, bringing a series of residual shadows, rapidly slapping towards their heads.
Gu Huo Jin had made his move!
Li Yuan Yu and Chi Rong had no chance to dodge, and were about to be hit, when suddenly, a sharp, piercing cry came from the side, and two dark red lights intercepted the golden giant palms, blocking them. It was the Wheel of Reincarnation's master who had intervened.
The two clashed, and with a loud "boom", the dark red light was shattered, but the golden giant palms were delayed for a moment.
Li Yuan Yu and Chi Rong's bodies were enveloped in a vacuum, and they were sucked in, disappearing into thin air.
The golden giant palms struck down, but hit nothing.
Hundreds of miles away, the vacuum fluctuated, and Li Yuan Yu and Chi Rong reappeared, with the Demon Master and the Wheel of Reincarnation's master appearing beside them.
"Are you two alright?" the Demon Master asked, looking warily at Gu Huo Jin from afar.
"The mark on our foreheads is trying to control the laws of power within our bodies. I don't know what it is or when it entered my body." Li Yuan Yu said, struggling to resist the nine-colored light.
Chi Rong did not speak, but his situation was clearly no different from Li Yuan Yu's.
"This is the Dao God Seal!" the Wheel of Reincarnation's master exclaimed, looking closely at the nine-colored patterns on Li Yuan Yu's forehead.
"What?! The Dao God Seal is a divine ability used to resist the Heavenly Way's invasion!" Chi Rong's face turned pale.
"Correct, this is the Dao God Seal, but I've made some modifications. Master, I don't know how you knew about the Dao God Seal, but I'm afraid you didn't expect this situation." Gu Huo Jin's figure flew over, his voice calm.
The Wheel of Reincarnation's master blocked Li Yuan Yu and Chi Rong, about to speak, when his body suddenly trembled, and he turned to look towards the distance.
A series of escaping lights flew over from afar, and it was the cultivators who had left earlier.
At this moment, they all had the same nine-colored patterns on their foreheads, and their bodies were radiating various colors of light, but their faces were filled with terror, clearly unable to control their actions.
The light from their bodies was extremely intense, as if burning their lives, and it gathered into a massive torrent, like a raging storm, striking the demon domain's army from behind.
These cultivators were completely disregarding their physical limits, overloading their divine abilities, and unleashing a level of power far surpassing their normal abilities.
Moreover, they seemed to have gone mad, frantically launching various attacks.
Innumerable divine light beams struck the demon domain's army, causing innumerable casualties, and the cries of the wounded filled the air.
These cultivators from the various immortal realms were originally stronger than the demon domain's army, and now, they were attacking without restraint, and the demon domain's army was caught off guard, quickly becoming disorganized.
The originally intact encirclement was quickly torn apart.
The Heavenly Court's cultivators inside the encirclement saw this scene, and immediately withdrew their formation, joining the maddened cultivators.
The two armies merged, with the maddened cultivators at the forefront, and they charged straight into the demon domain's army, killing without restraint.
The area was filled with blood and white bones.
...
Han Li had just withdrawn the True Word Treasure Wheel, and a wave of purple flames suddenly erupted, instantly transforming into a sea of purple fire that engulfed the surroundings.
Han Li saw that he couldn't avoid it, and his eyebrows furrowed, "I don't have time to waste on you."
He said, and his Great Five Elements Fantastical World technique began to operate, his mouth shouting "Heaven and earth overturned", and his hand struck out.
The formation space, which had just reconnected with the outside world, was suddenly twisted by a strange power, and the flames also reversed, falling upwards.
(Note: I've kept the translation as close to the original as possible, but some minor adjustments were made to improve readability and clarity.) Here is the translation of the chapter:
A gigantic golden handprint, over a hundred million feet in size, suddenly appeared in the void, like a divine fan, sweeping towards Zhu Yan and the others.
At the same time, the boundless power from the outside world transformed into a massive torrent, surging forward along with the golden handprint.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
As the sound of the void exploding echoed, the entire space of the great array began to shrink layer by layer, finally unable to withstand the pressure, and completely collapsed.
Jintong, who had escaped, returned to her original form and flew back to Han Li's side.
"It seems we're still in the external space..." Jintong quickly scanned the surroundings and said.
Han Li looked at the void in the distance, where the space was cracked like a window, and thought for a moment before saying:
"No wonder this great array was so difficult to break, it's because it gathered the power of ten immortal realms. If those few hadn't entered the array to cause trouble, maybe we wouldn't have been able to escape so soon."
He turned around and glanced at the distant Zishan and the others.
"What do we do?" Zhu Yan asked with a serious expression.
"The great array has been broken, we can't stop him..." Zishan sighed and said.
"But..." Zhu Yan wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Zishan.
"Meng Yuan has fallen, Dong Li is heavily injured, and you and I..." Zishan hesitated for a moment.
"What about us?" Zhu Yan asked urgently.
"You and I are also heavily injured." Zishan gritted his teeth and said.
Zhu Yan understood immediately, and the two of them glanced at Han Li before turning and flying towards one of the space cracks.
Han Li watched them escape without making a move.
"These space cracks are disappearing, what do we do?" Jintong suddenly asked.
Han Li looked around and saw that the ten space cracks were indeed closing, with a few already disappearing.
"We should leave too."
...
The barbarian realm's army was also shocked by the Heavenly Court's sudden and crazy attack, and their originally neat formation began to fall apart.
In the distance, only a few cultivators remained, unaffected by the divine seal.
The three true immortals, including Cangwu, had the divine seal mark on their foreheads, with nine-colored spiritual patterns appearing on their bodies, trying to control their internal laws. The three of them resisted with all their might, frozen in place.
The three of them had their internal laws controlled, but their senses were still intact, and they were shocked by the sudden change in the battlefield.
Guo or Jin had actually hidden this trick, and now the situation was unclear.
The few Dao ancestors who were fighting saw the situation and had different expressions.
The Heavenly Court's Dao ancestor was overjoyed, while the demon realm's four tribes and Bai Ze's face fell.
"I didn't expect the divine seal to have such a use, it's really opened my eyes, but relying on this alone, you think you can turn the tide?" Lunhui, the master of the Wheel of Rebirth, said calmly.
As he spoke, he made a hand seal, and a brilliant light appeared on his forehead.
An invisible chain shot out, disappearing into the gray space above.
The demon king also made a hand seal, and a thick silver light shot out, merging with the chain.
The space above "ripped" apart, and a gray lightning bolt flashed through, followed by a second, third, fourth...
In an instant, hundreds of gray lightning bolts appeared, forming a gray lightning gate.
"What is this?" Guo or Jin saw this and flashed with a strange light before punching out.
A small mountain-sized golden fist shadow appeared, striking the gray lightning gate.
This golden fist shadow had a huge "Wang" character, radiating endless aura, clearly a very powerful divine technique.
The fist shadow had not yet reached, but the massive power had already penetrated the gray lightning gate, pressing down on Lunhui and the others.
The air around them seemed to be sucked dry in an instant, and the four of them felt unable to breathe.
"You focus on the spell, I'll resist for a bit!" the demon king shouted, flying out.
He pointed to the void and said, "Ding!"
Instantly, a vast area of silver light appeared, centered on the demon king, and the fragmented space was restored, becoming a thousand times more stable.
A mysterious and powerful spatial energy fluctuated in the silver light, and everything within a range of tens of thousands of miles was fixed in place, as if frozen.
The golden fist shadow also stopped in its tracks, unable to move.
However, Lunhui and the others, as well as the space around the gray lightning gate, were unaffected, and everything continued as usual.
The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation saw the Demon Lord use the spatial law to seal the void, and his eyes slightly relaxed, his hands moving swiftly to continue weaving the spell.
As more and more gray lightning appeared, pouring into the gray lightning portal, the portal became increasingly dazzling, making everything around it seem dull and faded, as if only this door existed in the world.
In the center of the portal, countless lightning serpents and electric threads gathered and converged, controlled by an invisible force, turning in a certain direction to form a whirlpool.
Inside the whirlpool, countless chaotic lights danced and quickly formed a black, spatial tunnel.
Gu Huo's expression remained unchanged, and with a single hand gesture, his sleeve fluttered lightly.
His eyes suddenly shone with golden light, and his exposed skin, including his hands and neck, revealed a series of mysterious, cryptic patterns, connected to the patterns on his clothes, like a network of fine, golden blood vessels. The surface of his skin emitted a soft, golden glow that pulsed and flowed.
The strange thing was that these patterns also appeared on the wheelchair he sat in, connected to the patterns on his body.
Each time the golden light flashed, a ring of golden light would emerge from his body, spreading out in all directions from his seated position, growing fainter as it expanded.
In an instant, hundreds of thousands of golden lights radiated out, and from a distance, it seemed as if countless golden silhouettes of Gu Huo were flying out.
These golden lights contained an extremely powerful temporal law, but it was different from the temporal law Gu Huo had used before, and it seemed extremely violent.
As the golden lights merged with the surrounding silver lights, the space within a thousand miles became a mixture of gold and silver, with the two colors flashing back and forth, dazzling to behold.
The space, frozen by the silver light, violently trembled under the invasion of the golden lights, and finally, it collapsed, unleashing a storm of spatial winds.
The shattered void was like a crystal palace being crushed, transformed into countless silver crystal shards that flew in all directions, swept up by the spatial winds.
The Demon Lord was not surprised by the destruction of the spatial seal, and with a wave of his hand, a spatial law force erupted.
The power of the spatial storm created by the explosion immediately increased tenfold, engulfing the golden fist shadow, along with Gu Huo, in a massive spatial chaos.
This spatial chaos, amplified by the Demon Lord's spatial law, was filled with an immense spatial power, and the golden fist shadow was instantly submerged, then exploded with a loud "boom".
Gu Huo, caught off guard, was blown back a certain distance.
However, the golden light on his body surged, and he quickly stabilized his form, without a single injury.
At this moment, the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation had finished his spell, and with a wave of his hand, he shouted, "Open!"
The gray lightning portal, composed of countless gray lightning bolts, shone with an intense, dazzling light, and the whirlpool had filled the entire gate. But as the word "open" fell, the gray lights suddenly dispersed, and everything inside the portal became clear.
It was a gray, monotonous world, with a white sky, endless gray clouds, black earth, and mountains. Everything was a mix of black and white, giving a feeling of desolation and gloom.
On the black earth and mountains, countless gray figures stood, stretching to the horizon, a sea of gray-clothed cultivators.
Their numbers were staggering, rivaling the armies of the Demon Domain or the Wilderness Domain.
In terms of cultivation, these gray-clothed cultivators were also extraordinary, with many being elite, and some even being powerful, undead, gray-robed cultivators with Da Luo realm strength.
The Heaven's Court cultivators, seeing these gray-robed cultivators, were shocked and changed their expressions.
The gray clouds were filled with the gray realm's yuan qi, which clashed with the Heaven's Court's spiritual energy, producing a deafening, rumbling sound.
The Heaven's Court's spiritual energy and the gray realm's yuan qi were completely opposite, and when they collided, the spiritual energy near the Heaven's Court immediately became thin.
The cultivators of the Heaven's Court, who were engaged in fierce battles with the Demon Domain and the Wilderness Domain, slowed down their movements.
"Gray-robed cultivators!" The cultivators of the Heaven's Court, who were familiar with the gray-robed cultivators, immediately recognized their origins and shouted in surprise.
A flash of gray light from the portal, and three figures, emitting incredibly powerful fluctuations, emerged from the portal, revealing their true forms.
The first person was a middle-aged man with a pale face, sharp features, and a detached expression, who was none other than Yin Cheng.
The other two were a tall, imposing man with a black, metallic body, resembling a black, golden giant, who seemed to be from the Black Rope Domain.
The other person was wrapped in a gray cloak, making it impossible to see their face, with long, thin arms protruding from the cloak, covered in dark, wrinkled skin, like a corpse that had been submerged in water for years. They emitted a cold, eerie aura, making people feel extremely uncomfortable.
These two individuals were not inferior to Yin Cheng in terms of aura, and they were also clearly powerful, Da Luo realm cultivators.
As soon as they appeared, one of them raised his hand and pointed at the Heaven's Court cultivators.
Boom! Countless gray boundary cultivators flew out, transforming into a gray tidal wave, blocking the group of frenzied killing cultivators, and engaging in a fierce battle.
The gray boundary's primordial energy was specifically designed to counter the heavenly and earthly spiritual energy, and the heavenly court cultivators' attacks were immediately hindered.
The gray boundary's army was led by dozens of corpse-gray celestials, entangling dozens of heavenly court cultivators.
Among these corpse-gray celestials, a considerable portion were those who had been killed by the heavenly court cultivators, and both sides knew each other's strengths and weaknesses. Despite the heavenly court cultivators' increased power due to the Dao God Seal, they were still entangled by the corpse-gray celestials.
The leader of the heavenly court cultivators was entangled, and their unstoppable attack was immediately halted.
The demonic domain's army and the barbaric domain's people immediately regrouped and charged towards the heavenly court cultivators, surrounding them once again.
As the situation stabilized, the Demon Lord, Chi Rong, and others let out a sigh of relief.
The Wheel of Reincarnation's master remained calm and composed, unaffected by the situation, and continued to gaze at Guo or Jin.
Li Yuanji, who had been standing with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, and a golden light burst forth from his body, suppressing the nine-colored light on his body.
He took advantage of the opportunity to spit out a small, five-colored bottle, which radiated golden, red, blue, green, and yellow light, identical to the small bottle that Jiao San and others had taken from the Nine Yuan Observatory.
As soon as the five-colored bottle left Li Yuanji's mouth, its light intensified, and a five-colored light burst forth from its mouth, enveloping Li Yuanji's body.
The five-colored light contained the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, which not only didn't conflict with each other but also harmonized with the Dao God Seal, hinting at a tendency to merge into one.
The small bottle rotated rapidly, emitting a powerful and unmatched suction force.
The nine-colored light on Li Yuanji's body began to separate and enter the small bottle.
His face relaxed, and the golden light on his body intensified, as if countless golden needles were forcing the nine-colored light to leave his body.
In just a few breaths, Li Yuanji's nine-colored seal on his forehead shattered, and the nine-colored light on his body flew out, entering the five-colored bottle.
Guo or Jin's expression changed slightly as he witnessed this scene.
At this moment, three gray figures suddenly appeared beside the Wheel of Reincarnation's master, surrounding Guo or Jin once again.
Li Yuanji's eyes moved, and he immediately pointed at Chi Rong.
The five-colored bottle on his head flew out, landing on Chi Rong's head.
Li Yuanji had regained his divine abilities, and the power of the small bottle increased dramatically.
The five-colored bottle rapidly expanded, and a massive five-colored light burst forth, enveloping Chi Rong.
The Dao God Seal on Chi Rong's body began to separate, and after a few breaths, it shattered.
The two of them joined the others, surrounding Guo or Jin.
The seven Dao Ancestors joined forces, unleashing a pressure that could destroy the heavens and earth, enveloping Guo or Jin.
"Friend, Luo Dao friend, this person should be the soul-snatching Dao friend from the gray boundary, who has always been solitary and independent. You've managed to bring them over, Guo, I must admit I'm impressed," Guo or Jin said, his eyes scanning the three gray figures before falling on the Wheel of Reincarnation's master.
"It's not surprising, knowing your schemes, anyone would understand what to do. You're to blame for your own greed, trying to dominate the entire world," the Wheel of Reincarnation's master replied calmly.
His voice was not loud, but it carried far.
Chen Ruyan, who was fighting against the demonic domain's four Dao Ancestors, noticed a hint of abnormality in her eyes and waved her hand.
Five waves of blue light shot out from her fingers, rapidly expanding and transforming into five massive waves that engulfed the entire sky, crashing down on the demonic woman and the giant beast transformed from the white-robed fat woman.
The demonic woman's purple-black flowers contained a powerful corrosive poison, but they required close proximity to take effect. Against the massive waves, they had little effect, and upon contact, they were bent and swayed like water plants.
The woman's face remained calm, and she drew a purple-black long knife with intricate patterns, slashing at the waves.
A long, purple-black blade of light shot out, striking the waves.
The giant beast transformed from the white-robed fat woman opened its nine eyes, and nine black light columns shot out, merging into a massive black light column with swirling black lightning, emitting a terrifying hissing sound, and striking the waves.
In the midst of the deafening roar, the waves were split into two massive gaps, and the blade of light and black light column shot towards Chen Ruyan.
The sound of the waves was like thunder, and the blade of light and black light column approached Chen Ruyan with incredible speed.
The gigantic wave that had been split apart by the dark purple blade and black light column suddenly dispersed, but the next moment, the splashing waves gathered again, forming a new wave that was even more powerful than before.
The dark purple blade and black light column initially seemed to be unstoppable, splitting apart wave after wave, but these waves were quickly restored to their original state, and their power became even more astonishing.
The evil and charming woman and the lion-headed giant beast continued to strike with their blades and shoot out light columns, but they were ultimately unable to withstand the endless waves, and all their attacks were completely engulfed by a massive wave that blocked out the sun.
This series of changes happened in the blink of an eye.
The massive wave swallowed up the two people's attacks, and without stopping, it fiercely crashed into the evil and charming woman and the lion-headed giant beast, unleashing a boundless and indescribable power that sent the two flying.
The evil and charming woman and the white-robed fat woman, who had transformed into a giant beast, quickly stabilized their bodies and were about to attack again, but Chen Ruyan suddenly moved, transforming into a wisp of blue smoke that escaped from the battlefield and appeared a hundred miles away.
"My fellow dao friends, is it really necessary to determine the outcome of this battle between us? Why don't we conserve our energy and see how things turn out on the other side?" Chen Ruyan smiled faintly and said.
"Don't think about it!"
The evil and charming woman's eyes were filled with envy and hatred, and she was unwilling to stop, raising her dark purple long knife once again.
"Helan, what she said isn't without reason. Let's stop for now and wait for the outcome on the other side before deciding what to do." The lion-headed giant beast's body flashed with light, and it transformed back into the white-robed fat woman, stretching out her hand to block the evil and charming woman, who was called "Helan".
Helan's face changed several times, and she reluctantly put down her long knife.
However, the two women's eyes remained fixed on Chen Ruyan, preventing her from escaping.
Chen Ruyan saw through their intentions and smiled faintly, not making any suspicious movements, standing still and gazing into the distance at the demon master and the others.
Almost at the same time that the battle on Chen Ruyan's side stopped, the Yin Ming Dao Zu also suddenly retreated.
"I say, fellow dao friends, the good show on the other side is about to begin. This is a rare sight that appears only once in ten thousand years, don't you want to take a look?" A low, muffled voice sounded, and this was the first time the Yin Ming Dao Zu had spoken.
The dried-up corpse and the yellow-robed man exchanged a glance, and although they didn't say anything, they also didn't attack.
Unlike the situation on Chen Ruyan's side, the battle between the six people, including Bai Ze and Bai Yun Dao Zu, not only didn't stop, but became even more intense.
Seeing that Guo Huo was surrounded by seven people, Bai Yun Dao Zu and the others were anxious to break free and go to his aid, and they naturally used all their strength to unleash their techniques, with various laws, spiritual domains, and treasures intersecting and colliding.
Bai Ze and the others, who had the upper hand, naturally wouldn't let them escape, and they also used all their strength to block them.
At this moment, the three people had all transformed into their true forms.
Bai Ze transformed into a white, auspicious beast with two horns and a beard like a goat, and its mouth opened and closed, spewing out countless white windstorms.
Yue Mian transformed into a massive, heavenly Peng bird, with countless lightning bolts surrounding its body, and wherever it passed, the area was filled with lightning.
The bald, burly man transformed into a massive, black, fish-like beast that was as big as a mountain, its body larger than Bai Ze and Yue Mian by more than half.
The beast's face was ugly, especially its enormous mouth, which occupied half of its head.
Its dark, cavernous mouth was filled with sharp teeth, and it seemed to be connected to another world, emitting a powerful suction force.
Everything that came before it was swallowed up, and sometimes it would even pull in large areas of empty space.
Although the six people were all at the Dao Zu level, with similar law and power, Bai Ze and the others were true spirits, with incredibly strong physical foundations, and no matter how fiercely Bai Yun Dao Zu and the others attacked, they couldn't gain the upper hand.
"Do you want to kill me?" Guo Huo looked around at the seven people surrounding him, his face expressionless, and asked in a casual tone.
"You're to blame for being too greedy," the demon master said, his eyes fixed on Guo Huo, and he sneered.
"Greedy? I just want to see the end of this world, what's there to be greedy about? You've all reached this level of cultivation, don't you have any desires or obsessions?" Guo Huo said faintly, his hand hidden in his sleeve, and he crushed the ring he was wearing without making a sound.
"Guo Huo is cunning and ruthless, don't let him use any more tricks to delay us, let's attack together!" The master of the Wheel of Rebirth said, his eyes narrowing as if he had discovered something, and he struck at Guo Huo with his palm.
A ghostly figure appeared in the air, its body a dark red color, wearing a bone-like armor, and a Wheel of Rebirth law surrounded it, constantly changing and emitting a loud, thunderous sound, as if it was fiercely roaring.
The ghostly figure also struck at Guo Huo's head with its palm, instantly tearing apart time and space.
The demon master and the others saw the master of the Wheel of Rebirth attack, and they immediately joined in.
"Space shattered!"
"Golden Emperor splits the sky!"
"Fire God descends!"
"Phantom destruction!"
"Overlord starry sky!" "Soul Devouring, Spirit Consuming!"
The six strongest laws of the six Dao Ancestors converged, unleashing their most powerful attacks at Guo Huinian.
In an instant, the void within a million miles was shaken, the void cracked and shattered, and the golden light of the heavenly flame, the black shadow of the formless substance, and the dazzling starlight tore through the sky, churning the world into a maelstrom.
Everyone in the Yaochi, including the demon and devil armies, had already fled to a distance of a million miles, and those with weaker cultivation were instantly annihilated by the torrent of laws, their spirits and bodies destroyed.
As everyone's hearts were shaken, they dared not approach, only watching from a distance.
The ultimate showdown between the Dao Ancestors had finally begun. As the Time Dao Ancestor, Guo Huinian was the leader of the Seven Heavenly Kings, and had indulged in the Time Law for countless years, making him the strongest in the world.
The seven people surrounding Guo Huinian, including the Wheel of Reincarnation Master and the Devil Master, were the only ones who had cultivated the other two laws to the extreme, and although they were not as powerful as Guo Huinian, they could still contend with him on the level of laws.
The other five people were also not to be underestimated, for they had cultivated laws that, although not as powerful as the three supreme laws, were still formidable.
After all, the three thousand great paths of the world encompassed all the rules of the world, and cultivating any one of these laws to the extreme would allow one to grasp the true essence of the Dao.
Although the five laws were originally unable to contend with the Time Law, now that they had joined forces with the Wheel of Reincarnation and Space, the seven laws had gained the ability to rival the supreme Time Law.
Everyone held their breath, eager to see who would emerge victorious.
The void within a thousand miles around Guo Huinian suddenly collapsed, as if the pillars of heaven had been shattered, and the world was crumbling.
Guo Huinian's eyes finally flashed with a hint of seriousness, and he pinched his fingers together, causing the golden light on his body to surge, and then immediately retract, coalescing into a golden armor.
The armor had a massive dragon pattern on its chest, with lines flowing smoothly from the pattern, forming scales that extended to the entire body, and occasionally spewing out golden flames, making it seem invincible.
As soon as the golden armor was formed, the seven people launched their attacks, unleashing seven indescribable forces of law that collided with Guo Huinian's body, merging with the Time Law's power on his surface.
The seven forces of law hesitated for a moment as they intertwined with the golden light, and in that instant, Guo Huinian transformed into a golden light, shooting upwards.
The golden light broke through the seven forces of law that had been binding Guo Huinian, but the golden armor on his body, along with the golden light surrounding him, was immediately torn apart by the seven laws.
Guo Huinian's body hovered in the air, and the golden light on his forehead flashed several times, as a large amount of golden light emerged from his body.
The broken armor on his body was instantly repaired, and in the blink of an eye, he returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
"Guo Huinian has already mastered the power of time reversal, and ordinary means are no longer able to harm him," the Wheel of Reincarnation Master said, his eyes flashing with a hint of surprise.
"Those who know me, Master, also know that," Guo Huinian replied with a smile.
"Time reversal is indeed a powerful ability, but how many times can you use it in your current state?" the Devil Master asked, his voice cold and mocking.
As soon as he spoke, his eyes flashed with a silver light, and the void around Guo Huinian was instantly frozen, his body bound by the laws.
"His surroundings have been frozen, hurry!" the Devil Master roared.
The others didn't need to be told, and they immediately launched their attacks, unleashing five or six domains of law that overlapped and bound Guo Huinian's body, making it even more difficult for him to move.
Only the Wheel of Reincarnation Master didn't act, his brow furrowed in concern, a hint of doubt in his eyes.
"It's futile," Guo Huinian said with a smile, his armor suddenly flashing, releasing a thousand golden lights that cut through the frozen space around him.
The sound of tearing fabric echoed through the air, as the space around him was once again shattered, and the binding forces of the domains of law were also broken.
Guo Huinian was instantly freed, and with a swift movement, he turned around, raised his arm, and launched a massive golden fist at the seven people, the same divine ability he had used before.
This time, the fist was even more condensed, containing ten times the power of the previous one, and the Devil Master's frozen space was instantly shattered.
"He's using that move again? Guo Huinian is already on the verge of being merged with the Heavenly Dao, and he's no longer daring to use too much of his law power. Let's work together to break him!" the Devil Master said coldly.
"This is a heaven-sent opportunity, we'll exhaust him to death today!" Yin Cheng said with a laugh.
"Guo Huinian, what are you trying to do? It seems like you're intentionally delaying time?" the Wheel of Reincarnation Master asked, his brow furrowed in concern.
As he pondered, the seven people joined forces, breaking through the golden fist and continuing to pursue Guo Huinian.
Seven streams of supreme law flowed from all directions, sweeping towards Gu Yu or Jin, who sat in a wheelchair, his face a little more serious but not panicked.
Just as the seven streams of law were about to overwhelm him, his body emitted a large amount of golden light again.
In the midst of this golden light, Gu Yu or Jin's body was slightly blurred, and he dodged the attacks of the seven people once again, reappearing thousands of miles away.
But as soon as he stabilized his body, the sky above him darkened, and a dark red giant palm, large enough to cover thousands of miles of empty space, emerged and swooped down.
The palm had not yet fallen, but the space below it was already covered in a dark red color.
Below the palm, a huge, six-sided wheel of reincarnation appeared, spinning rapidly and emitting a powerful, invisible force that pressed down on the space below.
In an instant, the space around Gu Yu or Jin became distorted, forming thousands of large and small whirlpools that enveloped him.
Each whirlpool emitted a brilliant light, and within it, a figure flickered and disappeared, releasing an immense, indescribable aura.
However, Gu Yu or Jin did not dodge or avoid, and instead, he created a small, golden space around himself, preventing the whirlpools from approaching him.
The dark red giant palm above him belonged to the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation, whose body had become thinner and more gaunt, his clothes fluttering in the wind.
His face and hands were covered in dark red, sinister-looking markings, and his expression was serious.
"Everyone, I have temporarily trapped Gu Yu or Jin," he said slowly. "Don't be stingy with your laws, the outcome will be decided in this one move!"
As soon as he finished speaking, six figures of different colors appeared from six directions, rushing towards Gu Yu or Jin with six streams of law that were far stronger than before.
People watching from 100,000 miles away were shocked and amazed by the scene, their minds numb.
This was a battle between the strongest in the world, a struggle that had transcended the ordinary and entered the realm of the laws.
At this moment, the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Demon Lord's laws seemed to be able to counter Gu Yu or Jin's, and with the addition of the other Dao Ancestors, it seemed that Gu Yu or Jin was doomed.
"Even if Gu Yu or Jin is strong, he is still just one person," someone said. "The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Demon Lord's laws can already counter his, and with the other Dao Ancestors, he will not be able to escape today."
"Is the world going to change?"
Gu Yu or Jin ignored the dark red whirlpools and the six figures rushing towards him, and instead, he looked up and muttered to himself, "Finally, the time has come..."
At the same time, the golden palace in the depths of the Heavenly Court, where Gu Yu or Jin had been in seclusion, began to shake violently and suddenly burst open.
Countless colorful balls flew out, disappearing into the void.
The gray sky suddenly lit up with a multitude of colors, each one different, like a thousand rainbows hanging in the air, intertwining and overlapping.
These colors seemed to be arranged in a chaotic pattern, but in reality, they had a hidden order, like a giant chessboard covering the sky.
The colors stretched out into the distance, extending to the horizon, and each one emitted a unique law that intersected and overlapped with the others.
The six figures rushing towards Gu Yu or Jin suddenly froze, and three of them, Yin Cheng, Hei Jin Gang, and the man in the cloak, had their bodies emit three colors of light that shot up towards the sky.
Everything happened in an instant, and in the blink of an eye, it was all over.
A massive, crushing pressure descended from the sky, covering everything.
This seemed to be the power of the Heavenly Dao, and any existence, even the Dao Ancestors, seemed insignificant in comparison.
The space around them became heavy, and everyone's bodies became heavy and immobile.
The laws within their bodies began to fluctuate wildly, responding to the colors in the sky.
The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation's body also began to shake uncontrollably, his law fluctuating wildly, and he was unable to move.
The dark red giant palm that had been controlling the six wheels of reincarnation suddenly burst open, releasing a massive amount of dark red light that surrounded Gu Yu or Jin.
The thousands of whirlpools that had been surrounding him also dissipated, and the space around him returned to normal. The Demonic Lord, Li Yuanjiu, Chi Rong, and others, as well as the distant Cangwu True Lord and other Dao Ancestors, were all suddenly unable to move, just like the Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth.
Not only the Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth, but also Chen Ruyan, Yin Ming Daozong, and Bai Yun Daozong, all Dao Ancestors of the Heavenly Court, were also immobilized.
Everyone present struggled with all their might, but the surrounding seal was too powerful, and no matter how hard they tried, they were like ants trying to shake a tree, with no effect.
"This day, I have finally waited for, I have waited for too long..." Guo Huinian said with a sigh, as if he had finally relaxed.
"You have collected all the Law's power, completed the 3000 Dao God Array?" The Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth asked in a deep voice.
"It seems that the Lord only understands the surface of the 3000 Dao God Array, to activate this array, it is not necessary to collect all the Laws, in fact, as long as more than half of the Laws are collected, and the 36 Laws that are the core of the array are collected, it can be activated." Guo Huinian looked at the Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth and said.
"That's why I led the demonic domain and the barbarian domain into the heavenly court, including everything here, it's all your plan, to lure everyone in and capture them all?" The Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth's eyes flashed with realization.
"This is indeed my plan, but the main purpose is not for you, but for them three." Guo Huinian said, looking at Yin Qing, Xie Bi, and the others.
"They? Could it be..." The Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth's eyes widened in shock.
"Even if it's the 36 Laws, it's extremely difficult to collect them all, especially the few Laws that were born in the gray realm. I have been planning for many years, constantly sending people to infiltrate the gray realm, but I have only collected two Laws, and the remaining three have all become Dao Ancestors. I had no choice but to wait for the opportunity to invade the heavenly court, set up a trap, and lure them out. If they didn't come, my array would be impossible to activate." Guo Huinian shook his head and sighed.
"Good, good, good! You are indeed a master of strategy, all our actions are within your calculations, I admire you, I admire you." The Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth's face changed, and he laughed bitterly.
"You are the only one in this world who has the qualifications to make me explain myself, but unfortunately, you won't see the true Heavenly Dao I am about to create." Guo Huinian smiled faintly, raised his hand, and struck out.
"Bang" "Bang" "Bang" "Bang" "Bang"
The Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth, the Demonic Lord, Yin Qing, Hei Jin Gang, and the hooded man, five people's chests flashed with golden light, and a golden arm emerged from each of them, piercing their bodies.
A golden mist rose from the arms, enveloping the five people's bodies.
The five people's bodies rapidly shrunk, and in an instant, they turned into skeletons, exploding with a loud "bang".
The Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth and the Demonic Lord's bodies directly turned into ashes, but Yin Qing and the others turned into three balls of light.
"Lord!"
"Master!"
The demonic domain's Dao Ancestors and the barbarian domain's Bai Ze and others' faces changed, and their eyes filled with despair.
Guo Huinian's face was expressionless, and he snapped his fingers.
The three balls of light from Yin Qing and the others flew into the air, merging into a giant chessboard.
The air flashed with light, and a gray, two black, and three light balls appeared.
"Boom!"
The air was filled with a loud explosion, and countless symbols shot out, covering the entire sky.
The pressure from the sky suddenly increased, and the commotion of the Laws' power within everyone's bodies intensified.
A mournful cry echoed, and the cultivators below trembled, as a thread of light emerged from their bodies, flying towards the sky.
Those threads of light were not just the Laws' power, but also the cultivators' spiritual energy, being absorbed by the 3000 Dao God Array.
Not only the demonic domain and the barbarian domain, but also the gray realm, the heavenly court's cultivators' Laws' power and spiritual energy were all being absorbed, including Bai Yun Daozong and the others.
Threads of Laws' power emerged from their bodies, flying towards the sky.
Among the crowd, only Guo Huinian was unaffected.
"Your Majesty! What are you doing? You promised to bring us three together to surpass the Heavenly Dao, why are you absorbing our Laws' power?" Bai Yun Daozong and the others' faces changed, and they looked at Guo Huinian in shock.
"Once the 3000 Dao God Array is activated, it will be the beginning of the end of this world, everything belonging to this world will become the past, and I will no longer be able to control it. For the true Heavenly Dao, you three will have to sacrifice yourselves." Guo Huinian said calmly.
Bai Yun Daozong and the others' faces turned pale.
Guo Huinian ignored them, and with a movement of his body, he flew upwards.
"A thousand years of darkness, a single lamp illuminates, you all still look too shallow, unable to transcend the cycle of the Heavenly Dao. If that's the case, then let me recreate the Heavenly Dao, recreate a new world where the strong are not bound by the Heavenly Dao!"
As he spoke, he raised his hand, and a spiral symbol appeared on his forehead, shining with a fiery red light.
Guo Huinian's body rose higher, like a golden sun rising, and he reached the ninth heaven.
With a single hand, he drew a symbol on his forehead, and a spiral symbol appeared, shining with a fiery red light.
As the mysterious and profound chanting voice of Guo or Jin echoed through the air, a layer of golden ripples began to spread out from his body, like the waves of a surging tide, constantly expanding in all directions.
Regardless of whether it was the void or physical objects, nothing could block the transmission of these golden ripples, which continued to spread from the Yaochi victory realm, transmitting to the Tian Gong continent, and from the Tian Gong continent to the Zhongtu Xian domain.
The four Heavenly Gates of the Zhongtu Xian domain were like a gigantic horn, constantly amplifying the waves of energy, continuing to transmit them throughout the entire True Immortal Realm.
In an instant, the three types of Xian domains, five hundred medium-sized Xian domains, and three thousand small Xian domains were all bathed in the golden ripples. Ordinary mortals and ordinary cultivators were completely unaware of this, and even True Immortals and Golden Immortals were only slightly sensitive to it. Only those who had reached the Taiyi Jade Immortal realm or above could sense the subtle changes in the surroundings.
But even if they discovered it, what could they do?
Guo or Jin's hands continued to point at the void in front of him, with golden light flashing at his fingertips. The giant chessboard-like formation also lit up with points of light, and a wave of unfathomable law energy began to emanate from it.
"Opening the heavens and splitting the earth, this is a rare opportunity, and all of you can witness this spectacle, which is a once-in-a-lifetime experience," Guo or Jin laughed loudly.
As soon as his words fell, the entire formation lit up with dazzling light, transforming into a massive pillar of light that shot up into the sky, directly shattering the heavenly curtain and breaking through the Qingming heavenly winds of the three realms, entering the void outside.
At the same time, in the East Victory continent's branch venue, chaos erupted, and Qing Qiu True Person sensed an unusual fluctuation at the center of the continent. He quickly turned around and looked, only to see that his mountain abode's three-story library was emitting a massive golden light, which was charging into the high sky.
The golden light originated from his unassuming three-story library, which was also the continent's Tian Tian Tower.
At this moment, the Tian Tian Tower was entirely enveloped in golden light, and its foundation, which was only a few dozen feet in diameter, was connected to a massive formation that was tens of thousands of miles in diameter. Various talismans floated and flew into the air.
At the same time, the Tian Tian Towers of the West He, South Zhan, and North Ju continents also simultaneously revealed the same phenomenon, each with a pillar of light connecting to the heavens.
The chaotic battles in various locations came to a sudden halt.
Everyone felt a sense of unease and panic as they sensed the power of the heavens and the earth merging.
"What is this?" Qing Qiu True Person couldn't help but whisper.
He had been stationed in the Tian Tian Tower for over three million years, and although he had always been indifferent to the tower's grandeur, he had never discovered the massive formation hidden beneath it.
Before he could finish his surprise, Qing Qiu True Person suddenly discovered that the law energy within his body had suddenly surged, transforming into strands of crystal lines that shot out from his body, flying towards the pillar of light.
He looked around in horror, only to discover that he was not the only one. Almost everyone around him had law energy condensing into lines, flowing out of their bodies, and flying towards the pillar of light.
As the pillar of light grew thicker and more intense, the various strands of crystal lines wove together into a massive, colorful web of light in the sky.
"No..." someone finally woke up, letting out a despairing cry.
"Escape, quickly escape..." someone else shouted in terror.
...
In an instant, regardless of whether they were from the Heavenly Court or the Wheel of Rebirth, everyone put aside their hatred and animosity, frantically rushing towards the East Heavenly Gate to escape.
Many people directly went to the transmission array in the East Heavenly Gate, attempting to use the transmission array to leave the Zhongtu Xian domain.
However, when they arrived, they discovered that the fluctuations emitted by the Tian Tian Tower's pillar of light had already disrupted the operation of almost all law energies on the continent, including the spatial laws.
The transmission array was now nothing more than a useless ornament.
Considering this, everyone rushed towards the East Heavenly Gate, hoping to escape as quickly as possible. The longer they stayed, the more severe their law energy would be drained, and they might not even have the chance to escape.
"Great Sovereign, what do you plan to do?" Qing Qiu True Person asked, looking towards the Xian domain.
He could sense some of the changes occurring there.
"Never mind, I won't bother you...," Qing Qiu True Person sighed, his body flashing as he exited the East Heavenly Gate, which was already crowded with people.
As he left the gate, he didn't even glance back, directly transforming into a white streak of light and shooting towards the distance.
However, just as he did, another anomaly occurred.
The majestic Heavenly Gate suddenly shook violently, and the various decorations on the gate pillars and the central pavilion began to peel off, revealing the talismans engraved beneath.
The talismans lit up with golden light, and a strange wave of energy emanated from them.
The cultivators who had been about to enter the gate were swallowed by a massive whirlpool that suddenly appeared, instantly turning them into dust.
The whirlpool then erupted with golden light, shooting out a massive pillar of light that extended into the void, like a dead-end road, abruptly suspended in mid-air. Qingqiu True Person had just flown away for a short while when he suddenly felt a strong attractive force emanating from behind him. His heart tightened, and he quickly used his divine ability to try and escape.
However, the law threads that flowed out from his body were attracted to the light pillar, which forcibly pulled him back, causing him to fall into the vortex within the Yingtian Gate once again.
If even the mighty Dao Ancestor was unable to escape, how could the others?
This situation was unfolding simultaneously in all four directions of the Tianmen, turning the entire Middle Realm into a slaughterhouse for cultivators. Any cultivator with law force was unable to escape.
...
In the Tian Palace Continent, the sky above the Yaochi Paradise was like a burning flame, evaporating all the clouds, revealing a pitch-black domain outside.
Within that domain, a hundred-mile-wide chaotic vortex was slowly condensing and expanding.
Below the vortex, Guo or Jin's eyes gleamed with excitement, his entire being radiating an aura of satisfaction. The situation in the Middle Realm was unfolding exactly as he had predicted.
Compared to the other locations, the situation in Yaochi Paradise was even more dire. Every cultivator on the ground had law force threads converging on the vortex above, and the speed was increasing.
Half of the cultivators had already been killed or injured in the initial battle, and now, with their law force being drained, another half had their bodies destroyed.
Guo or Jin's eyes finally flashed with a hint of satisfaction.
As long as more law force converged, the array's operation would accelerate, and soon not just the Middle Realm, but the entire True Immortal Realm, would suffer the same fate.
To change the heavens and earth, one needed the power and awareness to destroy the heavens and earth.
Just then, his eyebrows twitched, and he gazed at a region below.
There, Li Yuanji was holding his hands high, with a golden light emanating from his palms, pouring into a small, palm-sized bottle above his head.
The bottle was surrounded by a strange law force, with five-colored light emanating from the mouth of the bottle, forming a hundred-yard-wide, umbrella-like canopy that protected him from the array's effects.
With this protection, he was able to resist the array's influence, and his law force was not drained.
Behind him, over a dozen figures, including Meng Po and Yu Menghan, were also hiding under the five-colored light, their law force intact.
Initially, Meng Po and Yu Menghan had not been controlled by the Dao God Seal, and they had kept their distance from the battlefield. However, when the array was activated, they found themselves unable to escape, and they could only hide behind Li Yuanji.
Li Yuanji had already been overwhelmed, and he had not wanted to protect them. However, with the heavy casualties on both sides, he decided to form a temporary alliance with them.
Using his divine ability, he absorbed the residual power of the God Dao Seal from the bodies of Chi Rong and Chen Ruyan, and the three of them formed a temporary alliance.
"Li Yuanji, you were the last to join the Seven Lords, and your loyalty is the lowest. However, you are also the smartest. Unfortunately, your power is also a crucial part of this array. Come and contribute it to me..." Guo or Jin said with a loud voice.
"Guo or Jin, I had already discovered your unusual behavior, but I didn't expect you to go this far... If you want my power, come and take it yourself." Li Yuanji gritted his teeth and retorted.
Guo or Jin sneered, and without further ado, he used his hand to manipulate the law force, pointing at the wound in the vortex.
A loud rumbling sound came from the vortex, and a gray light suddenly burst out, striking the five-colored light screen that Li Yuanji had created.
The five-colored light screen trembled violently, and its brilliance began to fade rapidly.
Li Yuanji's expression changed, and he quickly said, "If you don't want to die, help me now, and work together to activate this small bottle. This may be our last chance."
He then used his divine voice to inform the others of the method to activate the bottle.
Chi Rong and Chen Ruyan didn't hesitate, and they immediately joined in to help.
Meng Po also used her divine power, transforming it into a misty white light that poured into the bottle, and Yu Menghan, despite his weak power, also joined in, following his master's actions.
The other cultivators, who had been freed from the God Dao Seal's control, also joined in, and their bodies began to glow with light as they guarded Li Yuanji and the small bottle.
Many other cultivators, who had not yet been drained of their law force, were also struggling to reach Li Yuanji's side, putting aside their differences and grievances.
As more and more people joined in, the small bottle's five-colored light finally brightened again, and they managed to temporarily resist the gray light's devouring power.
Ancient and modern times, seeing the situation, only smiled faintly.
After speaking, he raised his hands, and two golden light waves continuously surged out from his palms, rushing towards the high sky.
The massive chaotic vortex was suddenly stirred by the golden light, and the gray light emanating from it grew stronger, pressing down on Li Yuanji and the others.
The five-colored light on the small bottle was immediately suppressed, shrinking continuously, like a firefly in the dark night.
"It's no good, we can't hold on..." Meng Po exclaimed, and the crowd was forced to retreat repeatedly.
Li Yuanji also couldn't help but sigh, his hard work and preparation ultimately unable to match Guo's deep and far-reaching plans.
Just then, a sudden change occurred.
A massive silver symbol suddenly appeared in the void behind Guo, and a silver virtual door suddenly opened.
Guo immediately sensed it, his brow furrowed, and he withdrew one hand, slapping it towards the void behind him.
The golden light in his palm surged, transforming into nine golden dragons, rushing towards the door.
In the silver door, a dark red light also surged out, colliding with the nine golden dragons.
A loud explosion shook the air!
The silver door shattered, leaving behind a massive black hole that lingered for a long time.
Almost simultaneously, two figures flashed out from in front of and behind Guo, one clenched his fist and the other stretched out his hand, attacking him.
Guo was unable to avoid, his body's golden light surging, and a golden light shadow resembling a law body suddenly appeared, covering his figure and withstanding the attack.
A loud explosion shook the air!
The golden light shadow shattered, and a massive golden cloud ring expanded, pushing the two attackers back 100,000 miles.
The golden cloud ring gradually dissipated, and Guo's figure reappeared, his chest heaving violently, and a hint of blood on his lips, revealing that he had been injured.
"It's actually you..." Guo said, one hand maintaining the activation of the great array, the other wiping away the blood on his lips.
Li Yuanji and the others felt the pressure suddenly ease, and they quickly looked towards the two figures that had suddenly appeared.
Upon seeing them, the crowd was shocked.
It was none other than the Devil Master and the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation, who had been previously eliminated by Guo.
The two of them were surrounded by a layer of light, able to resist the invasion of the great array, and their bodies did not have any law power overflowing.
"It seems that Guo doesn't seem to be surprised by our return?" The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation asked.
"In this world, there are three supreme laws, and you two, although not at the peak of your respective great paths, are still closely following me. If you were that easy to deal with, it would be disappointing. However, I'm a bit puzzled by the two fake bodies you created, which were able to deceive me." Guo said with a smile.
"My fellow clansman, Shi Kongjie, has a puppet law that is considered one of the highest in the world. The puppets he created, infused with our law power, were able to deceive Guo, which isn't surprising." The Devil Master replied.
"Ah, I see. I previously thought you brothers were at odds, and you had already killed him. I didn't expect it to be a play you two were putting on. It's been a long time, and it's indeed been a waste of effort." Guo said with a hint of realization.
...
The Devil Domain, the originally majestic Night City, had already been destroyed by half.
The previous battle between the rebel army led by Crab Daoist and the orthodox army led by the Devil Master was actually quite brutal, and anyone who had experienced it wouldn't think it was a play.
In fact, the war wasn't a play at the beginning, and even the early stages of the battle weren't a play. It was only when the two sides were about to engage in a decisive battle that someone intervened, bringing a message that could stop the war.
This person was naturally the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation, and the message was naturally Guo's plan.
At this moment, in a secret room deep within the Devil Palace, Crab Daoist, with a pale face, was sitting cross-legged on a mat, his body's aura extremely low.
Even more shocking was that his left half, from his shoulder to his abdomen, had disappeared, merging into the void, clearly a result of overusing the puppet law power and being invaded by the heavenly law.
In front of him, Shi Chongkong stood with his hands tied behind his back, his face filled with worry.
Earlier, when Crab Daoist extracted law power from the Devil Master and the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation to create the two fake bodies, he was also observing from the side. At that time, Crab Daoist was also invaded by the heavenly law, but not as severe as it was now.
Just a moment ago, Crab Daoist, who was meditating, suddenly suffered a severe injury, and the heavenly law invasion became even more severe.
After a moment, Crab Daoist slowly opened his eyes, took a deep breath, and spoke.
"You don't need to worry, the destruction of the fake bodies earlier caused me to suffer a backlash." Crab Daoist said, seeing Shi Chongkong's worried expression.
"Uncle, what's the situation on the other side?" Shi Chongkong asked anxiously. "It's hard to put into words..." Crab Daoist shook his head.
Just then, a strange fluctuation suddenly appeared in the void, and both of them felt a thread of law force emanating from their bodies, like silk threads being pulled into the air.
"What's going on?" Shi Chuan's heart skipped a beat as he asked.
"Guo or Jin has activated the great array, the situation over there is not good..." Crab Daoist's expression turned increasingly serious.
...
In the void outside the realm.
Han Li and Jintong were flying at incredible speeds, braving the heavenly winds, as they attempted to enter the Xian Realm through the remaining "windows" and then use the transmission arrays to reach the Middle Earth Xian Realm. However, they discovered that the transmission arrays leading to the Middle Earth Xian Realm, and even those nearby, were all malfunctioning.
After a series of attempts, Han Li decided to take Jintong on a journey through the void, just like Yue Meng had done before, to reach the Middle Earth Xian Realm.
As they flew at full speed, they suddenly felt an unusual sensation, and law force began to emanate from their bodies, disappearing into the void.
"What's happening?" Jintong's figure halted, and he exclaimed in surprise.
Han Li noticed and, after a moment of contemplation, slowly said, "I fear something has changed in the Heavenly Court..."
He then activated his spiritual energy to try and seal off his law force, but to his surprise, he found that it was impossible to stop.
"What can we do? If this continues, we won't make it to the Heavenly Court, and..." Jintong's words trailed off as he noticed a green glow emanating from Han Li's chest.
Han Li also sensed the change in the small bottle and quickly retrieved it.
The leaf-like patterns on the bottle shone brightly, releasing a gentle light that enveloped Han Li's body, and the golden light emanating from him disappeared.
"It's stopped," Jintong exclaimed.
Han Li hesitated for a moment before releasing a beam of light that connected him to Jintong.
The light enveloping Han Li's body spread to Jintong, wrapping him in its radiance, and the law force emanating from him ceased.
"It seems the small bottle can resist this strange change, but I'm not sure if it's temporary or permanent. We must hurry to the Heavenly Court," Han Li said gravely.
Jintong nodded, and the two of them flew off together, disappearing into the distance.
...
In the Middle Earth Xian Realm, on the continent of Qitian.
The Dragon Ascending Peak of the Bu Tian Sect was still desolate and quiet.
However, the ancient peach trees on the peak, which had been flourishing, suddenly withered and shed their leaves, as if they had been battered by a fierce storm.
Without the mist to conceal it, the Dragon Ascending Peak's summit appeared bare and rugged, making the eight-sided black stone altar at its center stand out even more.
The black vortex hovering above the altar continued to churn, and the ancient face embedded in it, now only half-remaining, seemed eerie and terrifying.
"There are three thousand ways to divine the Dao, but it's hard to predict the heavens..." a hoarse voice echoed through the void, resonating across the mountain peak.
Chen Yun's blind eye scanned the scattered petals, gazing out at the distant mountains, and finally, he looked up at the sky, his expression filled with worry and hesitation.
"Never mind, I've lived for so long, but I've never dared to divine this particular fate. With only half of the Dao's opportunity remaining, I wonder if I can still divine the future... Ha ha, it's all up to fate now," Chen Yun sighed, his voice laced with sorrow.
He had given up on knowing the outcome of the Bodhi feast, and now he only wanted to know what the future held for Guo or Jin.
As he spoke, his mouth began to murmur an incantation, and his blind eye suddenly burst forth with a blood-red glow, piercing the void in front of him.
The void distorted, forming a black vortex that absorbed the glow, creating a blood-red "bridge" between Chen Yun and the void.
However, the old man, who had reached the pinnacle of divination, had finally exhausted his energy.
The bridge had barely formed when it collapsed, and the black vortex flew back towards Chen Yun, merging with the vortex behind him, slowly devouring his remaining life force.
"I didn't expect it to be like this..."
Chen Yun's final words echoed through the heavens.
In an instant, the ancient peach trees on the Dragon Ascending Peak spontaneously ignited, sending black smoke billowing into the sky, as if a dragon had risen from the peak and disappeared into the heavens.
The Jade Pool's victory.
Explosive sounds echoed in the void, the Demon Master stood suspended in mid-air, his hands clenched into a fist, his body radiating intense spatial fluctuations. In front of him, 81 black, sharp cones floated in the void, their symbols flashing with a faint glow.
"Go!"
The Demon Master's voice boomed, his palms thrust forward.
The 81 black cones shot out instantly, disappearing into the void.
The next moment, a dull, thunderous sound shook the nine heavens, the 81 black cones transforming into 81 colossal pillars, encircling the chaotic vortex, forming a massive spatial array that sealed it within.
The spatial array's perimeter was surrounded by a visible spatial rift, as if a chunk of the heavens had been carved out, disconnecting it from the world, forming an independent space.
The Demon Clan's method of creating the Demon Domain was similar, but it wasn't achieved through the Demon Master's power alone. Instead, it was done by gathering the collective strength of the entire Demon Clan, with the Demon Master's power as the catalyst.
Now, the Demon Master used his 81 refined, heaven-sealing pillars as the foundation, setting up this heaven-sealing array. Although its power was inferior to creating the Demon Domain, it was sufficient to seal this area of 100,000 miles.
"The Demon Master's methods are quite impressive, attempting to isolate me, along with the Dao Ancestor's array, from the world. Unfortunately, it's still a bit too petty," Gu Huai said, sneering.
He opened his hand, and a ancient symbol appeared in his palm, pointing towards one of the heaven-sealing pillars.
The symbol burst into a brilliant, golden light, transforming into a dense, golden light pillar that shot towards the pillar, arriving in an instant.
"You won't succeed," a voice boomed.
The Wheel of Reincarnation's Master appeared in front of the pillar, forming a seal with his hand, and a circular, dark red light shield materialized before him.
The shield had six glowing orbs, each with a different color, and a symbol floated above each one.
The Time Ancestor's golden light pillar struck the shield, causing a violent shockwave, but the shield absorbed all the energy, transforming it into a soft, ethereal glow that dissipated after circulating through the six orbs.
"Wheel of Reincarnation... Annihilation," the Wheel of Reincarnation's Master said, his voice dripping with malice.
His words were followed by a burst of crimson light, as threads of law energy condensed into a tangible form, flowing through his body and into the shield.
The six symbols on the shield lit up, one by one, and the shield expanded a hundredfold, condensing into a massive, dark red energy sphere that shot towards Gu Huai.
The sphere was surrounded by a blood-red mist, containing the Wheel of Reincarnation's Master's accumulated karma from millions of years, which exploded as it approached Gu Huai.
A wave of crimson mist surged towards Gu Huai, but he had already set up a temporal barrier, freezing time for all approaching objects.
However, the mist passed through the barrier unimpeded, and Gu Huai's eyes widened in surprise.
He tried to disperse the mist with a wave of his sleeve, but it condensed into a thread, piercing his sleeve like an arrow.
In an instant, Gu Huai's body was enveloped in the mist.
He felt his body slow down, and his arm, which was controlling the array, became immobile.
"What kind of technique is this?" Gu Huai asked, looking at the Wheel of Reincarnation's Master.
"Karmic cause and effect transcends time, your temporal law can't block it... Besides, these causes and effects were created by you, under the Heavenly Court's command, I'm just collecting them and returning them to you," the Wheel of Reincarnation's Master said, smiling.
"You think this small amount of karma will make me pay the price? The Master is too naive," Gu Huai sneered.
He was surrounded by a golden glow, and golden light threads swirled around him, as if he was bathing in the river of time, washing away the karmic causes and effects.
The Wheel of Reincarnation's Master remained calm, a hint of a smile on his lips.
At the same time, he formed a seal with his hands, and a virtual symbol array appeared beneath Gu Huai's feet.
On the other side, the Demon Master also sensed the opportunity, and cast a spell.
The 81 heaven-sealing pillars radiated intense light, and 81 black, crystal chains shot out, binding Gu Huai in place.
The chains restricted Gu Huai's space, and the flow of time around him stagnated.
"Look at you now..." the Demon Master said, his voice dripping with malice.
Gu Huai's body was suddenly enveloped in a dark, shadowy aura, as the hidden, Heavenly Demon Ancestor's form materialized behind him, growing to dozens of feet in length, and wrapping around Gu Huai's body.
"I'll take your soul, To the Heavenly Demon," the Heavenly Demon Ancestor said, his face twisted into a cruel smile.
After witnessing the Time Ancestor's sinister plot, he had agreed to join forces with the Wheel of Reincarnation's Master, who would restrain Gu Huai, while he would devour Gu Huai's soul. As long as Gu Huo or Jin's divine soul was successfully devoured, even Yin Ming couldn't imagine the extent of his own power's explosive growth. Preventing the Time Ancestor's plan wouldn't be difficult, and taking down the Wheel of Rebirth's master and the Demon Master at the same time was also not impossible.
Just thinking about destroying the people who stood at the pinnacle of the three great ultimate laws made Yin Ming's heart excited and unbearable.
He raised his body high and suddenly charged forward, diving headfirst into Gu Huo's eyebrow.
As long as he entered the realm of the mind, Gu Huo would be utterly defeated.
A sound like a bronze bell ringing suddenly came from Gu Huo's eyebrow, and a wave of golden ripples surged out from his mind, colliding with Yin Ming.
Yin Ming felt his entire body heat up, and his essence was burning uncontrollably.
"No, impossible..." Yin Ming was suddenly panicked, his body flashing with light as he tried to fly away from Gu Huo.
But at that moment, a large hand had already broken free from its restraints and grabbed Yin Ming's throat.
"I've walked further down the path of exploring the great way than all of you combined, you shouldn't have underestimated me so much," Gu Huo said slowly.
As he spoke, a power that was completely different from before flowed out from his palm, like a golden grinding wheel that rotated violently, grinding Yin Ming's body into dust and dispersing it into the air.
At the same time, the layer of blood-colored mist covering his body peeled off, piece by piece, like old paint, and dispersed into the air without touching the ground.
The Wheel of Rebirth's master saw this and opened his palm, releasing a drop of essence blood that flowed into his palm, and his body erupted with light.
In response, the virtual light array beneath Gu Huo's feet suddenly burst into light, surging upwards.
The array of light seemed to open a doorway to the underworld, revealing a blood-colored space, and a voice that sounded like a scream echoed out.
Inside, countless blood-colored figures were climbing up the doorway, but no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't climb out.
And within the doorway, there was a powerful force that was pulling Gu Huo, trying to drag him in.
"Child's play..."
Gu Huo muttered, pointing downwards, and a spiral of gray light descended from the chaotic vortex above, striking the doorway.
The blood-colored space inside was suddenly disrupted by a powerful force, and the countless blood-colored figures were crushed into dust, rising up in a spiral along with the gray light, merging into the chaotic vortex.
The vortex, which had stopped expanding, suddenly burst forth again.
The Wheel of Rebirth's master saw this and his expression turned solemn, his hands changing the spell, and the array of light began to shrink, the blood-colored doorway disappearing.
The Demon Master saw this and exchanged a glance with the Wheel of Rebirth's master, both of their eyes filled with complex emotions.
"You finally seem to know fear..." Gu Huo smiled, raising his hand, and the crystal chains binding him suddenly withered and broke, turning into dust.
"This great array contains the power of the primordial laws, which existed since the beginning of the world, and is the true creation law, far older than the three great ultimate laws. You can say that the heavenly laws were born from the chaos. So, do you think using spatial laws to isolate it would be effective?" Gu Huo asked with a smile.
The Demon Master's expression turned extremely ugly upon hearing this.
The next instant, the chaotic vortex above the three of them suddenly erupted with a thunderous sound, and the vortex expanded violently, swallowing the 81 pillars of heaven.
"The time has come, none of you can stop it, let's welcome the arrival of this new era together," Gu Huo declared loudly.
"Rumble rumble rumble..."
The sound of thunder continued to echo, the vortex expanding, its edge breaking through the void, and the gray light engulfing everything.
The entire Tian Gong continent, the flow of spiritual energy in the void, became chaotic in an instant, and all the laws seemed to be disrupted, the rules of the world's operation being broken.
The already broken Yao Chi paradise, which had been suspended in mid-air, was now plummeting downwards, and before it could land, it began to disintegrate, breaking apart in mid-air.
Li Yuan and the others, who had survived, stabilized their bodies and flew down towards the ground.
But before they could land, the Tian Gong continent began to split apart, creating endless canyons and fissures, and all the volcanoes erupted violently, the land's edges collapsing, and the sea retreating.
"Enjoy the final scenery of the old world..." Gu Huo said, his eyes filled with madness.
The Demon Master sighed, his brow furrowed, looking at the Wheel of Rebirth's master.
The latter's expression was also difficult to look at, but his eyes still held a thoughtful gaze, as if he hadn't given up yet.
Outside the Heavens Domain.
Han Li's flying figure suddenly stopped, looking down, and let out a soft exclamation.
"This aura is..." Jin Tong also sensed a aura coming from below, muttering to himself.
Han Li was about to cast a spell to investigate, but his mind suddenly felt a pang of pain, and a scene appeared in his mind, which was the scene of the battle between the Master of the Reincarnation Hall, the Demon Master, and Guo Hui.
At the same time, a strange emotion surged into his mind, filled with hatred towards Guo Hui.
This emotion was coming from the Master of the Reincarnation Hall.
As Han Li sensed the Master of the Reincarnation Hall's emotions, he also felt that his own thoughts were being sensed by the Master of the Reincarnation Hall.
Between the two of them, there was a sudden sense of mental connection.
Han Li was taken aback, and immediately made a hand seal, a golden lightning bolt shot out from his sleeve, and disappeared into the void.
He then pulled Jin Tong beside him, and the two of them disappeared in a flash of lightning.
At the same time, in the sky above the Heavenly Palace Continent.
The Master of the Reincarnation Hall, the Demon Master, and Guo Hui had broken out into another fierce battle.
The three of them had opened up their respective spiritual domains, and the three giant spiritual domains of gold, silver, and dark red were fiercely intertwined.
In an instant, numerous spatial channels, temporal channels, and reincarnation channels were opened, connecting multiple planes, and countless forces were forcibly drawn from those planes into the three spiritual domains.
After a fierce collision, the three of them flew backward.
The Demon Master's figure steadied, and he raised his hands, grasping at the void, his fingers flashing with silver light.
His spatial spiritual domain immediately flashed with silver light, and dozens of mountain-sized silver giants jumped out, tightly adhering to Guo Hui's golden spiritual domain.
These giants looked exceptionally large and powerful, with features identical to the Demon Master, and their bodies were covered in a squirming silver light crystal, which was the fragmented spatial force condensed, filled with violent spatial law forces, and emitting a piercing, ear-piercing sound.
"Boom!"
The Demon Master made a hand seal, and the dozens of silver giants let out a sharp cry, exploding and turning into dozens of silver mushroom clouds, releasing an endless amount of spatial destruction force.
"Rip!" Guo Hui's golden spiritual domain was torn open, revealing a massive gap.
The Master of the Reincarnation Hall's figure appeared in front of the gap, his fist striking out.
Behind him, the space was shaking, and a massive six-path reincarnation disk appeared, as large as a star.
The reincarnation disk was covered in countless complex patterns, and on each of its six corners, numerous illusory shadows of various tribes were flashing, including humans, demons, devils, ghosts, and others, as if all living beings in the world were gathered here.
As the reincarnation disk rotated, it seemed that anyone could not escape the cycle of reincarnation.
The rapidly rotating reincarnation disk charged into Guo Hui's golden spiritual domain.
An indescribable aura burst out, several times stronger than when he killed the Bone Emperor.
Guo Hui's golden spiritual domain shook violently, and a massive crack appeared, the area around the reincarnation disk was shattered like porcelain.
The Master of the Reincarnation Hall's body was covered in dense, dark red patterns, his already sunken cheeks sank even deeper, as if his flesh and blood had been drained.
He was oblivious to all this, muttering to himself, his hand making a seal, and striking out.
A thick, dark red light shot out from his palms, merging into the reincarnation disk.
The six-path reincarnation disk was like a hungry beast, immediately expanding to nearly twice its original size, and its light intensified, the entire disk vibrating wildly.
The nearby golden spiritual domain shook violently, and a large area collapsed and shattered.
The six-path reincarnation disk's speed increased tenfold, carrying an unstoppable aura, crushing everything in its path, the golden spiritual domain shattering inch by inch, until it reached Guo Hui.
Seeing the reincarnation disk's aura, Guo Hui's expression turned serious, and he made a hand seal.
A golden gauze shot out from his body, covered in countless golden light points, radiating countless golden lights, like a golden star river.
Endless temporal law forces emanated from it, and this golden gauze was obviously an extremely powerful divine artifact, far surpassing a second-grade divine artifact, and close to a first-grade divine artifact.
The star river gauze expanded, turning into nine massive golden light screens, blocking the way.
The golden light screens had just been set up when the six-path reincarnation disk crashed into them.
A series of "boom" sounds echoed, and the air was filled with brilliant golden flames, as the golden light screens shattered one by one.
In an instant, the nine light screens were destroyed, and the golden gauze reappeared, but it had already been torn into over a dozen pieces.
However, the six-path reincarnation disk's speed slowed down for a moment.
Guo Hui made a hand seal, and his body transformed into countless residual shadows, before disappearing into the void.
The torn golden gauze ignited, and countless golden stars shot out, falling into the surrounding spiritual domains.
The spiritual domains' golden light was like a fire that had been ignited, immediately beginning to surge and flow, and a vast, turbulent golden star river appeared, engulfing the six-path reincarnation disk, the Master of the Reincarnation Hall, and the Demon Master who was following closely behind.
Endless temporal forces flowed from the star river, as if time was mercilessly passing, and no one could escape.
The Demon Master was caught off guard, and before he could even let out a cry, he was swallowed up by the star river. The six paths of reincarnation disk was suddenly enveloped by the golden star river, causing it to tremble.
The master of the reincarnation hall's pupils constricted, and his hands immediately formed a wheel-like seal, causing the runes on the disk to shine brightly, stabilizing it and violently suppressing Guo Huo's body.
With a "poof" sound, Guo Huo's body transformed into a ball of golden light, dispersing into the air.
The master of the reincarnation hall was taken aback, his hands relaxing, causing the disk to miss its mark and shoot forward a short distance before coming to a stop.
At this moment, the turbulent golden star river surrounding them suddenly flashed, changing direction and swirling into a massive golden whirlpool.
The tearing force around them suddenly increased several times, causing the six paths of reincarnation disk to become unstable, spinning wildly as it was drawn into the whirlpool.
The master of the reincarnation hall's hands shot out, forming a seal.
The runes on the disk burst forth with a brilliant light, rapidly rotating and emitting a terrifying howl.
The powerful law of reincarnation erupted from the disk, resisting the tearing force of the golden whirlpool, and quickly stabilizing.
But at this moment, the nearby golden whirlpool flashed again, releasing countless golden chains that wrapped around the six paths of reincarnation disk, forming a cage.
Each chain emitted a powerful time law fluctuation, which was biased towards restraint.
A surge of time law fluctuations burst forth from the golden chain cage, causing the rapidly rotating disk to come to a sudden stop, as if it had been sealed.
The master of the reincarnation hall was also bound by several chains, unable to move.
A figure flashed above the golden whirlpool, and Guo Huo appeared, his finger pointing.
A golden arrow shot out from his finger, wrapped in golden lightning, but it was not a lightning law, but a pure time law.
The golden arrow's speed was astonishing, and it instantly appeared in front of the master of the reincarnation hall, striking his head.
The master of the reincarnation hall looked at the golden arrow in front of him, but did not panic, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
The golden spiritual realm above the void stirred, and a golden lightning sword broke through the air, wrapped in golden lightning.
Below the sword, a figure flashed, and a blue-robed man appeared, who was Han Li.
He did not look at the situation, but instead punched out.
A golden fist shot out, which was the Great Five Elements Annihilation Fist.
With his current cultivation, the move was even more mysterious, drawing a "之" shape in the air, striking the golden arrow.
A loud explosion sounded, and the golden arrow shattered, dispersing into the air.
"Ah, it's you! You're still alive? That's good, I'll take care of you myself!" Guo Huo saw Han Li appear, his eyes narrowing, his arm rising, about to do something.
Han Li's back flashed with golden light, and a rapidly rotating golden wheel appeared, his figure instantly disappearing, reappearing in front of the master of the reincarnation hall, his hand chopping down.
A golden flame erupted from his hand, which was the flame of the Time Severing Torch, transforming into a golden fire sword, striking the golden chain cage.
A loud tearing sound echoed, and the golden chain cage was severed, releasing the master of the reincarnation hall, who thanked Han Li.
Guo Huo's eyes widened in shock, but he did not chase after Han Li, instead disappearing into the surrounding spiritual realm.
The golden whirlpool flashed and disappeared, transforming back into the golden spiritual realm, which had been restored to its original state, its area expanding by over a hundred times. Guo Huo's spiritual realm had not solidified like Han Li's, but had instead become a liquid-like state, appearing weak but impossible to destroy.
A massive pressure surged forth from the surroundings, like waves crashing against the shore, accompanied by time law fluctuations that invaded the two, unstoppable.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and his golden light burst forth, as he opened his own time spiritual realm.
A completely solid spiritual realm appeared, containing vast landscapes, which blocked the invasion of the golden spiritual realm, and began to expand.
The surrounding time spiritual realm, which belonged to Guo Huo, flashed wildly, trying to block Han Li's spiritual realm, but was unable to.
However, Han Li's spiritual realm only occupied a small area compared to Guo Huo's, and was not a significant threat.
The master of the reincarnation hall saw this, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, before he transmitted a message to Han Li:
"The demon lord has been swept away by the golden star river, and his whereabouts are unknown... To counter Guo Huo, his power is indispensable, can you help rescue him?"
Han Li's eyes flashed with golden light, and he looked around, his gaze suddenly stopping, before he raised his hand and grasped the void.
A golden light shot out from his hand, disappearing into the golden star river.
A figure was pulled out, and it was the demon lord.
"Ah, it's you! You're still alive? That's good, I'll take care of you myself!" Guo Huo saw Han Li appear, his eyes narrowing, his arm rising, about to do something.
Han Li's back flashed with golden light, and a rapidly rotating golden wheel appeared, his figure instantly disappearing, reappearing in front of the master of the reincarnation hall, his hand chopping down.
A golden flame erupted from his hand, which was the flame of the Time Severing Torch, transforming into a golden fire sword, striking the golden chain cage.
A loud tearing sound echoed, and the golden chain cage was severed, releasing the master of the reincarnation hall, who thanked Han Li.
Guo Huo's eyes widened in shock, but he did not chase after Han Li, instead disappearing into the surrounding spiritual realm.
The golden whirlpool flashed and disappeared, transforming back into the golden spiritual realm, which had been restored to its original state, its area expanding by over a hundred times. Guo Huo's spiritual realm had not solidified like Han Li's, but had instead become a liquid-like state, appearing weak but impossible to destroy.
A massive pressure surged forth from the surroundings, like waves crashing against the shore, accompanied by time law fluctuations that invaded the two, unstoppable.
Han Li's brow furrowed, and his golden light burst forth, as he opened his own time spiritual realm.
A completely solid spiritual realm appeared, containing vast landscapes, which blocked the invasion of the golden spiritual realm, and began to expand.
The surrounding time spiritual realm, which belonged to Guo Huo, flashed wildly, trying to block Han Li's spiritual realm, but was unable to.
However, Han Li's spiritual realm only occupied a small area compared to Guo Huo's, and was not a significant threat.
The master of the reincarnation hall saw this, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, before he transmitted a message to Han Li:
"The demon lord has been swept away by the golden star river, and his whereabouts are unknown... To counter Guo Huo, his power is indispensable, can you help rescue him?"
Han Li's eyes flashed with golden light, and he looked around, his gaze suddenly stopping, before he raised his hand and grasped the void.
A golden light shot out from his hand, disappearing into the golden star river.
A figure was pulled out, and it was the demon lord.
()
The current Demon Lord's clothes were torn and tattered, looking rather disheveled, and his face was filled with incredulity when he saw Han Li.
After rescuing the Demon Lord, Han Li's eyes flashed with black light as he activated the Nine Yin Demon Eyes, continuing to scan the surroundings in search of Guo or Jin's trail.
However, after Guo or Jin entered the spiritual realm, he seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving behind no trace of his presence.
"Guo or Jin is trying to delay us, time is running out," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said, looking at the constantly growing chaos vortex with a furrowed brow.
Han Li's heart stirred, and he felt a stronger sense of mental connection with the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth, as if he could see through the other's thoughts and intentions.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's words were not spoken aloud, but Han Li had already sensed them in his mind.
But he wondered if the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth could also sense his own thoughts.
"If he continues to hide in the spiritual realm, how can we force him out?" the Demon Lord asked.
"Brother Han cultivates the Five Elements Fantasy Decision of the ancient Miro, and now the three of us have gathered the three great supreme laws, we might be able to break through Guo or Jin's spiritual realm," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
"You're not in a good situation, if you continue to use the Wheel of Rebirth, even if you defeat Guo or Jin, you might be merged with the Heavenly Way," the Demon Lord said.
"Even if I'm merged with the Heavenly Way, it's better than being destroyed along with the world, at this point, let's take a risk!" the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
As he spoke, the dark red glow around him flashed, and the dark red spiritual realm reappeared, making contact with Han Li's time spiritual realm.
The two spiritual realms simultaneously shook and emitted intense light.
Han Li saw this and his pupils slightly contracted.
He was not unfamiliar with this scene, as he had experienced a similar spiritual realm resonance with Gan Jiuren before.
And the resonance between the two spiritual realms was far stronger than before.
As he thought, the two spiritual realms each emitted a powerful attractive force, rapidly approaching each other, and finally merged into one.
Han Li's golden spiritual realm's mountain peaks suddenly expanded, and the originally thousand-meter-high peaks instantly became ten thousand meters high, and the hundred-mile-long rivers became thousand-mile-long rivers, and the time law fluctuations emitted also increased tenfold.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's spiritual realm was the same, but his face did not show any surprise.
"What's going on?" Han Li did not speak, but instead tried to communicate with the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth through his mind.
"You and I are, in a sense, the same person, and the laws naturally resonate easily, and your Refining the Spirit Technique has reached the state of perfection, the seventh layer of the Refining the Spirit Technique allows for mental communication, making it easier to merge laws, and our spiritual realms merging is not surprising," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth replied through mental communication.
Han Li heard this and felt a sense of sudden understanding.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's previous transmission of the Refining the Spirit Technique to him had actually hidden a deeper meaning.
"Brother Han, I have no ill intentions towards you, everything is to counter Guo or Jin, as long as you help me defeat Guo or Jin and avenge my great enmity, the Wheel of Rebirth will be at your disposal," the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth said, sensing Han Li's wariness.
"Whether we can survive today is still uncertain, let's talk about the future later," Han Li shook his head.
The two were currently mentally connected, and he could feel the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's sincerity.
But he was not interested in power, and besides, he had to defeat Guo or Jin today, as there was a great dao dispute between them.
In the world, there could only be one Time Dao Ancestor!
This was also related to the entrustment of the ancient Miro.
Han Li snapped his fingers, and the time spiritual realm immediately expanded again, and a series of sword-shaped golden lights shot out from the spiritual realm, sweeping towards Guo or Jin's spiritual realm.
These golden lights contained the virtual shadows of the five elements: fire, water, metal, wood, and earth, each emitting extremely powerful fluctuations.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth sensed Han Li's thoughts and felt a sense of relief, and immediately activated the Wheel of Rebirth spiritual realm.
A series of thick, dark red lights shot out from his spiritual realm, entwining with the sword-shaped golden lights from Han Li's spiritual realm.
Han Li and the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's eyes simultaneously locked, and they both activated their laws, merging the two forces through mental communication.
The golden and dark red lights contained the law forces, which were still somewhat conflicting, but began to truly merge.
The sword-shaped golden lights suddenly expanded, increasing in size by tens of times, and the originally blurry sword bodies became extremely clear, with the sword edge, sword hilt, and sword handle all vividly visible.
Each golden light had transformed into a giant golden sword, with a series of circular, dark red spiritual patterns on the sword body, which was the Wheel of Rebirth law.
A sharp, fierce sword energy erupted from the golden giant sword, cutting towards Guo or Jin's spiritual realm.
With a "sizzling" sound, the golden spiritual realm was easily cut open, revealing a massive rift, and the originally majestic spiritual realm instantly became a tattered and broken piece of cloth.
The Demon Lord's face showed surprise, but he immediately activated the spatial spiritual realm, and a series of silver giant men shot out from the spiritual realm, exploding and destroying the surrounding golden spiritual realm, releasing a powerful spatial destruction force.
His method was originally extremely powerful, and although it was weaker compared to Han Li and the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's law fusion, it still produced a certain resonance as one of the three great supreme laws. The ancient or modern golden spiritual realm was violently shaken, on the verge of collapse.
The golden light inside was rolling, trying to repair the cracks, but to no avail.
Han Li and the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth let out a low shout, once again simultaneously urging the spiritual realm.
A myriad of golden sword lights burst forth, slashing at the golden spiritual realm.
The golden spiritual realm finally could not withstand it, emitting a series of muffled sounds, completely shattering and collapsing, turning into countless golden lights that scattered.
The figure of Guo or Jin emerged, but it shocked Han Li and the others.
It was seen that Guo or Jin's body from the waist down had already merged with the chaos vortex, leaving only his upper body.
Moreover, his skin had a multitude of chaos-colored stripes, and his face was the same, looking extremely terrifying.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth and the Demon Lord saw Guo or Jin's appearance and were shocked.
Han Li was shocked, and his expression suddenly revealed a hint of strangeness, his gaze looking towards the sky.
Since he had advanced to the Great Luo realm, he could always feel an extremely heavy pressure coming from above, as if an insurmountable heavenly moat was blocking his path to advancing his time laws.
This was created by Guo or Jin, the Time Dao Ancestor, who had blocked the path of all cultivators of time laws.
However, at this moment, Han Li felt that the heavenly moat in front of him had suddenly disappeared.
"Could it be..." Han Li's heart had a guess, and his eyes flashed with excitement.
"You're all too late. I have already achieved the Great Dao, and my body has become a Chaos Body, with all laws unable to invade me. What can you do to me? Ha ha... ha ha..." Guo or Jin's calm demeanor changed, and he laughed maniacally, his eyes flashing with a crazed light.
A vast, boundless aura burst forth from Guo or Jin's body, filled with the feeling of containing all things, and various laws fluctuated within.
The largest law was the time law, and besides the time law, there were other laws mixed in.
"Guo or Jin has gone mad..." the Demon Lord's eyes narrowed, muttering.
"The power of chaos has entered his body, and Guo or Jin is still unable to fully control it, so his mind is a bit deranged. We can't let him continue, or else if he fully masters the chaos law, even if we join forces, we won't be his match!" the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's voice echoed in Han Li and the Demon Lord's minds.
As soon as he finished speaking, he charged towards Guo or Jin.
Han Li and the Demon Lord's hearts tightened, and they followed closely behind.
Guo or Jin suddenly looked over, his expression twisted, and he raised his hands.
A massive energy seemed to pull, and the chaos vortex violently shook, as hundreds of brown arrow shadows burst forth, each one over a hundred meters long and as thick as a millstone, covering the sky and shooting towards the three.
The arrow shadows contained different laws, but there were only four.
Two of them were clearly layered, the time law and the space law, while the other two laws were merged into one, making it difficult to distinguish, but still sensing that they were the wind law and the lightning law.
The wind and lightning laws were biased towards speed, and combined with the time law and space law, the brown arrow shadows were incredibly fast, instantly crossing the distance between them and the three.
Han Li and the others were caught off guard, and were about to be struck by the arrow shadows.
"Stop!" A figure appeared in front of Han Li and the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth, and it was the Demon Lord, his hands forming a seal, pointing at the void.
As for the speed of space transformation, the Demon Lord was the fastest among the three.
The void in front of him suddenly appeared with countless silver lights, solidifying and freezing the brown arrow shadows.
However, the next moment, the arrow shadows flashed with light, and the four laws simultaneously burst forth, shattering the frozen space, and the brown arrow shadows shot out again.
With this brief moment, Han Li and the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth had already reacted, and immediately urged the spiritual realm's power, as a multitude of golden sword shadows shot out, slashing towards the arrow shadows.
The sky was filled with golden light, dark red light, and brown light, and the sound of the explosion was earth-shaking.
The space around them, which had already become nothingness, began to fluctuate again, and the chaos vortex was also affected, rolling wildly.
The brown arrow shadows carried four laws, and their power was great, but Han Li and the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth joined forces, their two great laws merged, and their power was even stronger.
The golden sword shadows quickly cut through the brown arrow shadows, shattering them, but the golden sword shadows also broke apart.
Han Li and the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth simultaneously formed a seal, and their spiritual energy and law energy surged out, pouring into the spiritual realm.
With a loud "Boom!"
The two spiritual realms rapidly expanded, covering Guo or Jin, and a multitude of massive golden sword shadows shot out, slashing towards Guo or Jin.
At the same time, Guo or Jin's other side of the void moved, and the Demon Lord's figure appeared, his finger pointing.
The void, which had already become nothingness, flashed with a silver light, and a multitude of silver fissures appeared, looking like spatial fissures.
However, these silver fissures emitted the power of spatial laws, and were much stronger than the original spatial fissures.
The Demon Lord's hands pulled, and the spatial fissures flew out, also slashing towards Guo or Jin.
The space here had already been shattered, becoming nothingness, but from another perspective, this void was also a more stable space.
The spatial fissures here were much stronger than before.
The Demon Lord's hands pulled, and the spatial fissures flew out, also slashing towards Guo or Jin.
Han Li's face turned pale, his eyes wide with shock and anger. He spat out a mouthful of blood as he stumbled backward, his body trembling with fear.
The five Time Law treasures, which had been his most precious possessions, had been shattered into pieces. The True Speech Treasure Wheel, the Light Purification Vessel, the Phantom Hourglass, the Time Severing Torch, and the Dong Yi Divine Tree – all of them had been destroyed.
Han Li's face was ashen, his eyes filled with despair. He had never imagined that the Chaos God Thunder would be so powerful. He had thought that with his Time Law treasures, he could withstand the attack, but now...
The Chaos God Thunder continued to bombard Han Li, its power unrelenting. The gold vortex that had protected him earlier had been destroyed, and his body was now exposed to the full force of the attack.
Han Li's body was engulfed in a sea of chaotic energy, his life force dwindling rapidly. He knew that he couldn't withstand this attack for much longer.
Suddenly, a figure appeared beside him. It was the Wheel of Rebirth Master, who had been watching the battle from a distance.
"Quickly, retreat!" the Wheel of Rebirth Master shouted, his voice filled with urgency. "We can't withstand this attack!"
Han Li didn't need to be told twice. He turned and fled, the Wheel of Rebirth Master following close behind.
As they retreated, the Chaos God Thunder continued to bombard the area, its power unrelenting. The two of them knew that they had to get as far away from the attack as possible if they wanted to survive.
The Wheel of Rebirth Master turned to Han Li and said, "We need to find a way to counter this attack. If we can't, we'll be destroyed."
Han Li nodded, his mind racing with ideas. He knew that he had to think of something, and fast, if he wanted to survive this attack.
The two of them continued to retreat, their eyes fixed on the Chaos God Thunder as it continued to bombard the area. They knew that they had to come up with a plan, and fast, if they wanted to survive this attack. A wave of destructive power permeated the air, invading Han Li's body.
Han Li's body shook violently, his meridians trembling intensely, even in his current Tianxia Demon God form, he was barely able to withstand it.
He was shocked awake, not daring to think too much, and fully activated the remaining Time Law within his body, as well as the Tianxia Prison Technique.
A burst of dark energy exploded from his body, a massive force that immediately expelled the invasive destructive power.
At this moment, the Golden Clouds surrounding Han Li finally could not withstand the power of the Chaos Thunder, and they all collapsed, with a massive amount of thunderbolts descending upon him.
Han Li let out a low shout, his 36 arms waving in unison, striking upwards.
36 golden fist silhouettes exploded forth, containing a power that could punch a hole through the heavens, but upon colliding with the Chaos Thunder, they were like stones sinking into the sea, without even a ripple.
A massive amount of Chaos Thunder descended upon Han Li.
Han Li's 36 arms all exploded, turning into a bloody rain, his scales flying everywhere, his body blown open, revealing his dark black bones.
If not for the fact that these bones contained the strongest power of the Tianxia Demon God, and that he had used the last of his Time Law to protect them, these bones would have been shattered.
Han Li's broken body was blown away, his body reforming into human shape.
The Chaos Thunder dispersed quickly.
The Six Paths Reincarnation Disk still stood, its surface cracked, its dark red glow dimmed.
Behind the disk, a figure floated, its body bursting open.
The Reincarnation Palace Master emerged, his face pale, having clearly suffered greatly from resisting the Chaos Thunder.
He turned to look around, his expression sinking.
The demon lord's hiding place had disappeared, a broken and fragmented corpse floating nearby, its aura gone, it was indeed the demon lord's.
And on the other side, Han Li's situation was slightly better, but he was still on the brink of death.
"Hahahaha, how's the taste of the Chaos Thunder? Now that your two helpers are gone, you're the only one left, still wanting to seek revenge?" Guo or Jin laughed loudly, his face full of triumph.
A wave of Chaos energy flowed into his body, his face fully restored, his aura even more powerful.
"The Chaos Thunder is indeed formidable, but it's not the end yet, who will die and who will live, is still unknown!" The Reincarnation Palace Master sneered, his body suddenly flying backwards, as he spat out a dark red energy ball.
The energy ball contained dozens of dark red threads, which were the threads of the Reincarnation Law, merging into the Six Paths Reincarnation Disk.
The disk began to spin rapidly, as if it had received a boost.
A massive attractive force emerged, pulling the demon lord's corpse and Han Li's body towards the disk.
The disk's black light flashed, six black holes appeared, one of which enlarged, swallowing the demon lord's corpse.
The Reincarnation Palace Master's fingers moved swiftly, as he controlled the disk, which spun and danced, emitting a dazzling dark red glow, which permeated the void.
Guo or Jin's eyebrows furrowed.
"Out!" The Reincarnation Palace Master stopped his hand seals, and clapped his hands.
The disk's other hole flashed, and a figure emerged, it was the demon lord.
He was now fully restored, his eyes shining with life, and he was alive again.
The demon lord looked around, his expression shocked and confused.
"Revival!" Guo or Jin's pupils constricted.
"Thank you, Palace Master." The demon lord bowed, having understood the situation.
"Stone friend, no need to be polite, the Reincarnation Law can revive you, but it will also consume one of your reincarnations, do not use it too much." The Reincarnation Palace Master shook his head, looking at Han Li's body, about to heal him.
"Ah!" He suddenly stopped, his face changing.
At this moment, Han Li's body floated in mid-air, his aura almost gone.
His remaining Time Law had been blown away, dispersing into the void, his body empty and hollow.
Han Li's body felt no pain, his senses fading away.
"Will I die here?"
Han Li's mind flashed with this thought, but he felt no fear.
Instead, he felt a sense of unity with the world, as if he had become one with it.
Everything around him slowed down, the fluctuations of the qi, the rolling of the lights, everything became extremely slow, clear, and present.
He could no longer see, but he was perceiving the world in a different way...
"What's going on... Am I going to return to the void, merge with this world?"
"Unexpectedly, since I started on the path of cultivation, I've been cautious and never dared to slack off, but in the end, I couldn't escape this calamity..."
"Compared to those cultivators who fell early on due to various reasons, I've only added a few years to my life..."
"Yan'er, I'm sorry..."
"If there's a next life... I'd rather be an ordinary mortal, without the chance of longevity, but I can still have a family and not have to envy the immortals."
Han Li's thoughts were chaotic, but there was a hint of helplessness and sorrow in them.
At this moment, the surrounding void began to shine with a golden light, which was the power of the time law, rapidly converging towards his body, but the world around him was still extremely slow.
The golden light transformed into five golden torrents, merging into his body.
These five time law powers were extremely familiar to Han Li, and were the five time law powers of the Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique that he had cultivated for many years.
What was lost was regained, and the time law power within him quickly became full, and his five senses were restored.
The five time law powers madly circulated within him, like a raging storm, sweeping away everything.
The incantation of the Great Five Elements Illusory World Technique flowed through his mind, and his understanding of this technique was deeper than ever before.
Han Li felt his body become light and airy, and with a loud "boom", his vision was filled with golden light, as if he had pushed open a door and entered a new realm.
The time law power continued to flow into him, and his body's time quickly reached its previous level, but the time law power converging from the void did not stop, and instead increased.
Five thick golden torrents surged towards him, pouring into his limbs and bones.
The heavenly and earthly energies also rushed towards him, pouring into his body.
Han Li's broken body began to heal rapidly, and his injuries were quickly restored.
A brilliant golden light burst forth from his body, and a powerful aura that was several times stronger than before erupted from him, spreading outwards like a tidal wave.
Almost the entire Middle Realm's heavenly and earthly energies began to fluctuate wildly.
The surrounding world's time flow rate suddenly changed, and returned to normal.
The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation, the Demon Lord, and Gu Tianyou looked at Han Li's transformation with changing expressions.
From their perspective, this series of events had occurred in the blink of an eye, and Han Li, who had been severely injured and on the verge of death, had suddenly transformed into his current state.
The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Demon Lord's eyes flashed with excitement.
Although Han Li's transformation was strange, the aura emanating from him was not unfamiliar, and was the sign of a breakthrough to the Daoyuan stage.
Han Li's breakthrough to the Daoyuan stage at this critical moment gave him more confidence in his ability to resist Gu Tianyou.
"This is impossible, Gu Tianyou is still here, how can Han Li possibly become the Time Daoyuan?" the Demon Lord exclaimed in surprise.
"Gu Tianyou has fused with the power of chaos, trying to break through the heavenly law, which is equivalent to giving up the position of Time Daoyuan. Han Li can only smoothly ascend to this position. I think Gu Tianyou did not expect this, it's the will of heaven." The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation's eyes gleamed with understanding.
The Demon Lord nodded in agreement.
Gu Tianyou looked at Han Li with a dark expression, his eyes flashing with a fierce light, as if he wanted to do something.
"Don't think about it!" The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Demon Lord appeared, blocking Gu Tianyou's path to Han Li.
Gu Tianyou's brow furrowed, and he and the chaos vortex had merged, increasing his power, but also creating a problem that made it difficult for him to move.
At the same time, the previously bright sky suddenly turned dark, and a large amount of gray and black clouds appeared, covering the entire sky, and emitting a heavy pressure.
This pressure was as heavy as the heavens, and as thick as the earth, and was unstoppable.
"The Daoyuan Great Calamity!" The Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation and the Demon Lord's faces showed concern, but also a hint of joy.
The Daoyuan Great Calamity was a heavenly calamity that one must experience when breaking through to the Daoyuan stage, and was not to be underestimated. A single misstep would result in downfall.
But the Daoyuan Great Calamity had arrived, and the area around Han Li was now a forbidden zone, and any outsider who entered would be attacked by the heavenly calamity, including Gu Tianyou.
"The Daoyuan Great Calamity has arrived quickly, but the time law is the supreme law, and the power of the Daoyuan Great Calamity is far greater than that of other ordinary laws. I had to prepare for a long time, and even then, I only barely passed with a bit of luck. I don't believe you can pass through this calamity, having suddenly broken through to the Daoyuan stage." Gu Tianyou sneered, his expression slightly more stable than before.
At this moment, the sky above had completely turned black, and the area below was also shrouded in darkness, with an aura of killing intent emanating from it.
A loud "hiss" sound filled the air!
The dark clouds in the sky began to churn, forming a massive vortex that was aimed at Han Li.
Han Li looked up at the sky, his expression calm. Han Li had previously "died" once, and unknowingly, he had thought through some things, and his heart had become much more at ease.
In the vortex, black lightning bolts were racing and roaming, looking exceptionally frightening, and in the center of the vortex, there was a black hole emitting a deep, mysterious glow, connecting to who-knows-where.
Between the flashes of black lightning, a deafening roar erupted, and a terrifying pressure, many times greater than before, emanated from the vortex, causing the surrounding void to violently shake and distort.
Han Li's body was enveloped by this pressure, and he slightly trembled, but immediately stabilized his figure.
In the depths of the vortex, a gray glow flashed, and countless dense gray clouds flew out, covering the sky and pressing down on Han Li.
This gray cloud, he had seen before, was the same as when Crab Daoist had advanced to the Dao Ancestor realm and transcended the Heavenly Dao tribulation.
However, the number of gray clouds that appeared when Crab Daoist transcended the tribulation was not even one-tenth of what Han Li was facing now.
Han Li's mouth curled into a smile.
When he had witnessed Crab Daoist transcending the tribulation, the gray clouds had just appeared, and he had been unable to withstand the pressure, fainting on the spot. Now, as he personally transcended the tribulation, the pressure of the gray clouds was still considerable, but it was nothing to him.
His eyes flashed with a black, mysterious light, and he quickly discovered the true form of the gray clouds, which were composed of extremely fine, gray lightning bolts.
These lightning bolts were incredibly fine, but the power they contained was extremely terrifying, and they also contained a strange, demonic energy that stirred the heart.
Han Li's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he let out a low shout, punching the air and striking the gray clouds.
Tens of thousands of golden lights burst forth from his fist, resembling a brilliant sun suddenly rising.
The golden lights pierced through the gray clouds, easily tearing them apart.
The gray clouds violently trembled, were pierced through with countless holes, and then, like ice and snow meeting fire, completely collapsed and dispersed.
The power of the lightning was nothing to Han Li. As for the demonic energy, Han Li had long since refined and purified his heart, and the three corpses had been beheaded, allowing him to transcend the threefold heart tribulation. His heart was now impervious to evil!
Seeing Han Li easily transcend the first great tribulation, the Lord of the Reincarnation Hall and the Demon Lord both felt a sense of joy.
"Hmph! The first great tribulation is just an appetizer, the truly difficult ones are still to come." Guo Ou Jin coldly laughed.
As soon as Guo Ou Jin's words fell, the heavenly tribulation clouds in the sky once again violently churned, and the originally black clouds suddenly turned blood-red.
Thick, blood-red lightning bolts rolled within the clouds, weaving together, and vaguely taking the shape of a blood-red lotus flower, emitting a terrifying, world-destroying energy.
"The Red Lotus Divine Lightning!" Han Li's eyebrows twitched.
The Red Lotus Divine Lightning was one of the thirty-six heavenly thunders, ranking extremely high, and its power was extremely terrifying.
Its main effect was not to destroy the physical body, but to annihilate the divine soul, and thus, it was also known as the Soul-Annihilating Divine Lightning.
Furthermore, the Red Lotus Divine Lightning in the heavenly tribulation clouds contained the power of the heavenly tribulation, making it even more powerful than the ordinary Red Lotus Divine Lightning.
Before he could think further, a deafening roar erupted, and the Red Lotus Divine Lightning in the heavenly tribulation clouds finally gathered, forming a massive, mountain-sized lotus flower that descended upon Han Li.
Han Li's face showed no fear, and he spat out a mouthful of air.
A golden light ball flew out from his hand, hovering above his head, and with a swift rotation, it split open, transforming into a massive, golden light shield.
The light shield was extremely crystal-clear, resembling a diamond, and the symbols on it danced, with a sturdy, square-shaped tower pattern at its center. The entire shield gave off an aura of being indestructible.
This was the defensive divine technique of the True Word Sect, the Taiyu Law Shield, which was renowned alongside the Undying Golden Cloud.
A deafening roar erupted as the Red Lotus Divine Lightning struck the Taiyu Law Shield, causing the shield to tremble violently, emitting a series of creaking sounds, and the symbols on it became blurry.
However, the Taiyu Law Shield did not shatter, and it steadily hovered above Han Li's head, withstanding the Red Lotus Divine Lightning's frenzied attacks.
The Red Lotus Divine Lightning did not shatter the shield, but a half-transparent, blood-red lotus shadow suddenly separated from it, piercing through the Taiyu Law Shield and rapidly striking Han Li.
Han Li was not surprised, and with a swift hand seal, a complex, crystal-like symbol appeared on his forehead, emitting a series of crystal-like ripples that enveloped his entire body.
The blood-red lotus shadow struck Han Li's body, but the crystal-like ripples firmly withstood its attack.
After a full quarter of an hour, the blood-red lotus shadow finally shattered, and Han Li, protected by the crystal-like ripples, remained unscathed.
The distant Lord of the Reincarnation Hall and others watched this scene, their expressions varied.
But before they could say anything, the heavenly tribulation clouds in the sky once again changed, suddenly turning golden.
Innumerable, massive golden lightning bolts rolled within the clouds, emitting a series of thunderous, earth-shaking roars, as if they were about to shatter the heavens.
The golden lightning bolts contained an extremely powerful time law, and they were filled with a violent, destructive energy, similar to the time law that Guo Ou Jin had previously used in the shape of lightning.
:
“Lightning of Time!” Han Li's eyes flickered, and his hands rapidly formed a seal.
Around him, golden light flashed, and five golden objects suddenly appeared, which were the True Words Treasure Wheel, the Illusory Hourglass, the Time Cleansing Vessel, the Time Severing Torch, and the Dong Yi Divine Tree, all of which were Time Law objects.
These five Time Law objects, after recombining, had undergone a tremendous transformation.
The five treasures rotated rapidly, shining with a pure and translucent golden light, as the Time Law fluctuations spread out.
Boom!
Before Han Li could react, the golden lightning bolts descended.
The calamity clouds underwent a series of changes, as if accelerated by a divine technique, and were incredibly fast.
Fortunately, Han Li had already taken a step into the Dao Ancestor realm, and his reaction was extremely fast. He raised his arms towards the sky.
The Taiyu Law Shield suddenly burst forth with golden light, rapidly rotating, and countless golden symbols spewed out, emitting a series of intense whistling sounds.
A shocking explosion shook the heavens, and countless golden lightning bolts struck the Taiyu Law Shield, causing it to immediately develop numerous cracks that rapidly expanded.
With a muffled boom, the Taiyu Law Shield disintegrated, then exploded, turning into countless golden fragments that shot towards the surroundings like meteors.
However, the Taiyu Law Shield had already given Han Li enough time, and the True Words Treasure Wheel and the other objects rapidly rotated around his body.
A gigantic golden vortex reappeared, enveloping Han Li, emitting an almost boundless and terrifying power, and facing the descending golden lightning bolts.
Countless golden lightning bolts struck the vortex, causing it to tremble, but the vortex's absorbing power immediately caught them, pulling them towards its center.
Han Li stood at the center of the vortex, his body swaying with the vortex's movements, but his hands remained stable, constantly forming seals.
The golden vortex rotated with a low rumble, showing no signs of weakening, and formed a standoff with the Lightning of Time in the air.
Golden light flickered, lightning illuminated the surroundings, and countless thunderous explosions shook the air, causing the nearby void to violently tremble.
The Wheel of Reincarnation's master and the Demon Master, who were standing far away, were unable to stand still and were constantly pushed back.
The tremors lasted for half a minute, and the dense golden lightning bolts finally began to weaken, soon disappearing completely.
The golden vortex below rapidly shrank, disappearing without a trace after a few breaths.
Han Li's figure reappeared, his body battered and bruised, looking somewhat disheveled, but overall, he seemed to be unharmed.
At this moment, the calamity clouds in the air underwent another rapid change, and the golden light quickly dissipated, transforming back into its original gray-black color.
A purple light flashed within the calamity clouds, and a purple longbow shot out, enveloping Han Li's body, swirling around him.
One end of the purple longbow flashed into his body.
Han Li's battered body quickly recovered, and his injuries were healed in the blink of an eye.
A brilliant golden light burst forth from his body, containing golden threads that merged with the purple longbow in the air.
Accompanied by a sharp whistle, the golden light rapidly intensified, transforming into a magnificent golden dragon-like light that swirled around Han Li's head, emitting a Time Law power that could shake the heavens.
The void emitted a series of thunderous sounds, as if it was collapsing and distorting.
The Wheel of Reincarnation's master, the Demon Master, and the others, who had already retreated to a safe distance, were once again unable to stand still and were forced to retreat further.
The golden light didn't linger around Han Li for long, soon disappearing into his body.
Han Li's eyebrows rose, and his face showed a look of surprise.
Because, as the golden light entered his body, the Time Law threads within him rapidly disappeared, merging into one, and his entire body emitted a thin, golden light, making him seem almost translucent.
Han Li's Nascent Soul and the divine soul in his mind quietly dissolved, like ice melting, and merged into his body.
The law power within him was quickly suppressed, and the void's tremors slowly dissipated.
The calamity clouds in the air disappeared, and everything returned to calm...
Han Li floated in the void, feeling the changes in the world, and a golden, winding river appeared in his eyes, with a thin branch flowing out, connecting to himself through the void.
He raised his hands, looking at his arms, and discovered that his skin was as thin and translucent as rice paper, with his blood vessels and bones clearly visible, one filled with golden blood, and the other a crystal-like white.
"This is the legendary Golden Veins and Jade Bones, I never thought that after becoming a Dao Ancestor, I would feel this way..." Han Li's eyes shone with excitement, murmuring to himself.
But as soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt a sense of connection, and his eyes closed, as his divine sense began to roam the entire Middle Realm, seeing the shattered mountains and rivers, the dead souls, and the chaotic heavenly energies, all appearing in his mind. As he wandered aimlessly, his divine sense had already transcended the boundaries of the Xian Domain, spreading outwards into the vast expanse of the void. The expanding chaos vortex had engulfed the entire sky, swallowing up vast swaths of empty space, like a giant lid covering the entire Middle Earth Xian Domain.
On the ground, the mountains, forests, and earth were crumbling, while the rivers, lakes, and seas were rapidly disintegrating. It was as if the entire world was being torn apart, like the first time Han Li had seen the Time Crystal Wall, where everything was being broken down into tiny, glowing particles that flew into the air.
The countless living things that had been born from the combination of the Five Elements were now slowly returning to their origins, being absorbed by the chaos vortex.
In the midst of the chaos, Han Li saw the countless corpses on the ground slowly dissolving and dispersing, while the surviving cultivators were fleeing in all directions, unsure of where to go.
The heavens and earth had changed, and the end of the world was near. Where could they escape to?
On the crumbling earth, Meng Po was fleeing with her disciple, Yu Menghan, having already separated from Li Yuanji and the others. They were constantly dodging the shockwaves caused by the collapsing earth.
Meng Po, who had once been a powerful existence, had been severely weakened after being drained of her powers by the divine array. Despite this, she still held onto Yu Menghan's hand tightly.
Yu Menghan's clothes were tattered and dirty, but her face showed no fear. She looked at Meng Po, who was still protecting her, with a calm and gentle gaze.
The two of them had barely escaped a rapidly expanding spatial rift when a spatial vortex suddenly appeared beneath them, pulling them down into the depths.
As they fell, Meng Po looked at Yu Menghan with a hint of regret, thinking that if they had stayed in the sect, they might have been able to avoid this apocalyptic scene.
Yu Menghan smiled warmly and shook her head, looking up at the sky. She wanted to see that person one more time.
Just as she turned her head, a golden light shot out from the void, wrapping around the two of them and pulling them out of the spatial vortex.
"Yu, you and your master should go to my treasure realm and hide for now," Han Li said, appearing beside them.
He waved his hand, and a silver light gate opened up in the void.
"Ha-" Yu Menghan began to speak, but was interrupted by a loud explosion.
A deafening boom shook the heavens, and the round sun that had been hanging in the sky suddenly exploded, casting the entire Middle Earth Xian Domain into eternal darkness.
"Let's go first," Han Li said, his brow furrowed in concern, looking up at the sky.
Yu Menghan nodded and stepped forward, entering the light gate.
Meng Po didn't say a word, but her eyes were fixed on Han Li, sizing him up. She knew his identity and could see his current cultivation level, and she couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.
Her own judgment of character was not bad, and her disciple's choice of partner was even better.
Although her own cultivation was not enough, she had a feeling that the person in front of her might be the greatest variable in the entire True Immortal Realm, including the True Immortal Realm itself.
If not for this person, the ancient or modern world might have already succeeded.
Han Li, who had already become a Dao Ancestor, didn't know the thoughts of Meng Po and Yu Menghan. His eyes shone brightly with golden light, and his aura had already stabilized. He turned his gaze upwards, looking at the sky.
There, he saw Guo or Jin, standing alone, with the chaos vortex raging behind him, engulfing half of his body. He looked like he was about to be swallowed up by the vortex.
But his face showed no fear, only excitement.
His eyes had lost their black pupils, replaced by two gray whirlpools that rotated continuously, emitting a strange and irresistible attraction.
On the left side of the void, the Demon Lord was forming a seal with his hands, creating a giant silver tower that shot towards Guo or Jin. On the right side, the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth was controlling the six wheels of rebirth, firing a beam of light that shot towards Guo or Jin.
Guo or Jin simply raised his hands, and two massive chaos hands emerged from the vortex, pressing down on the two attackers and holding them in place.
Han Li's eyes narrowed, and he formed a seal with his hands, activating the Five Elements Fantasy World technique. The five time law objects appeared around him, floating in the air.
The five objects shone with dazzling golden light, emitting a powerful time law fluctuation that shook the air.
Han Li's hands merged in front of him, and his mind stirred. The sensation of wandering through the ages and merging with the heavens reappeared, and the winding river of time reappeared.
Guo or Jin, who was in the midst of the chaos vortex, suddenly felt a connection, and his eyes turned towards Han Li.
A hint of surprise flashed across his face, and he muttered to himself, "He's succeeded... no, his connection to the time law is even stronger than mine!"
Guo Huo Jin finished speaking to himself, and suddenly remembered the half- divination he had Chen Pao perform for himself earlier. A faint shadow of doubt flickered across his mind.
"You are indeed the greatest variable today, and this time I will stop at nothing to eliminate you! No one can stand in the way of my great plan!" Guo Huo Jin's voice boomed out.
As soon as he finished speaking, his body began to glow with spiral symbols, and the chaotic vortex behind him began to expand rapidly. A massive gray light ball separated from the vortex and shot towards Han Li at incredible speed.
Han Li had been anticipating this, and his eyes flickered slightly as he raised his hands. The two hands he had clasped together suddenly separated, and his palms shot out in front of him.
He felt a gentle breeze brush past his ears, but then countless golden lights appeared out of thin air, surging towards the massive gray light ball.
The golden lights converged, forming a clear outline of a river of time. The originally calm waters suddenly surged, becoming a raging torrent that crashed into the gray light ball.
The two colors clashed, creating a massive shockwave.
The gray light ball absorbed the golden lights around it, growing larger and larger, but its speed slowed down.
When it had grown to tens of thousands of meters in size, it almost came to a standstill.
But then, a loud thunderclap boomed out!
The massive chaotic light ball suddenly split in two, and then exploded in a burst of light.
"Boom boom boom..."
The continuous explosions shook the air, causing the space around them to expand rapidly. All the heavenly energy and dust in the air were reduced to nothingness.
In an instant, the shockwave began to contract, leaving behind a black hole that sucked in the surrounding matter and energy.
Guo Huo Jin watched the scene before him, his brow furrowed in concern.
He saw a river of time appear in front of him, tens of thousands of miles away, and Han Li's figure walking on it, as if he had crossed over a hundred years with each step.
Guo Huo Jin looked at the tall young man with five time law artifacts surrounding him, and was about to speak when Han Li suddenly punched him.
Han Li's fist shot out, and the five time law artifacts flew out of his body, merging into the river of time below.
The surging river of time transformed into a massive golden fist, surrounded by blazing golden flames, and charged towards Guo Huo Jin.
Without traversing space, without any obstruction, this massive fist imbued with the true intent of the five elements and time law struck Guo Huo Jin.
"Boom!"
The golden fist exploded, releasing a blast of energy that destroyed the two massive arms extending from the chaotic vortex.
The Demon Lord and the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth felt the pressure ease, and retreated tens of thousands of miles away.
As they looked back at Han Li, they saw the turbulent flow of time law surrounding him, making the space around him seem distorted.
"He's using time law so recklessly, isn't he afraid of being assimilated by the heavens?" the Demon Lord asked with a furrowed brow.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth simply shook his head, remaining silent.
After a moment, the golden light dissipated, and the five time law artifacts returned to Han Li's body.
He gazed at Guo Huo Jin, his brow furrowed in concern.
As the light faded, Guo Huo Jin's figure reappeared, his body unscathed, his aura even stronger.
"The chaotic law can devour all things, and I have already reached the state of invincibility. You can use all your time law power, it's all meaningless to me, haha..." Guo Huo Jin laughed, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Han Li was about to speak when he felt a sudden pain in his chest.
He looked down to see the small green bottle on his chest glowing with a red light.
"Kid, what are you waiting for? Now that you've reached the position of the Dao Ancestor, you have the qualifications to try and refine the Heavenly Vessel Bottle. Don't hesitate, try it now." A familiar voice echoed in his mind.
"Bottle Spirit, what do you mean by refining the Heavenly Vessel Bottle?" Han Li asked hesitantly. "Boy, do you know why the Heaven-Sealing Bottle is called 'Heaven-Sealing'? This object was born alongside the rise of the Heavenly Dao, and it is the first mysterious object in the world, containing not only the laws of the Heavenly Dao, but also the remnants of the Primordial Chaos. Now, Gu or Jin has absorbed the laws of the Primordial Chaos, trying to advance to the level of the Primordial Chaos Ancestor, and reopen the heavens and the earth. If you don't refine this bottle, what other chance do you have?" The bottle spirit's voice was urgent and slightly angry.
"Why did you only tell me this now, Senior?" Han Li asked.
"You're always asking so many questions! I, the bottle spirit, was born when the previous you, the Master of the Cycle Hall, infused all his time laws into the bottle. I'm just a humble spirit residing in this small bottle. Throughout the endless ages, I've been striving to cultivate and understand the true secrets of the Heaven-Sealing Bottle." The bottle spirit spoke rapidly.
"So, when I often called out to you, Senior, but received no response, it was because you were also cultivating?" Han Li asked in surprise.
"That's right. This time, Gu or Jin has disrupted the Heavenly Dao, trying to make the world return to the Primordial Chaos, and reopen the heavens and the earth. The small bottle was born alongside the creation of the world, and it has a connection to this. Now, let's stop talking and refine the Heaven-Sealing Bottle quickly. I'll assist you with all my might." The bottle spirit urged once more.
Just as Han Li was about to speak, a thunderous roar shook the sky, and a massive gray cloud condensed above him. A chaotic lightning pillar, wrapped in dark purple electricity, descended from the sky and struck Han Li.
Without needing his conscious control, the 72 Sword Spirit Children flew out and formed a massive sword array in the air, unleashing countless divine lightning bolts to counter the chaotic lightning pillar.
A deafening boom shook the air!
The two lightning bolts exploded simultaneously, creating a massive storm that swept across the land, covering an area of hundreds of millions of miles. The surrounding void was torn apart, revealing massive rifts. The entire Middle Earth Immortal Realm was almost completely destroyed.
The sword array formed by the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword also collapsed under the massive impact, dispersing and reforming into the Sword Spirit Children, who flew back to Han Li's side.
"Stone friend, Master, please help me guard against this attack. I have a plan that might give us a chance to survive in this situation." Han Li transmitted his voice.
The Demon Master hesitated for a moment, but the Master of the Cycle Hall immediately responded, "If you don't have a plan to stop Gu or Jin, then trust him." The Master of the Cycle Hall flew towards Han Li first.
The Demon Master followed, his brow furrowed in concern.
The two of them stood on either side of Han Li, like two guardian deities.
Han Li sat in the void, his hands clasped together, holding the Heaven-Sealing Bottle. A moment later, his clasped hands glowed with a brilliant red light, which seemed to penetrate his body, illuminating his meridians and bones.
The Master of the Cycle Hall and the Demon Master both sensed this and turned to look at Han Li, their hearts filled with surprise.
The Heaven-Sealing Bottle had been controlled by the Master of the Cycle Hall for a long time, and he had used it to face countless battles. However, he had never felt such an aura emanating from the small bottle.
"Han Li, I will not let you become a variable!" Gu or Jin discovered the anomaly and shouted.
Without waiting for his words to finish, he formed a seal with his hands and struck Han Li.
The next instant, the Primordial Chaos vortex shook violently, and a massive white light pillar erupted from the center, expanding into a massive sea of light that engulfed Han Li and the others.
The light pillar destroyed everything in its path, leaving only the void and the remnants of its power.
"It's over... we've reached the end..."
The Master of the Cycle Hall muttered to himself, then raised his hand, and the six Wheels of Rebirth flew out, forming a massive barrier in front of them.
The Wheels of Rebirth expanded rapidly, growing to tens of thousands of feet in size, and radiating a dark red glow.
A deafening boom shook the air!
The massive Wheels of Rebirth shook violently, their surfaces flashing with light as they rotated rapidly in the void.
The powerful force of the light pillar was blocked by the Wheels of Rebirth, but the remaining light pierced through the void, destroying the entire Middle Earth Immortal Realm.
Han Li remained oblivious to the chaos around him.
At this moment, he was fully focused on operating the Great Five Elements Fantasy Sutra, condensing his time laws into countless threads of light that connected with the small bottle in his hand. His mind had fully entered the space within the bottle.
The small bottle seemed to contain an infinite realm, and Han Li felt like a tiny speck of dust, insignificant and tiny.
Han Li looked around, seeing only darkness and various colored light clusters, some as large as star clouds, others as small as campfires. Each cluster radiated different law fluctuations.
"Three thousand Grand Daos, all of them are actually in this Palm Heaven Bottle..."
Han Li's divine sense stirred, transforming into a fine dust of thoughts, and began to wander through this small bottle world.
At this time, he discovered that the various colored light clusters around him were not stationary, but were instead floating up and down along their own trajectories, slowly rotating, and this state of separate movement was the normal order of the Heavenly Dao's cycle.
After a brief flight, Han Li's heart grew anxious, how could he possibly refine these three thousand Grand Daos?
Just as he was pondering, Han Li suddenly felt a sense of resonance, and discovered that a group of colored light clusters were flashing in a special rhythm, as if they were greeting him.
He proceeded forward, and found that some of the light clusters were closely related to his own Grand Dao, and were respectively the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and the law of thunder and lightning.
As he approached the center of the small bottle space, the number of law clusters decreased, but the power of the laws they contained grew more intense, until he reached the very center, where he saw a massive, chaotic cloud cluster.
Around it, three enormous light clusters floated, colored gold, silver, and dark red.
The chaotic cloud cluster emitted a law aura that was identical to the chaotic vortex outside, and was indeed the law of chaos, while the three colored light clusters were the laws of time, space, and cycle.
The law of time was especially close to Han Li, and as he drew near, threads of time law power separated from it and flowed into his divine sense.
Han Li's divine sense, which had transformed into a mustard seed body, felt a surge of power, and his gaze shifted, and the scene around him changed.
He saw that the chaotic law extended out in countless fine threads, connecting all the light clusters of the three thousand Grand Daos, forming a massive, interconnected network.
Han Li, connected to the law of time, seemed to have become a part of this network, and his body glowed brighter.
At this moment, outside, the light clusters flying out of the cycle vortex grew more intense, pressing the six-cycle disk back.
As the light clusters gathered, the entire cycle disk grew brighter, and seemed unable to withstand the power of the chaotic law.
"Brother Shi, it's your turn." The Lord of the Cycle Temple gritted his teeth, and said.
The Demon Lord had already prepared, and was waiting for the opportunity.
Just then, the Lord of the Cycle Temple's hands changed, and the six-cycle disk opened a hole, and the chaotic light pillar, which had filled the entire disk, suddenly condensed and shot out.
This light pillar, which had been condensed by the cycle disk, was not only more solid, but also seemed more powerful.
The Demon Lord saw this, and flew forward, colliding with the light pillar, and just before impact, his hands split apart.
In front of him, a circle of silver light erupted, and a massive, spatial symbol pattern flew out, forming a spatial gate that absorbed the chaotic light pillar.
In the next instant, a spatial gate appeared beside Guo Jin, and a white light pillar shot out, striking him.
"Haha...haha..."
Guo Jin's figure was engulfed in the dazzling white light, and his laughter echoed out.
"This is not good, he's using our attack to accelerate his absorption of the chaotic law, and once his chaotic law is complete, he'll become the Chaotic Dao Ancestor, and will be able to control the chaotic vortex, and we'll be unable to defeat him." The Lord of the Cycle Temple's brow furrowed, and he immediately realized the danger.
He said, and then controlled the six-cycle disk, and once again resisted the chaotic light pillar's pressure.
The Demon Lord retreated, and glanced at Han Li, and a hint of shock appeared in his eyes.
He immediately changed his hand seals, and formed a spatial barrier, isolating Han Li, who was sitting in the air, and preventing his aura from leaking out, and being discovered by Guo Jin.
...
At the same time, inside the small bottle space.
Han Li's divine sense had transformed into a massive, white light, and seemed to contain his voice, whispering:
"The beginning of the Heavenly Dao, gives birth to the roots of all laws, the three thousand Grand Daos, were never isolated, but rather, they were always interconnected, and this is the Heavenly Dao."
In an instant, the entire small bottle space erupted, and all the law clusters began to gather towards the center.
First, the three thousand law clusters, according to their five elements, returned to their source laws, and then the five source laws gathered towards the three supreme laws, and finally, all the laws merged into one, and fused into the chaotic law.
The entire small bottle space shook, and the chaotic law cloud cluster turned green, and began to rotate intensely.
Almost at the same time, Han Li suddenly opened his eyes, and stood up from the ground. Han Li's body rippled with a gentle wave, and the magical boundary set by the Demon Lord shattered into fragments.
His eyes shone with a colorful light, and his hands rose high into the air, holding up the Heaven's Bottle. The bottle hovered in the air, suspended by his palm.
Han Li formed a ancient hand seal, and his mouth whispered a gentle incantation: "The Great Way returns to one, collecting all things."
In the next instant, the small bottle's surface flashed with a strange light, and the various patterns etched onto it began to glow. A green light flickered at the mouth of the bottle, and a swirling vortex of dark green clouds erupted from it, forming a massive whirlpool that spanned tens of thousands of miles.
The whirlpool churned with clouds and thunder, emitting a constant rumble of thunder.
"This is... " The Demon Lord's expression changed.
"The turning point has arrived." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's eyes flashed with a hint of joy, and he burst into laughter.
A deafening crash shook the air! The dark green whirlpool suddenly flashed with lightning, and massive lightning whips extended from it, striking out in all directions and shattering the surrounding void.
The massive whirlpool, which was many times larger than the dark green one, seemed to resonate with it. The central light flashed rapidly, and the rotation speed increased tenfold.
Gu Yu's gaze fell upon the dark green whirlpool, and his eyes flashed with a hint of incredulity.
He was now connected to the Chaos Law's whirlpool, and his perception of the world had long since surpassed the ordinary. At this moment, he could naturally sense the extraordinary nature of the dark green whirlpool.
His hands clasped together in front of him, and he suddenly made a grasping motion, striking out with a swift slash.
A gust of wind erupted in the void, and the Chaos whirlpool suddenly condensed into a massive, towering blade of light that slashed down towards the dark green whirlpool.
"Come on!" Han Li shouted, his voice filled with excitement.
He raised his hands, and a multitude of golden lights shot out from his palms, landing on the small bottle.
The dark green whirlpool at the mouth of the bottle suddenly surged with light, transforming into a massive, heaven-devouring beast that charged towards the massive blade of light.
The two clashed, producing a deafening crash that shook the heavens.
The blade of light sank into the whirlpool, encountering no resistance, as if it were slicing through tofu.
However, when it reached the midpoint, the dark green whirlpool began to spin at an incredible speed, and the blade of light was twisted by a massive force, wrapping around it like a rope.
The twisted blade of light formed a bridge connecting the two whirlpools, and the two massive whirlpools began to churn and rumble like thunder.
A massive, swirling cloud of Chaos energy erupted from the Chaos whirlpool, and a green mist rose from the dark green whirlpool, entwining like a pair of dragons.
The two clouds of energy clashed, transforming into a swirling vortex of smoke and clouds that seemed to have no end.
However, the Chaos whirlpool suddenly surged with energy, and the rotation speed increased dramatically, stirring up the surrounding void into chaos.
The dark green whirlpool, which was much smaller, seemed to be at a disadvantage, and its power was being drained by the Chaos whirlpool.
"Bad, the Chaos whirlpool has already consumed almost all of the spiritual energy of the Middle Earth Realm, and is even drawing in energy from other realms. Its power has grown, and the Heaven's Bottle's might seems insufficient..." The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth's eyes widened in concern.
"Please, assist me!" Han Li shouted, his voice echoing through the void.
His body was now surrounded by a dense, golden aura, and the power of the Time Law surged out from him, pouring into the small bottle.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth and the Demon Lord exchanged a glance, and without hesitation, they began to channel their own Law energies into the Heaven's Bottle.
In this vast expanse, only a few scattered fragments of the realms remained, like lost domains drifting in the void. Three massive pillars of light rose from Han Li and the two others, forming a Triune alignment.
The Heaven's Bottle, infused with the combined power of the three Laws, began to shake violently, its surface flashing with symbols. The bottle's body began to expand rapidly, eventually growing to the size of a treasure tower.
The mouth of the bottle glowed with a brilliant light, and a multitude of Law energies swirled out, forming a massive, green gemstone that flew towards the void.
"Senior Bottle Spirit..." Han Li's voice whispered, as he saw the figure of the Bottle Spirit.
As he spoke, the Bottle Spirit guided the Law energies, which began to merge and combine, forming a magnificent, seven-colored aura that transformed into a resplendent, rainbow-colored ribbon.
A strange, yet familiar, aura emanated from the ribbon, filling the air with an air of contradiction.
Han Li sensed the conflicting aura that was spreading, and a hint of understanding flashed through his mind.
That was the aura of the Heavenly Dao itself, bright and majestic, yet cold and ruthless, with no mercy for the living beings of the world.
The seven-colored ribbons flew into the air, pulled by the Bottle Spirit, like a seven-colored dragon stirring up the dark green clouds, and then charged into the chaotic vortex.
Guo or Jin watched Han Li and the others' actions, but did not intervene.
This was not because he was too confident, but because he needed to fully activate the grand array at this critical moment when the two vortices were fiercely competing.
Moreover, he needed to intensify his absorption of the chaotic laws that filled the world, and if he succeeded in advancing to the Chaos Dao Ancestor, he would become the embodiment of the chaotic power, and the laws of the world would be at his mercy, becoming a true creator god.
At that time, no one and no power could defeat him, and Han Li and the others would become the best sacrifices for him to create a new world.
"You're underestimating the power of chaos too much, aren't you? With just a Palm Heaven Bottle, you think you can turn the tables? You're just dreaming." Guo or Jin sneered, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
As he spoke, he raised his hands, and the dark green vortex above his head began to wildly swirl, absorbing the surrounding air at an incredible speed.
The vortex twisted and turned, and a massive, blurry face appeared.
The Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth saw the face emerge and shouted, "Guo or Jin is merging with the Dao, that face is 10% complete, all is lost!"
The Demon Lord heard this and no longer held back, his body surging with demonic energy, his form rapidly expanding, and two massive, curved horns growing from his head, his handsome face disappearing, replaced by a gigantic, demonic creature.
With one step, the void beneath his feet shook violently, and a massive, silver ripple spread out, extending tens of millions of miles before slowly disappearing.
At the same time, the entire True Immortal Realm was affected, all space trembling with excitement, as if welcoming the birth of the Dao Ancestor who controlled this law.
In this battle, after Han Li, the Demon Lord, who had been stuck at the peak of the Great Luo for endless years, finally took a step forward, achieving the Dao Ancestor.
In fact, he, like the Lord of the Wheel of Rebirth, had already possessed all the qualifications to become a Dao Ancestor, but was afraid of being envied by Guo or Jin, and on the other hand, was worried about the Heavenly Dao's erosion, so he had been self-sealing, not taking that step.
Now, he had nothing to worry about.
Becoming a Dao Ancestor or not, the feeling of the laws of the world and the Heavenly Dao's operation was almost completely different.
The Demon Lord's eyes flashed with a fierce light, and he raised his hands, striking out with a massive, spatial force.
Guo or Jin's body was instantly shattered, turning into a cloud of gray smoke.
But in the next instant, a gray light flashed, and his body reassembled.
"I've already merged with the Dao by half, all your efforts are doomed to fail." Guo or Jin laughed loudly.
At this moment, Han Li, who had been closing his eyes to control the Palm Heaven Bottle, suddenly opened them, a smile spreading across his face as he asked, "Doomed to fail? I don't think so!"
As soon as he spoke, a dazzling, seven-colored light appeared in the massive chaotic vortex, taking the form of a seven-colored dragon, tens of millions of feet long, stirring up the vortex.
On the dragon's head stood a blurry figure, arms crossed, with a confident expression - the Bottle Spirit.
The dragon charged upwards, then suddenly turned its head and plunged downwards, straight into the dark green vortex below.
As it entered the vortex, the dragon's body began to rapidly shrink, heading straight for the mouth of the Palm Heaven Bottle.
With the dragon's guidance, the chaotic vortex was transformed into a massive, swirling funnel, and the chaotic clouds poured in, flowing into the bottle.
"No, no, no, this is impossible..." Guo or Jin's eyes widened in disbelief as he shouted.
He frantically gestured with his hands, but couldn't stop the chaotic vortex from being absorbed by the bottle, and instead, he was pulled towards the bottle's mouth.
Enraged, he swung his hand, and a massive, chaotic blade of light flew out, barely separating him from the vortex, but he could only watch as the chaotic vortex was completely absorbed into the bottle.
The bottle, now containing the chaotic vortex, began to flash with colorful lights, making it seem transparent, and through the bottle, a gray, swirling vortex could be seen, still rotating rapidly.
Moreover, the Palm Heaven Bottle had not returned to its original shape, remaining in its massive, tower-like form, swaying back and forth, shaking violently.
"Bottle Spirit, this bottle..." Han Li asked, his brow furrowed with concern.
"I don't have time to explain, I need to help the Palm Heaven Bottle suppress this chaotic power." The Bottle Spirit's voice was urgent.
Han Li didn't dare ask more questions, remembering his previous attempt to refine the Palm Heaven Bottle, which had ended in failure.
But this was not his fault, the power within the bottle was too close to the Heavenly Dao, and only someone with a high enough realm or sufficient power could refine it.
"Variable, variable, still that variable... I should have killed you first!" Guo or Jin's body was shrouded in a cloud of chaotic mist, his voice filled with rage.
At this moment, he was no longer calm and composed. The killing intent emanating from his body was almost palpable, and even the power of the Chaos couldn't completely conceal it.
"If you want to kill me, you're welcome to try," Han Li said with a smile, his hand behind his back.
"Don't be careless, this guy is now only one step away from becoming a Chaos Ancestor, and his laws are not affected by the Heavenly Way, so he can exert his full power. You two, on the other hand, need to be careful of the Heavenly Way's devouring," the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth warned.
As soon as he finished speaking, the void in front of them collapsed.
Gu Yuan or Jin's entire body seemed to merge into a gray mist, and the surrounding Chaos energy was like countless tentacles, constantly spreading out in all directions, devouring everything in the void.
"What's going on?" the Demon Lord asked in surprise.
"Without the Chaos Vortex providing the power of the laws, Gu Yuan or Jin has entered a state of madness, constantly absorbing power from the surrounding heaven and earth. This void is likely to be devoured by him," the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth said.
"Stone Daoist, seal off this space first, and try to block him from getting more power," Han Li shouted.
The Demon Lord didn't hesitate, and immediately activated the power of the laws.
A silver light burst out from his back, transforming into two massive silver wings that expanded to the sides, covering an area of tens of millions of miles in just a few breaths.
When the wings closed again, the area had already been isolated from the rest of the void.
"If I want to completely seal off this area, I'll have to fully commit to it, and I won't be able to participate in the battle," the Demon Lord said.
"Just seal off the space, and leave the battle to us," Han Li said.
The Master of the Wheel of Rebirth nodded in agreement.
"Alright."
The Demon Lord shouted, and his body began to blur and fade away.
His silhouette gradually dissipated, merging into the spatial barrier that isolated the heaven and earth. Four human-shaped statues appeared on the barrier, each with the Demon Lord's appearance.
At the top and bottom of the barrier, two massive silver arrays appeared, and a series of silver feathers floated in the void.
Each feather contained the true essence of the spatial laws, and although they looked like feathers, they were actually incredibly heavy.
The feathers floated in the void, gently falling onto the mist surrounding Gu Yuan or Jin. The mist, which was formed by the Chaos energy, was actually suppressed by the silver feathers, crumbling and dispersing.
Gu Yuan or Jin's figure reappeared, but his appearance had changed greatly. He no longer had the elegant and refined appearance of a transcendent being, but instead looked like a madman, with his clothes torn and his hair disheveled.
His legs, which had been damaged by the Heavenly Way's backlash, seemed to have recovered, and he stood barefoot, his eyes fixed intently on Han Li.
Han Li's heart tightened, and he summoned the 72 Qingtong Flying Cloud Swords, grasping them in his hand.
The Master of the Wheel of Rebirth looked at Han Li, then at Gu Yuan or Jin, and took a deep breath. He formed a hand seal, and the six wheels of reincarnation behind him began to spin.
A thousand years of hatred, a thousand years of resentment, all to be repaid in this moment.
The two enemies, who had been destined to clash, finally faced each other.
"Victory or defeat, it's all in this one move," the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth said, his figure charging forward.
The six wheels of reincarnation behind him flashed with light, and six pillars of reincarnation energy burst out, shooting towards Gu Yuan or Jin.
Gu Yuan or Jin's figure vanished, and his body was surrounded by the Chaos energy.
The next moment, he reappeared, having passed through the six pillars of energy, and stood in front of the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth.
"Too fast!" Han Li's heart tightened.
Under the Demon Lord's spatial laws, Gu Yuan or Jin was still able to move at such incredible speed, which was truly shocking.
"Die," Gu Yuan or Jin said, his palm striking towards the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth's throat.
The Master of the Wheel of Rebirth's eyes flashed with an unusual light, and his body began to blur and fade away.
But Gu Yuan or Jin's gray energy suddenly enveloped the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth, restoring his solid form, and his throat was instantly severed.
A sound of tearing flesh echoed through the air.
Han Li's eyes widened, and he saw the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth's entire neck being torn apart, and his head flying off towards the void.
"Stop!" Han Li shouted.
Gu Yuan or Jin didn't give Han Li a chance to react, and kicked the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth's head, causing it to explode.
As the head exploded, the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth's energy dissipated, and he was no more.
Han Li saw this and his eyes widened in anger, holding his sword in one hand and forming a sword seal with the other. He didn't need to set up a sword array, and with a single sword strike, he chopped down towards Guo Huo.
A loud "boom" echoed, and the light on the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword intensified, as 72 purple gold thunderbolts mixed with the aura of the ancient sword, condensed into a sword light that suddenly burst forth, like a massive purple gold dragon spanning the sky, shooting straight towards Guo Huo.
"Zzzip..."
The air was filled with electric lights, and the 72 thunderbolt sword dragons intertwined, instantly shredding the air within a radius of tens of thousands of miles, directly refining it into a golden liquid thunder pool.
At this moment, all things lost their luster, and the sky seemed to be filled with only this dazzling golden light, tearing through the entire horizon.
Guo Huo's figure was enveloped by the golden light, and countless chaotic misty auras were instantly torn apart, turning into powder and disappearing without a trace.
However, despite the purple gold thunderbolts imbued with the true intent of thunder striking him, Guo Huo didn't flinch, and instead, he calmly stepped out of the golden liquid thunder pool, walking towards Han Li step by step.
His pace was not fast, but with each step, the surrounding chaotic misty auras would envelop him, and when the mist dispersed, his figure would already be tens of thousands of miles away.
Therefore, he only took a few steps, and his figure appeared outside the thunder pool.
At this moment, Guo Huo's eyes seemed to have returned to their calm state, and there was no longer any anger or killing intent in them. It was as if he had returned to the tranquil and composed state he had when he first appeared at the Bodhi banquet.
But Han Li could sense a stern and unyielding aura emanating from Guo Huo.
As the respected Da Zu, who had controlled the Heavenly Court for countless years, he had finally become truly enraged.
Han Li grasped his sword with both hands and swung it continuously.
A series of purple gold sword dragons, each infused with the 72 purple gold thunderbolts, swept towards Guo Huo, dyeing the surrounding tens of thousands of miles into a vast, even more majestic thunder sea.
However, Guo Huo, under the protection of the chaotic misty auras, was unaffected, and he strolled through the thunder sea as if taking a leisurely walk, arriving within a thousand miles of Han Li in an instant.
Just as Guo Huo raised his hand to strike Han Li and reclaim the Heavenly Vessel, his expression suddenly changed, and he stopped in his tracks.
He slightly turned his head to look back, and saw that the residual corpse of the Wheel of Rebirth's master, which had been floating in the air, had disappeared. The six-path Wheel of Rebirth, which was not far away, began to rotate on its own.
The six symbols on the Wheel of Rebirth lit up simultaneously, and a dark red glow appeared in the center, followed by a figure emerging from it. The figure was tall and slender, with eyes that shone brightly – it was the Wheel of Rebirth's master.
As soon as the figure appeared, six dark red beams of light shot out from the six-path Wheel of Rebirth, twisting and intertwining in mid-air to form a dark red cage that encased Guo Huo.
"You're not that easy to kill," Guo Huo said, seemingly unphased. He raised his hand, and the dark red cage shattered, and he chuckled.
His words had barely ended when Han Li's voice echoed from a distance, extremely close to Guo Huo's ear.
"You shouldn't be so arrogant..."
Han Li's figure suddenly appeared beside Guo Huo, having abandoned the Qingtian Bee Cloud Sword. He transformed into a three-headed, six-armed divine demon, with the five Time Law artifacts, including the True Word Treasure Wheel, shining with a pure, crystal-like light, as they merged into his body.
The six massive arms of Han Li's divine demon form glowed with golden light, and six massive Five Elements Annihilation Fists struck out simultaneously.
"Boom boom boom..."
Outside Guo Huo's body, a series of chaotic whirlpools appeared, and the six divine fists struck them, their power being absorbed by the whirlpools like mud sinking into the sea, without any deviation.
Six fists didn't hit, so what about six hundred fists, six thousand fists, six million fists?
Han Li's figure was like lightning, his six arms transforming into a blur of afterimages, as he continuously struck Guo Huo with all his might, the air filled with the sound of thunder.
Guo Huo could initially handle it with ease, but as Han Li's fists continued to strike, their speed increasing with each passing moment, the power of the fists began to accumulate, layer upon layer.
Each fist's power was enough to shatter a continent, or even create a hole in the sky.
This terrifying power, which wasn't just a numerical increase, formed a massive fist aura barrier around Guo Huo, sealing him within.
As the millionth fist struck, Han Li's every subsequent fist would create a ripple in the fist aura barrier, shattering the surrounding air into layer upon layer of cracks.
Even the Wheel of Rebirth's master, who had just been revived, was forced to retreat, unable to approach.
The Demon Lord, who had sealed the heavens with his own dao, felt an overwhelming pressure, and his heart was filled with shock.
As Han Li's 1,672,000th fist struck, the suppressed power finally erupted, and a deafening boom shook the air.
"Boom boom boom..."
A blazing sun rose from Guo Huo's body, and dazzling golden light burst forth, radiating in all directions.
The Wheel of Rebirth's master saw this and his heart tightened, and the Wheel of Rebirth behind him moved, instantly retreating tens of thousands of miles. The Demon Master didn't hesitate, directly dispelling the spatial barrier and appearing beside the Reincarnation Hall Master.
In the next instant, the golden sunlight that burst forth from the explosion engulfed the two, and their figures were submerged in the radiance.
They felt the surrounding void shatter as the golden light spread, and a massive attractive force emerged from the center of the explosion, drawing in the remaining heavenly and earthly spiritual energy and the dust particles floating in the void.
After a long time, the void finally stabilized.
The Reincarnation Hall Master, relying on his special connection with Han Li, sensed his location and looked over, seeing Han Li surrounded by a group of sword spirits, with no injuries, but his chest heaving violently.
The sword spirits, although unable to speak, flew around Han Li, checking if he was injured, and seemed very concerned.
In fact, after Han Li finished his 16 million punches, his body, as a Dao Ancestor, felt somewhat drained, and he relied on the sword spirits' Thunder Escape technique to successfully move away from the explosion's center.
Han Li's gaze swept the void, and his divine sense expanded, but he didn't find any signs of Guo or Jin.
He didn't relax his vigilance.
If Guo or Jin were so easily defeated, they wouldn't be Guo or Jin.
Especially now that Guo or Jin had merged with the Chaos Laws, they were not the same as before.
He looked towards the Palmtop Bottle, and saw that it had returned to its original size, shining with a soft green light, suspended in the void.
The terrifying explosion had no effect on it, and Han Li let out a sigh of relief.
The Reincarnation Hall Master and the Demon Master exchanged a glance, and flew towards Han Li.
"Haha..." But before they reached him, they heard a maniacal laughter echoing through the void.
The two stopped in their tracks, looking towards the sound.
A gray vortex appeared in the void, and a figure emerged from it – it was Guo or Jin.
Not only was he unscathed, but his aura was even stronger than before.
"You two are quite surprising, but that's all. This time, let's see what tricks you have up your sleeves..." Guo or Jin said, his eyes gleaming with amusement, as he reached out and grasped the Palmtop Bottle.
With a sneer, he said, "Let's see how you'll react this time..."
He then exerted a massive force, trying to crush the Palmtop Bottle.
However, as the gray light on his palm brightened, a dark green light burst forth from the bottle, forming a solid light shield that blocked Guo or Jin's hand.
Guo or Jin's eyes widened in surprise, and he increased his strength.
"Stop!" Han Li shouted, his figure disappearing from the spot.
Almost simultaneously, a sword light shot out from behind Guo or Jin, aiming for his back.
Without turning around, a Chaos light shield appeared, blocking the sword light.
The sword light was absorbed, but reappeared on Guo or Jin's side, stabbing towards his right hand, which held the Palmtop Bottle.
It was the Demon Master, using his spatial laws to redirect the sword light.
A muffled explosion sounded, and Guo or Jin's wrist shattered, his right hand falling off.
As the Palmtop Bottle fell, a silver light appeared below, and a spatial vortex formed.
Just as the bottle was about to fall into the vortex, Guo or Jin's severed wrist began to repair itself, and his hand reattached.
Guo or Jin's gaze turned cold, and he pressed the Palmtop Bottle against his chest.
The bottle began to sink into his chest, and a massive amount of Chaos energy poured into it.
The bottle's surface dimmed, and a gray light enveloped it.
A flame-like gray light erupted from Guo or Jin's chest, engulfing the Palmtop Bottle.
Han Li's expression changed, and he hastily shouted to the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth and the Demon Master, "This is not good, he wants to refine the Heavenly Vessel, we must stop him immediately!"
The Demon Master's eyebrows furrowed, "The chaotic laws of the past and present have already taken effect, his physical body is almost indestructible, how can we stop him?"
The Master of the Wheel of Rebirth fell silent for a moment before speaking again, "I have a method that we can try, if it doesn't work, then we have no other options..."
He then transmitted his voice to Han Li and the Demon Master, carefully explaining his plan.
"Perhaps it's worth a try," the Demon Master nodded.
"But..." Han Li hesitated.
"Whether it succeeds or not, the key is still with you, don't hesitate. I believe in you, you won't disappoint me," the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth smiled and said.
Han Li looked at the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth, then nodded heavily.
The Master of the Wheel of Rebirth's face had a few more hints of a carefree smile, and his body suddenly sprang forward, actively approaching Guo Huo.
"Guo Huo, you previously laughed at me for not knowing the scenery of the ancestral realm, today I'll take a look at the scenery above, see if it's as unbearable as you said?" The Master of the Wheel of Rebirth stopped 1,000,000 miles away and shouted.
"You previously used the power of the Great Luo realm to activate the laws of the Dao Ancestor, and have already been merged with the Heavenly Dao, even if you take another step, what can you do?" Guo Huo sneered.
As soon as his words fell, the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth's body began to float, and the six wheels of the Wheel of Rebirth behind him started to rotate, releasing one after another wheel of rebirth symbols that fell into his body.
As the symbols fell onto his body, the dark red glow on the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth's body grew stronger, and his slender figure, hidden under the dark red light, seemed like a death god from hell.
His body floated up, and his eyes rolled with red light as threads of the Wheel of Rebirth laws emerged from his body, connecting with the six wheels of the Wheel of Rebirth.
The six wheels of the Wheel of Rebirth began to rotate slowly, and the six lights of the Wheel of Rebirth converged into the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth's body.
The Master of the Wheel of Rebirth let out a loud roar, and the red glow surrounding his body surged up like a flame, with waves of flame flashing at the edges, emitting intense Wheel of Rebirth law fluctuations.
Guo Huo's eyes narrowed, and he pushed his hands forward, creating a chaotic whirlpool that flew towards the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth.
At the same time, the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth also pushed his hands forward, and a chaotic beam of light shot out from his palm, colliding with the whirlpool, and the two forces were evenly matched, locked in a stalemate.
"Shi Dao friend, take action!" Han Li shouted.
The Demon Master stepped forward, and in an instant, he appeared behind Guo Huo, his hands grasping the air, and the space around him began to distort, compressing the space around Guo Huo.
A sound of grinding and scraping echoed, and the compressed space emitted a crystal-like glow, binding Guo Huo in place.
"Even if you three great sovereigns of the laws apply pressure, you still can't do anything to me," Guo Huo laughed loudly.
A chaotic glow began to emanate from his body, trying to transform into a chaotic whirlpool to absorb the attacks of Han Li and the others.
"No way," the Demon Master roared.
His body emitted a silver glow, and the space laws around him fluctuated wildly, creating a black whirlpool that began to envelop his body.
However, the Demon Master seemed completely unaware of this, and continued to output his law power.
On the other side, the Master of the Wheel of Rebirth's six wheels of the Wheel of Rebirth accelerated to an incredible speed, and his body began to emit an intense aura.
In an instant, the thin barrier between the Great Luo and the Dao Ancestor was broken.
The Master of the Wheel of Rebirth finally took the last step, becoming a true Wheel of Rebirth Ancestor.
The surrounding heaven and earth suddenly gathered clouds, and the spiritual energy transformed into wind, and the wind and clouds merged, as the Wheel of Rebirth laws surged in from all directions, pouring into the six wheels of the Wheel of Rebirth.
The six wheels of the Wheel of Rebirth rotated at an incredible speed, becoming a dark red glow that flashed rapidly.
At the same time, Han Li's body had already leaped into the air.
His Tianxia Town Prison and True Spirit Bloodline powers reached their peak, and his body expanded a hundredfold, transforming into a giant with twelve True Spirit heads and thirty-six arms.
Each arm grasped a Qingzhu Fengyun Sword, and as he rotated in mid-air, he created a massive golden dragon vortex that brought chaos to the heavens and earth. The true words of the Treasure Wheel and the five time law incarnations transformed into a bright moon and stars, with mountains, rivers, and lakes surrounding the whirlpool, connected by golden lightning between them, as if they were all one.
Inside the golden dragon vortex, the ancient sword aura intersected and crisscrossed, and a heavenly sword array emerged, emitting thunderous roars and exuding an aura of terror.
When Guo or Jin saw this scene, his heart trembled, and a hint of madness flashed across his face. He let out a loud roar: "If you want to die, I'll fulfill your wish."
As soon as he finished speaking, he used his hands to forcefully open the space constraints that the Demon Lord had suppressed, and a chaotic light burst forth from his chest, instantly suppressing the whirlpool and the cycle of light.
The chaotic light surged forward, unstoppable, and directly forced the cycle of light to retreat.
The Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth let out a loud shout, and the six wheels of the cycle of rebirth behind him, which had been shrinking, suddenly disappeared, transforming into a pure dark red energy that surged into his body, causing his originally thin body to swell up.
At this moment, he looked like he had returned to his original appearance, but the aura he exuded was even more terrifying, as if he could stir up the cycle of heaven and earth, controlling life and death.
"Guo or Jin, you can't escape the cycle of rebirth, and you'll never be able to return to the cycle of rebirth again, haha..." The Lord of the Cycle of Rebirth laughed maniacally.
His laughter echoed through the heavens, but his body suddenly shrunk rapidly, until he completely disappeared, transforming into a pure cycle of rebirth energy that broke through the chaotic light, flashing past, and directly entered Guo or Jin's body.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
Guo or Jin was shocked, clearly not expecting this, and wanted to stop it, but it was too late.
In an instant, the cycle of heaven and earth seemed to come to a standstill, and all living beings in the world, whether they were fleeing in panic or waiting for death, all felt a sense of dizziness.
It was as if their souls had left their bodies, and they saw a faint red glow, like the last rays of the sun.
After a moment, the cycle of rebirth resumed, and everyone returned to normal, except for one person.
Guo or Jin's soul was still floating outside his body, separated from his chaotic body.
At this moment, he finally realized what the three of them were trying to do, and his face contorted in terror.
His ethereal hands flailed wildly in the air, trying to return to his body, but a golden light had already swept in.
The golden dragon vortex outside, which had been transformed by Han Li, had absorbed the moon, stars, mountains, and rivers, and transformed into a massive sword blade wrapped in black magic energy, descending from the sky with an unstoppable aura.
The sword blade emitted a torrent of time law energy, filling the entire void, and the void froze, becoming completely still.
Only the eternal sword, which had been swung by Han Li using the Heavenly Executioner's Prison technique, combined with the power of the Five Elements Annihilation Fist, continuously shattered the void, falling onto Guo or Jin's body.
At this moment, there was no thunderous roar, no void shaking, only a grayish light enveloping the void, which shattered silently, opening a massive rift that spanned the entire Middle Earth Xian domain.
Guo or Jin's soul face was frozen, and his body, which had been condensed from chaotic energy, began to dissipate inch by inch.
The entire world seemed to lose its color and sound.
This scene remained frozen for dozens of breaths before a dark green light suddenly burst forth from the center of the chaotic body, hovering in the void, flashing with a bright and dark light.
"Boom, boom, boom..."
A series of loud explosions echoed through the void, unceasing.
The sword light had fallen, and Guo or Jin had been reduced to dust, while the sword light's origin, Han Li, reappeared.
He had restored his original form, but his face was pale as snow, and a golden thread flowed slowly from his seven orifices, writhing like a snake.
On his left shoulder, a wisp of black smoke rose, and when it dissipated, it revealed that his left arm had been eroded by the heavenly path, disappearing completely.
He raised his remaining right arm, wiping away the golden blood on his face, his body trembling uncontrollably.
By his side, a silver light gate opened, and Nan Gong Wan's figure emerged, gazing at the shattered void in front of her, especially the massive rift that spanned the sky.
"Husband..." Nan Gong Wan called out, rushing to support Han Li.
Han Li's face showed no joy, only a slow shake of his head, and he spoke in a low voice:
"Guo or Jin has been killed by us..."
Han Li's voice was barely audible, but Nan Gong Wan's eyes widened in shock, and she looked at Han Li with a mix of concern and fear.
"Really? That's great!"
Nan Gong Wan was initially delighted, but then seemed to think of something, and looked around hesitantly before asking:
"What about him..."
"He used all his strength to activate the Wheel of Reincarnation, forcing out the divine soul of Guo or Jin, and completely merging it with the Heavenly Way." Han Li sighed slightly and said.
Nan Gong Wan's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this, and her eyes became moist.
She pointed to her own brow, and then pulled outwards, pulling out a faint, ghostly shadow.
Han Li's eyes scanned the area, and he immediately recognized it as the last remaining fragment of Gan Ru Shuang's soul, which was extremely weak and unstable, like a flickering candle flame.
At this moment, a dark red glow flashed on a nearby broken object, and a wisp of residual soul flew out.
Han Li's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes, as he discovered that the Wheel of Reincarnation still had a remaining fragment, which had stored a wisp of the Wheel of Reincarnation's master's soul.
The soul's shadow was also faint and ethereal, but after flying out, it immediately flew towards Gan Ru Shuang's divine soul, and grasped her shoulder.
The two of them leaned against each other, and looked back at Nan Gong Wan and Han Li, a hint of a smile on their faces.
"Take care of Jiu Zhen for me, and the world will be at peace..." Han Li seemed to hear the Wheel of Reincarnation's master's voice in his mind.
Before he could respond, the two shadows had already slowly risen into the air, their light growing dimmer and dimmer, until they finally dispersed into the air like a wisp of smoke.
"I will." Han Li silently replied in his heart.
"Is this a good ending for them?" Nan Gong Wan leaned against Han Li's shoulder, her expression tinged with sadness, and asked.
Han Li heard her words, and for a moment, didn't know how to respond, and simply shook his head slightly.
Just then, he frowned slightly, and turned to look at the Demon Master, saying:
"Shi Dao friend, must you be so impatient? We just went through a life-and-death battle together, can't we cherish this rare opportunity to live?"
Nan Gong Wan heard this, and quickly turned to look, and saw that the Demon Master had already quietly appeared beside the Palm of Heaven, and had grasped it in his hand, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.
"Han Dao friend has misunderstood something, I didn't join forces with you to oppose Guo or Jin's actions. On the contrary, I actually agree with his views, but unfortunately, he achieved them before I did." The Demon Master said calmly.
Han Li looked at him, and said to Nan Gong Wan: "I'll let you go back first, and wait for me for a bit."
"You be careful." Nan Gong Wan hesitated for a moment, before deciding to trust Han Li, and nodded.
"I won't be long." Han Li said, and waved his hand, opening the silver light gate, and sending Nan Gong Wan back to the Flower Branch Cave Heaven.
"Strong cultivators strive to reach the heavens, and experience countless tribulations and calamities, all for the sake of being able to do as they please. But then there's the Heavenly Way, which suppresses them, making it hard for them to breathe. You, Han Li, had your left arm devoured by the Heavenly Way, don't you want to overthrow this annoying Heavenly Way?" The Demon Master didn't stop Han Li's actions, and instead, pointed at the sky, saying proudly.
"I once read a phrase in a mortal book, 'to do as one pleases without overstepping the bounds'. I don't know if you've heard it, Shi Dao friend? Under the Heavenly Way's rules, strong cultivators can do as they please. But if everyone struggles to become stronger without following the Heavenly Way, wouldn't the world become chaotic and disorderly, without the mortal world's starlight, without the mountain's flourishing flowers, without the sky's bright moon, what would be the point of this world?" Han Li smiled and asked.
"I didn't expect Han Dao friend to be such a hegemon, with the compassion of a woman?" The Demon Master laughed loudly, his voice echoing through the heavens, and not fading away.
"Is it necessary to fight?" Han Li smiled and asked.
"It's not that it's necessary to fight, but that you, Han Li, must die. You're too heavily injured, and if I don't kill you now, I'll never have a peaceful day again." The Demon Master's face was still smiling, but his voice was like cold frost, and his words were like a knife.
As he finished speaking, his body retreated a step, and he vanished into a spatial ripple.
Han Li had expected this, and the time laws on his body fluctuated wildly, as he waved his hand, and the space around him froze.
He looked around, and saw a small crack in the space, and raised his hand, stabbing out with his sword.
A "zhi la" sound echoed through the air, as a golden electric light shot out, and entered the crack.
The frozen time began to flow again, and the crack in the space began to widen, as a loud explosion shook the air.
"It seems you're really not lightly injured..." A voice suddenly came from behind Han Li.
Han Li didn't have time to turn around, as a silver light shot down, and a powerful spatial law wrapped around him, trapping him in place.
"Go with them!"
A loud shout echoed through the air, as the Demon Master's five fingers, wrapped in demonic energy, flashed with silver light, and shot towards Han Li's head. Han Li had almost exhausted his entire reserve of law and spiritual energy when he previously killed Guo or Jin. At this moment, he was truly unable to avoid the attack.
Just as the situation was at a critical juncture, a golden light flashed before him, and a gigantic golden beetle suddenly flew out, charging straight at the Demon Lord.
A loud, muffled sound echoed through the air as the Demon Lord was directly knocked back.
After blocking the fatal blow, the golden beetle turned around and bit into the void, forcibly tearing apart the spatial law energy surrounding Han Li.
"Xi Jin Xian... Dao Zu!" the Demon Lord exclaimed in shock after stabilizing his body.
He only knew that Han Li had a Xi Jin Xian by his side, but he didn't expect it to have advanced to the Dao Zu stage. During the previous great war, the Xi Jin Xian had not revealed itself, and the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation had not informed him of this.
The Demon Lord's injuries were not severe, but he had consumed a large amount of energy to kill Guo or Jin. Facing Han Li and the golden beetle together, he didn't think he had much of a chance. However, he had already become irreconcilable with Han Li, and if he couldn't eliminate him today, the situation would only worsen once Han Li recovered.
He unconsciously glanced at the small bottle in his hand, and a silver light flashed within his palm.
The mouth of the small bottle emitted a silver light, and numerous silver threads flowed out, entering his palm.
The Demon Lord's eyes widened, and a look of uncontainable joy flashed across his face.
He felt a surge of powerful spatial law energy flowing into his body from the small bottle, replenishing his depleted dantian.
"Haha... Heaven is helping me, Heaven is helping me..." the Demon Lord laughed with glee.
Han Li, however, was not surprised. In fact, his hand, which was hidden in his sleeve, was rapidly forming a seal.
Although he had not been able to refine the small bottle earlier, he had established a deep connection with it. Controlling it from a distance was not a problem.
At this moment, it was not the Demon Lord who was absorbing the spatial law energy, but rather Han Li manipulating the small bottle, forcefully pouring the energy into his body.
The Demon Lord soon stopped laughing.
He discovered that as more spatial law energy flowed out, the chaotic law energy mixed within began to penetrate his body.
When he tried to stop it, it was too late.
"Han Li, you..."
He only managed to utter half a sentence before his body began to swell and explode, with chaotic light balls bursting out of his body, tearing his flesh apart.
A silver light condensed into a miniature eight-wheeled chariot, driven by a silver divine soul, attempted to escape.
"You can't escape... Let me send you on your way." Han Li sighed, saying.
As soon as he finished speaking, a layer of time ripples spread out, and the void froze once more. The eight-wheeled chariot was trapped, unable to move.
Han Li, unaffected, walked over and reached out to capture the chariot and the Demon Lord's divine soul.
His expression unchanged, he simply pinched the chariot and the divine soul, causing them to disintegrate into a faint, ethereal light that vanished into nothingness.
Han Li looked around, taking in the chaotic void, and his emotions were complicated.
After a moment, he slowly withdrew his gaze, raised his hand, and recalled the small bottle, gently stroking its familiar patterns. His mind gradually calmed down.
At this moment, the small bottle's dark green leaf pattern emitted a golden light, and threads of time law energy flowed out, slowly pouring into Han Li's body, nourishing his every celestial orifice.
Han Li's fatigue dissipated, and the light in his eyes grew brighter.
He could even feel the residual influence of the chaotic laws slowly receding, and the disrupted Heavenly Way gradually returning to its normal course. The heavens and earth were purifying, and everything was slowly recovering its original vitality.
However, when he looked up, the void rift he had created above his head showed no signs of healing.
It seemed as though time had stopped, space was frozen, and the cycle of reincarnation was not involved. The rift would likely remain forever, a scar in the hearts of all True Immortals, a testament to this ancient calamity.
The shattered Middle Earth Realm would never return to its original state, and most of its territories had been completely destroyed. Many areas had fallen into the void during the previous battle, becoming lost realms like the Small Southern Zhou Realm.
However, the dense heavenly energy in the area, which had been disrupted by the Heavenly Way's operation, began to replenish itself, and it was likely that the scattered fragments would reassemble into a small continent, becoming a secret realm, after a hundred million years.
Similarly, other realms affected by the calamity were gradually recovering and healing.
(For mortals, the grand finale is approaching. I will update more frequently over the next two days.)
The great calamity that had shaken the various realms finally subsided.
"Has this great disaster finally passed?"
The survivors of the various realms, gazing up at the sky that was slowly clearing, felt as if they had been transported to a different world. Their hearts were filled with a sense of wonder and awe.
Since the dawn of time, this was perhaps the most devastating disaster to have occurred, but it was not the only one. In the flow of the ages, the heavens and the earth had witnessed countless calamities.
However, in the aftermath of the disaster, a new balance was slowly established.
As the saying goes, "Without destruction, there is no creation." The arrival of a new era was often born from the ashes of the old.
...
In the depths of the Yellow Springs, the vast and endless River of Reincarnation flowed.
Gan Jiuzhen gazed out at the river, as if sensing something, and tears began to flow from her eyes.
Just then, a low, mournful cry echoed through the air, and a dark red light descended from the heavens, landing before Gan Jiuzhen. She instinctively took a step back.
But as she gazed upon the dark red light, her eyes flashed with a complex mix of emotions.
The dark red light hovered before Gan Jiuzhen, and the surrounding red glow suddenly dissipated, revealing a circular disk within. It was the Six Paths of Reincarnation, and upon its surface was a faint, ordinary-looking face.
Gan Jiuzhen slowly approached the disk, her hand reaching out to touch the face. Her expression became resolute, and she whispered, "Father, Mother, do not worry. I, Jiuzhen, will cultivate the laws of reincarnation and attain the position of Dao Ancestor. I will find a way to revive you both."
...
In the ruins of the Middle Realm, Han Li stood silently, gazing out at the horizon.
Jin Tong flew over, transforming into his human form as he stood beside Han Li.
Just then, the void where the Chaos Vortex had once been split open, and over a hundred figures flew out, stopping at a distance from Han Li.
At the forefront of the group were eight figures, each a Dao Ancestor: Li Yuanjiu, Chi Rong, Chen Ruyan, Bai Yun Daozu, the White-Robed Fat Woman from the Demon Realm, the Dry Corpse Man, the White Ze from the Savage Realm, and the Bald-Headed Giant.
Behind the eight Dao Ancestors stood several dozen cultivators, divided into three groups: the Heavenly Court, the Demon Realm, and the Savage Realm. There were no cultivators from the Gray Realm, and the three Dao Ancestors, including the True Lord of the Heavenly Court, were nowhere to be seen.
Liu Le'er and Li Qi stood behind White Ze and the Bald-Headed Giant.
The White-Robed Fat Woman and the Dry Corpse Man stood behind a group of over a dozen cultivators from the Demon Realm, including the Third Prince, Shi Po Kong, and the Fifth Princess, Shi Jingyan.
The group was battered and bruised, their faces etched with exhaustion. They looked as if they had endured immense suffering.
Han Li gazed at the group, his expression unreadable.
He had sensed their presence earlier, but they had been trapped in the spatial storm when he had absorbed the Chaos Vortex.
Li Yuanjiu and the others saw Han Li and Jin Tong standing before them, and their faces paled as they felt the overwhelming pressure emanating from Han Li.
"Daoist Han, the outcome of your battle..." White Ze finally spoke up, his voice hesitant.
"The battle is over. Gu or Jin is dead, and the Three Thousand Dao Ancestors' Array has collapsed. The great calamity has passed," Han Li replied gravely.
Upon hearing this, White Ze and the others from the Savage Realm let out a sigh of relief, while the cultivators behind them burst into cheers.
The Heavenly Court cultivators, however, wore complex expressions, their faces a mix of joy and sorrow.
Bai Yun Daozu sighed, then turned to face the remaining Heavenly Court cultivators. His heart was filled with a sense of melancholy.
He had joined the Heavenly Court in part because of Gu or Jin's promise to break through the heavenly constraints. However, he was deeply devoted to the Heavenly Court, and had worked tirelessly to cultivate its power.
Just a short time ago, the Heavenly Court had been at the height of its power, its influence stretching across the entire realm. Now, in the span of a single day, the entire core of the Heavenly Court had been reduced to nothing.
Even the remaining cultivators had only survived due to the efforts of Bai Yun Daozu and the other two Heavenly Court Dao Ancestors, who had sacrificed themselves to protect them.
The Three Thousand Dao Ancestors' Array had consumed the Dao Ancestors at an alarming rate, perhaps because they were more closely tied to the three thousand great daos of the world.
"Where is the Demon Lord?" the White-Robed Fat Woman asked.
"Where is the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation?" Li Yuanjiu asked simultaneously.
"The Demon Lord and the Lord of the Wheel of Reincarnation have both fallen," Han Li replied, his voice devoid of emotion. He did not reveal the true circumstances of the Demon Lord's demise to the Demon Realm cultivators.
Li Yuanjiu's face showed surprise, followed by a furrowed brow as he pondered something.
Chen Ruyan and Chi Rong's expressions also changed, their faces a mix of shock and contemplation. The people of the Demon Realm, including the young woman in white, were surprised to hear of the Demon Lord's downfall, but they didn't show much sorrow.
Especially Shi Po Kong, Shi Jing Yan, and the handsome young prince of the Da Luo period, whose eyes flashed with a fierce desire for power.
"My father, the Demon Lord, has avenged the great injustice of our demon clan's ancestors, and his merit will be remembered for eternity! Although the primary culprit has died, the accomplices, including Bai Yun Dao Zu, still exist. Fellow daoists, let us join forces and eradicate the Heavenly Court, this poisonous tumor!" The handsome young prince exclaimed.
The others from the Demon Realm quickly responded, shouting in agreement, "Blood debts must be repaid, and the Heavenly Court must be trampled!"
Bai Ze and the bald giant's expressions changed slightly, but they didn't move, exchanging a glance with Han Li.
At this moment, they knew who held the most authority.
Bai Yun Dao Zu's face turned pale, and he swung his hand, conjuring a massive amount of white cloud energy that enveloped the ten-odd Heavenly Court cultivators behind him, sending them fleeing in all directions.
"Don't think you can escape!" A dull yellow light shot out, and the undead man from the Demon Realm chased after them.
He and the demonic woman had a close relationship, although they weren't dao companions, they had supported each other for many years. The demonic woman's death in the Three Thousand Dao God Array had filled the undead man with hatred towards the Heavenly Court.
He raised his hand, and a massive, dry claw appeared, exuding a foul stench.
The claw grabbed at the air, causing a massive collapse of the surrounding space, and a yellow spiritual domain expanded, covering Bai Yun Dao Zu and the others.
Bai Yun Dao Zu's expression changed, and he stopped in his tracks, preparing to cast a spell to defend himself.
Just then, a golden light burst forth, intervening between the two parties.
The dry claw was repelled, and the yellow spiritual domain shattered, disappearing with a loud "bang."
A figure appeared in the golden light, and it was Han Li.
Bai Yun Dao Zu's face turned pale, and he stared at Han Li in shock.
"Han Daoist, what are you doing?" the undead man asked, his face stiff.
"The True Immortal Realm has suffered greatly, and its primordial energy is severely depleted. It needs time to recover. The past is dead, and all past grievances should be forgotten. From now on, the major powers should not seek revenge or conflict. You, Dao Zu, should not take action recklessly," Han Li said, his voice calm but carrying a hint of heavenly authority.
His words were like a thunderclap, shaking the entire True Immortal Realm.
In this moment, all cultivators in the realm felt an overwhelming sense of power, as if they were being pressed down by an unseen force.
The people present trembled, their faces filled with fear.
"The Heavenly Court and our Demon Realm have settled their scores, and we will not take the initiative to provoke them again," Bai Ze and the bald giant said in unison.
Li Yuan Ji, Chi Rong, Chen Ru Yan, and the white-robed woman from the Demon Realm all nodded in agreement.
The undead man looked at Han Li, his eyes filled with a mix of fear and resignation.
"Do you have any doubts about my words?" Han Li asked, his arm still behind his back, as a massive, boundless pressure suddenly erupted, enveloping the undead man.
The undead man's face contorted, and his body began to tremble, as if he was being crushed by an invisible force.
He slowly knelt down, his eyes filled with terror.
"Han Daoist, please spare him this time," the white-robed woman begged, her voice trembling.
Han Li glanced at her, and the pressure eased slightly.
The undead man struggled to stand, his eyes filled with fear.
"It seems you understand now," Han Li said calmly, turning to the handsome young prince.
The young prince's face turned pale, and he retreated several steps, his eyes filled with fear.
"I will spare you this time, considering my past friendship with the Demon Lord. But if anyone dares to speak of provoking conflict again, they will suffer the same fate!" Han Li said, his voice cold and detached.
The surrounding space erupted in a massive explosion, and dozens of gigantic golden whirlpools appeared, spinning wildly and emitting a terrifying devouring power.
The space around them began to collapse, and everything was reduced to fine powder, swallowed by the whirlpools.
The cultivators present felt as if they were being swept away by a massive tidal wave, their bodies trembling with fear.
Some of the weaker cultivators cried out in terror, and the handsome young prince's body shook, his eyes filled with fear.
Li Yuan Ji, Chen Ru Yan, and the other Dao Zu were similarly affected, unable to control their bodies.
They could feel the whirlpools' power, which seemed to be holding back, waiting to unleash its full fury.
The time-manipulating power within the whirlpools made them realize that if they were swallowed, they would be erased from existence.
Just as everyone was shocked by Han Li's immense divine power, a sudden change occurred!
Dozens of golden whirlpools suddenly merged into one, forming a massive whirlpool that covered the sky and sun, and then rapidly descended upon the crowd.
Li Yuanji and the others' faces changed greatly, and they immediately tried to activate the laws to resist, but a massive and unmatched time law had already enveloped everyone, rendering their bodies and the laws within them immobile, unable to move or react, and could only watch in horror.
However, the massive golden whirlpool suddenly flashed and dispersed like bubbles.
The time law that had restrained the crowd also disappeared in an instant.
The sky cleared up again, and the shattered void nearby quickly recovered to its original state, making everything seem like a dream.
But the people present couldn't consider what had just happened as a mere dream.
The golden whirlpool's immense time law, which had crushed all fear and might, had left a deep impression on their minds, and even on their souls.
That seemed to be the most fundamental Heavenly Way!
Han Li's casual display of divine power had already surpassed that of the past or present.
They believed that if they had shown even a hint of disobedience, they would have been ruthlessly crushed by the Heavenly Way, leaving not even a single shred of residue behind.
Li Yuanji and the other Dao Ancestors looked at Han Li with a deep sense of reverence.
"You all should leave with your respective people." Han Li spoke again, his tone devoid of joy or sorrow.
The white-robed fat woman's face relaxed, and she bowed deeply to Han Li, then led the terrified people from the Demon Domain away, disappearing into the distance.
The dry corpse man didn't dare say anything, and followed the people from the Demon Domain in leaving.
"Obeying your orders." Bai Ze and the bald giant also bowed to Han Li, then led the remaining people from the Barbarian Domain away.
Liu Linger looked at Han Li, but didn't go over to speak to him.
Although they were only a hundred yards apart, it seemed like there was a massive chasm between them.
"Brother, wait for me, I'll continue to work hard, and one day I'll openly walk to your side." Liu Linger turned and left with Bai Ze and the others, silently saying this to herself.
Bai Yun Dao Ancestor led his subordinates to Han Li's side.
"Thank you, Han Daoist, for your timely assistance." Bai Yun Dao Ancestor bowed, and the other people from the Heavenly Court also bowed.
"It's not that I helped you, but rather I didn't want to increase the slaughter." Han Li calmly replied.
"No matter what, Han Daoist's favor today will be remembered in my heart, and if you have any orders in the future, I'll definitely do my best to assist you, to repay today's kindness." Bai Yun Dao Ancestor sincerely said, then led the remaining people from the Heavenly Court away.
"Why aren't you leaving? Is there something else you want to do?" Han Li looked at Li Yuanji, Chi Feng, and Chen Ruoyan, and said.
"Han Daoist has saved the True Immortal Realm from disaster, and has great merit towards the people of the world, and since Guo or Jin has passed away, the position of Heavenly Court's ruler is vacant, I wonder if Han Daoist is interested in taking it? We three can assist you with all our might." Li Yuanji and the others looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, then spoke.
Han Li's eyebrows moved, and he knew that he had given the three of them the wrong impression by saving Bai Yun Dao Ancestor.
"I don't have any desire for power, don't misunderstand." Han Li waved his hand, and firmly said.
Li Yuanji and the others were taken aback, and stood there in shock.
"This great calamity has caused the downfall of many Dao Ancestors in the True Immortal Realm, and the various immortal domains will probably be in chaos, you three are all original Dao Ancestors, and are the focus of attention, quickly return to your respective sects and stabilize the situation." Han Li said.
Li Yuanji and the others heard this, looked at each other, and saw the feeling of relief in each other's eyes, and unanimously agreed, then turned and flew away.
Li Yuanji's figure had just risen into the air, when he suddenly seemed to sense something, and turned back to see Han Li nodding at him from afar, and he was slightly taken aback, then nodded back at Han Li, before turning and flying away as a streak of light.
Soon, only Han Li was left in the sky.
"Han Daoist, why did you drive those people away so hastily?" Jin Tong walked over, her big eyes moving as she asked.
Han Li didn't speak, and waved his hand, leading Jin Tong towards the high altitude, and soon arrived at the outer realm.
He flew deeper into the outer realm, and stopped after a while, his face revealing a hint of pain.
"What are you doing?" Jin Tong asked urgently.
Han Li's head was surrounded by a loud rumbling, and a golden light shot out, enveloping his body.
His body seemed to be melting within the golden light.
After a while, the rumbling stopped, and the golden light disappeared, and Han Li's body returned to normal.
"Has the Heavenly Way started to erode your body?" Jin Tong's face was solemn.
"I used too much law energy in the battle with Guo or Jin, and it's possible that the next time I clash with someone, I'll be directly merged with the Heavenly Way." Han Li sighed.
"How can it be so fast?" Jin Tong was shocked.
She had become a Dao Ancestor some time ago, and had engaged in several battles with people, but the Heavenly Way's erosion was not severe yet.
"Do you have any way to counter this?" Jin Tong asked, putting aside her previous question.
Han Li's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and he didn't speak.
He had just become a Dao Ancestor, and didn't have Guo or Jin's deep understanding of the Heavenly Way's erosion, nor did he have a way to create a divine seal like Guo or Jin.
Guo or Jin was now nothing but a corpse, and the entire Middle Earth Immortal Domain had been reduced to ashes, making it impossible to find any records of Guo or Jin's methods to avoid being merged with the Heavenly Way.
"Han youngster, I have a way to help you avoid the Heavenly Way's erosion." The voice of the Bottle Spirit suddenly rang out. Here is the translated text:
"Senior Ping Ling, do you have any methods?" Han Li asked through voice transmission.
"After advancing to the level of Dao Ancestor, one will gradually be eroded by the Heavenly Dao, and this phenomenon is irreversible and unstoppable. Even if Guo or Jin created the so-called Dao God Seal, it only slightly delays the erosion of the Heavenly Dao, treating the symptoms but not the root cause." Ping Ling snorted and said with disdain.
"Senior, do you have a foolproof method?" Han Li's eyes lit up slightly.
"It's fortunate that you have the Palm of Heaven vessel. This vessel was born from the chaos and can contain any law of the universe. If you truly want to escape the erosion of the Heavenly Dao, you must pour the Dao Ancestor's source law into the vessel. This will cause your cultivation to drop back to the Great Luo Realm, naturally escaping the erosion of the Heavenly Dao. However, the Palm of Heaven vessel previously contained the chaos law, and now it will contain your time law, which may exceed the vessel's limits." Ping Ling said.
"What will happen if it exceeds the limits?" Han Li's heart tightened, and he asked urgently through voice transmission.
"What will happen if it exceeds the limits? It will simply dissipate... In other words, if you use this method, you will forever lose the Palm of Heaven vessel. Consider carefully whether to use this method." Ping Ling's voice was devoid of emotion.
Han Li heard these words and stood silently, his face changing between light and dark.
He had already killed Guo or Jin, the first person of the Heavenly Court, and taken his place as the Time Dao Ancestor. On the path of pursuing the Great Dao, it seemed that there were no longer any obstacles.
As long as he was willing, he would be the true number one person in the True Immortal Realm, and all the domains of the True Immortal Realm, as well as countless lower realms, would be under his control.
He seemed to have reached the point of being as eternal as the heavens and earth.
Wasn't this the goal he had set for himself when he first entered the Immortal Realm?
Behind all of this was the accumulation of countless years of careful planning, countless opportunities, and the sacrifices of countless people...
But the scenes of Bone Emperor and Guo or Jin being consumed by the Heavenly Dao after using the law of the universe flashed through his mind.
All of this intertwined with his youthful ambitions, tugging at his heart.
Jin Tong did not hear Han Li and Ping Ling's voice transmission and saw Han Li's serious expression, thinking that he was considering his strategy, so he stood quietly beside him, not interrupting.
After a long time, Han Li raised his eyes and slowly opened his mouth to say:
"Thank you, Senior Ping Ling, for pointing out the way. I am willing to give up the Palm of Heaven vessel, please help me disperse the Dao Ancestor's source law within me."
"Your time law may stir up again at any moment, so we must not delay. Let us begin." Ping Ling's voice was slightly joyful, but immediately returned to normal.
A green light flashed, and the Palm of Heaven vessel flew down to Han Li's eyes, growing to the size of a washbasin.
Han Li saw this scene, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly as he swept his sleeve.
A silver light gate appeared beside him, and Nan Gong Wan's figure flew out from it.
"Wan'er, Jin Tong, I have some matters to attend to. Please retreat to a distance." Han Li said calmly.
Jin Tong was taken aback but did not ask questions, leading Nan Gong Wan to fly back.
Nan Gong Wan had been paying attention to the outside situation from the flower branch space.
She looked at Han Li, and her heart had a premonition that he was about to make a shocking decision. Although she was anxious, she did not ask any questions due to her trust in Han Li.
Han Li single-handedly pinched a seal, pressing it onto the Palm of Heaven vessel, and the enormous time law within him poured out, entering the vessel.
The Palm of Heaven vessel radiated extremely bright green light, and a dark green light cluster appeared within, rolling turbulently like thunderclouds.
The vessel seemed to contain a boundless deep sea, and no matter how much time law was poured in, it was easily contained without any obstruction.
Han Li sensed this situation, and his eyebrows rose slightly as he increased the flow of time law into the vessel. The green light emitted by the vessel also intensified.
At this moment, the dark green light cluster within the vessel suddenly rolled violently, and a thick, dark green light beam shot out from the vessel's mouth, entering the void.
The nearby void immediately rolled, and a golden time-space tunnel appeared, swallowing Han Li and the Palm of Heaven vessel.
Jin Tong saw this scene, and his face changed slightly as he quickly dodged to the side.
"Nan Gong Dao friend, Han Dao friend has vast divine abilities, and he will certainly overcome this problem. Don't worry." Jin Tong said to Nan Gong Wan.
"I'm not worried. Since Husband asked us to wait here, we'll wait." Nan Gong Wan smiled and said, her expression calm.
Jin Tong saw Nan Gong Wan's expression and secretly admired her.
Han Li was within the time-space tunnel, surrounded by endless time-space energy that was tearing at him. However, the Palm of Heaven vessel was currently radiating a gentle green light, easily isolating the surrounding time-space energy.
"What's going on?"
Han Li had traversed time-space many times, but this time, the feeling seemed different.
"Your time law has stimulated the Palm of Heaven vessel's time-space traversal divine ability. Don't worry about it, the next step is the most crucial. I will activate the Palm of Heaven vessel's power and begin to absorb your source Dao Ancestor law. You must not be distracted!" Ping Ling's voice came, extremely serious.
"Okay." Han Li's eyes flashed with a hint of light, and he nodded, fully activating the time law within him.
A golden light that was even more dazzling than the sun burst forth from his palm, containing an incredibly dense time law that merged into the vessel.
The Palm of Heaven vessel's surface flashed with a golden mark, extremely clear, like a crack.
Han Li's aura immediately weakened, but the Heavenly Dao's threat above his head seemed to relax slightly.
He looked up, and his eyes lit up with excitement as he continued to stimulate the source law within him, pouring it into the vessel.
As the golden light continued to flow from his palm, entering the vessel, the golden marks on the vessel's surface increased, and Han Li's aura rapidly decreased.
...
After an unknown amount of time, the last burst of golden light shot out from Han Li's palm, and the intense golden light that had been fluctuating wildly around his body suddenly dissipated.
As his aura plummeted, his cultivation also dropped to the peak of the Great Luo Realm.
"Thank you, Senior Bottle Spirit, for your assistance," Han Li took a deep breath and released his grip on the Heaven's Hand Bottle.
The Bottle Spirit didn't respond to his words.
At this moment, the Heaven's Hand Bottle suddenly trembled, and the golden light on its surface flashed wildly. The dark green light inside the bottle also jumped wildly.
Han Li's face changed, and he quickly retreated, releasing a golden light ring from his body to resist the surrounding space-time forces.
With a loud "boom," the Heaven's Hand Bottle exploded, turning into countless dark green light orbs that slowly dispersed.
These dark green light orbs didn't disperse, instead gathering together to form a person. In a short time, they condensed into an eight-year-old green-haired child with a clear and elegant face, but whose sex couldn't be discerned.
"Haha, after so many years, I've finally escaped that accursed bottle and regained my freedom!" The green-haired child looked at its body and laughed loudly.
"Senior Bottle Spirit, congratulations on finally breaking free from the Heaven's Hand Bottle's constraints," Han Li said calmly, as if he had long anticipated this.
"Ah, you knew about this?" The Bottle Spirit was somewhat surprised by Han Li's reaction.
"Senior Bottle Spirit, as the spirit of the Heaven's Hand Bottle, you were often silent and focused on your cultivation. I guessed that you had ulterior motives. Moreover, my Cultivation of the Spirit technique is complete, and I'm extremely sensitive to mental connections. Although you're not a living being, I could still sense your thoughts when we communicated, so I roughly guessed some things," Han Li said with a faint smile.
"Ah, the master of the Reincarnation Hall is indeed a genius, creating such a powerful Cultivation of the Spirit technique. You sensed my intentions, yet you still dared to cooperate with me?" The Bottle Spirit smiled and glanced at Han Li, saying.
"Senior Bottle Spirit, although you had ulterior motives, I didn't sense any malice. It was a mutually beneficial cooperation, so why would I be afraid? Besides, although my current realm has dropped back to the Great Luo Realm, my understanding of the time laws hasn't weakened. I'm not someone who can be easily manipulated," Han Li said with a faint smile.
"Haha, good! You're indeed Han Li. Although you've returned to the peak of the Great Luo Realm, you should still be cautious when using the time laws... Moreover, you can rest assured that I have no ill intentions towards you. I'm grateful that you abandoned the Dao Ancestor's power, allowing me to smoothly escape the Heaven's Hand Bottle," the Bottle Spirit said, laughing again, and bowed to Han Li.
"We simply helped each other, Senior Bottle Spirit. There's no need to be so polite. What are your plans now?" Han Li raised his arm, returned the courtesy, and asked.
"After being trapped in the bottle for countless years, I naturally want to explore the True Immortal Realm. If I have the chance, I'd like to take a look at the world beyond the True Immortal Realm," the Bottle Spirit said, its face filled with excitement.
"The world beyond the True Immortal Realm? Are you referring to the Underworld and the Gray Realm?" Han Li's eyes widened slightly.
"Ah, Han Dao friend, your vision is a bit narrow. Don't you think that the True Immortal Realm, the Underworld, and the Gray Realm are the entirety of the world?" The Bottle Spirit smiled, its expression becoming more serious.
"The True Immortal Realm's various immortal domains were opened up within the boundless Wilderness Realm. Therefore, the Wilderness Realm's area should be larger than the True Immortal Realm's known territory. As for what lies beyond the Wilderness Realm, I don't know," Han Li said thoughtfully.
"Ah, Han Dao friend, your perspective is still insufficient. To be accurate, the True Immortal Realm, the Underworld, and the Gray Realm were all born from the initial Chaos Space. The Heaven's Hand Bottle was also born from there. According to the Heaven's Hand Bottle's original memories, the Chaos Space is boundless, and it's unknown how many realms similar to the True Immortal Realm were born. However, it's definitely not just two or three. How about it, Han Dao friend? Are you interested in exploring the world's end with me?" The Bottle Spirit looked at Han Li.
"Senior Bottle Spirit, you have a lofty ambition. I admire that. However, I've just gone through a great calamity, and my mind is truly exhausted. Moreover, there are people waiting for me to return, so I'm afraid I won't be able to accompany you on this journey," Han Li's eyes sparkled, but he shook his head.
"Alright, people have different ambitions. I won't force you," the Bottle Spirit said, its tone slightly disappointed.
"Senior Bottle Spirit, we're currently in a space-time tunnel, and we no longer have the Heaven's Hand Bottle. How will we return?" Han Li didn't want to discuss this topic further, so he changed the subject.
"Don't worry, I'm the Bottle Spirit of the Heaven's Hand Bottle. I can do what the Heaven's Hand Bottle could do. At least, I can bring you back without any issues. However, Han Dao friend, if I'm not mistaken, you should still have some regrets. Otherwise, you wouldn't have hesitated so long when choosing whether to abandon the Heaven's Hand Bottle," the Bottle Spirit said, looking at Han Li.
Han Li's mind involuntarily conjured up the image of Mu Yao's enchanting figure.
The Bottle Spirit smiled, gazing at Han Li without speaking.
"Senior Bottle Spirit, you're right. I do have a regret. I wonder if you could help me with one more thing?" Han Li sighed and bowed deeply to the Bottle Spirit.
"Ah, the emotions of you humans are indeed strange. What's there to be attached to in love? Death is just a cycle, and enlightenment is just a matter of time. Alright, I'll help you fulfill your wish. However, I won't be involved in your affairs," the Bottle Spirit said, its eyes gleaming with a strange light.
As soon as the Bottle Spirit finished speaking, its hands clasped together, and a layer of emerald green light enveloped them. The light rapidly intensified, merging together.
The emerald green light came and went quickly, dissipating soon after.
The Bottle Spirit opened its hands, and a thumb-sized transparent bottle appeared in its palm. The bottle was very similar to the Heaven's Hand Bottle, and the aura it emitted was also similar.
"This is the last bit of the Heaven's Hand Bottle's power. You can use it as a temporary Heaven's Hand Bottle. Use this item to return to the past and handle your affairs," the Bottle Spirit said, tossing the transparent bottle to Han Li.
"Thank you, Senior Bottle Spirit," Han Li's eyes flashed with a hint of joy.
"With your current mastery of the time laws, you should be able to accurately find the past time point. However, this item's power is limited, and you won't be able to stay in the past for too long. So, you should act quickly," the Bottle Spirit said, its expression serious. I know, thank you, Senior. Han Li nodded, bowing his head again to Xie.
Alright, Han Dao Friend, I've repaid your kindness, let's part ways here, and from now on, we'll be separated by mountains and rivers, with no chance of meeting again. The Bottle Spirit waved goodbye to Han Li, and with a flash of his body, he flew away into the distance.
Han Li was about to wave goodbye, but the Bottle Spirit seemed unable to stay for even a moment, and with a blink of an eye, he disappeared from view.
Han Li's hand, still raised in farewell, froze in mid-air, and he couldn't help but rub his nose in self-deprecation.
Then, he turned his gaze to the transparent small bottle in his hand, and after a moment of contemplation, he pinched a seal and pointed.
A golden light shot out from his fingertip, entering the bottle.
The surface of the transparent small bottle immediately produced a layer of green mist, and faintly, a series of symbols began to flash on its surface. The surrounding time force began to fluctuate, as if controlled by the power emanating from the bottle.
Han Li closed his eyes, silently sensing the transparent small bottle and the fluctuations in the surrounding time force. It was a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling.
A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes, and with a single hand, he pinched another seal.
The green mist on the small bottle suddenly intensified, enveloping Han Li's body and propelling him forward into the depths of the time-space tunnel.
As he flew through the tunnel, surrounded by the light of the small bottle, Han Li felt no effects from the tunnel's distortions, and his speed was extremely fast.
However, the small bottle's originally semi-transparent walls were gradually becoming more transparent.
Han Li's heart tightened, and he quickly calmed his mind, focusing more intently on controlling the bottle.
After flying for about half a quarter of an hour, he gazed intently forward.
"About... it should be here." Han Li muttered to himself, raising his hand to wave.
A dark green light shot out from his fingertip, slashing through the time-space tunnel.
"Rip!" The tunnel was suddenly torn apart, revealing a blinding white light that exploded forth.
Han Li felt himself being flung out of the tunnel, and as he opened his eyes, he found himself above a vast desert.
Rumble!
The nearby void violently trembled, unable to withstand Han Li's powerful aura, and large areas began to collapse.
He hastily employed the Wan Kui Xuan Jing technique, using all his might to restrain his breath and the surging law force within his body.
Han Li's eyebrows twitched, and he realized that although his cultivation had retreated to the peak of the Great Luo stage, his control over the time laws within his body had become more refined, and his breath was more stable.
The nearby void ceased its collapse, but continued to violently fluctuate like the surface of water.
Han Li didn't bother with this, and instead expanded his divine sense.
Immediately after, he furrowed his brow, and inwardly exclaimed, "Bad, the spatial force control isn't quite right! This isn't the Spiritual Realm!"
Without the Bottle Spirit's assistance, Han Li was unable to fully control the transparent small bottle, and he had been transported to this unknown location. However, he shouldn't have deviated too far.
This place was an unfamiliar realm, filled with yellow sand, and he had no idea where it was.
Han Li's hand still held the small bottle, and although it wasn't being activated, he could clearly sense the power it contained, slowly flowing away.
His heart felt a sense of urgency, and he quickly pinched a seal. A golden light flashed on his body, and he vanished into thin air, reappearing in a massive sandcastle-shaped structure.
Inside, he found numerous alien cultivators with horns on their heads and scales on their bodies.
Han Li's surroundings continued to fluctuate, causing the sandcastle to shake violently.
The alien cultivators were shocked, and several high-level cultivators, who had reached the fusion stage, immediately roared in anger and pounced towards Han Li. However, they were unable to get close.
Han Li had no time to waste, and with a wave of his hand, he seized one of the highest-level alien cultivators and employed the Soul Search technique.
"Ah, I see, this is the Yellow Sand Realm, and it's not far from the Spiritual Realm. Luckily, I didn't deviate too much." Han Li's heart relaxed, and with a flick of his wrist, he discarded the alien cultivator. His body flashed with golden light, and he vanished once more.
The alien cultivators within the sandcastle exchanged bewildered glances, and the events that had transpired in the blink of an eye seemed like a dream.
The alien cultivator who had been seized by Han Li felt as though he had walked along the edge of death, and although his body seemed unharmed, he was left with a lingering sense of fear, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
In a certain place on the Lingjie Continent, the air was filled with the sound of thunder. Han Li's figure suddenly appeared in the void.
His heart stirred, and a powerful divine sense spread out, covering the entire Lingjie Continent in an instant.
The next moment, a loud thunderclap sounded, and Han Li's figure was once again engulfed in a flash of lightning. When the lightning dissipated, his figure had vanished.
In the depths of the Wuyi Sea, there was a small island with an area of only 20-30 miles. The surrounding sea was endless, with howling winds and massive waves crashing against the shore. The island was surrounded by a sea of turbulent waves, like a thousand horses galloping.
Above the island, a large number of five-colored tribulation clouds floated in the void, emitting a thick and heavy killing aura. Around these clouds, new tribulation clouds were constantly forming under the interweaving of five-colored lights.
Under the layers of tribulation clouds, a woman in a white robe stood facing the wind, her figure slender and elegant. It was Yuan Yao.
Her white robe fluttered in the wind, and her hands were constantly forming hand seals. Her beautiful face had a hint of solemnity.
Around her, 72 flying swords floated in the air, each emitting a brilliant light. The lights converged to form a large, blue-colored sword lotus, protecting her figure.
Besides the sword lotus, there were also several other treasures floating beside her.
In the distance, several beautiful figures stood in the air, watching Yuan Yao's situation.
If Han Li were here, he would recognize these people, who were not only familiar to him but also his close friends. They were Nangong Wan, Yanli, Bingfeng, and Yin Yue.
Their cultivation had reached the Great Completion realm, and their appearance had not changed much.
Apart from Nangong Wan and the others, there was no one else nearby.
After a while, the five-colored tribulation clouds accumulated to a size of hundreds of miles. Suddenly, they began to roll and churn, with a large, black hole appearing in the center of each cloud.
"Yuan Yao, you must hold on!" Yanli whispered, her hands clenched into fists.
Nangong Wan looked up at the thick, colorless tribulation clouds, a hint of worry in her eyes. But she did not speak, only gazing intently at Yuan Yao.
Bingfeng and Yin Yue also looked worried, but they knew they could not disturb Yuan Yao at this moment. They could only pray silently.
Yuan Yao looked up at the tribulation clouds, her eyebrows furrowed. She seemed to have sensed something, and her hands moved faster, forming hand seals. The blue-colored sword lotus around her began to glow brighter, and she also activated the other treasures.
In an instant, the sword lotus around her was surrounded by a multitude of colorful lights, making her beautiful face even more stunning.
Just then, a loud rumbling sound came from the tribulation clouds, and a massive amount of fire rain poured down from the black holes, covering Yuan Yao.
The temperature in the surrounding void skyrocketed, and the island's vegetation was instantly incinerated. The ground turned into a sea of molten lava.
The sea water around the island evaporated, forming a massive crater. The surrounding sea water rushed in, but it was immediately evaporated.
Yuan Yao's face was still calm, but her nose was beaded with sweat.
She swung her arm, and the blue-colored sword lotus around her began to spin rapidly, emitting a multitude of sword energies that constantly cut through the fire rain.
However, the fire rain continued to pour down, and its intensity only increased.
The tribulation lasted for a full incense stick's time, and Yuan Yao was still holding on. But her face had turned pale, and she was covered in sweat.
The blue-colored sword lotus around her was still shining brightly, but if one looked closely, they could see that some of the flying swords had begun to develop small cracks. The cracks were spreading, and the sword lotus was on the verge of collapse.
The other treasures were also in a similar state, having reached their limits.
Just then, the five-colored tribulation clouds suddenly stopped pouring down fire rain, and the surrounding void's temperature dropped rapidly.
The sky and earth returned to their normal state, as if nothing had happened.
Yanli, Yin Yue, and the others watched from a distance, their faces relaxing. Nangong Wan's face was still calm, but her eyes seemed to hold a hint of concern.
Yuan Yao took a deep breath and quickly pulled out a blue-colored pill, swallowing it.
But before she could refine the pill, the five-colored tribulation clouds began to converge, forming a massive, five-colored vortex. The vortex was surrounded by a thick, black hole.
A loud rumbling sound came from the vortex, and a purple-colored lightning bolt flashed out, followed by a multitude of purple-colored lightning arcs. They condensed into massive, purple-colored lightning balls, each one emitting a dazzling display of lightning.
The lightning balls poured down from the sky, covering Yuan Yao. Although they did not cause the temperature to rise, they were even more terrifying than the fire rain.
Yuan Yao gritted her teeth, her hands forming hand seals as she activated the remaining divine energy within her. She poured all her energy into the sword lotus and the other treasures. The azure sword lotus's radiance greatly increased, its range expanding nearly twofold, as countless azure sword energies intertwined to form sword dragons that charged towards the numerous purple lightning balls.
The few treasures transformed into brilliant lights, joining the azure sword lotus as they soared into the sky.
The intense, explosive sounds of the collision between the two sides shook the air, and upon contact, they burst apart like oil meeting water.
The purple lightning balls' power far surpassed that of the azure sword lotus and the treasures, and after a brief pause, they effortlessly shattered the azure sword lotus and the treasures, mercilessly falling towards the defenseless Yuan Yao.
At this moment, Yuan Yao's internal energy had nearly been depleted, and although she still had some tricks up her sleeve, they were no match for the previous treasures. A faint, mournful smile appeared on her beautiful face.
"Brother Han, it seems we truly have no fate to meet again in this life..." she whispered to herself, abandoning all resistance and closing her eyes.
"Yuan Yao, don't give up!" Yan Li couldn't help but shout, her voice trembling with tears.
Nan Gong Wan softly sighed, closing her eyes as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
Bing Feng and Yin Yue, although anxious to assist Yuan Yao, were powerless to intervene in this scale of heavenly tribulation. They couldn't even get close.
The numerous purple lightning balls rolled down, engulfing Yuan Yao's body, and the thunderous sounds shook the heavens, drowning out Yan Li's anguished cries in the distance.
The rolling lightning illuminated the destruction of Yuan Yao's protective aura, and the terrifying power of the lightning was about to tear her body apart.
Just as all hope seemed lost, a golden ancient mirror suddenly appeared above Yuan Yao's head, its surface radiating golden light that instantly formed a protective barrier around her.
The purple lightning balls struck the golden barrier, but it only trembled slightly, steadfastly guarding Yuan Yao.
Yuan Yao only heard the thunderous sounds, but did not await the heavenly lightning's descent. She opened her eyes, gazing at the scene before her in shock and awe.
"How... how is this possible?" Yuan Yao whispered to herself.
She did not believe that anyone in this world could defy the power of the heavenly tribulation.
Nearby, a figure emerged from the turbulent sea, and it was Han Li, who had finally arrived.
"Ah, I've finally made it..." Han Li's eyes locked onto Yuan Yao, his face relaxing slightly.
The heavenly tribulation in the sky seemed to sense someone intervening, and it suddenly expanded tenfold, as if enraged.
A massive, unprecedented heavenly tribulation erupted, and the nearby Nan Gong Wan and others were caught off guard, their eyes rolling back as they fell into a deep slumber, plummeting towards the sea below.
Han Li saw this and quickly snapped his fingers.
A gentle, golden light appeared beneath the women, supporting them and carrying them to a safe distance.
He had just finished this when the five-colored heavenly tribulation in the sky intensified, and countless massive purple lightning balls rolled down, striking the golden ancient mirror. The mirror's protective barrier rippled, but Han Li's voice was calm and collected.
"Hmph!"
Han Li's fingers danced in a subtle motion, and the golden ancient mirror's surface flowed with spiritual energy. The golden barrier immediately solidified, unaffected by the increasingly intense lightning.
Yuan Yao gazed blankly at the lightning balls exploding mere inches from her, feeling as though she was dreaming.
A full minute passed, and the purple lightning balls finally dissipated.
The five-colored heavenly tribulation let out a muffled sound, before suddenly bursting apart and dispersing.
A purple light flashed across the sky, and a long, white fissure appeared.
A white light pillar shot down from the fissure, enveloping Yuan Yao's body.
"How... how did I... I've actually survived the heavenly tribulation..." Yuan Yao's face was filled with ecstatic joy.
She suddenly remembered something and looked around, her eyes locking onto Han Li in the distance.
"Thank you, esteemed immortal, for your timely assistance. I wonder if I might behold your true form, and I shall forever remember this in my heart." Yuan Yao said with gratitude.
Han Li smiled faintly, but did not reveal his true form.
At that moment, a massive, unseen force descended from the white light pillar, and Yuan Yao's body was lifted into the air, disappearing into the distance.
Han Li let out a gentle sigh, then gazed at the small vial in his hand, his brow furrowed.
The vial was now nearly transparent, and it couldn't last much longer.
His face suddenly changed, and he activated the vial, a golden light flashing as he returned to the time-space tunnel, transforming into a phantom that flew towards the depths of the tunnel.
A moment later, he snapped his fingers, and the white light around him intensified, and he vanished from the time-space tunnel, reappearing above a different, turbid sea.
Han Li stood in mid-air, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes filled with a nostalgic gaze.
A gentle sea breeze caressed his face, carrying the scent of salt and dampness.
This was the Endless Sea, near the Heavenly South, where he and Ziyu had emerged from a Luohou's belly all those years ago.
The spiritual energy here was extremely scarce, but Han Li's soul felt exceptionally at ease, as if a wandering son had finally returned to his hometown after years of hardship and struggle.
It was a sense of spiritual peace, a feeling that couldn't be replaced by any other place.
Han Li took a few deep breaths, but didn't linger, disappearing from his original location and reappearing in the air above a mountain range.
This mountain range wasn't particularly high, with over a dozen peaks of varying sizes connected together, forming a striking landscape.
The peaks were dotted with checkpoints and hidden passages, with figures in martial attire entering and exiting, all belonging to the Seven Mysteries Sect.
This was the Qixia Mountain, and the Seven Mysteries Sect had taken over this land. Many familiar faces were here, including Mo Tai, Zhang Tie, and his own youthful self.
Near the Seven Mysteries Sect's disciple quarters, a small valley was home to a cold and stern black-clad youth, wielding a long sword as he practiced a sword technique.
This youth was none other than Li Feiyu.
With the Palm of Heaven lost, Han Li took this final opportunity to return to the past, to catch a glimpse of his childhood friend.
Li Feiyu swung his sword, the wind howling, the blade flashing, and the sound of thunder echoing, exuding a powerful aura.
His clothes were soaked in sweat, and his arm was red and swollen, but he didn't stop to rest, continuing to practice with gritted teeth.
Han Li watched this scene, nodding in approval. Back then, Li Feiyu's sword technique was exceptional, and the reason for this was not just the Heaven's Marrow Pill, but also the countless hours of diligent practice.
As he watched, the small bottle in his hand grew dimmer, its remaining power dwindling.
Han Li's gaze shifted, and he raised his hand to seal a technique.
A black light shot out from his fingertips, disappearing into Li Feiyu's brow. Li Feiyu, still practicing, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary, continuing to wield his sword.
Han Li smiled faintly, about to return to reality, when his brow suddenly twitched, and he looked down.
A young black-skinned youth with an ordinary face was walking out of the Divine Hand Valley, his expression dazed, as if lost in thought.
Wasn't this his own youthful self?
Han Li's heart stirred, his gaze extending forward.
A short distance ahead, the Palm of Heaven lay quietly on the ground, waiting to be discovered.
However, judging by the youth's footsteps, it seemed that he would pass by the bottle without noticing it.
Han Li's thoughts turned, and he raised his foot to kick.
The Palm of Heaven, buried in the ground, shifted slightly to the left, silent and unnoticed.
"Ah!" The youth's eyes widened, and he sat down, clutching his foot.
Han Li's lips curled into a smile.
At that moment, the bottle in his hand finally turned transparent, its power exhausted, shattering with a loud crash.
A temporal portal appeared behind Han Li, a surge of time energy sweeping in, enveloping his body.
In the Heavenly Realm, Nan Gongwan and Jintong stood, their eyes filled with a hint of anxiety.
Just then, a temporal portal appeared before them, and a figure emerged.
It was Han Li.
Nan Gongwan and Jintong's faces lit up with joy, and they rushed to greet him.
...
Time passed, and the ages went by, with countless years slipping away unnoticed.
In the Black Soil Heavenly Realm, the Ascension Platform was abuzz with activity, as hundreds of Ascension Arrays hummed with energy, radiating a halo of light. Each array was flanked by an Ascension Guide.
The Black Soil Heavenly Realm connected to countless lower realms, and the arrays would occasionally activate, sending up a new Ascendant, who would be guided by the Ascension Guides to a distant, sprawling complex.
Suddenly, an array on the Ascension Platform flared to life, shooting a beam of light towards the heavens. A young man with a cold, stern face emerged from the array, his body half-charred, clearly having endured a grueling Ascension.
The young man's hand, still bleeding, grasped a black sword, the two seeming to be connected.
The sword, adorned with the ancient characters "Fei Yu", was a Heavenly Artifact, its body cracked and worn, yet still radiating an astonishing aura.
An Ascension Guide, a middle-aged man with white hair, stood beside the array, his eyes wide with surprise.
He raised his hand, and a white light enveloped the young man, rapidly healing his wounds. The young man's eyes snapped open, and he gazed at the sword in his hand, a hint of pain in his eyes.
"I am Gao Sheng, welcome to the Black Soil Heavenly Realm," the Ascension Guide said with a smile.
"I am Li Feiyu, from the North Wind Realm," the young man replied, his eyes scanning the surroundings in wonder.
The Ascension Guide nodded, his expression warm. “Lì Fēi Yǔ……” Gāo Shēng was taken aback for a moment.
“Is there something wrong with my name?” Lì Fēi Yǔ saw Gāo Shēng's expression and his eyes flashed with movement.
“There's nothing wrong, it's just that your name is very similar to that of a great expert in the True Immortal Realm, differing only by one character. That senior is called Lì Fēi Yǔ, and you are Lì Fēi Yǔ, the feather of the wing,” Gāo Shēng said with a smile.
“Oh, that's quite a coincidence,” Lì Fēi Yǔ said, his eyebrows twitching.
“Let's not talk about that. Lì Fēi Yǔ, your luck is very good. The Black Soil Immortal Domain is one of the most prosperous domains in the True Immortal Realm, and the True Immortal Realm's first sect, the True Words Sect, is located here. I, Gāo, am the True Words Sect's guide immortal, and our sect welcomes cultivators like you who have ascended from the lower realm. Are you interested in joining our sect?” Gāo Shēng suppressed his urge to divine the future and invited Lì Fēi Yǔ with a smile.
“I've just ascended to the True Immortal Realm and don't know anything about it. Joining a sect without understanding the situation doesn't seem too appropriate. Can you explain the situation in the True Immortal Realm to me?” Lì Fēi Yǔ asked, his expression unchanged.
“Of course, the True Immortal Realm is vast and boundless, divided into thousands of large and small domains. The Black Soil Immortal Domain is one of them, and each domain is enormous. Ordinary immortals can't even leave a single domain in their lifetime. As for the cultivators' realms, there's a saying that 'Golden Immortals are Tai Yi, Great Luo is the ancestor of the Dao, the Three Thousand Great Daos, and the Law is the Supreme.' Each realm requires hundreds of millions of years, or even tens of millions of years to achieve. Our sect's Hàn Tiān Zūn is a Great Luo realm expert, and he's indeed the first person in the True Immortal Realm. However, since... oh, I mentioned earlier that the expert with a similar name to yours is Hàn Tiān Zūn,” Gāo Shēng said, his expression complex, with both respect and other emotions.
“Hàn Tiān Zūn? Didn't you say that expert's name was Lì Fēi Yǔ?” Lì Fēi Yǔ asked in surprise.
“Hàn Tiān Zūn used the alias Lì Fēi Yǔ for a long time after ascending to the immortal realm, so Lì Fēi Yǔ is his second name,” Gāo Shēng explained.
“What's Hàn Tiān Zūn's full name?” Lì Fēi Yǔ asked, his curiosity piqued.
“Hàn Tiān Zūn's name is Hàn Lì,” Gāo Shēng said, bowing towards the void.
“Hàn Lì……” Lì Fēi Yǔ murmured, his expression strange.
This name, for some reason, gave him a familiar feeling.
“Silence! Hàn Tiān Zūn's reputation in the True Immortal Realm is extremely high, and his name can't be spoken directly. If someone heard it, it might cause a stir,” Gāo Shēng warned, his voice low.
“Thank you for the warning,” Lì Fēi Yǔ said, looking around cautiously, then bowing in gratitude.
“Just be careful in the future, Lì Fēi Yǔ,” Gāo Shēng said, waving his hand.
“Gāo Xiān Shǐ, since Hàn Tiān Zūn is a Great Luo realm expert, why is he the first person in the True Immortal Realm? Didn't you say that the Dao Ancestor is the highest realm?” Lì Fēi Yǔ asked again.
He had an inexplicable desire to understand Hàn Tiān Zūn.
“Hàn Tiān Zūn is the most legendary person in the True Immortal Realm's history. 'A mortal cultivates the Dao, and the winds and clouds rise again, traversing time and space, reversing the cycle of reincarnation' is all about him. His stories could be told for three days and three nights, but let's talk about it later. We should go to the Ascension Palace and register your identity,” Gāo Shēng said with a smile.
“Everything will be as you arrange, Gāo Xiān Shǐ,” Lì Fēi Yǔ said, nodding.
Thus, Gāo Shēng led Lì Fēi Yǔ towards the distant palace.
…
In a mountain valley in the Black Soil Immortal Domain, a small stream flowed, and the sun shone brightly, casting a warm glow. The trees were lush, and the air was filled with the songs of birds and the fragrance of flowers.
In the depths of the valley, there were several bamboo pavilions, and outside one of them, a group of people sat in a pavilion. One of them, dressed in a simple blue robe, looked like an ordinary mortal without any magical powers. It was Hàn Lì.
A white-robed woman sat beside him, leaning against him. It was Nán Gōng Wǎn.
A massive reversal of the cycle of reincarnation emanated from her, and she had reached the peak of the Tai Yi realm, only one step away from the Great Luo realm.
A little girl with a ponytail and a pink dress played around them, chasing after several exquisite wooden cats and dogs. The wooden animals moved as if they were alive, making sounds like "meow" and "woof," causing the little girl to laugh uncontrollably.
There were two more people in the pavilion, the Crab Daoist and Zǐ Líng, sitting across from each other, playing a game of Go. Hàn Lì and Nán Gōng Wǎn watched them play.
The Crab Daoist sat in a wheelchair, his body half-merged into the void, similar to the situation of the old master Chen Póu. However, his expression was calm and peaceful, without any signs of anxiety.
He moved his pieces quickly, and his black stones occupied a large area of the board.
Zǐ Líng wore a long, purple dress, and her cultivation had increased significantly, reaching the middle stage of the Great Luo realm.
Her white stones were not weak, holding their ground in the corners and surrounding the black stones in the center.
The atmosphere in the pavilion was peaceful, and the sunlight was warm and gentle.
At this moment, Hàn Lì's eyes moved, and a smile appeared on his face.
“Husband, what's happening?” Nán Gōng Wǎn asked, noticing the change in Hàn Lì's expression.
“Nothing, just the reincarnation of an old friend, who has ascended to the Black Soil Immortal Domain,” Hàn Lì said casually.
“Since it's the reincarnation of an old friend, should I notify Yuè Xiǎo and ask her to take care of them?” Nán Gōng Wǎn asked.
“He was a proud person in his past life, and it seems he still is. Let's not interfere with his life, and we'll meet again when fate allows it,” Hàn Lì said, shaking his head.
Nán Gōng Wǎn nodded, lost in thought.
At this moment, the clear sky suddenly darkened, and snow began to fall in the Black Soil Immortal Domain.
Hàn Lì stood still, and soon his body was covered in a layer of white snow.
He looked up, his eyes piercing through the layers of space, and the situation in the entire Black Soil Immortal Domain, as well as the surrounding domains, was clear to him.
The boundless immortal realm, with its rising and setting sun, and its white clouds and blue sky.
A moment later, Hàn Lì closed his eyes, and a gentle breeze blew, causing the snowflakes to dance in the air, like feathers.
(The Immortal Realm chapter is complete.)
…
After finishing the story, the author will take a break, but the next book and the continuation of the story will be announced later.